Page 20 of Believe in Caloosa Springs

“Thanks for the ride,” he said softly, but didn’t immediately move to get out of the car. “And, uh.. Sorry about the whole coffee thing. I’m really clumsy, and I hope you didn’t get hurt. That coffee was hot as fuck,” he chuckled, still staring out the window. “I’ll try to sit on the end next time, so there’s less collateral damage.”

I desperately wanted to joke back at him, but the words refused to come out.

“Have a good night,” he said finally.

I nodded and he closed the car door. I pulled away from the curb as he ducked inside the house.

***

The next morning, after we’d all had breakfast, we were asked to gather around on the chairs and sofa in the barn. Mandy announced that we were going to begin our training today. As we loaded our plates with French toast and sausage links, she explained that the first few days were going to be classroom-style learning.

The famous Oliver was finally there as well. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and I couldn’t help but admire the way he and Tyler looked at each other. It was very obvious they were very much in love, despite how stressed Oliver looked. He couldn’t be more than 25 or so, but he seemed to wear a lot of worry across his face. It couldn’t be easy running on an operation like this, even for the most seasoned professional. I was impressed with the entire enterprise and considered myself lucky to be even a small part of it.

“Thanks, everyone, for joining us this morning. I hope everyone slept well,” Oliver began, rubbing his hands together. “We think it’s important for everyone to have a good base-level understanding of exactly what we do here at Baker Productions—the products we make and sell from the harvests we grow. The different strains we cultivate here, the terpene profiles, and testing components. A big part of our mission is education and combating misinformation when it comes to cannabis and its use, both medically and recreationally. Has anyone here ever grown cannabis before?”

Jake snorted. “Just a few buds in my dorm room closet.”

His having gone to university was a shock to me. I guess he just didn’t seem the type. Not that I was one to talk. I hadn’t gone to college yet, either. And now, having run away from my college fund, I might not go at all. I considered myself to be fairly intelligent. I got great marks in school, but I wasn’t sureacademia was the route for me. I thought that I’d much rather work with my hands.

Just then, the barn door opened, and Mandy and Tian walked in. He was wearing a loose-fitting gray sweatshirt with a large black skull on the front of it and tattered strings hanging off the hem. He wore a pair of black jeans I would swear were painted on, the bottoms disappearing inside knee-high lace-up boots. There was a floppy block beanie on his head, his choppy hair grazing his cheekbones. It didn’t look like he was wearing any makeup, so I wondered if maybe he’d woken up late. He looked casual and comfy today.

I still wasn’t sure how he fit into the operation. I knew he lived with Mandy—obviously, since I’d taken him home last night—but I wondered if he was an employee, or a supervisor like Mandy was.

“Now, I’m going to play a short video about the differences between indica and sativa, and then we will discuss it and go from there. Just a heads-up: the majority of the strains we cultivate here are hybrids, or cross-strains of indicas and sativas.” Oliver finished by picking up a remote control and pointing it at the projector on the ceiling. The projector hummed to life, illuminating the wall in front of us. I did my best to pay attention to what was happening in front of me, and even pulled out my stupid phone to take some notes with. Not that it was going to do me any good, because I couldn’t stop glancing behind me.

They had moved over into the kitchen area towards the front of the barn. I tried my best to focus on the video and the material I was supposed to be taking in, but then I heard Tian chuckle as Mandy was muttering to him quietly. I looked over my shoulder again and watched as Mandy filled two mugs sitting on the tablewith coffee. My mind instantly flashed back to the disaster that had unfolded the day before, and I frowned. As bad as it was that he had hurt himself and then passed out, I felt a small pang of guilt. I was happy everything had turned out fine, but I sure did enjoy him falling into my arms.

Tian brought the cup to his lips and glanced over just in time to catch me staring. I could swear that his lips curled into a smile around the brim of his mug. I tried to act casual and smiled back, lifting my hand up and giving a quick wave before turning back to the video. When I looked back a few minutes later, Oliver had joined them and was chatting at a low volume.

Henry leaned over. “Wow, must be some show going on back there,” he muttered, his voice laced with irritation. I stared back in surprise, but he ignored me.

What was his problem?

I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to figure out what the guy on the video was saying. Something about acalyx, whatever that was.

Chapter Seven

Christian

“I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

“Thanks,” I allowed my gaze to lower into my coffee cup. I was still embarrassed by the whole ‘having passed out cold in front of a room full of strangers’ thing. I appreciated Oliver’s kind words, but I would have just preferred to never have to think about it ever again.

Who was I kidding? My traitorous brain was going to play that shit on repeat until the day I died. Just like the banana pudding incident from seventh grade.

I shivered.

“How’s your lesson plan going?” Mandy asked, punctuating the sentence with a snort.

“Fuck you, Mandy,” Oliver replied without malice. “I feel like a complete fool. This was a bad idea.”

Mandy shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. All jokes aside, I think wanting our staff to have a good knowledge of the product they are growing and working with is a good thing. Remember, this is the first time we are doing this. We will tweak and tighten things as we go along.”

Oliver sighed. “Thanks. You’re right.”

“Where’s Ty?”

“Him and Pops are getting the last of that Caloosa Kush cut down from last week’s harvest.”

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