Rotten to the Core Read Online Free PDF

car. Meg watched her as she wrestled a box out of the backseat. She was stronger than her slight frame suggested, which probably wasn’t surprising, given what little Meg knew about the demands of any agricultural pursuit. She was also lovely—skin the color of butterscotch, long dark hair bunched up with a clip.
    When Briona clomped back to the door lugging a box that appeared to be full of books, Meg stepped back to let her pass. “You know where you’re going?”
    Briona nodded her head toward the ceiling. “The room over this one, right?”
    “Yes. I forgot to tell you, there’s a back stairway. Here, let me show you.” Meg headed for the back end of the kitchen and opened a door to reveal a narrow staircase. “I’m not quite sure why it’s here, but at least you can come and go without worrying about disturbing me. And you can park in the shed, or whatever you call it here, once I clean out some of the junk.” Meg ended on a dubious note. She felt as though she had been clearing out stuff ever since she had arrived in January, but more always seemed to accumulate, and for the moment it was heaped in the open space: jumbles of trash, random construction materials, and plain old junk. “I’ll talk to Seth about it.”
    Briona was halfway up the stairs with her box, but she tossed back over her shoulder, “Seth?”
    “Seth Chapin. He’s a neighbor, and he’s renting part of the barn and the connecting link for his business, which is mostly plumbing now, but he wants to get into building restoration . . .” By the time Meg had finished her rambling sentence, Briona had disappeared up the stairs and was out of earshot. Meg trailed after her and caught up with her in the bedroom. “It’s not fancy, but it’s fairly private.”
    “It’s fine,” Briona said.
    “I’m sorry there’s only the one bath up here, but I was talking to Seth about putting in another one.”
    “I said it’s fine,” Briona repeated. “I’ve been living in student housing for the last four years, and this is way better. Plenty of room.”
    “Well, good. Listen, why don’t you shift the rest of your stuff, and then we can sit down and figure out a schedule, what we need to do next, that kind of thing?”
    “Fine,” Briona said again, and went back down the stairs.
    Not the friendliest person in the world , Meg reflected. Still, Meg wasn’t looking for a new best friend, just someone who could do whatever was needed to keep the orchard healthy and productive. Someone who possessed all the agricultural knowledge Meg lacked. Orchard management was not something you really learned from books, Meg had found quickly. Briona was her best hope for the moment, not to mention the only person she could afford until she figured out what she was doing.
    When Briona had finished hauling boxes up the stairs, she came back to the kitchen and hovered uncertainly in the doorway. Meg gestured her into the room. “You want something to drink, Briona? Oh, and can you stay for dinner? I asked Seth to come over. I thought you two should get acquainted, since you’ll probably be crossing paths a lot. And he said he’d build the fruit storage areas I’ll need in the barn, and he could use your input on that.”
    “I guess. You want to go up the hill now, and I can tell you what I’m thinking? And . . .” Briona hesitated.
    “What?” Meg asked.
    “Could you call me Bree? Briona is what my auntie calls me when she’s mad.”
    Meg laughed. “Sure, no problem.” She checked the clock. Only a couple of hours of light left, and dinner was already simmering on the stove. “Okay, let’s go. But I warn you: you’ll probably just have to repeat most of what you tell me later. It’s all pretty new to me.”
    “No problem.” Bree flashed a brief smile.
    “Oh, before I forget, I had some keys made for you.” Meg handed her a clutch of keys on a chain. “This one’s the front door, this one’s the kitchen door, and this one’s the