Chapter 34

Azalea's Pov.

Lucas and I caught up with Damon, Laura, and Rowan. Damon walked us through every place and spoke about them. Damon spoke with such confidence and pride that he could easily convince others that he knew everything. But I knew this farm, and I knew Damon, most of the things he said weren’t true or were just an exaggeration. I didn’t blame him too much, though.

He wanted to close a business deal, and of course, you had to look as appealing as possible. Appealing was the last thing this place was lately. I noticed far fewer people working, and the quality of these farms had gone downhill severely. Seeing it with my own eyes pained me a little, knowing how much hard work had gone into this place by countless people on this Belt, and this was what had become of it.

Rowan looked over at me briefly with an eyebrow raised. I just gave him a subtle nod and placed my hand on his shoulder. I gave him a squeeze to encourage him, and we carried on with the show. I saw the grape vineyard and almost couldn’t believe how there were barely any people working in the fields. The wine Trumann took pride in was surely affected by these changes of theirs.

We finally made it to the horses, and I noticed Nyx was still there, but she was cast aside, no longer a main and beloved horse. I almost instantly wanted to change that, I wanted to offer to buy her outright. Lynn and I could take far better care of her than these people.

“What’s her story?” I asked as I petted Nyx. I might be delusional, but I think she recognized me and was overly sweet as I played with her head.

“She was once one of our best, but she’s gone downhill. We’re selling her, but so far, none of the buyers have any interest,” Damon commented with distaste as he looked at the horse. He made a disgusted face the moment we stepped into the stable. His heart was never in this.

Nicholas might’ve been a cunning and talented businessman, but his heart and soul belonged to every piece of this Belt. The farms, the livestock, the vineyard, and especially the horses. Everything was well looked after under his care.

“I told him to get rid of her a while ago,” Laura scoffed.

“Penelope said she’d buy her,” Damon narrowed his eyes on her. I noticed some imbalance between them, they were supposed to have a united front, but instead, I saw them both battling for control.

“Penelope can’t have her,” Laura rolled her eyes.

“Penelope?” I asked, pretending I didn’t know who that was.

“Penelope was one of our cherished workers,” Lucas answered for them.

“Before she slithered away to Terez’s farm,” Laura said yet again. If she was this nasty in front of other potential business partners, then it doesn’t surprise me that no one wants to deal with this woman and her nasty attitude.

“Anyways, she’s up for sale,” Damon dismissed and stared at the other horses. “These are the new horses we currently have.”

I listened to Damon talk about their newest addition. One was quite literally a breeding machine, while others were bought purely for races. They did have some fine stallions for racing, but they lacked the proper care and love they deserved. I can’t believe how far this place has fallen.

“I assume you’ll still be staying an entire week, yes?” Laura asked.

“Indeed,” I confirmed.

“This is the best house we have to offer,” Damon pointed to one of their finest houses on-site. “We forgot to ask if it should be separate or just one?” He turned to me with a slight frown.

“We’ll share one as long as there are enough rooms,” Rowan answered, luckily taking the attention away from me.

“Oh yes, this house has three bedrooms and one small office with a view of the grape vineyard,” Laura gushed. This was their go-to guest house for their partners, and it was actually kept tidy and sparkling.

“That sounds lovely. I truly do love the scenery here,” Rowan commented, looking around.

“Thank you, Mr. Miller, be sure to pass that along to your employer,” Laura winked.

“I shall, they’ll be happy to hear,” Rowan smiled, then reached for his phone. “Am I allowed to take pictures?”

“Well, of course,” Damon smiled instantly. “Go right ahead,” he hummed.

We passed my old house. My heart sank as I noticed the roofing was poorly done now, the paint on the walls was peeling, and one of the windows was shattered.

“What’s there?” I asked.

“It was once a house for one of our employees, but they moved. It was the home to another afterward, but later it turned into a shed,” Damon answered with a bitter taste in his tone. I wonder if he still thought of me.

“I tried to tell them it would be the perfect home for others, but,” Lucas looked at me apologetically, but it’s not his fault.

“I think a shed was far better since we had tractors stored close by,” Damon said in a sharp tone and glared at Lucas.

“I see. It seemed like it was a lovely home,” I said to clear the tension between them.

“Tiny too,” Laura huffed.

“Now, this is where you guys will be staying. I will have someone come by, and whenever you need anything, they will be at your service,” Laura changed the subject as we arrived at the guesthouse.

“Thank you, Lauren,” I said as I accepted the keys from her.

“Laura,” she corrected me, and I could see Lucas stifling laughter in the corner of my eye.

“Mhm, that’s what I said,” I dismissed nonchalantly.

“Well, I guess we’ll meet for dinner then,” Damon held his mother’s shoulder to possibly prevent her from saying much more.

“I’ll see you both at dinner,” Rowan smiled warmly.

I walked them to the door and closed up. I watched as the three walked off, then turned to Rowan and smiled.

“You did great, Rowan,” I smiled as I finally got to remove my glasses. Keeping up the appearance is going to be hard. Between the glasses, straightening my hair, faking the accent, and the entire new wardrobe.

“Your accent surprised me, wow,” Rowan laughed and undid his tie.

“Thanks,” I smiled and walked to sit down.

“Well, what’s next?” he asked, sitting down too.

“I think we should prepare you for that dinner,” I mentioned, knowing I wouldn’t be attending that dinner. “They’re most likely to turn it into a business dinner.”

“I’m aware. Is there anything I should be careful of?” Rowan wondered.

“No, just keep it simple and answer whatever they might wonder about, and keep them sweet. They don’t have to know we want a different deal yet,” I replied and watched as Rowan absorbed it all.

“Noted. So that Lucas fella and this wooden squirrel?” Rowan asked, holding the tiny squirrel figurine.

“Right, I had to improvise,” I laughed and scratched the back of my head. “I know Lucas; he’s my long-time friend.”

“Oh… He knows it’s you,” Rowan was shocked.

“He does, but he agreed to play along,” I assured him.

“I don’t blame him. I noticed some tension between him and Damon,” he pointed out with a chuckle. It was clear there was a lot of discord around this place.

“I don’t think he likes Damon too much,” I replied. I couldn’t tell him in depth what exactly had happened.

“I’ve gathered as much,” Rowan scratched his beard. “It might be because Damon isn’t as educated on the farms as he should be,” he pointed out and was merely speaking the truth. “Now, I don’t know too much, but it surprises me that I know more than him.”

“You do, Rowan, you do,” I laughed. It said a lot that Rowan, who barely knows much, still knows a lot more than Damon.

“Now, we sit back and relax,” I told him and reached for my phone.

“What will you be doing for dinner?”

“I think I’ll head to Lucas and see what information he has to tell me,” I answered and went on social media.

“Who is that?” Rowan asked when I got on Penelope’s page.

“Penelope,” I answered and noticed her recent photo. She was a lot happier on Terez’s farms, and I was happy for her. “She was my other great friend I had on this Belt,” I smiled.

“The one that left?” Rowan wondered.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“She’s pretty,” he admitted.

“She sure is, and she has an even better personality too,” I said with a smile.

A little later, the time came for dinner. I made sure to prepare Rowan for all the potential questions. He promised to have it under control, and I just watched as he walked off to the main house for dinner.

I rushed to get ready myself. Before having to ask, Lucas already called me to ask me out for dinner.

I was busy doing my hair and make-up as I spoke to Lynn.

“I know, darling, mommy misses you too,” I said truthfully. I looked at the screen and saw her arranging her stuffed animals for her bedtime routine. “You look so cute in your jammies,” I complimented her.

They were PJs she picked out herself, so of course, she wore them with pride.

“Thank you, Mommy,” Lynn smiled. “I love you, come home soon, okay?”

“I will be home as soon as I can. Sweet dreams, my little angel,” I blew kisses into the phone. Lynn grinned before ending the call, and I couldn’t help but smile. My sweet daughter was happy and had a deserving future ahead of her. She’d have all the things I lacked.

I got up and went to Lucas’s home. I barely knocked on the door when it already swung open. Lucas looped his arm around me and pulled me in. “I missed you so much, Azzie,” he whispered, and his eyes darted to my lips.