“Hey,” I call, tearing my eyes from the dissipating figures on the hill. “What’re you up to?”
“Nothing much. I’m off work today,” she says. “I might go into town later. You’re just back for the weekend?”
I glance over my shoulder, but the blond rider is gone. “Yeah. I’ll probably leave this afternoon.”
She comes down off the porch, hands on her hips. “You had time to go up to the house and meet Mini Deacon yet?”
“Yeah, Mom took me up last night.”
“He’s real cute.”
“He is,” I agree, mind still elsewhere. For a second, I think about waiting to ask Mom who that man is, but if she thinks I’m interested in someone on the ranch, she’ll jump on it as a chance to get me to stay. “Hey, Leah? Who was that blond guy riding with Ed just now?”
“You mean Bittern?” she says, shading her eyes.
“Yeah, I guess so. What did you say his name was?”
“Bittern, like the bird,” she says. “He’s Freya’s brother, back from rehab a few weeks ago. He’s real nice but quiet-like. Keeps to himself.”
I bite the inside of my lip. That’s not what I was expecting her to say.
“What’s he sober off of?” I ask.
“Heard his step-dad got him hooked on something, maybe pain pills, after he had an accident,” she says, tone soft. “He’s had a rough time, seems like a good guy. Ed likes him a lot.”
I nod. “Yeah…just curious.”
She cocks her head, throwing her bright hair back, and gives me a sly glance. “He’s kinda cute.”
I shoot her a stern look. “Don’t you start.”
“What?” She shrugs, going back up the porch steps and pulling open the door. “You’re single.”
“But not ready to mingle. Shane and I just broke up.”
She winks. “Suit yourself.”
The door falls shut, and I take myself back to the front porch and gather up my blanket, going inside. All through my shower, my head is a little distracted. It’s not about Freya’s brother, though he is pretty cute, and I got a little flutter in my chest when I saw him ride by.
I just didn’t expect to be looking at other men so soon after Shane. Maybe it’s just how jealous he was, always asking what I was looking at on my phone all the time, always wanting to know why I hadn’t texted him. The number of times I flipped my phone over to show him a text from my mom or one of my siblings…well, too many. Which reminds me, now that he’s gone, I need to change all my passwords he insisted on knowing.
I stand at the sink for a while, staring out.
No, it’s too soon. It has to be.
CHAPTER SEVEN
BITTERN
I see her again, while I’m walking down by the cow pond, looking for some chunks of wood so I can mess around with my carving kit. She’s riding a chestnut horse, moving fast. Her hair is all tousled, real pretty, bright like the goldenrod back home. Just a flash of her has me stopping to stare at her figure moving through the field.
My stomach jerks.
I shake my head. I gotta stop this shit.
That night, I can’t sleep, even with the lights on. Around one in the morning, I get up and take a shower, thinking it’ll hit my reset button. The water is hot, near about burning, on the back of my neck. The sear is nice, in a painful way. I roll my head, everything cracking. In my head, I’m turning over the image of the first time I laid eyes on her, standing in the lane.
She’s pretty, and I liked the look of her.
