Chapter 6

Chapter Six

B ailey and the boys were surprised to find Pansy waiting for them at the barn when they got there the next morning. If Bailey had known how excited the goats would be when they were reunited, she would have taken a video of the reunion. As it was, the goats were standing next to each other as though they were afraid to let each other out of their sight.

Pansy must have either heard or smelled her sister. Other than acting like she was hungry, she didn't look any worse for wear.

Bailey snapped a picture of the duo and sent it to Nate along with a text.

"Look who showed up this morning out of the blue."

It didn't take long before she received a reply.

"Wow. I'll bet that was a surprise. Which goat is it?"

"Pansy. Not a scratch on her."

"If only goats could talk."

Bailey chuckled and typed out a response.

"Right? I'd love to know where she's been the last twenty-four hours."

Was Petunia out there somewhere, too? Bailey had just about subscribed to the idea that the goats had been stolen. Maybe they really had run off out of fear, and the only reason Poppy stuck around was because of her hurt leg.

"I'm glad she's okay. I'll bet the boys are relieved."

She took another photo, this one zoomed out to show Seth and Jordan reaching through the fence to pet the goats, and sent it to Nate.

He responded with an emoji that had hearts for eyes.

Bailey started to type something else out but stopped herself. It was barely eight on a Saturday morning. She'd probably awakened him with her text in the first place. She cringed and hastily typed out,

"I'm sorry if I texted too early. Didn't even think to look at the clock."

She followed it with an embarrassed emoji.

"You're good. Minnie and I have already been on a walk. Text anytime. I'm always happy to hear from you."

The written words made her pulse jump, and that brought a frown to her face. She sent a thumbs up and jammed the phone into her back pocket.

"Come on, guys. We need to go check on the ducks."

"I hate to say it, but you may need to hire another person or two this season." Rachel tilted her head and fanned her face.

Even with the air conditioning going and several fans situated throughout the store, it still got warm when the space was filled with customers.

"I was thinking the same thing." If the rest of the fall season was this busy, Bailey didn't think she'd have much choice. "I'll go over the budget this week."

She'd add it to the list of things she needed to decide on when it came to the farm. With the kind of interest the place had gotten this year, expanding would be the smart move. It all felt so overwhelming, though. She and Joe had so many plans. Now, simply narrowing it all down to what exactly she should build on seemed like too much.

What Bailey needed to do was sit down and get specific with time, money, and options. Put together a pros and cons list. Maybe then the answer would be more obvious.

"Excuse me."

A woman's voice pulled Bailey out of her own head. An older lady held out her hand. "My grandson found this near the sunflower field. I wanted to make sure and turn it in. I figured someone might be looking for it."

She dropped a watch into Bailey's hand.

"I appreciate that. Thank you."

The customer smiled warmly and headed back outside.

Seth ran up. "Whoa. It's like a treasure. I wish I'd found it." He rubbed a finger across the metal band. "Sure is dirty."

"I'm betting it's been out there for a while." Bailey ran a thumb over the watch face to dislodge the dried dirt. "The battery probably died some time ago." It wasn't an overly fancy watch, but it wasn't cheap, either. Based on the petite size, she guessed it'd been made for a woman's wrist.

"Are we going to find out who dropped it?"

"We're sure going to try."

A grin lit up Seth's face. "Just like detectives! Can I have it for a few minutes? I'll draw a picture of it and write down any clues I see."

"That would be great, sweetie. Thank you." She'd be taking photos of it, too, but she hated to deny her son the chance to indulge his creativity.

He beamed at her and carefully took the watch before going to the table where Jordan was playing.

"Isn't that something?" Rachel shook her head. "It had to have been dropped recently, or surely someone would've spotted it before now."

"One would think. I'll put a sign up on the bulletin board next weekend. Make sure someone identifies it if they claim they've lost a watch. Hopefully, we'll find the owner."

"I could take it to town for you this evening. Maybe run it down to the police station." Rachel motioned to the boys, who were both bent over the watch. "At least it would take one thing off your plate."

"I appreciate that, but I'll keep it here in case someone asks about it. I may even put up a couple of posts on Facebook and Instagram to see if someone speaks up about having lost it."

"Sounds like a good plan." Rachel gave her an encouraging smile. "I hope someone comes forward to claim it. "

Bailey hoped so, too. They had a lost and found box, but she didn't want to put the watch in there. Someone might see it and just take it whether it belonged to them or not. If no one stepped forward, she would consider taking it to a jewelry store to see if it was worth anything. She knew next to nothing about watches or the different brands, but by the size of it, it clearly belonged to a woman.

The watch kept the boys entertained for a good half hour. When Seth brought it back to Bailey, she slipped it into a drawer in the small office area.

By the time the store closed to the public, she was exhausted and more than ready to go home. She said goodbye to Rachel and wished her a good week, then made sure everything was clean and put away. Finally, she got the watch out of the drawer, put it in her bag, and loaded the kids into the truck.

The boys were quarreling as Bailey drove them to the front gate. She retrieved the mail from the small box out front and tossed it into the passenger seat. Before going back through the gate, she activated the lock and waited for it to close again behind them.

"Mom! Jordan won't stop throwing his Batman." Seth was clearly done dealing with his little brother. No doubt he was stretching down to retrieve the action figure every time.

"Stop giving it back to him, and he'll figure it out."

They were halfway back to the house when Jordan started to cry.

Bailey swallowed a sigh. She enjoyed her sons so much, but she couldn't wait for bedtime tonight. There was a lot on her mind, and the chaos of the day was making it impossible to sort through any of it.

They finally stopped arguing when she set dinner on the table. Once they had finished eating, they were back to being best friends. The sounds of their Hot Wheels track floated down the hall.

Thankful for the small break, she dove into the stack of mail. Most of it was trash. There were two bills, but it was the plain, white envelope with her name typed on it and no return address that caught her attention.

Bailey flattened the trifold piece of paper and began to read the typed note.

"Accept the next offer to buy your property. You will regret it if you don't."

The content was typed, and as she re-read the message, the air around her grew hot. She backed against a kitchen chair and sat down hard.