him so bad, you hire him to work with you. I’m done.”
Rick exhaled with exaggerated patience. “Tell me what he did again.”
“He shows up late and leaves early. When he is there, it’s like pulling teeth to get him to actually do anything. I’ve been out there late every night, doing things that should have been done during the day.” Her voice was getting louder because every time she thought about it, she got angrier. “And today I caught him changing purchase orders without my consent.”
Tina took a moment to take a deep breath and calm down.
“I’m sure he had a good reason for changing the order. What are you out there in the field for anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be concentrating on your precious mill and leaving the heavy lifting to someone else?” Rick didn’t even try to hide the derision in his tone. He’d been pissed ever since he’d learned The Mill was solely in Tina’s name and not the family’s.
And why shouldn’t it be in her name? He and Gunther had laughed when she suggested buying the old mill, saying it was a complete waste of time and money. She’d used her inheritance to purchase the place on her own, fix it up, and turn it into a profitable business.
“It’s not like I have a choice. Ultimately, the orchards are my responsibility, remember?”
Rick scowled. He didn’t like being reminded of that either. He’d suggested more than once that she should turn orchard operations over to someone else in the interest of her health. She didn’t buy that for a minute. Her brothers wanted complete autonomy over Obermacher Farms, and that wasn’t going to happen, not in her lifetime.
“Look, it’s simple. I can’t be in two places at once. I need someone I can trust to get things done out in the field while I’m in The Mill.”
He sat back, a calculating gleam in his eye. “You could bring someone in to help with The Mill.”
“Not a chance.”
The Mill outlet was her baby. Overseeing the making of jams, jellies, ciders, teas, and other fruit-based products they sold was her job. Plus, there was no way she was going to risk her patented recipes in anyone’s hands but her own. No one knew what went into her secret formulas, not even her brothers. Especially not her brothers.
Rick scowled and exhaled again. “All right, Bert. I’ll talk to Eddie.”
“You do that. Just make sure you’re at O’Malley’s when you do because if he steps foot in my orchards again, I’ll have him arrested for trespassing. The only question is, whether or not his ass will be full of buckshot when the cops arrive.”
Tina left the office, letting the spring-loaded door slam shut behind her. She was nearly vibrating with barely repressed anger. It wasn’t even three o’clock, but she already felt as if she’d put in a full day.
She rubbed her forearms through the soft cotton of her long-sleeved tee, resisting the urge to scratch. Sun and stress, both of which she’d had a lot of lately, exacerbated the itchiness. When she got to her truck, she pushed up her sleeves and reapplied the cooling aloe gel she was now taking with her everywhere.
It helped somewhat. Then, she headed back to her trees, cheering herself up slightly with the knowledge that Eddie wouldn’t be there.
* * *
“It’s so frustrating,” she told Doc later that evening.
“What can I do?”
“This,” she told him truthfully.
Doc listened. Even better, he did so without offering useless platitudes or telling her she was overreacting, like her brothers often did. They were allowed to gripe and grumble, but whenever she did it, they accused her of being thin-skinned or hormonal.
“Thanks for letting me vent.”
“Anytime.” His voice was smooth and deep and soothing.
Talking with him had the same calming effect as sipping a cup of hot cocoa while wrapped in a fleecy blanket. She closed her eyes and willed him to say something else, trying and failing to stifle the yawns that were becoming increasingly frequent.
“You sound tired.”
“I am tired. Mentally and physically.”
The long hours she was putting in were hard, and dealing with Rick and Eddie was exhausting. A dull ache had taken up at the base of her skull earlier and spread throughout the rest of her body. It had been an effort just to warm up some soup, take a hot shower, and pull on her comfortable pajamas.
“I should let you go.”
“Not yet, please. I just want to lie here and talk to you