I glare at West’s back, hating my life choices right now. “Yeah, they’re a good lot,” I acknowledge, wishing I’d kept my damn mouth shut. But since I have my neighbor as a captive audience… “Have you thought any more about that parcel of land we talked about? The one you aren’t using down on the western boundary.”
Jed huffs a laugh. “You can take the businessman out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the businessman, huh? Do you ever stop, Rand?”
West had asked me the same thing the week before, so I have my answer ready.
“When I’m dead.”
I face Jed with the sort of smile that doesn’t reach my eyes. His sort of smile, because no emotion passes across his face as he considers me. Mostly because I’m not of use to him in this moment.
“Not right now,” he says softly, spinning his oversized white hat on one finger as he answers my earlier question out of turn.
I nod. “Good to know. I need to feed my boys. Nice seeing you,Jed.” The disjointed conversation and his predatory tone leave me slightly sickened.
But fighting with my neighbor over hanging out in my yard won’t achieve the retreat from society I crave, not with the chance of a burgeoning fresh start with Lanie come tomorrow. Finally, Jed gets the hint and walks away, humming a tune I don’t recognize horrifically off-key. My eyes strain in the dim light as I turn my mind back to the task at hand. I find a gap big enough to store the gates inside the barn against the far wall.
“There,” I mutter to myself, but West slides out of the shadows, ready to work the moment we’re alone in the yard.
We stow the kit I brought back from town, and West locks up. “Told you we’d lose the light.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I check the yard, but it’s emptied out. An old doubt creeps in with the failing light. “Am I pushing too hard?”
You, me? Everyone?
West crosses his arms that bulge with a bulk that my naturally leaner frame will never achieve. “We doin’ a big deep and motherfuckin’ meaningful right now? ’Cause I need food and beer before we get into that shit.”
A huff escapes me. “Nah. We’re good.” I rap the side of the barn with my fist, wondering when I’ll finally be comfortable in my own skin, on my own dirt, standing beside the man who has supported me at my lowest point even when everyone else walked away.
Even when I couldn’t.
“Let’s eat.”
SIX
LANIE
What Whispers the Wind Brings
“Oh, wearedressing to impress.” Winnie runs a critical eye over my wardrobe options for my not-date with Cord.
Not that I’m the one using the four-letterd-word today.
I’m happy with my choice of dark jeans and blue leather ankle boots that I rarely get to wear when I’m researching but lug about with me all the same. Those are paired with a long-sleeved black tee that I managed to extract from the bag I never get around to unpacking somehow. I kind of figure I won’t be here for long, and yet here I still am. Kind of like my obsession with Winnie’s brother which is developing into something more, fast. Too fast for comfort, too fast to ignore, but it’s there anyway.
My hair hangs in a long braid down the middle of my back that Winnie has fluffed out half a dozen times. I’m still picking stray strands from my sleeves as I shrug on a polar fleece over the top of everything. A moose printed on the front of my tee peers over my open puffer jacket.
“It’s my favorite top. See? Comfy.” I tug at the stretchy material to demonstrate.
“You’re not in Alaska anymore, Lanie.” Winnie throws me a pointed look.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re going out with people, not wolves. A person. Just one. Cord’s taking you on a date, even if you’re pretending it’s not that,” she adds.
“Come on, Win. It’s local research and probably protesting. A light version. No date in sight.” The word feels weird on my tongue. “We’re going to a small town to check out claims of a legend. He’s my guide for the day. It’s hardly dress-up-and-smooch-me time,” I scoff.
Winnie snorts. “Really? ’Cause you two looked awful close yesterday.”
Corddidget close. Real close. And I liked it. More thanliked. I shrug off her comments that skirt way too near to what I’ve been secretly craving all week. “Maybe. He’s helping me with a local project. That’s all.”
