those boys. You still do,” Lottie said with warmth, and then her smile faded. “But an ill wind’s blowing, Bertina. I can feel it in my bones.”
The fact that her grandmother had used her given name spoke volumes. Lottie only did that when something was really important.
“What do you mean?”
Lottie shook her head. “Something is going on. Rick has been in an even fouler mood than usual, and Gunther and Kiefer haven’t been much better. They’ve been to the house every night this week.”
“Do you think it’s because of me going to Sanctuary?”
“I’m sure that doesn’t help,” Lottie told her, “but I don’t think that’s the root of it. No, my intuition tells me it’s something much worse than that. I think Gunther has gotten into something pretty bad. What was that you said about bounced paychecks?”
Tina relayed what Otto had told her.
Lottie’s expression grew even darker. “I bet it has something to do with that Renninger boy.”
“Luther?”
Lottie nodded. “His father was a good man, but he’s his mother’s son.”
Tina didn’t know much about Luther’s mother. As far as she knew, no one did, except that she’d never really been part of the picture. That was one of those rare, well-kept secrets among the Sumneyville elite.
Luther, Tina knew. He’d been in Gunther’s class, and the two were good friends. Like Gunther, Luther was a smooth talker and considered exceptionally good-looking among local females. He was well-off, too—his father had left him an established, prosperous business—and that added to his appeal. But to Tina, he’d always seemed like a snake oil salesman—disingenuous and sneaky. It was one of the primary reasons she’d hired someone outside of Sumneyville to manage The Mill’s finances.
Unfortunately, her brothers didn’t feel the same way.
If Luther was involved with whatever had Rick vexed, things could get bad indeed. He handled the business accounts for Obermacher Farms. When the farm had been divided equally among them, her suggestion that they have someone else do the finances had been outvoted three to one.
“Do you still have your own private account?” Lottie asked suddenly.
“I do,” Tina confirmed. “And my LLC isn’t tied to Obermacher Farms. Neither Gunther nor Luther can touch it.”
“Good. At least you’ll have something to fall back on if things go to hell in a handbasket, which, I suspect, they will.”
When they arrived at Mr. O’Farrell’s, Tina helped her grandmother out of the truck. The older man was waiting for them on the porch, his eyes lighting up as they always did when he saw Lottie.
Tina walked with her grandmother to say hello to Mr. O’Farrell.
“Are you by any chance heading up to Sanctuary?” he asked Tina.
“I am.”
He lifted a canvas tote filled with meal containers from one of the two rocking chairs there. The second rocker had been added shortly after Lottie began her weekly visits. It appeared that Mr. O’Farrell was just as sweet and thoughtful as Doc.
“Would you mind taking these back to Kate? Doc forgot to take them with him yesterday.”
It didn’t surprise Tina that Mr. O’Farrell knew about her Sunday trips to Sanctuary, nor did she mind. “Sure, no problem.”
“He’s a fine young man, you know,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
She grinned. “Yes, I know.”
“Kind, smart, generous, honorable, brave. A hero really. He’ll make a good husband for the lucky woman who can capture his fancy.” The old man winked.
“You think so?”
“Oh, aye.”
“Good to know. You two have fun. I’ll be back around seven.”
Mr. O’Farrell reached out and took Lottie’s hand in his. “No hurry.”
Tina was smiling as she backed out of the driveway. She continued to do so all the way to the edge of town—right up until the time she realized she was being followed.
She didn’t recognize the vehicle. It stayed far enough back that she couldn’t make out the make or model, only that it was a dark pickup similar to hers. That didn’t tell her anything since the majority of vehicles in and around town were either trucks or Jeeps.
The driver and passenger were unrecognizable. From what she could see in her rearview, they wore dark hoodies, baseball caps, and sunglasses. She couldn’t even say for sure if they were male or female, but her instincts told her they were male.
To confirm that she wasn’t just being paranoid, Tina drove past the turnoff to go up the mountain toward Sanctuary and into the gas station on the corner instead. The dark truck cruised past at least twice while she filled up her tank and cleaned