Chapter Fifteen
Drew practically ran away from Beth, away from the house, away from the past. He’d seen the old barn in his dreams the night before. He could smell it, and when he’d woken that morning, a torrent of anger flooded his mind. Why couldn’t he remember? What couldn’t he see?
He’d spent hours sweeping and cleaning it out Saturday, and it had done nothing to stir the old memories. Today, walking through the woods, the barn seemed to call his name, begging him to come in for one more try.
Foolishly, he thought the past would give him the answers he’d been waiting for. But as he stood there, begging for the truth, his mind was blank.
Too much time had passed.
He’d felt like an idiot for trying. Why did he think he would ever find closure? In that moment, he’d considered leaving. He could get in his truck and drive back to Colorado. It would be like he’d never even come.
But something had gotten ahold of him—something wouldn’t let him leave.
So, he took the job. If he had any hope of finding out the truth, he had to stay at Fairwind, and taking this new job gave him unlimited access to the farm—and the house—no matter how haunting.
Besides, he needed work if he wanted to calm his mind.
He’d called Elkhorn the night before to tell them he’d be gone a little longer than he’d thought. As expected, his boss wasn’t happy, but Drew needed answers.
Jess deserved that.
He only hoped he could give her some.
Now, standing behind the main barn with his tools spread out on a picnic table in front of him, he forced his weary heart to stop racing.
“There you are!”
He spun around to see Molly walking toward him with a grin as wide as a jack-o’-lantern’s.
“Heard you took the job.”
Roxie ran to her, and she welcomed the dog with excited pats and a good, long ear rub. It struck him how different these two sisters were. Molly was open and welcoming. Beth was closed off and mysterious. He had a feeling that wasn’t where their differences ended.
His pulse had returned to its normal rate—thankfully. “You heard right, I guess.”
“Beth said you’re going to put together a list for us?”
“That’s the plan.”
She stood in front of him now, squinting up at him in the morning sun. “She also said you’re acting weird and wants me to make sure you’re not a lunatic.” Molly tilted her head and sized him up. “So, are you?”
Drew stared at her. “Am I what?”
“A lunatic?”
“I don’t think so.” Though his actions not long ago suggested otherwise. He’d frozen. Panicked. He didn’t know how to manage the onslaught of emotions he’d been burying for twenty years.
“Good.” Molly pulled her messy brown hair into a ponytail. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I have to show you something. I haven’t shown Beth yet because she’s going to kill me, but wait till you see.” She walked around the east side of the building, putting the barn between them and the house and shielding them from her sister’s sight.
They rounded the corner, and Drew couldn’t help but notice the pride on her face.
“It’s a sheep,” Drew said.
“Her name’s Bluebell. Blue for short.”
The black sheep had been tied to an old pipe near the edge of the barn. She looked up, seemingly confused by her new living arrangements.
Drew ran a hand over his chin, made a mental note to shave at some point this week. “You bought a sheep?”
“Someone was giving her away. Do you believe it? Who would want to give away a cute little sheep?”
Drew watched as Molly approached the sheep as if she were a dog. Blue let out a disconcerted baa and hobbled away from her.
“What exactly are your plans for Bluebell?”
“Put her in the barn. Feed her. Let kids pet her when we open.” Molly took another step toward the sheep, but Blue scurried away. “She’s kind of shy.”
“And your sister doesn’t know about this?”
Molly shielded her eyes from the sun and stared at him. “We need to get something straight, Cowboy. If you’re going to work here, we need to form an alliance.”
“That right?”
“Beth has a reputation around here.”
“Oh?”
“Not that kind of reputation. She’s notoriously not fun.” She said the words as if they left a sour taste in her mouth. “Going into business with her is smart, but if we want to have fun, there are going to be some things she can’t know about.”
He snapped his fingers at Roxie so she’d stop sniffing the sheep. “Pretty sure she’s going to find out about this one.”
“Right, but if we present a unified front, she won’t be able to say anything about it.” Molly pulled the bill of his hat down lower. “I’m counting on you.”
Drew held his hands up in front of him. “I’m just the employee around here. I can’t get in the middle of your family stuff.”
Molly cocked one hip out and crossed her arms over her midsection. “You’re not just the employee. You’re the guy who understands how all this stuff works. If you say Blue gets to stay, then she gets to stay.”
“And who takes care of her?”
Molly’s eyes darted away. “We’ll take turns.”
“Uh-huh. Maybe we should go get your sister.”
Molly turned away, startling the sheep, who hurried off in the opposite direction with enough force to pull her loosely tied leash from the pipe, sending her running off into the parking lot with Molly close behind.
Drew walked toward the lot and watched as Beth spotted her sister. Molly was now flailing her arms in an effort to capture the poor animal. Blue turned in circles, doing her best to keep away from Molly’s grasp.
“What is that?” Beth ran toward them, face flushed and fire in her eyes. “Molly! Why is there a sheep out here?”
Molly continued chasing Blue, hollering at Beth to shut up and help her.
At Drew’s feet, Roxie whined and inched forward, seemingly anxious to get in the middle of the ruckus, but he didn’t release her. He was having too much fun watching the two women run in circles around the overgrown sheep. Each time one of them would get close, they’d pull back, unsure how to best wrangle the poor animal, who had to be terrified by all the commotion.
Finally, and only for the sake of poor, innocent Bluebell, Drew released Roxie. The dog ran out to the sheep and corralled her back toward Drew. He picked up the lead around her neck and led her back to the pipe, this time tying the rope tight enough so she couldn’t escape. Roxie barked until Drew thanked her.
He turned, looked at both disheveled Whitaker sisters, called for Roxie and walked away.
Something told him this job was going to be quite the adventure.