Page 15 of The Christmas Tree Farm

Kira scrunched up her face like a child being forced to eat their vegetables. ‘I guess so.’

He chuckled. ‘It might be fun.’

‘Crazier things have happened.’

As he rounded up his dogs and headed out, Bennett refused to think of all the crazier things he’d like to happen with the prickly and intriguing Kira North.

ChapterFive

Did you find anything?

Bennett glanced at the text from his sister. He debated ignoring it. He was already working far later than he wanted to, but he had projects to catch up on after his morning of playing Mr. Fix-It at Kira’s. But he hated leaving messages unanswered. It made him feel itchy.

No. Not a single dead body in sight.

Okay. Phew. When are you going back?

He sighed, leaning back against Jeanie’s couch cushions. Her small apartment lacked a desk, and he was still trying to figure out the most comfortable place to work.

I don’t think I’m going back.

He needed to stay away from Kira. That’s what his little visit had proven to him this morning. Seeing her in that drafty old house had stirred up too many things in him and he needed those things to stay buried just like Edwin’s dead wife.

You have to! Just a few more times. Just to be sure.

You do know this is insane, right?

Of course I do. But the mayor had a dream and he’s rarely wrong.

And what did the wise and powerful mayor see in this dream?

Well … they’re always a little fuzzy, but basically something important is buried on that farm.

So, shouldn’t we let Kira find it?

Even as he typed it, his stomach dropped at the idea of Kira making a gruesome discovery by herself. And Jeanie knew it, too.

We can’t let her just stumble upon something like that!

Fine. One more time.

Thank you, Ben!! You’re the best!

He didn’t feel like the best. He felt like an absolute sucker who got conned into doing ridiculous errands for his sister because he was too much of a sap to let her down.

But what else was new?

His sister wasn’t the first woman to manipulate him into doing things for her and he was sure she wouldn’t be the last.

* * *

Bennett was back.

She should feel annoyed by that, but she was having trouble summoning the energy today. It was day two of the farm being open and still no customers. A low level of panic had started simmering in her gut. What was left of her trust fund after buying this place was gone after a few months of living here without any additional income.

And now if this Christmas-tree-farm thing didn’t take off, she truly had no idea what to do next. This was the first time in her life that she was on her own. She’d spent the first twenty-four years being either coddled or bailed out of every situation. Her parents had the funds and the means to soften the blow of her various bad decisions. Even when she and Chloe moved out of the Georgian mansion they’d grown up in, they hadn’t gone further than the recently renovated carriage house.

It was pathetic.