Chapter 1

"They should be dead." There was no reason for this. I reached down, yanking another clump of wild grass out of the ground. "It's October, for shit's sake."

Why wasn't there frost on the pumpkins? Apparently, because mother nature decided this year, it would be a sunny fall. The kind of season where weeds ran rampant just to mock me.

Why did I swear I could manage a garden? Because I was an idiot. That's why.

Diesel tipped his head and whined at me.

"Dude, I'm telling you there is nothing in the woods. Well," I shrugged at my golden lab. "Nothing you need to chase."

He'd been whiny, staring at the trees between us and the neighbors for the last ten minutes. There was probably a squirrel or raccoon or maybe an opossum, but I didn't need Diesel getting into a fight with any of that shit. We'd either end up with a corpse or a cut on his face. He whined again, his pink tongue hanging out between his lips, panting in the still seventy-degree heat.

"What we need to do is get the weeds out of the damn pumpkin patch."

Not that the dog could help. I shook my head as I went back to weed removal.

Oddly enough, I didn't even care about a pumpkin patch. But I was the ultimate sucker, and my niece and nephew did care about the pumpkins they'd planted with their parents this spring. A lot. And even though I stayed at the cabin for the fall while my house in Phoenix was being renovated, my brother had tried to hire someone to tend the garden. He thought I wasn't responsible enough to take care of living things.

I had a dog, didn't I?

But he had this amazing ability to get under my skin with his ‘I'm the responsible one and my baby brother is just the good time guy' nonsense. So instead of letting him hire someone, I had to prove my big brother wrong.

And boy, was I regretting it. Because they weren't even going to get up here. Seems the New York Metros had made the playoffs, and apparently that meant no early vacation for big bro, a.k.a. their third baseman.

So this wonderful pumpkin patch was going to go to waste. Still, I couldn't let the damn pumpkins die now. No way. I was hell-bent on proving Declan wrong. Even if he no longer cared.

He'd be busy until hopefully November when the Metros won the World Series. Great for him, shitty for me. Because I had somehow become farmer Finn. And what was I going to do with a shit ton of pumpkins?

Natalie, Declan's wife, suggested I donate them somewhere. Being stuck in the woods for another month at least, I guess I had time.

I sighed.

I hadn't hated being here these last weeks. It had been great, and I'd even driven out to the city to see my big brother on the field. Declan was nearing his last season, and I didn't get many opportunities to see him play in person.

I always winced at the thought of his retirement. He'd never been clear about his plan, and I hoped it didn't include getting involved with the business.

For the last seven years, he and I had been partners in Tumbleweed Rentals, a vacation getaway company. We owned ten properties and managed a handful of others all over the county. This cabin in New York's Adirondacks was our first investment in the company. Since Declan spent most of his time scoring runs for the Metros fans, he was more the silent partner. The one that stayed out of the way and let me run the company the way I wanted. But if he had more time, I could easily see that changing because the man loved to pick at me. But he didn't have the right vision, or the willingness to take the risks required, to run the company I loved.

"Warning. Warning." The siren blared through the trees and the automated voice continued. "You have invaded a protected area. The Police have been called. Leave immediately."

Diesel jumped to his feet where he was sniffing at an errant weed, probably hoping a chipmunk to scare. His head swung around before he took off barking down the hill and through the woods toward the neighbors.

"Dammit." I stood, dusting the dirt off my hands, and followed the dog as he weaved down the path that led to the Henderson's place.

What was going on next door? Until a month ago, the Hendersons had employed our company to manage their property. My parents had become fast friends with them years ago, after Declan and I bought the place. And after one conversation, my mom had talked them into letting us manage their rental.

But they'd called a few weeks ago and said they were taking it off the rental market for the foreseeable future. So it was weird that anyone was there.

I paused halfway down the path. Was that a kid crying? No wait, maybe laughing? I took another step. Young voices were definitely calling out to my dog. Who the hell was there?

As I stepped into the grass, I took in the U-Haul and an SUV in the driveway.

"Kai, dude, you can't just touch random dogs. Gotta find out if it bites first." A tall teenage boy scoffed at the kid, ignoring the warning and petting Diesel.

The kid froze, his big brown eyes looking up at me as I approached. "Does he bite?"

"No," I confirmed before nodding to the house. "What's going on?"

"Shane, good news. He doesn't bite," Kai yelled at the teenager before he smiled, got down on his knees, and let Diesel lick his face like he was covered with peanut butter. The giggles from the little guy had my lips lifting. It was impossible to hear a laugh as joyful as his and not grin too.

Diesel was content, so I turned to inspect the house where the alarm was still warning us the police were being called. Just inside the door, a woman with red hair falling out of her ponytail stood in front of the alarm code box, a cell phone nestled in the crook of her shoulder. She was randomly hitting buttons repeatedly. Did she not know the code?

I caught a flash of pink out of the corner of my eye and turned to see a little girl with two dark pompoms of hair on her head climbing up onto the hood of the SUV parked in the driveway. The only other somewhat adult out here was maybe seventeen, and he didn't seem concerned. But I was concerned. The question was, should I be worried about the girl on the car, or a third boy who was now shimmying up the pole on the porch?

I turned to the teenager—I thought his name was Shane—but he was shouting at Kai, who had moved on from petting the dog to climbing on the railing of the porch stairs.

"Who the hell is in charge of this circus?"

Shane grabbed Kai around the waist and then pulled the other boy off the pole. "Can you grab Blair off the car, dude? I only have two hands and Ivy's inside trying to shut off the damn alarm she doesn't know how to work."

What did he mean she didn't know how to work it? "She doesn't know the code?"

Since we'd been running the property, I had the code. Not that I was convinced I should share it with this group.

"No." He shook his head and moved to the car. "Blair, get down." He frowned when she jumped off the roof. "Not what I meant." The little girl stuck her tongue out at the teenager.

"You're no fun, bruh." Her head tilted back and forth as she waggled her finger at Shane.

"I'll remember that when you want to play Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza."

I blinked. Play what? But Blair just giggled and ran away.

"Sorry." He turned back to me. "Ivy knows the code. She just can't find the off button."

"The what?"

"I don't know, unarm, or off, or whatever you push, man. I couldn't find it either."

Shane turned away from me and glanced around quickly. Another kid—older than the others, but still younger than Shane—was heading around the other side of the house. "Hey Maia, don't go that way. We need to look around before we all just take off."

The preteen frowned and rolled her eyes. "I want to get away from you all. Ivy said I could have my space, remember?"

"That didn't mean run away." Shane shook his head.

No one was saying mom or dad, so who the hell was in charge? Not to mention, how did a person have this many kids? Were there five or six? I'd lost count.

"Where's your father?" I asked Shane.

His head popped up and his brows furrowed. "Mine? Or theirs?" He gestured around at the other kids.

"You have different ones?"

"Yeah, we all have different fathers," he scoffed.

What? Was this like a cult or something?

My attention swung to the woman who stepped onto the porch, seeming to ignore the utter chaos in the yard. The phone was still pressed to her ear as she said, "Yeah, I know. I totally get it. I just can't find the off button." She laughed. "Maybe too many people have touched it. It's got to be close to thirty years old."

None of this made sense. The Hendersons said they weren't renting it out anymore. Did they change their minds? I glanced at the U-Haul again, replaying the conversation. Had they maybe rented it for the entire season? Or could they have sold the place?

Oh, fuck. With this many kids running around, that would be a problem with our renters. They came for peace and quiet. Not a tornado of bedlam.

"Warning warning—" The alarm finally cut off mid sentence. Not that the noise stopped. Because a boy and girl were yelling at each other over who could climb the pole faster. And Shane was pulling a kicking and screaming Kai off the railing again.

I put my thumb and middle finger in my mouth and whistled loudly.

"Who the hell are you people?"

All the little ones froze and looked at me, but the redhead continued to laugh on the phone.