“I have to go anyway,” Carli says, looking between me and her brother. “Work?”
“Yeah. Okay,” Jace says, a note of resignation to his tone.
“Besides,” Carli says. “I have something for McKenna … for the wedding. You can take it to her for me.”
“Sure. Glad to,” I tell her. This should be interesting.
We walk out side-by-side, the silence taut between us.
When we reach my truck, I turn toward Carli. “So where’s this thing for my sister?”
“I didn’t have anything for McKenna. I just didn’t want Jace to be suspicious.” She shrugs. “But we do need to get that salt lick and the pen dividers back to you sometime.”
“No one’s missing them.”
I glance around.
“It was good to see you. Even for a minute in a hog barn.”
The smile she gives me will fuel the rest of my day. “You too.”
“How is it? Juggling work and farm life?” I ask her.
“Good.” She sighs and shakes her head with a soft smile. “Crazy.” Her eyes meet mine. “I’m adjusting.” She steps an inch closer. “Thanks for asking.”
I smile down at her. “I’ll always want to know how you’re doing.”
I glance around. We’re alone. I reach out and run the back of my hand down her cheek. She smiles up at me, rising on her tiptoes. I bend down and kiss her. It’s brief, a sip when I’m parched for her. But we’re testing fate as it is.
“I’ll text you,” I say.
“Sounds good,” she smiles. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Yeah we will,” I promise her.
Now that I’ve had a night with her, I can’t settle for a minute here or there.
I head back home to help Luke with the arch. Once we’ve gotten the framing done, I head to the pasture to check cows to see who’s close to labor. Then I help move pairs of mothers and calves into their own pens and pastures.
Just before lunch, I clean up and drive into town, stoppingat the station to put on a uniform and take the truck out. Dustin’s at the bakery, already in uniform when I pull up. His large frame practically fills one of the front windows.
I jump down from the truck and step inside.
“Ready?” I ask him.
“Cody!” he shouts as if he’s surprised when we just talked five minutes ago to confirm I was swinging by to pick him up.
Emberleigh greets me from behind the counter. “Can I send you off with anything?” She waves her hand down the glass case.
“Tempting.”
“You’ve gotta try the strawberry cream thing,” Dustin says.
“It’s a Chantilly cream puff,” Emberleigh says.
“Sounds girly,” Dustin says. “But it’s amazing.”
“Most girly things are,” I say with a chuckle.
