Wolfe smirked a little, "I can see that," he chuckled, "Family farm or something?"

He nodded again before drinking some lemonade.

"Are some of these children hers then?" Wolfe asked after he had taken a long sip of water.

The man paused before shaking his head.

Wolfe raised an eyebrow, "Really? With so many of them running around I guess I just assume one or two were hers," he mused as he turned to refill his cup.

"She only has one," he told Wolfe after a moment. "He left a few years ago."

Wolfe frowned, "I don't mean to pry into family matters," he replied, "But doesn't that cause a problem for inheritance?"

The man shook his head, but didn't elaborate.

Wolfe nodded, "He couldn't handle farm life?" he asked after a moment.

The man shook his head again. "Couldn't find what he was looking for here," he replied simply. "He's one of those guys that's fated for more than most of us."

Wolfe smirked, polishing off his second glass, "That he is," he muttered under his breath as he placed the glass in the sink and headed back towards the door, "I need to look over the rest of the farm's security."

So the man continued to show Wolfe around. True to her word, soon a messenger brought the signed papers back to Wolfe.

Once he got the paper, Wolfe began to work. He worked for quite a few hours, updating the security.

--

"You really don't think hair is more feminine?" Laurel inquired, surprised.

--

Frei was up and about for the first time since her separation from Raven. She wandered around, looking vaguely for Raven.

It was clear when lunch was ready as everyone started making their way out of the fields and into the kitchen as tasty smells filled the air.

--

Nic thought about it for a short moment more before shaking his head.

--

Raven was still keeping to himself.

Wolfe thought about it for a moment before decided to join everyone. He smiled and was surprisingly friendly with those he ran into.

--

Laurel shook her head with a laugh, "Then what makes a girl more feminine?" she inquired with a twinkle in her eye.

Everyone seemed to be nice back except for a few teens going through a rebellious phase. But one glance from some of the older adults and they left Wolfe alone.

--

"More?" Nic asked, sounding confused.

Wolfe chatted with some of the teens who would speak with him, bringing up the prodigal son now and then to see what they had to say about him.

--

"Like... more sexy," Laurel stated with a smile. Man, that sounded weird coming from her. Rosen's influence was surfacing again.

Everyone knew a little. The older ones and the young adults knew more. He had left a few years ago. It hadn't been suddenly; he had mulled it over for some time. There were many different opinions on the matter. Most were understanding. Others were a little harsh. But the facts were these: he had left his only family, his mother, alone on the farm to go live in the city, he also left behind a broken heart along with the rest of the family and friends on the farm. After some more digging, he found out that the broken heart was Aaron; the man who supposedly knew the most about the security who was currently absent. The younger ones were trying to spread the rumor that the two old lovers were together now running around the world together. It was starting to take on; Aaron was overdue to return with little explanation why.

The older ones mostly attributed his leaving to something along the lines of "finding himself." After some time he found someone talkative who spilled that one of the rumors was that he left because of something that had happened in his past. Not a single person would speak about that event though. It seemed to touch everyone a little bit. Especially some of the ones around Raven's age. It had a taboo-ish feeling to it, and the smell of some skeleton hidden in the family closet.

--

Nic was silent for a long moment. Then he asked, "How are those similar?"

Wolfe carried the different conversations easily. He also asked some of the older ones if anyone strange had been spotted around recently. If asked why he was asking, he attributed it to the vandalism.

--

Laurel tilted her head, "Well to be really feminine you have to be sexy, right?"

Nothing strange appeared to be happening. Apart from a few people claiming that Steven would randomly disappear some nights. Which could probably be attributed to someone else who claimed Patricia also disappears at night every so often.

--

Nic thought about it, but he still didn't seem to understand the question. He shrugged.

(lol)

Wolfe nodded, relieved. He was a very like-able and relatable guy. Raven would have dropped his jaw. After lunch he got back to work. It only took a few more hours until his security system was up and functioning. He then went to either find the man or Auntie to let them know it was done.

--

"To be a good woman you have to be sexy," Laurel nodded, attempting to explain one more time.

The man was no where in sight, but everyone pointed him to the main house to find Auntie.

--

"... Why?" Nic asked.

So Wolfe took off towards it, knocking on the front door when he reached it.

--

Laurel blinked, "Because guys like sexy girls."

Someone opened the door and lead him to a big oak desk where Auntie was doing some more work.

--

"To be a good woman... a man must like you?" Nic clarified.

Wolfe cleared his throat a little, "I'm done now, I'll leave my contact information in case there's any problems with the installation."

--

Laurel thought about it for a moment, "Yeah."

Auntie turned to Wolfe and nodded. "You made quick work of it," she replied. Probably high complements from a woman like her.

--

"... Why?" Nic asked.

Wolfe smiled, "It's my job," he replied easily as he walked over to her desk and gave her a piece of paper with all the contact information that she would need as well as the information on the system he installed. Of course, what was on that sheet was not all he had installed, but it would take someone at his level to spot it in the system. "I need to be off now, I have other clients. It was nice meeting you." he bowed slightly.

--

"That's the job of women," Laurel shrugged.

"... Just one more question before you leave," Auntie said as she put the piece of paper in a folder.

--

"Then what is the job of a man?" Nic inquired.

Wolfe nodded.

--

That stopped Laurel for a moment. Rosen's face suddenly appeared beside Laurel's, "To love the woman of course." he teased, licking Laurel's cheek before his face disappeared. Laurel scrubbed her cheek with the back of her hand, "Knock it off, Rosen!" she complained.

Auntie paused for a short moment before asking, "Simply out of curiosity, why are you so interested in my son?"

--

Nic didn't appear to have a physical reaction. Nor did he say anything.

Wolfe smiled, "I'm a runaway myself so to speak," he replied calmly, "I take interest in those who strike out to make lives for themselves. I admire their spirit."

--

Laurel finished scrubbing off her face and looked back at Nic, "Sorry about that," she sighed heavily before complaining, "I miss you... This guy is crazy, I thought he was just a lazy guy but you never know what he's up to or what he's going to do." She glanced after his warily before looking back at Nic.

"... My son runs away from nothing," Auntie replied, not completely aggressively. "This place was suffocating his spirit. So he went to find a place where he could grow."

--

Still Nic didn't say anything.

Wolfe bowed slightly, "I didn't mean runaway in the traditional sense," he explained. "Running away, giving up all that you know to find who are you. That, I truly respect."

--

Laurel stared at Nic for a long moment, "I love you," she finally said quietly.

Something still seemed to be on Auntie's mind, but she didn't ask. Instead she stood and nodded. "Thank you for your work," she told him.

--

After a moment, Nic replied, "I love you too."

Wolfe smiled again and nodded before turning towards the door. Once back at the Juttle he made a few calls.

"What? Wolfe? Where on terra have you been? You can't just take off like that!" Snow scolded, her face frowning from the screen.

"It was important," Wolfe stated, "Now check the security I just installed." Snow sighed but complied.

"Perfect as always, but where is this place?" she paused, "Wait, isn't that-?" One look from Wolfe silenced her.

"Call up the list."

"The... Wolfe you can't be serious." Another look from Wolfe and she sighed, "Really? You're going to call them over this one guy?" She seemed to read his nearly expressionless face perfectly as she answered her own question. "Fine, got it, got it... but what do I say when they refuse to buy from this individual farm?"

"Tell them that if they refuse I'll withdraw my protection form them and their assets be destroyed in the blink of an eye," he stated coldly, a wicked twinkle in his eyes. Snow chuckled a little.

"Alright... well little family farm, you're in for a big surprise..." she mused as she hung up her call with Wolfe and began.

--

By that evening, orders were rushing in and the family business's merchandise was sold out. They would easily make enough profit each month to cover the cost of the new security, and more surplus on top of that. Whatever they grew would sell, for top price. Then the phone calls started: new companies had bought up their loans and had set the interest rates way lower, some offered more land and seeds at low prices. Other companies would pay them to grow their crops. When asked why the sudden involvement now, these companies expressed their interest in real, wholesome foods, not engineered in a lab but grown in real soil along with some marketing and stock jargon about how the move to real foods was returning. None gave totally straight answers but then again, what large company ever does. All the while there was nothing too flamboyant, nothing offered that would put this company on any real map. Their privacy would remain the way it was, they just had more opportunities and wealth now. No fretting to make payments if they took these companies up on their offers.

Later that evening, Raven got a phone call.

By that time, Wolfe was nearly back at the mansion. Snow, who had been ordered to keep an eye on Raven, attempted to tap into his call.

It was Raven's mom. Raven was barely able to say hello before his mom started boasting about the wonderful day.

Snow smiled, pleased.

There was a commotion from outside as Laurel and Rosen rode up. Laurel immediately headed for Nic's room.

That went on for awhile. Apparently she was going to keep their good fortune a secret and surprise everyone with various goodies later in the year. Raven started to seem a little skeptical as she talked about the specifics though. He started questioning her about some of the details and was starting to catch on.

Nic was in his room, like usual. He was at his computer, but surprisingly he didn't appear to be working. Just starting at the screen.