Page 91 of Harvest Moon

I turned back to Ridge, summoning a smile. “How about we stop into The Cider House and grab dinner before heading home? It seems like if we know what the problem is, there wouldn’t be any harm in bringing Claudia a chicken sandwich and some fries made from our very own Grovetown potatoes.”

Ridge’s smile lit up my whole world.

56

Ridge

Iate a whole damn basket of fried pickles at The Cider House, safe in the knowledge that most of the produce they got came straight from the Hill farm.

It was going to be a big task, getting everyone to give up Sterling. We couldn’t force anybody, but I trusted that the Grove wolves cared enough about each other and their pack that they’d do what was best for everyone, even if it was hard.

Over dinner, Alexis told me all about how Sterling had a HeaTracker app. For a company I’d hoped to give the benefit of the doubt, they sure did seem to have a lot of interest in omegas.

I promised him we’d come up with our own system of keeping track, because the last thing I wanted was for Alexis to give up anything. He deserved to feel in control of his body and informed. It sucked that Sterling took advantage of that. Or... god, every bit I learned just made it harder to think this was an accident.

But one problem at a time. And right then, my problem was eating a big ass burger and remembering to place an order to take home for Claudia and Birch.

We got back to the house, and she and Birch were back in their bedroom cuddled up on the bed watching TV. Alexis just swept right on through, and I only hesitated for a second. Clearly, Claudia couldn’t get up and go anywhere, so we had to bring her sandwich in there. And I wasn’t breaking any rules by going into their bedroom.

Weirdly, Birch didn’t seem to think so either. There was no territorial narrowing of his eyes or anything. Instead, he perked up and sniffed, staring at the to-go boxes in my hand.

“Did you bring fries?” he asked.

I nodded, extending the boxes toward the bed. Claudia was faster, though. She snatched them before her husband could grab them. Mind, she didn’t seem bothered in the slightest when she opened the top box and he was the first to lean over and sneak a fry.

“Aspen’s back,” Alexis announced, perching on the edge of Claudia and Birch’s bed and sharing a long look with Birch.

Birch’s eyebrows shot way up his forehead. “He saw Linden?”

“Does Brook know?” A pained expression pulled down the corners of Claudia’s lips. I didn’t know this Brook person, but I realized it was the guy Lexis had approached on the street that night—the guy from the garage.

“He saw,” Lex said. “Then he took off. We called the Morgans. They’re on it.”

Claudia sighed, sinking back into the mattress and snatching a fry from her to-go box. “Shit.”

Birch’s hand settled on her knee, like he knew how much she wanted to jump up and spring into saving people. Right then, Mrs. Claudia needed to look after herself, look after their family. Brook would be all right without her. One thing about the Grove pack—they didn’t abandon their own.

They wouldn’t abandon me with nothing to keep me here, but still, I needed to hear it.

I leaned back against the wall, my hands behind the small of my back to keep them from twitching. “Can I ask about the farm?”

Claudia, her sandwich in hand, paused to stare up at me. “Sure. The pack’s not selling.”

She said it plainly, the words short, not even an indulgent smile like she’d known I was on the hook.

Alexis grinned up at me from the bed, and I stood there like a brick, blinking at her while she chewed a big bite of her chicken sandwich.

“Linden called while you two were at the grocery store today. We obviously can’t sell to Sterling, but the whole thing’s brought home that we want to remain the final authority over Grove lands, not invite some corporate assholes in here to make decisions for us.”

“Makes sense,” I said, but only because she paused and seemed to expect me to say something.

“So, we want to keep the farm as it is. Producing good food for good people. By good people. Linden’s talking to a lawyer and drawing up a contract. The pack’ll take on your student debt in exchange for five years on the farm. That’s on top of your salary, of course. The pack’ll take on paying that when the Hills give up farming completely. Ideally, that’d come from proceeds from the farm, but I think you can manage to keep it running, huh?”

By the time she was through talking, I was beaming. Alexis was grinning too. That wasn’t a contract—it was a promise. A promise that I had a place, a steady job, for at least five years. In that time, I could turn the farm into the best it could be, prove I had my place here. I could be sure that I had years ahead to work the land and prove my worth, and it was all I’d ever wanted.

“As for the issue of farmhands,” Claudia went on, “we were thinking—if you’re right about the Sterling Corporation, and I think you are, then teaching werewolves to grow their own food would be valuable to any pack. If you can’t find all the people you need in Grovetown, when the time comes, we can reach out to others. I know it’s not something we can do this second without risking some kind of legal bullshit”—Claudia rolled her eyes, and I could see Alpha Grove’s temperance behind the plan—“but it’s a card we can play in the future. You’ll have the support you need, and for now, it seems like you can rely on Ford McKesson, at the very least.”

Nobody knew how long that’d be true, but there was a chance. If things started going right, maybe Ford wouldn’t want to leave at all.

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