“Couldn’t sleep?” Wyatt asks.
“Couldn’t stop thinking,” I admit.
“About what?” Boone wants to know.
“About stuff. About my dad. About how bizarre everything has gotten.”
“Bizarre doesn’t have to be bad,” Jesse says, pushing off from the fence to move closer.
“No? Because from where I’m standing, bizarre looks a lot like impossible.”
“We’ve talked about this,” Wyatt says. “Impossible is just another word for difficult.”
“My dad found out I was on your property the other night. Mrs. Delaney saw me.”
“Damn she’s a nosy old bitty,” Boone mutters. “How’d he react?”
“There was lots of talk about family loyalty and how your family has tried to ruin ours.”
“What did you tell him?” Wyatt asks.
“The truth. That Rita got loose and I had to get her.”
“And?”
“And he thinks you’re all using me to get back at him somehow.”
Jesse laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “Using you for what? Your superior goat-wrangling skills?”
“For information. For access. For revenge.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Boone says.
“Is it? Because the way my dad tells it, your family’s been plotting against mine for thirty years.”
“The way your dad tells it, we probably caused global warming and the national debt too,” Jesse points out.
Despite everything, I smile. “Don’t give him ideas.”
The silence stretches between us, comfortable but charged with possibility.
“Callie,” Wyatt says, his voice serious. “You know that’s not what this is, right? You know we’re not using you for anything except... this. Whatever this is between us.”
“I know. At least, I think I know. But knowing and convincing my dad are two different things.”
“So what do you want to do?” Boone asks.
“I want to stop thinking about my dad and feuds and consequences,” I say. “I am just so done with this crap.”
“What do you want instead?” Jesse’s voice is closer now, close enough that I can feel his breath on my cheek.
“I want to be reckless. I want to do something reckless and impulsive and maybe crazy.”
“How crazy?” Wyatt asks.
“The kind of crazy that involves sneaking into your barn and forgetting about everything except the way you guys make me feel.”
The silence that follows is charged.
