CHAPTER 7
SHELBY
Life on the farm was simple, but that didn’t mean it was easy. I was literally up every morning with the chickens. They needed food, things needed to be cleaned, and eggs needed to be collected.
At the moment, I was with the ducks, which I’d only had for about six months. A nearby farm had closed down and they asked me if I would take the ducks in. How could I say no to these quacking cuties?
It was a sunny spring day. The sun actually felt warm for a change. The weather was finally shifting and I couldn’t wait to shed some of these clothes in the coming months. I swore I was part plant, needing sunlight to fuel me.
Some ducklings waddled up to my feet and I scooped one up into my palm, giving it a gentle hug. The duckling probably didn’t get anything out of it, but I sure did. Just because they were farm animals didn’t mean I couldn’t love them.
As much as I had been preparing to take over Whitaker Farms one day, growing up, I had spent a lot of time on this property, where my grandmother ran her smaller hobby farm. She had raised the animals with love as well, and I was happy to follow in her footsteps. I just wanted to make a living and givethe animals in my care a good life. It was a lot of work but it was better than sitting in an office all day staring at a screen.
I needed open sky and dirt under my feet. I needed to smell the rain on the wind, to hear birdsong from the trees, and to feel the sun on my face. I could do without all the bird shit, but you got used to it.
I was heading back to the small farmhouse my grandparents had left me with the rest of their little farm. It was almost like they knew I would need a safe place to land, years before my parents fell to the dark side and sold out.
If only they had trusted me enough to talk to me about the sale before they agreed to it. Maybe I wouldn’t have been able to change their minds, but at least I should have had a say in the matter. They knew damn well I had studied agriculture to work on the family farm. They sold my future out from under me anyway.
Shane wanted me to forgive them and move on, but there was no moving on from their betrayal. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
On the way to the house, I heard a truck pulling up the dirt drive, shattering my solitude. I had a sneaking suspicion I knew exactly who was coming to my property uninvited. My shotgun was in the house, but I didn’t grab it. Yet.
I walked to meet Carter where he parked the beat-up truck he had been driving around in. It was Tyler’s, who worked with Shane at the shop. I would recognize it anywhere. I would also never ride in it. That thing was a death trap that could fall apart at any time. No thank you.
Carter got out of the truck. Good thing I had put on a bra this morning. My hair was a mess, but I refused to fuss with it. I didn’t want him to think I cared what he thought about my appearance. If he didn’t like how I looked, he should have fucking called first.
One comment about my lack of makeup and I was getting the shotgun.
Carter reached into the truck and came out with my yellow rain hat, shining bright in the sun. “I brought your hat back.”
“Thanks,” I said begrudgingly, taking it from him. “I’ll have to delouse it of course.”
Carter shook his head at me, his cool demeanor faltering. “You are unbelievable.”
“And no one asked you to be here,” I said. “I mean, thanks for the hat, but I know that’s not why you’re here.”
“You’ve got me there,” he said, nodding. “Let me be straight with you. Allory has been getting some bad press lately. Something went viral online, and people think we’re monsters.”
“Have you tried not running your company like a monster then? Just an idea.”
Carter growled in frustration. “That’s what I’m trying to do. I know my father didn’t care who he hurt as long as he made money for himself and the shareholders. But I’m doing things differently, and I want a chance to prove that to people. I can’t do that when everyone online is calling me the bad Easter bunny bastard.”
I froze. That had come from one of the posts I’d made about what they’d done here in Ferris. I knew people were passing it around, but I had no idea it had gotten enough traction that the CEO of Allory was down here trying to do damage control.
Pride filled me, but it was quickly followed by fear. Did Carter know I was behind the negative buzz? Was that why he kept trying to talk to me?
I decided to feel him out. “So you’re the bad bunny everyone is talking about?”
He nodded, then paused, then shook his head. “Well, Bad Bunny is a famous singer. Technically, I’m the bad bunny bastard.”
“Of course,” I said, suppressing a smile. “How could I leave out the bastard part?”
He chuckled. “That’s the part I’m out here trying to work on. I’m not a bastard, and I would love if you gave me a chance to prove myself. Tell me how I can fix this.”
“Give me Whitaker Farms back,” I said. “It’s as simple as that.”
“I can’t do that.”
