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hand. “Yeah, someone is hiding something.”
    Travis bent down, checking out the pot and metal burner. “The same someone who’s hunkered down and made herself at home on the property for some reason.”
    “I’m wondering why.”
    Travis looked up at Mitch. “You have a theory?”
    Yeah, one he didn’t like. It involved a very sexy trespasser who had a house just down the road. Her staying here didn’t make much sense, not with all the money she’d made during her career. Not with the alternative choices of a nearby Inn and miles of open land. She chose his turf and he wanted to know why.
    First he had to be sure. “How long do you think she—whoever she is—has been here?”
    “Days at most. Ever since the problem a year ago with those kids using the back forty as a smoking and drinking site, we do a sweep every few days.”
    “That sounds like an order from Spence.”
    “And his dad. Austin, however, seemed impressed with the kids’ ingenuity.” Travis pushed off his knees and stood up. “Said something about the two of you knowing the best drinking sites as teens. I’m betting Carrie loves hearing stuff like that.”
    “Don’t let the innocent face fool you. My baby sister tried to tag along on those adventures. There was a time when she could outdrink me. She had a scary tolerance for alcohol.” But ever since a nasty accident involving a tractor and a very drunk Austin, none of them drank much anymore and Austin had stopped completely. The nursery and the Thomas farmhouse had become alcohol-limited zones.
    Mitch hated remembering those days when Carrie and Austin broke up. Mitch’s loyalty had bounced between his best friend and his sister, and at times he wanted to strangle both of them for being so stubborn. But thanks to the wedding, those tense days were gone. Dealing with Carrie was Austin’s problem now.
    “She’d kill you if she knew you were dragging her name into these stories,” Travis said.
    Mitch laughed. “She’s used to it.”
    “I’m surprised Austin tolerated being engaged for nine months.”
    “Are you kidding? He would have waited forever. Told me that, too. Poor sucker.” Mitch tucked everything back in the bag and covered the goods with the tarp. “And, for the record, that shed behind Cowles Pond was prime drinking territory back then.”
    The men circled back to the tractor, both lifting their collars against the swish of wind. Travis broke the silence. “Think the high-end gear is related to the issues in the nursery.”
    Mitch tried to figure out how he kept missing simple information when he worked all the damn time and had been known to sleep in his office on bad weather days rather than risk the ride home. “Care to fill me in?”
    “You said you thought you heard someone last night.”
    The tension cramping into a ball at the base of his neck loosened. “Oh, that. I checked it out and didn’t see anything.”
    “Then there’s the flower arrangement.”
    That quick, Mitch was lost again. “Excuse me?”
    “Someone unloaded the flowers and filled in the pumpkin display.”
    “I’m sure that was an employee.” His mind flashed to the setup. He’d walked past it this morning thinking the addition of the cornstalks and choice of colors worked. He didn’t have much of an eye for that sort of thing, didn’t care much except for what it meant in terms of sales, but some of the folks on staff did, which allowed him to focus on things he cared about like accounting and contracts for new work.
    Travis shook his head. “It went up after hours. I checked and no one took credit.”
    “So, let me get this straight.” Mitch stopped in the middle of getting into the seat and jumped back down. His feet hit the ground as he turned to his foreman. “We have a vagrant who cleans up the campsite, doesn’t destroy or steal anything and actually puts in a few hours of uncompensated work while on the property.”
    “Maybe we should hire her.”
    “Or have her