Page 35

Asher nodded.

The creek by said road was what separated their mountain and Sunny’s property.

“Is he still in town?”

“Hey, Ray,” Betty called in her wonderful, brash way. “Did you say the suit is still hangin’ around?”

“I can’t say, but I saw him ’bout thirty minutes ago.”

Asher checked the clock on the wall. It was after one, and by the time they finished up here, he’d have enough time to drive by and take a look before he had to get Ruby from school.

He wasn’t sure what was going down, but if VenDeer was involved, it was nothing good.

Chapter

Thirteen

SUNNY

The spring sun beat down as Sunny and Asher walked to her van. The warm breeze brought the sweet smell of a magnolia tree across the street.

Sunny always loved spring. Everything on the mountain came back to life in the most beautiful ways, and with Asher by her side, it was all the sweeter.

“Do you want to head down to Ol’ Creek Road to see if he’s still there?”

“Yeah, do you want to drive?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

She tossed him her keys, and Asher easily caught them. It was nice being in the passenger seat for once.

As he headed out to the edge of town, she rolled down her window. When the wind hit her face, she closed her eyes as it blew through her hair. Tension fell from her as she made waves with her hand out the window.

Glancing over at Asher, she caught him smiling at her. For the first time since she came back, things felt like they used to.

They turned down the road, and there was the black car that was at her house earlier that day accompanied by a big truck with the VenDeer logo. But there was another car that seemed out of place, a rusty, beat-up El Camino.

Asher slowed and pulled in across the street to watch them.

They watched as the suit talked to someone in work clothes, who seemed to be working the surveying equipment. Then another man came out of the woods and stomped over to them. That’s when the suit pulled him to the side to talk to him.

There was something about the man who just joined them Sunny didn’t like. He didn’t seem to fit with the coal company, what with being tall and lanky, with dirty jeans and a hole-riddled T-shirt.

Asher’s gaze narrowed as he took them in. He seemed to be thinking the same thing she was. He was gesturing back to the woods, explaining something.

The suit crossed his arms and looked at the man with barely hidden contempt.

“What are they doing?”

“I don’t know.” Asher furrowed his brow as they watched the men. “Whose property is this?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Does that guy look familiar to you?”

“The suit?”

“No. The one he’s talking to. There is something familiar about it.”