Page 93 of His Treasured Mate

Peyton stood over me and cleared her throat.

“Did I just hear what I think I heard?”

“Were you really eavesdropping on our conversation?”

“I just came out of the kitchen for a minute and heard you mention the greenhouse. Are you really going to expand back into farming?”

“I am, with a sizable greenhouse for year-round sustainability. Aren’t you like, the biggest champion of all for that?”

“A hundred percent, and I love Brady. He would be great to help oversee the operations side of it, but it's not where his passion is and you know it. There's only one person in our Pack that has the level of passion for this that you need to truly be successful.”

“Who?”

“Kenneth.”

I huffed. “Pey, he's a pup. I know he's been kind of instrumental and getting things rolling, but I don't know about him running the place, not anytime soon at least.”

“He's not. He's grown up when we weren’t looking, Thomas. Brady can assist him while still working out on the range. It'll be a good balance, but if you're serious about this, give Kenneth a chance.”

I looked to Emmett, who just shrugged.

“Peyton's right and you both know it. All those vegetables on your plate were grown right here. Take a chance on him, Thomas. I promise you won't regret it. It was the best decision I ever made.”

My sister beamed like a proud mama.

“Any objections?” I asked Emmett.

“No. We can bring him in on a trial basis and see how it goes.”

“Yes. And while you're at it, add Tim to the team. He has his degree in agricultural engineering. You'll need that when constructing the greenhouse.”

“Really, Pey? You want me to bring in all the Smith boys on this?”

She shrugged. “You could do a lot worse.”

“How about Ollie. Do I need to hire your mate too?”

“If you’re smart and want to keep costs down. He could certainly build the interior planters you'll need for this project.”

I grinned and shook my head. “We'll see.”

“Good enough,” she grinned, knowing damn well I was going to cave and call them in on this. “Might as well call it Smith's Greenhouse instead of Collier at this rate.”

“I wouldn’t argue with that.” She stuck her tongue out at me as she walked away and disappeared into the kitchen.

“Sounds like we have a solid plan.”

“You're sure about this,” I asked him.

He shrugged. “Can't hurt to at least try.”

“Well, let's do this.”

After lunch, I headed back to the Alpha House and searched out Dad.

“Sorry. Business lunch with Emmett turned into a full Six Pack lunch.”

He looked down at his watch and back up to me. “Really? You made great time for that.”