Page 52 of Matthew
“You sure?”
“Yeah. He’s thorough. Been doing this longer than I’ve been running this place.” She frowned at the screen. “The main items match. Mulch, potting soil, organic starter trays. All normal. But this…”
Matthew reached into his pocket for his phone. “Mind if I take a screenshot?”
Callie turned to him. “You think it’s like the citrus soil mix from earlier?”
“Could be nothing,” he said, snapping the photo. “Or it could be how someone’s trying to slip something into your supply chain.”
Her brows pulled together. “What could anyone hide in pest repellent?”
He stared at the vendor’s name a beat longer. Something about it nagged at him. Not the product, the paper trail.
“Several things come to mind, but it doesn’t matter what it is yet,” he said quietly. “What matters iswhysomeone wants it delivered toyourproperty under the radar.”
Matthew sent the screenshot to Carter with a short message:
“Need a trace on this vendor. Quietly, if possible.”
It didn’t take long.
“On it. Pest repellent, my ass. Bet it repels common sense too.”
A meme followed—an exasperated cat holding a magnifying glass withSuspicious plant activity?written across the top.
Matthew hesitated a second, then added:
Do a deep dive on FieldSource Garden Supply, too. And their depot manager—Ellis Crane. I know he's been around forever. Callie trusts him. All the more reason I want to be sure.
Carter’s response came fast.
On it, lover boy. Plant dads deserve answers.
He inwardly groaned. Great. Thanks to the camera feeds Carter was now locked into, everyone at ESI was going to hear about his damn tight shirt.
His phone buzzed again. This time, a still frame from one of the nursery cameras—Callie, barefoot and walking toward the office with Sammy trotting at her side, her wet clothes clinging to every beautiful curve. Even though he’d lived it, the image wrecked his pulse.
Damn, she was breathtaking.
Another message popped up beneath it:
Looks like you guys got caught…in the rain.
Carter added a leaf emoji, followed by a flexing arm.
Matthew scrubbed a hand down his face, muttering a curse. The last thing Callie needed was that idiot gossiping about them.
Then his heart froze.
Had he been wrong about the camera coverage?
His pulse kicked hard as he pulled up the remote feed on his still-damp phone, thumbing through camera angles to double-check the nursery surveillance.
Thank God.
He exhaled slowly. The lean-to wasn’t wired. He knew that, but for a second, he’d thought Carter had seen much more than a rainy walk.
His jaw clenched.
