them for hanging around the barn and drinking coffee?”
“Last I checked, their salaries come from the orchard budget, which, if I’m not mistaken, brought in more than any other division last year. But if it bothers you so much, poach them like you usually do until I get this mess straightened out.”
When Rick continued to glare at her, she prompted, “Was there something else?”
His mouth twisted into a grimace. “Someone told Bonnie they saw you driving up the mountain last Sunday.”
“And?” Tina driving around wasn’t exactly prime gossip fodder.
“And,” he said with exaggerated patience, “they saw you heading up the mountain. Alone. And it wasn’t the first time. Where’d you go, Bert?”
“Whoever someone is, they need to mind their own business. And I’ll start telling you my whereabouts when you start telling me yours.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You weren’t at Sanctuary, were you?”
She lifted her chin defiantly. “What if I was?”
“Goddammit, Bert! I told you to stay away from there.”
“First of all, last time I checked, you weren’t my keeper. And secondly, get your head out of your ass and stop listening to window lickers like Eddie. You’ve known Matt Winston all your life. You know he’s not the paranoid, unstable guy some people say he is, and neither are the others.”
“Jesus. You have been going up there, haven’t you?”
Tina had been hoping to put this battle off for as long as possible, but it appeared as if she would be fighting it sooner rather than later.
“Not that it’s any of your concern, but Matt asked for my advice on the old orchard, and I gave it to him. And while I was there, I saw Kate Handelmann and Sandy Summers, and they invited me for coffee. It was nice. They were nice.”
Rick’s face darkened even further. “You want girl time? You’ve got two sisters-in-law. You don’t need to go up to Sanctuary for that shit.”
She snorted. She had no desire to spend time with either of her brothers’ wives. Bonnie was wrapped up in her own issues, and Giselle had her nose too high in the air to be bothered.
“What do you have against them anyway?” she asked. “Because I’ve heard the rumors, and I can tell you that Sanctuary is nothing like the mercenary stronghold some people make it out to be. In fact, it looks a lot like it did when we used to go up there as kids. Matt’s even restoring the—”
“God, you’re so gullible. They were just putting on a show for you. Can’t you see that?”
“Oh? Where’s your proof, huh? Have you actually been there? Talked to them?”
His teeth ground together. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“And you do?”
His body stiffened. “I’m not going to tell you again. Stay away from Sanctuary.”
“Or what?”
“Or you’re not going to like the consequences,” he said darkly.
“Don’t threaten me, Friedrich. You have a hell of a lot more skeletons in your closet than I have in mine.”
Rick shot her a look of such rage that she felt a frisson of fear run up and down her spine. But she’d been dealing with his tantrums for a long time, and she stood her ground, knowing that any indication of weakness would be her downfall.
“We’re done here. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.”
The standoff lasted for a full minute, maybe two, before he turned on his heel and stomped out of her cottage. Tina sagged against the door and let out a big exhale. As the sound of his truck faded away, Tina picked up her phone and sank down onto the couch.
The first call she made was to Lottie. “Gram, Rick was just here. He knows I’ve been going up to Sanctuary.”
“How?”
“He didn’t say, only that someone told Bonnie.”
“Figures. That woman’s not happy unless she’s ruining someone else’s day. Well, I suppose that cat had to get out of the bag sometime,” Lottie said on a sigh. “How bad was it?”
“Bad. I can’t remember when I’ve seen Rick so angry.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
Tina wasn’t crazy about it either.
“I don’t think he knows about Mr. O’Farrell.”
“Oh, I don’t care about that,” Lottie said dismissively. “I’m more worried about you. How are you feeling?”
“Much better.”
“You sound better. I take it, the good doctor had something to do with that?”
“He’s a medic,” Tina said with a smile, remembering Doc’s correction.
“Close enough. I like him for you.”
“I do, too. We’ll talk later, okay? I’ve got to take care of a few