“What are you doing?” I asked, knowing his position as foreman didn’t include him in the cleanup crew.
“I’ll take the dishes in. It’s your first day. Go turn in for the night,” he responded without looking at me.
I crinkled my brow together and moved to take back the dishes. “Absolutely not.”
He seemed taken aback by that. “I need to go talk with Tallie, anyhow, so I can take them.”
“Then go talk with her, but I won’t have the other men on this farm thinking I can’t pull my weight.”
Tucker opened his mouth to protest but must have thought it overand relented. “Don’t be up too late. Morning comes early around here.”
This wasn’t my first day working on a farm—just my first day atthisfarm. I was well aware of the expectations an operation like this had of its employees, even if I hadn’t already been told by Granger earlier. But instead of reminding him of that, I nodded slowly. Tucker looked like the one who needed the sleep, anyway. I watched the tired slump to his shoulders as I followed him through the door into the kitchen, and I sent up a small prayer that Tallie wouldn’t hold him long as I brought my plates to the sink where some of the other hands were already efficiently cleaning up.
“How can I help?” I asked, unsure of where or if I should insert myself.
Mack smacked a dish towel against my chest with a wide grin. “Trade with me. You dry, I’ll put the dishes away since you don’t know where everything goes yet.”
It took hardly any time with everyone working together to clean and put everything away. Halfway through, I glanced over my shoulder to check if Tucker was still speaking with Tallie, but he must have already left for the evening. I hoped he got a decent night’s rest.
Just as all the hands started shuffling from the kitchen to make their way back to the bunkhouse, Weston gripped my shoulder with another blindingly bright grin that I was starting to associate with him. His pale skin was flushed again, but this close, I could finally see how blue his eyes were. “You’re my new roomie, right? I’m Weston Turner. People call me West, Weston, whatever. Call me what you want, I’ll respond to just about anything.”
He offered me his hand to shake, and my own grin started to split my face as I nodded. “Jackson Arness. My old job called me Action Jackson, but I’m not picky about nicknames.”
“Action Jackson, huh? That’s a superhero name. Might be hard to top.”
We both chuckled before Weston motioned in the direction ofthe front door. “Did you catch a ride with someone up here? I can take you back to the bunkhouse, if so. I’m headed that way now.”
I shook my head. “I drove myself but thank you. I’ll be going that direction soon. Just wanted to thank Tallie for the meal before leaving.”
He gave me a two-finger salute. “’Course. I’ll see you back in the room,roomie.”
My smile was still plastered to my face as I watched Weston walk away. He seemed like a genuine guy, and while we hadn’t interacted a ton yet, just the little we had gave me a good feeling that we’d be fast friends. I sucked in a slow breath, running a hand along the back of my neck as I scanned the kitchen for the one person I thought would give me a straight answer around here.
The no-nonsense cook was nowhere to be found inside her clean domain, but I found her wiping down the table when I passed through the doors back into the dining room.
“Tallie,” I greeted. “Thank you for the fine meal you made tonight. Everything was delicious.”
She straightened up, popping her hip slightly. “Thank ya. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Even the greens.” She had a twinkle in her eye and a quirked lip.
“You noticed that, huh?” I let out a small chuckle at her teasing.
“I notice lots.”
Her voice shifted. More serious, and the look in her eye told me she meant more than what I’d put and consumed from my plate. The pit of my stomach soured for a moment, but I took a small breath, reminding myself that nothing happened. Sure, I may have had some admittedly inappropriate thoughts from his hand on my leg, but Tallie wasn’t a mind reader… I didn’t think. And there was no way she could have seen Tucker’s hand on my thigh under the table.
I dropped my eyes to the intricate carving along the top of the chair I stood by, running a finger over the edges and dips in the wood. I was still somehow unsettled by her words. “Well, it was hard not tonotice the fuss made tonight over my sitting at the table. Mind telling me what all that was about?”
Tallie sucked in a slow breath and released it in a long exhale, making me look up at her again. “That ain’t my story to tell,” she said after a moment.
“Whose is it, then? Because if it's Tucker’s, I kind of got the sense he won’t share it.”
“As is his right.”
“I know. I know that. It’s just…” I sucked on my teeth, trying to find the words to explain why I needed to know this without sounding like a weirdo obsessed with their new boss. “If it has to do with Raleigh, then I just want to be mindful,” I finally supplied.
Her head shot up to me, the graying coils in her hair springing as she did. “How do you know that name?”
“Tucker,” I said, taken a little aback. “He told me.”
