Page 89 of Burn With Me

“You know our answer is yes! We don’t know much, but we can tell she hasn’t had it easy. Even if someone gives us a hard time, Joe and I will take care of it,” Ann says proudly, and I believe her because she knows everyone and isn’t afraid to leverage her status in the community.

“Perfect! Well, I’m going to head out. I have to let Penny out and feed her and Ginny. Thank you for dinner. Oh, and Joe, if you hear from the people we reached out to about the co-op before I do, just let me know.”

“You know I will. We’ll talk soon about everything going on and make an action plan on how we want to move forward around the holidays.”

“I can’t believe it’s August already. Where has the year gone?” I stand and push my chair in before walking toward the door.

“Drive safe. We’ll talk tomorrow,” Ann says as I hug her and squeeze her a little tighter.

Her hugs make me miss my mom. I love these two people for filling that void without trying.

“Next time we do dinner, bring that young man around. We want to make sure he’s treating you well.” Joe pulls me into a hug.

“You got it, boss,” I say and walk to my Jeep.

I shiver as a breeze brushes over my skin and regret not wearing a hoodie. Originally, I mistakenly thought it would be warm all year because this is a southern state, but it isn’t. It gets really hot during the day in the summer, but at night, it cools down quite a bit.

I open the door and climb in, quickly turning the Jeep on and cranking the heat up.

My phone vibrates, and a notification from the alarm system is on the screen. The sensor for the door on the construction side of the building keeps alerting, like it isn’t closed all the way.

Huh, I swear I checked all the doors.

I open my texts and shoot one off to Pam and Luke, letting them know I’m running back to the farm.

Pam: Cool. Do you need me to run to let Penny out?

Me: You’re a lifesaver

Also if you want, I have enchiladas in the fridge. You can throw them in the oven so you don’t have to worry about dinner.

Pam: Even better

see you soon

Luke is working, so I’m not worried that he hasn’t responded yet. Checking the backup cam, I back out of the driveway and headed back to the farm.

Fifteen minutes later, I pull into the parking lot and look around. To my left, I see the only light in the lot flicker out and mentally add that to my to-do list for tomorrow.

After everything that’s happened, I always feel like someone is going to jump out and scare me. Which is stupid. This is a small town. The worst that happens here is Farmer Joe’s cow, Lucinda, getting out and causing a traffic backup.

I unplug my phone and slide it into my back pocket. Stepping out of the Jeep, I hear a coyote howl in the distance before heading inside. I grab a sweater from the back seat and throw it on.

Hitting the lock button on the fob twice, I walk to the side door and open it, rushing in and turning the alarm off.

With the alarm turned off, I take a breath and let the smell of the wood mixed with herbs settle my nerves. Turning to the right, I walk to the front door because I might as well check them all, and the front door is a good place to start.

When I get to the door that set off the sensors, I notice that the mechanism isn’t latched. I lean down to make sure nothing is blocking it since the workers were here today when I hear a crunching sound to my right.

What the fuck.

I barely move to look when a loud crack is followed by pain exploding in my head, and everything goes black.

Thirty-Eight

Ameila

Something isn’t right—my whole body hurts . . .

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