“Yeah, okay,” Mr. Wilde says, shaking my hand. “You can help out. And then you can drop by the house after hours and I can get the measure of you some more.” He narrows his eyes, as if he’s inspecting me.
I nod. “Absolutely. I’ll drop by later.”
Mr. Wilde just turns and heads back into the barn.
“Grab a couple of boxes from that pile there and stick ’em in the truck,” Marnie says. “And don’t try and bullshit that man. He can smell it a mile away.”
“Thanks for the tip.” I take a stack of boxes from where she’s pointing and head out to find the Maxwell driver.
“Hey, Jack,” Marnie calls, just before I hit daylight. “You got my other haulage lists there?” She nods at my ass.
I set down the boxes I’m carrying. “You want these?” I ask her, pulling the rest of the lists from my pocket.
“Have been waiting for Iris to get them. Not like her to be late.”
It doesn’t take long to load up the Maxwell truck. The operation runs efficiently and no one panics. The driver with the red cap seems happy and starts back up the road he came from.
“Who’s next?” I ask Marnie, as we watch the Maxwell truck disappear.
“Now we keep packing and we get ready for Loopin. They usually pull up second.”
“Can I help?” I ask again.
“Honestly, you’re more of a hindrance than a help until the trucks arrive. These guys have been weighing and boxing fruit for years. They do it quicker than you ever could.”
I nod in response. I appreciate the honesty. “How long have you worked here?” I ask.
She laughs. “Too long. Since before Bray had finished high school.”
“You must like it,” I say.
“I complain, but of course I enjoy it. Surrounded by hard workers and the Star Falls air. What’s not to like?”
“Is everything I can see Wilde’s Farm?” I ask.
“Everything. The west barn, where Iris’s office is, isn’t in use at the moment, but at peak times, we open that barn up.”
There’s a stretch of land behind the barns, the other side of the tractor trail, that looks like it might have had a building on it at one point. “What was that over there?” I ask.
“Oh, the old red barn. Or at least it used to be. It was a wreck. Got pulled down when they built this one. This one isn’t quite as pretty, but it’s watertight. And that counts for a lot.”
I can’t help but think that land is crying out for another barn. Another barn that could be the start of a shift in the direction of Wilde’s Farm. But I’m not going to tell Marnie that. I’m not even going to tell Iris. I’m going to crunch some numbers. Get some of the people back in the Alden family office to crunch some numbers. One of them has an intern. They can do some desktop research for me.
I have an idea for Wilde’s Farm. It could make the family a lot of money. But it would also bring change, and although I feel like I’ve known Iris my entire life, I don’t know her brother and her father well at all. I have no idea if they would embrace the kind of change I’m thinking about. They’ve been operating successfully for years now without my help.
Just as another truck approaches Marnie and me, I see Iris come flying out of the house, holding one sneaker, with the laces undone on the one on her foot.
“I’m so sorry,” she yells. “Marnie, I’m going to get you the haulage lists right now.”
Marnie laughs. “No need,” she yells back. “Jack’s got it covered.”
I can’t help but laugh at the expression on Iris’s face. She looks half shocked, half horrified. “Jack?” she asks, like I’m the last person she could fathom that would be able to help. She hobbles toward us, pausing for a second to pull on her missing sneaker.
“Did I see the Maxwell truck pull off?” she asks, looking between Marnie and me.
“Yup,” Marnie says. “And Loopin’s just arriving. We’re all over this. You sleep all you need.”
“I didn’t finish my application until five this morning. I thought a couple of hours’ sleep would be a good idea. But I slept through my alarm.”
