“Shouldn’t he be in day care?” I asked, frowning.
“He can have a mental health day,” Remy replied as we pulled into the entrance.
Earnest was waiting in the courtyard for us when we drove up.
“We are in desperate need of some flowers,” Remy said, shaking his hand.
“My granddaughter is the one who’s good at flowers. She’s been over here this weekend doing tests for wedding displays. She left one of the samples. You can take it!”
“I don’t think this is an apology bouquet,” I muttered to Hunter when we followed Ernest into the greenhouse. The arrangement was four feet tall and festooned with crystals and bright pink, orange, and blue flowers.
“The bride really wanted bright centerpieces, apparently.” We stared at the neon-colored flowers.
“I hear you’ve got an apology to make, Parker,” Earnest said, sticking his thumbs under his suspenders.
“Yes, sir.”
He patted my shoulder. “I have just the thing. You three load those flowers up while I go and fetch it.”
“You’ll have to hold it,” Remy said as we tried to figure out how to maneuver the giant bouquet into his pickup.
“It’s like a jungle!” Davy shouted. “Where are the tigers?”
“I don’t have a tiger, but I do have a baby goat,” Ernest said.
“Bahhh!” the tiny white goat bleated.
Hunter’s nostrils flared. Remy cooed, “Hey there, little fella.”
“This is Bob,” Ernest said proudly. “Women love baby animals. Between the flowers, Art’s moonshine, and Bob, you can’t go wrong. She’ll come right back with you.”
“We cannot keep that goat,” Hunter said, hand over his mouth.
“Isn’t he too young? Doesn’t he need his mother?” I asked Ernest.
“His mom didn’t want him, and I couldn’t get any of the other mother goats to feed him. And he’s a male goat, so he won’t ever make milk, cheese, or anything useful like that. You boys can have him. Just bottle-feed him. Ida sells goat formula at her general store, but I have a little here for him to tide him over.”
“Poor little goat,” Davy said as Ernest handed him to Hunter. Hunter did not take the goat. I took the furry little animal.
“Let’s go to Manhattan!”
* * *
“Excuse me,”Greg said when we walked into his office. “What the fuck?”
“Don’t swear in front of Davy,” Hunter admonished. We had stopped at the Svensson Investment tower to collect ourselves. Hunter had the flowers, Remy had the overflowing gift box, and I had Davy, who was carrying Bob the goat stuffed in his jacket.
“You’re going to show up like this?” Greg said to me. “I knew I should have handled this myself.” He looked in the box. “Moonshine. Granola. Cheese puffs. Where is the jewelry, the fine wine, the expensive chocolate?”
“We have very nice flowers,” Hunter told him.
“We cannot send the third-string offense to win Sadie back. Thankfully, I’ve been preparing a very generous package to entice Sadie to come back to Harrogate and manage the Rural Trust before it explodes in a fiery ball of incompetence.”
“But I have a grand gesture planned.” I was feeling oddly optimistic. “Actually, it was a team effort.”
“Color me unimpressed,” Greg said. “Go home and let me handle this.”
The goat bleated. Greg’s eyes bugged out.
