The Orchard at the Edge of Town by Shirlee McCoy Read Free Book Online

SUV, the tires spewing dirt and gravel. Apricot watched her go, offering a wave she knew Daisy didn’t see.
    Maybe she would visit the library. Not because she worried about Malachi Shaffer’s ghost, though. She’d always wondered about the history of the property. The first time she’d visited with her aunt, she’d been fascinated with the old house and all the things that had been left behind in it.
    She hadn’t had time to explore the closets that had still been filled with clothes or to study beautiful old furniture that was still in every room. She’d been too busy learning herbs and teas and tinctures. Too busy making soaps and candles that smelled like everything wonderful that nature had to offer. She’d learned a lot during her summers with Rose, but she’d never learned anything about any of the houses her aunt owned.
    Now she had some free time. Plenty of it, and she thought that is exactly what she’d do. She’d go to the library and the historical society. She’d find books and journals and old pictures. She’d figure out everything there was to know about Malachi Shaffer and his orchard.
    Because that was so much easier than figuring out everything she needed to know about herself and about where she wanted her life to go after she went back to LA.
    She walked inside, closing the front door against the late September chill and standing still in the foyer, listening to the soft creaks of the old house, the quiet groans of settling wood. It didn’t sound scary to her. It sounded like home and family, and something warm and wonderful that she’d been missing out on for a lot longer than she wanted to admit.
    Sometimes life punched you in the face, knocked you off your feet, and dared you to hop back up again.
    That’s what Grandma Sapphire always said.
    Apricot had been sucker punched and knocked off her feet. Eventually, she’d hop back up and make something great out of the mess she was in.
    For now, she’d just go back in the kitchen, sip her tea, and wait for the tow truck to come.
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    â€œYou’re in big trouble, Baylor,” Emma Baily said as Simon walked into the sheriff’s department.
    â€œAnd that’s news?” he asked, grabbing a cookie from the plate on her desk.
    â€œWell, no,” she responded with a smile. “But I thought you’d like to know.”
    â€œI guess Dusty called?” he asked, biting into the cookie and glancing at his watch. If the lecture he was about to get from his boss lasted less than twenty minutes, he could still get his report written and be home before the girls got on the school bus. Otherwise, he wouldn’t see them until after school.
    He hated those kinds of days.
    â€œHe called about fifteen times. Cade got sick of it after the third time and called a meeting.”
    â€œWith?”
    â€œMax. He thought it was vitally important that they discuss security at the Apple Valley Fall Festival.”
    â€œSince when is there organized security at the festival?” Usually deputies volunteered to provide help with parking and crowd control. Other than that, the Apple Valley Sheriff’s Department simply enjoyed the festival like the rest of the town.
    â€œSince Dusty called fifteen times, and Cade wanted an excuse to not take his calls,” Emma said drily.
    â€œSounds like a good plan to me.”
    â€œA good plan except that Dusty is mad as a hornet.” She swiped back a strand of golden-blond hair and tucked it behind her ear. Her gray eyes were deeply shadowed, her skin pale. She’d spent the last couple of years caring for her widower father, and her life seemed to consist of work and that. No dates. No movies. No girls’ nights out.
    â€œIsn’t Dusty always mad as a hornet?” he asked, snagging another cookie.
    â€œHe’s usually more like a bumblebee, kind of buzzing around without much malicious intent. Of