Belly laughter rolled out of Toby, and he shook his head, tears making his vision blurry at how convincing Niall sounded.“Ye-ah, r-right,” he stammered through the next bout.
As if it would happen again!
Chapter Two
Ernest
“Your damn ex is up to no good again.”
Startled, Ernest looked up from his papers to see Rick, his right-hand manager, standing in his doorway.Glancing over at the window, he could see it was already dark out.Gods, I’ve been at this bloody desk for hours.
“I have no interest in talking about my ex,” he said firmly, leaning back in his chair with a groan.Sitting hunched over a desk—he couldn’t help being overly tall—never did any good to his lower back.He rubbed the spot between his eyes with his finger.He could feel a headache forming, the same as it did anytime his ex was mentioned.
“Shouldn’t you have gone home by now?You know darn well Pierre hasn’t been around here in months.I’m sure he’s off doing his own thing.When he finally stormed out of here, ranting about everything wrong with me that he could think of in that moment, he promised to have nothing to do with me or this place ever again.So, I really don’t see why you’re bringing him up now.”
Ernest slapped his hands against the papers on his desk.“I am desperately trying to find a new source for the covers that we need for our new plants.I can’t seem to get anything within a hundred-mile radius and anything I try to source from further away is going to have a delivery period of at least three weeks, which is going to be too late if we want to keep our flowers safe from any late frosts.”
“You’re going to need those ground covers for more than the frost.”Rick strode into the office.He was a large bear shifter with a gentle soul, except for when it came to Ernest’s ex.“That damn Pierre has re-launched his hot air balloon business again, and look…” Rick shoved a pamphlet under Ernest’s nose.“He’s using pictures from your farm taken from your porch to promote his business.What does that suggest to you?”
Ernest got a familiar sinking feeling in his gut as he picked up the pamphlet.It was bright and cheerful.Noticing the logo at the top right of the pamphlet—it wasn’t a company he recognized.Bucket List Buddies?
“This looks like a collaboration event.Who’s this company?”he said, tapping the logo.
“I checked into it as soon as I saw the damn brochure.It’s a new event place in town,” Rick replied.“Perfectly innocent operation, just helping people find like-minded people who want excitement and the possibility of more.According to the gossip in town, two people have already found their fated mates at these events.One at dance classes, one at a ghost tour, but their next event is hot air ballooning.And you can guess that sleazy Pierre has done this deliberately.Why else would he tie himself in with this lot?He believes it’s a mate-finding event.”
“It doesn’t specifically say mate finding,” Ernest quickly scanned the text.“The blurb here says it’s a way for lonely people to get together and meet new friends.”
Rick sighed long and loud.“They have to say that.They can hardly promote anything that says, ‘you’re guaranteed to find your mate,’ or they’ll have a whole stack of unhappy customers when that doesn’t happen.You and I both know the chances of finding a mate are one in a million.”
Ernest knew that only too well—it was why he got tied up with Pierre in the first place—a mistake he’d been regretting ever since their long and messy breakup.“It’s just a few pictures,” he said slowly.He really didn’t want to have to get in touch with Pierre for any reason.“We do have some of the best views around.”
“Those are pictures of your farm.The hill, the lake underneath it, all your lush green paddocks.”Rick pointed out the window, although not a lot could be seen in the dark.“Guess where he’s planning to land those damn balloons of his?”
“He can’t,” Ernest said firmly.“We had a deal.He is not allowed within a mile of this farm or any of the land I own.That includes absolutely not landing his balloons anywhere near my paddocks.”
That was how Pierre and Ernest had met the summer before, when a beautiful hot air balloon landed in the middle of an admittedly fallow paddock at the time.Pierre was charming and graceful, and Ernest was lonely.It was a story older than time, until he found out Pierre was manipulative, money hungry, and a pain in the ass, and not in a fun way.“He’s probably just taking advantage of the pictures because they’re pretty.”
Rick shook his head.“I don’t know why you always had such a soft spot for that oily otter.I really don’t.We’ve got young plants in the ground.If he lands in the middle of those paddocks—any one of those paddocks—he’s going to ruin a huge part of our next year’s crop.Don’t you remember what happened last time?”
Ernest winced as Ricky’s voice rose.
“It’s not just the balloon landing that causes the problem.It’s the countless people, sixteen of them per balloon, wandering across the paddock with no regard for the plants that are there, and that’s without that fricking truck thing that his so-called partner drives.
“You remember, don’t you?That numbskull who doesn’t understand what his brakes are for and has absolutely no respect for private land?The last time he was here, there were deep tire gouges in the paddocks that took a roller to remove—all so they could collect their precious balloon.And what happened when you yelled at them?‘We’re allowed to land anywhere that’s safe.’That’s all they had to say.Anywhere they can cause a huge fucking annoyance, if you ask me.Do you seriously mean to tell me that Pierre is going to keep his fucking balloons away from your paddocks?”
“The pictures could just be a marketing ploy.They might be flying over the other side of town for all we know.”Ernest wasn’t sure, and it wasn’t like he was going to call his ex and ask.
“You keep thinking that if it makes you feel better.The only way we’re going to stop them is to get those ground covers.If we cover the plants, he can’t land.”
“I’ve been trying.”Ernest dropped the pamphlet on his desk.It made him sick just to look at it, especially when he remembered the evening Pierre took the photos.The paddocks in the brochure were taken when they were fallow, meaning that there was nothing planted in them that was expected to grow, and he could harvest at a later stage.His farm—Forever Blooms—was the largest flower farm in the state.Rick was right about one thing: a damn balloon could do a lot of damage, seeing as that they’d planted their seedlings only two weeks before.“What are the dates for these events again?”
“This weekend and next.”Rick leaned over the desk, tapping the pamphlet.“He’s doing the evening sunset ones three days on the damn trot.It says quite plainly there in black and white.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I don’t want to read it.”Ernest looked out the window.
“Ernest, you can’t ignore this,” Rick stated firmly.“If any of his balloons come anywhere near our paddocks, a huge part of our harvest could be ruined before it’s even started to grow.”
“I know that.I do.”One of the reasons Ernest kept Rick on was because he was as honest as the day was long.Looking back at his friend now, he asked, “Is there any way we can rig up some of the covers from last year?”
