"Wait, stop," I beg. "I don't understand, I checked the accounts myself before Victoria wrote the checks. It's not possible that they bounced."
"They did, boss," Bob says. "I tried to speak to the boss lady, but she looked at me like I was worse than the fleas that feed off my dog's blood and told us to see you."
"I'm so sorry, guys. I'll look into it. Are you still able to stay on for apple picking?" I know I'm asking the impossible, but it looks as though they can see the helplessness in me, or maybe hopelessness, and decide to stay.
We don't stop until the sun is low enough in the sky that we can no longer see what we're doing, so we load some crates into The Duchess and put the rest in the barn.
"I can't thank you enough for your help. I promise I'll look into the pay issue and you'll have your money."
The guys are good people. A few of them started out working for my dad when they were only teenagers, and now have their own families to feed.
The weight of the responsibility almost makes it hard to take that extra step into the farmhouse, but I take a deep breath and go in through the kitchen door.
"Ash!" Izzy shouts, and comes running at me. I manage to catch her and stop from tumbling backwards. "Look what Mommy got me. And it's not even Christmas yet."
My heart sinks and my blood runs cold when I see Izzy holding a shiny, brand-new iPad. It's not even the mini one I was thinking of getting her for Christmas. It's the all-singing, all-dancing model.
"That's great, sweetie. Are you going to look after it?"
She nods fiercely, clutching the iPad tighter in her arms. As much as I could murder Victoria right now, I can't stop appreciating the pure look of happiness on Izzy's face.
"Where's Mommy?" I ask.
"She's in the living room."
Izzy runs off toward the back stairs leading to the bedrooms. I hope Annie is also in her room because I don't want either of them to hear this conversation.
I'm not even three steps inside the living room when Victoria says, "The farmhands are complaining again. Sort it out."
I ignore her statement. "Why does Izzy have an iPad?"
She looks at me and sneers. "If my daughter wants an iPad, she can have an iPad."
"Victoria, we have no money. I was saving to buy her the iPad for Christmas. The farmhands’ paychecks all bounced. How am I supposed to keep this farm going when they all leave us because we can't pay them?"
"If you can't pay them, I guess you'll have to work harder, won't you? Such a shame you're nothing like your hardworking father, god rest his soul. He was a good man."
I want to punch her so hard my hands ball into fists.
"I'll come up with the money, but please don't spend any until I can pay the missing checks."
Even as I say it, I have no idea how I'll do that. I'll need to sell a lot more produce at the market, and for that to happen I'll need to have a lot more of it to sell.
Frustration rises inside me and all I want is to shout and cry, but I know it doesn't solve anything, so I go back to the barn to finish loading the other vegetables into The Duchess for the market tomorrow.
Please god, let people be really hungry tomorrow because I need to come home with an empty truck and a full wallet.
It's past midnight when I finish loading the last few pumpkins into the truck. I stare at a really small one that reminds me of the pumpkin Xander bought, and I laugh. This is my life. What business do I have going out for coffee with someone like him?
6
XANDER
I changefrom my usual suit into jeans and a sweater and then put my coat on. I'm just about to grab the box on my desk when Mia comes into my office.
"You're putting some effort into it, I like it," she says, one hand on her hip and the other pointing up and down at me.
"I don't know what you mean."
