Carter was a sexy car speeding toward a brick wall at ninety miles an hour. Could I still get in and enjoy the ride anyway, knowing the crash was coming?
When I finally drifted off to sleep, I still had no answer.
I didn’t emerge from my bedroom until the following morning. As usual, I was up early to get working. One look out the window told me it was going to be another miserable day. The rain wasn’t coming down as hard as the night before, but there would be flooding in town and on the roads. Luckily,Granny’s Acre Farm was on a slight rise in the land, keeping the worst of the flooding away from the property.
Downstairs, the couch was vacant but I smelled coffee. In the kitchen, I found Carter already awake, watching a fresh pot brew like he was fascinated.
“See something you like?” I asked, breaking the silence.
He jumped and looked at me with a grin. “I see lots of things I like.” He turned back toward the coffeemaker and gestured at it. “But I was just admiring your coffeemaker. I’m pretty sure it’s older than I am.”
I scoffed. “Keep talking like that and it’ll outlive you, too.”
Carter smiled even wider and grabbed two mugs out of the rack by the sink. “I wasn’t sure if the roads were clear, but I figured you might want a hand this morning.”
“Thank you,” I said, nodding. “We should check everything for storm damage. The worst of it is over, according to the forecast. It should be just normal rain, not apocalyptic.”
“Great.” He handed a filled mug to me. “I don’t know how you take it.”
“I’ve got it. Thanks.” I added some sugar and stirred. “Hey, what happened with the social media team?”
“Oh, their flight got canceled. They’re rescheduling.” He chuckled. “So lucky you, I’m all yours for at least another day.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, lucky me.”
Carter grinned and sipped his coffee, which I would have thought was way too hot, but it didn’t seem to bother him. “So where will we be starting today?”
It warmed me up that he was eager to get working. It showed he took the work seriously and understood it needed to get done, rain or shine. It was a first step on the way to thinking like a farmer.
After our coffee, we bundled up and went outside. I took a look around the chicken house and I gave Carter the task ofpiling up storm debris, getting the sticks and branches out of the walkways.
After, I took him into the chicken house to help feed the girls. Carter was getting better at helping out, more confident. He barely spilled any feed this time when the ducks swarmed him. He just calmly waded through them and put the food in the feeders where it belonged.
“You’re a natural at this,” I told him.
Carter stopped midstride, frozen like he was waiting for something.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head and raised an eyebrow. “Was that an actual compliment?”
“Uh, yeah,” I said. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing.” Carter shrugged. “I’m just waiting for the follow-up insult. Like you say, ‘you’re a natural at this,’ and I ask, ‘a natural at what,’ then you say, ‘at being a sucky duck feeder’ or something equally hurtful. I know your games, Shelby.”
“Fine,” I said, sniffing dismissively. “See if I’m ever nice to you again, bad bunny.”
“Ahh.” Carter sighed with relief. “Now the natural balance has been restored.”
CHAPTER 16
CARTER
The following morning, I was at Honeyrose House, having coffee with Mrs. Presley while she told me all about the bake-off that would be happening tomorrow. My phone rang annoyingly. It was work, reminding me I wasn’t just on vacation out here.
I excused myself from the sitting room and went out onto the porch. “Brian from PR, what have you got for me today?”
He seemed flustered I remembered him, and I suppressed a chuckle, again reminded how different life in LA was compared to my time in Ferris. Back at Allory, my word was law. Here, Shelby ruled me with an iron fist and I could barely get enough of it.
