This Hero for Hire

by Cynthia Thomason

  His eyes clouded as if he regretted what he’d almost said. “Never mind. It’s not up to me. It’s up to two brothers who both have a stake in what happens to the farm.”

  He pulled up to the front of the campaign office. She reached for the door handle. He grabbed her arm.

  “Nothing has been settled yet,” he said.

  Was he telling her there was a chance? She wanted to believe it. Not knowing how to best relate to what he was going through, she stubbornly challenged him. “Really? I think the final decision is just a formality. I think that by agreeing with Jared, you believe you’ll have elevated yourself to his stature. I’ve seen the pictures of his little girls in your room. I know how you feel about them. And I’ve heard you talk about Jared, about growing up together. You idolize him.”

  “That’s not true. But he is my older brother. He always had my back, watched out for me. But I don’t just automatically go along with whatever he says.”

  “Then do what you think is right, not what you think Jared wants you to do.” She got out of the truck but leaned in the window. “Because underneath all the admiration you have for your brother, you just might be a better man than he is.”

  She walked into the headquarters without another word.

  * * *

  BY 7:30 BOONE knew he wasn’t going to be sharing dinner with Susannah as they had been. She hadn’t come out of her room all evening. He’d knocked a couple of times and she’d answered him, but he figured he was going to be spending the evening alone.

  Now he was in the kitchen preparing the only comfort food he knew how to fix—tomato soup and an egg sandwich. Darkness had settled over the mansion grounds, making the room seem small and lonely.

  He was stirring the soup when he saw a shadow move across the backyard. Instinctively he whirled around and reached for his gun on the table. He’d kept the weapon handy since the vandalism event a few weeks ago. He drew it from the holster, disengaged the safety, and moved to the doorframe where he could see outside. His brother’s face appeared in the back door’s window.

  “Are you crazy?” Boone asked, opening the door. “That’s a good way to get yourself shot.”

  Jared ambled inside, obviously completely unconcerned about taking a bullet. “Tomato soup? I could go for some of that. Did you make it with milk instead of water, like Mom used to?”

  “Sure. What are you doing here?” Boone asked.

  “That’s a good question, considering you never bothered to tell me you were staying out here. Along with the big secret about what you’re doing here.” Jared leaned over the stove and smelled the soup. “Didn’t you think that’s a fact that might have interested me—that those people I called itinerant farmers were connected to the governor’s daughter, our old pal Susannah Rhodes?”

  “She was never your old pal,” Boone said. “And what she’s doing here isn’t public knowledge. She’s trying to keep her activities under the radar.”

  “You mean under Albee’s radar?”

  “Whatever.” Boone slid some egg onto a slice of bread. “Just keep it to yourself, okay.” He poured two bowls of soup and placed them on the table along with spoons.

  “No problem.” Jared blew on a spoonful and took a sip. “You’re certainly eating like a gourmand out here.”

  Ignoring the dig, Boone said, “Do I need to ask who told you where to find me?”

  “Not if you were going to ask me if it was Lila.” Jared smiled. “And I promised her you wouldn’t be mad that she told me all about this assignment.”

  “I’m not mad. I was going to tell you myself, in time.”

  Naturally it had been Lila who told. She was the only one who knew the facts about Boone’s stay at the mansion and the one most likely to want to see him in hot water over it.

  “She seems to be over you, by the way,” Jared said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I saw her in the diner after I couldn’t find you at your apartment. She was with a fella, a fine-looking ex-Navy guy. They looked pretty cozy to me.”

  Boone took a bite of his sandwich. “Good for them.” He washed it down with milk. “Now that we know what a good snoop you are, why did you drive all the way out here? And how did you get here? I would have heard that beast if you’d driven up in it.”

  “Left the motor home plugged in at Mom and Dad’s. We could have moved into the house, but the girls still think the camper is a hoot. I drove Mom’s car out here.” He went to the fridge and poured himself a glass of milk. “I’m here because I sort of acted like an ass earlier.”

  Boone didn’t speak. He ate and waited.

  “You know I’m not an elitist. Maybe I’m a jerk, but even that was kind of harsh. But all in all, I think we got started on the wrong foot, and that’s mostly my fault. I show up with grand schemes and...” He grinned the way he always had when they were kids. “I forget you’re this simple country boy who doesn’t cotton to new-fangled ideas.”

  Boone would have smiled but he wasn’t sure where the conversation was headed. “So, just like that, you’re giving up on the resort plan?”

  “Heck, no. I think it’s a wonderful idea, but I’d like to have you on my side.” He leaned back, drank some milk. “So here I am, making nice with my little brother so we can both capitalize on my brilliance.”

  “Why do you think people will flock to this resort? This is Georgia, not Las Vegas.”

  “Statistics. They already do flock to them, and the beauty of it is, there isn’t one in Georgia the caliber I’m planning. After a one-time minimal investment to get the land set up for this, it’s just regular maintenance.” He drew a sketchy plan of motor home sites on a napkin while Boone finished his meal.

  “It can’t lose, Boone. It’s a great use for the land. It’s something we can hand down to our children just like Gramps handed it down to us.”

  That was the argument that kept niggling at Boone. If he ever did have kids of his own, right now he had nothing to leave them. Especially not if he sold the best chunk of the property to Susannah.

  He folded his hands on the table. “I have to tell you, Jared. Susannah is one determined woman. She’s done a heck of job out there and has already harvested a good crop of vegetables. And...”

  He waited to gauge his brother’s facial expression. “She’s offered to buy the property for a fair price. She won’t even include the house or the barn. She just wants the forty level acres.”

  Jared remained silent for a few moments. Then he cleared his throat and said, “So do I. Those are the choice acres for my project. Tell her to buy another forty acres. They are all over the place.”

  “Not like Gramps’s, apparently,” Boone said. “And I think she’s got a point. It has something to do with the land lying fallow for so many years, the exact right amount of runoff from the streams in the hills, the way the sun can reach the crops with just enough afternoon shade. It’s rich and it’s fertile, and no matter what you may think, she probably wouldn’t be able to find another forty-acre plot like it, at least not together and level.”

  “Which is why it would make an ideal coach resort,” Jared said.

  “Maybe. But I don’t know that for sure. But I do know it makes for a good growing environment. I’ve watched Susannah and her friends work. They know what they’re doing. They’ve studied this process of sustainable farming.”

  Jared stood and paced in the kitchen. “I don’t believe you, Boone. You’re willing to give up a future, an easy retirement from the police force when the time comes, a business to pass down—and all because you’ve eaten some good vegetables lately?”

  “That’s not fair and you know it. All I’m saying is this is not such an easy decision.”

  Jared stopped pacing, turned and faced his brother. “Oh, I get it now. It’s her. It’s
Susannah Rhodes. You’ve got a thing for her. You’re living in this mansion with the closest thing we have to royalty and it’s put wild ideas in your head. Well, remember this, little brother—Susannah Rhodes never would have given you the time of day back in high school.”

  Boone smiled to himself. Actually, she gave me more than that.

  “I’m right, aren’t I?” Jared said. “You’ve got this cozy little setup here, don’t you? You take care of the princess and suddenly you’re Prince Charming. How far has it gone, Boone? Does she have you eating vegetables out of her hand...or off her...?”

  Boone stood, scraping his chair on the wood floor. “Knock it off, Jared. You’re totally out of line.”

  Jared’s finger trembled toward Boone’s face. “I came out here to have a rational conversation.”

  “Really? You could have fooled me.”

  “Well, I’ve told you what I think and why I believe the resort would work. That land is half mine.”

  Boone pressed his lips together, telling himself to think before he spoke. But he said the words anyway. “Not exactly.”

  Jared huffed a deep breath, as if he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. “You’re going too far, Boone. Now you’re using the fifty-one percent card on me? Just because you’ve stayed here feeding chickens and mucking stalls, you’re going to hold that will over my head?”

  “That chicken feeding and stall mucking, and watching out for Gramps, by the way, is what earned me the extra one percent, Jared. Remember?”

  “Fine. You can take your fifty-one percent and stuff it!”

  He slammed the door behind him as he stormed off. Boone turned to see Susannah in the kitchen doorway.

  Her face registered shock, though he had no idea what she’d heard. She cocked her head to the side and said, “Brotherly love?”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  SUSANNAH CAME SLOWLY into the room. She mustered all her resolve not to repeat the words she’d just heard Jared say. There would be time enough for that revelation once tempers cooled. Boone was shaken, breathing hard. And his brother was roaring down the drive to the main road.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” he growled.

  “Okay. We don’t have to talk about it—now.”

  He cut a cold glare at her before picking up the two bowls on the table and placing them in the sink. “Jared can be a bit temperamental.”

  “Can’t we all, depending on the circumstances?”

  Boone turned the water on full force and squirted in too much detergent. “What did you hear?”

  Susannah went to the refrigerator and removed a bag of mixed vegetables. “I heard the door slam. I heard Jared’s raised voice. And I heard a few choice words you just mumbled about him being an idiot.”

  “Well, he can be.” Boone set the washed dishes in the drainer. “He wants what he wants when he wants it. And the rest of the world doesn’t matter.”

  Susannah put the veggies in the microwave and sat at the table. “I’m sensing that maybe you do really want to talk about it.”

  “Well, I don’t.”

  “Yes, but it seems that you are anyway, so I’m just leaving the door open.”

  Finished with his chore, Boone sat across from her. “Are we through being mad at each other for the moment?” he asked. “Are we communicating again?”

  “I’m not sure. Let’s see how this goes. I’m willing to try.”

  He shook his head in frustration. “He’s my brother. So many times he’s been my best friend. No two brothers could have been closer when we were growing up. He was my best supporter.”

  “That’s a nice memory to have,” she said and meant it. “I often wished I had a sibling. Life can be lonely when you’re an only child.”

  “Yeah, well at times like this, count your lucky stars.”

  Eventually, before she went up to bed, Susannah intended to mention that she’d heard the earth-rattling declaration about the fifty-one percent. She couldn’t ignore the tingle that knowledge had ignited inside her. The future of Cyrus Braddock’s land was in Boone’s hands. And that meant he could decide her fate as well. Stay, make a forever home, a sustainable farming landmark community at Braddock Farms, or move on—away from home, away from him.

  What if he asked her to stay regardless of the outcome of the land? Would she do that? Could she give up her career, her beliefs about changing the face of farming in rural America? Might she regret it later? These were difficult questions, and after all, he hadn’t asked.

  She couldn’t pressure him. Boone wasn’t ready to accept pressure from another source right now. He was angry and he was hurting. She felt his tangle of emotions in her core, read them in his eyes, and she only wanted to help.

  Responding to the beep, she retrieved her dinner from the microwave, poured the vegetables into a bowl and sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top. The makeshift meal smelled good, and she was starving.

  Pouring a glass of milk and taking her seat again, she said, “I assume all this drama was about the campground.”

  “It was. And there’s nothing wrong with Jared’s idea.” He sounded defensive.

  Are you kidding me? Susannah bit her lower lip to keep from lashing out. Everything was wrong with Jared’s idea, but Boone felt the need to defend him. A resort that catered to people who drove hundred-thousand-dollar motor homes instead of using the same forty acres to support a sustainable farming project that could benefit thousands of people through learning and practice?

  She chewed slowly and swallowed some milk. “Are you going along with him?” she asked. “Are you convinced this is what you want to do?”

  “Not at all, but I have to consider Jared’s interests. What kind of a brother would I be if I dismissed his concerns and desires without giving them a fair hearing?”

  A conscientious one, Susannah thought. A brother who is more concerned about improving life for everyone, not just a select few. She couldn’t maintain her neutral status any longer. She had to say something, and she knew he’d be expecting it. She’d never kept her opinions to herself before.

  “Let me get this straight,” she said. “You’d rather see those precious, fertile forty acres crisscrossed with concrete slabs, tunneled with gas and sewer lines, strewn with electric cables and sizzling with Wi-Fi connectivity?”

  “You’re not being fair,” Boone said.

  She leaned forward, her gaze melting into his. “What have I just described that is not true?”

  He frowned. “Yes, the resort would require all of that. But we could plant trees for shade, dig a pond for fishing, have a playground...”

  “How many rich sixty-year-old executives do you know who like to play on a swing set?”

  Responding as if he didn’t hear her, Boone went on. “We could transform the farmhouse into a nice office and registration area.”

  “That’s what you want to see done with that beautiful, classic structure?”

  He frowned and let his eyes wander, as if seeing the forty acres in a new light. “And we could build a small natural amphitheater against the foothills, perfect for evening shows and campfires.”

  Desperate, she almost reached for his hand but stopped just short. “Think about what’s there now, Boone. Carrots and potatoes. Collard greens, onions and turnips. Celery and lettuce and tomatoes. And the potential for peach and other fruit trees. It’s all set up. The soil is already burgeoning with new growth that could feed the entire population of Mount Union if not most of northeast Georgia with healthy, naturally grown produce.”

  She stared hard at him, daring him to refute what she’d said. Then she added, “What about the resort would benefit the people you’ve dedicated your life to? Will the resort help them lead longer, better lives? Will the resort educate them about how to grow the healthiest
produce?”

  She hated to say it, but the words wouldn’t stop. “Or will the resort simply line the pockets of the current generation of Braddock brothers?”

  He glared at her. His chest rose and fell rapidly. “That’s definitely hitting below the belt, Susannah! You think I’m doing this for the money? I couldn’t care less about the money. In fact, I don’t even know if there will be a profit from this venture.”

  She involuntarily cringed back in her chair and watched him pace.

  “I have to give this careful consideration because Jared is my brother. Once my mother and father are gone, he’ll be the only family I have left. I love his daughters as if they were my own. I’m not going to give into him just because he wants me to. I’m not going to give into you just because...” He stopped, took a deep breath.

  She wanted to say, “Just because what?” but the words wouldn’t form. Was he going to say that he loved her? And would it be fair if he gave in to her desires because he loved her? He had to believe in what he was doing deep down.

  And the truth was, Boone deserved so much better than her. He deserved a solid, stable woman who knew how to stay in one place. A woman who could curb her impulses to be a true partner for a lifetime. She wasn’t sure she could be that woman. She didn’t know if she could give up saving the world one acre at a time to be a wife, a mother, a match for this deserving man in the town from which her father had banished her. At one time she believed she wanted it all—the family, kids, a one-man life, but she’d been a child, and the child had grown up essentially alone.

  And so she continued the only way she knew how. With logic and persuasion and what she believed to be true. It was the final card she had to play without involving the tender emotions that were simmering on the surface for each of them. “I heard you,” she said. “I know you were left a fifty-one percent stake in the farm.”

  He looked at her, his eyes clouded with an emotion she had never seen in them before. Sadness, resignation. He didn’t speak.

  “You have to make this decision,” she said. “It’s up to you, not Jared. Not his adorable little girls. Not your grandfather. And certainly not me. Cyrus left you with the majority of his land because he trusted you to do the right thing. And from where I’m standing, he picked the right brother.”