Organically Yours: Sanctuary, Book Five by Abbie Zanders (love letters to the dead txt) 📕

“So, what am I supposed to do? Sit back and wait for her to ask for help?”

“That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do. Stand on the sidelines and let her know you’re ready to step in at a moment’s notice, but it’s got to be her call, feel me?”

“Is that what you did with Sandy?”

“Yes, and it damn near killed me,” Heff said cheerfully. “But it all worked out in the end, so it was worth every agonizing moment. It’ll work out for you, too. I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”

“Yeah? How does she look at me?”

“Like you’re the cream to her peaches. The whoopie to her pie. The—”

“Enough,” Doc said, holding back a laugh.

Once Heff got on a roll, he kept going, and the last thing Doc wanted to do was encourage him.

Heff did have a point though. And while Doc would never feed the guy’s ego by admitting it, Heff did know a lot about the fairer sex.

Doc changed topics. “Is there a reason you’re skulking around my trailer? Besides channeling your inner love guru, I mean?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. We’re doing a conference call with the Callaghans, and Smoke said you had some info to share with the rest of the class.”

“You could’ve just texted me.”

“I did.”

Doc reached into his pocket and realized he didn’t have his phone on him. “I must have left it in the trailer when we went for breakfast this morning.”

“Good sex will do that to you,” Heff said with a knowing smirk. “Shorts the circuits. It’s how you know you’ve found the right one.”

Doc chose not to respond to that, but he agreed wholeheartedly. He and Tina fit in every way that mattered.

“When is this meeting?”

“As soon as everyone gets there. Cage and Mad Dog are on their way.”

The two men started walking toward the main building when Heff shook his head and muttered, “After we get you situated, we need to get Church a woman.”

“Why’s that?”

“So he stops calling these early morning meetings. Some of us have better ways to start the day, if you know what I mean.”

Doc laughed. Yeah, he knew, especially since his day had started off pretty damn good.

* * *

Once they were all assembled in the war room, Cage started a video call.

Doc shared what Tina had told him, feeling only a slight pang of guilt. Tina hadn’t explicitly asked him not to say anything, but she probably assumed confidentiality was implicit. However, he couldn’t exactly ask for her permission, not without explaining why he wanted to share and with whom.

He rationalized his decision by reminding himself that Tina had no idea how dangerous the men were that Renninger and her brothers were involved with. Sure, Tina was angry with them for what they’d done, but he didn’t think she’d want to see them made an example of by international cartel assassins.

“Renninger is in hiding,” Ian confirmed. “But we’ll find him. We’ve got flags on all of his accounts, and we’re combing through his list of contacts. If he so much as sticks his nose out from beneath whatever rock he’s crawled under, we’ll know it.”

His eyes found Doc. “How’s your woman holding up? She seemed pretty pissed off when she showed up at Renninger’s office in town yesterday.”

“How did you know about that?” Doc asked.

Ian’s grin was devilish. “Renninger’s office is under twenty-four-hour surveillance.”

Translation: Ian had hacked the feed.

“She’s got a colorful vocabulary,” Jake chimed in. “She’d get along well with my wife.”

“It sucks that she got sucked up in this,” Ian said, becoming serious once again. “If there’s anything we can do to help, let us know.”

“Thanks. I’m not sure what anyone can do at this point.”

Ian’s gaze turned thoughtful. “You might want to talk to Maggie.”

Doc remembered an earlier meeting where they’d mentioned something similar happening to one of their own. He didn’t know if that would help, but he filed it away for later.

“In the meantime, try to keep her as far removed from the situation as possible,” said Jake. “It’s not going to be long before people notice Renninger’s absence, and when they do, they’re going to start looking at who he was doing business with.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Tina

Leaving Sanctuary—leaving Doc—was hard, and it wasn’t just because she was dreading what she had to do. She liked his soothing presence and the fact that when she was with him, she didn’t feel so alone.

She wasn’t a damsel in distress, nor would she ever be. But it sure was nice to be able to feel like she could let go and have someone else take the reins for a little while.

Tina stopped at The Mill first. These were the people who she felt closest to, the ones who had been with her the longest and supported her when she first took over the orchards.

As expected, they’d heard the rumblings. She would have given anything to be able to look them in the eye and squash those ugly rumors, but that wasn’t possible. Instead, she did the only thing she could do. She told them the truth. Not the horrible, gory details, but the gist. That Obermacher Farms was in financial straits and would probably be sold to developers sooner rather than later, and when it did, The Mill was going to lose its primary source of fresh produce from which its products were based.

If there was a bright spot, it was that The Mill operated as a separate business entity from the rest of the farm.

Around the time Tina had started applying for patents, she’d tried to talk Gunther into buying the old mill and turning it into a cider mill. She’d seen similar places do well in upstate New York, particularly in the fall, and envisioned Obermachers doing something similar.

He declined.

Rather than be deterred, she became even more determined. A college friend suggested she create her own small business and incorporate. She did, and shortly after, she used her inheritance to buy the old mill and fix it