“Do you mind?” Jace asked her quietly.
“Not at all. I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of your family.” And she was. They all smiled at her except for the hard-looking man who waggled his eyebrows at her and mouthed, “Run.”
Jace took her hand in his and led her to the table. He pulled out the chair next to his father for her and then took the seat next to her as everyone said their hellos.
“Stella,” Jace said as he drew her attention to the curly blonde woman. “This is my younger sister, Cassidy. You’ve met my older sister, Piper, and this is her husband, Aiden Creed.”
Stella shook hands with both of them and then looked back to Jace. “You have another older brother, right?”
“Dylan,” Jace told her, reminding her of the name. “He and his wife, Abby, are out of town at the moment for work.” Jace then gestured to the man to Stella’s left. “Dad, this is Stella Winters. She opened the nursery and garden center down the road from Mo and Dani’s. Stella, this is my father.”
Stella held out her hand as Mr. Davies shifted Cricket to his other knee so he could shake it. “A pleasure to meet you. My wife has told me your garden center is beautiful.”
“Thank you so much.” Stella stopped midshake and then laughed. “You know, I studied someone named Pierce Davies in some of my agricultural engineering classes at Kentucky and here I am surrounded by Davies. Maybe you have an inventor extraordinaire as a distant relative.”
Everyone at the table tried to hide their laughs and Stella cringed. “Sorry, Mr. Davies. That’s totally not relevant to who you are. So, what is it that you do?”
“I’m a farmer.”
“Oh, Pierce Davies that I studied was originally a farmer, too.” Stella turned to the table, excited to be able to talk about her passion—agriculture. “I learned all about him. It’s really a fascinating story. He was a farmer but found a hole in the market for agricultural robotics. He’s invented so many things. The CropBot that helps maintain the crops and the BugBot that helps organically keep bugs off the crops. Anyway, I was so inspired I almost double majored in agricultural engineering and agricultural business, but the advanced math classes tripped me up so I dropped the AE class down to a minor.”
Stella looked around and saw everyone looking from her to Mr. Davies. “Sorry, again. I get a little excited talking about plants.”
“You forgot the SoilBot,” Mr. Davies said into the silence.
“The what? I don’t think I know that one.”
“The SoilBot combs pastures or yards, taking samples and then analyzing them to let you know the optimal location to plant and also will tell you when the soil has reached the optimal temperature,” Mr. Davies explained.
“That’s brilliant,” Stella exclaimed before launching into lists of hard-to-grow plants, crops, and flowers.
“Exactly the purpose of it. It can save farmers so much in seed if they plant at the optimal time, plus enhance growth and sale prices of their final product.”
Stella shook her head. “It’s a great idea, but I don’t think Pierce Davies has put that out. In fact, I know it’s not on the market at all or I would have scraped and saved for years to get it.”
Mr. Davies leaned forward to look around Stella to Jace. “Son, grab her one from the barn on your way to drop her off at home, will you?”
“Sure thing, Dad.”
Mr. Davies leaned back and continued to bounce Cricket. “Do you have a BugBot? I could see that helping at the nursery.”
“Not yet, but I’m saving for one. I almost have enough for the CropBot I’m going to put in my flower fields . . . wait, what’s going on?”
“Son, grab her one of the CropBot and BugBot, too.”
Jace nodded as if it were no big deal. Wait . . . no? “Are you Pierce Davies? The man who revolutionized agriculture?”
Tammy rolled her eyes. Pierce beamed proudly.
Stella forced herself not to overwhelm Jace’s father with questions, but it was hard. Through brunch she learned about Aiden’s hometown in England and his company, learned that Piper inherited her father’s inventive side and learned about nanotechnology, and then learned about Cassidy’s love of foreign languages and what it was like working with world leaders.
By the time Jace drove her home, she was simply stunned. “I can’t believe your family.”
“I know they don’t understand personal space. Sorry about that.”
Stella shook her head and laughed. “No, well, yes. They didn’t mind asking personal questions, but they’re so accomplished.”
“My parents always taught us to follow our passions. We’re all very different, but they always supported us in whatever we chose to do. When my dad didn’t understand Dylan’s desire to be in the military, he stepped back and asked his brothers who had all served come in and teach him. Loving what you do and having the courage to do it were the most important things they taught us.”
“Nanotechnology? I’d never heard of half of that before. I could listen to your sister talk all day long.”
Jace motioned to the backseat. “One of her inventions, the jacket she was telling you about, is back there. Take it. I have another one at home.”
Stella felt bad about taking so much, but she also wasn’t foolish enough to say no. The robots Mr. Davies had given her were worth so much, she’d never have been able to afford them all. Stella reached behind her and found the jacket. It was surprisingly light and looked almost like a windbreaker. “Do you think I can gift them with some flowers or special-order trees as a way to say thank you?”
Jace didn’t answer.
“Jace?” Stella asked, looking at his tight face.
“Stella, call Colton. Now!” Jace shoved his phone at her and hit the gas.
Stella finally turned her head and looked out the windshield. Off in the distance black smoke was filling the sky. “My nursery!”
12
Jace heard Stella’s frantic call to Colton, but he was focused on getting to her place as soon as possible so he didn’t talk or even really listen. He knew the curving two-lane country road like the back of his hand as he sped down it, but it still demanded all of his attention.
“Thank goodness! It’s not my garden center. Maybe my house?” She asked as they drove by the barn.
“That’s really black smoke. That’s oil burning,” Jace told her as Stella whispered a prayer for her house.
Jace pushed his SUV as fast as he could over the dirt road until they could see her house. It was standing, but right out front, her garden center truck was on fire. Even through the flames and smoke they could see WHORE spray-painted across the side of the truck.
Jace instinctively grabbed for Stella to reassure himself she was safe. “Stay in the car. Lock the doors and call Andy or Matt. Tell them what’s going on. And take pictures for them. Where’s your hose or fire extinguisher?”
“Okay,” Stella said, but Jace could hear her teeth almost chattering. He didn’t know if it was from fear or from anger, but she was upset either way. “I have both in the garage,” she told him along with the code.