“I do, though. You didn’t have to hire me. You didn’t have to be understanding about the rodeo lies. You could’ve told Dungar you didn’t know me well enough to vouch for me.”
“But I do-do-do know you well enough.”
“How can you say that? We’ve only known each other three days.”
I set down the clay tool I was cleaning and gave her my full attention. This wasn’t about the mate bond. This was about what I’d observed, what I’d learned by watching her.
“I know you’re kind to people who are strug-strug-struggling. You notice when someone needs help, and you don’t…wait to be asked. You see beauty in imperfect things.” I paused, searching for the right words. “I know you’re running from something that scares you, but you’re brave. You can…handle anything.”
She stared at me with an expression I couldn’t read. Surprise, maybe. Or fear. Or something that might be hope.
“You see all that?” she whispered.
“I do.”
“What if you’re wrong, and I’m not as decent a person as you think I am?”
The vulnerability in her voice made my heart spasm. “I’ll deal-deal with that if it happens. I don’t think I’m wrong.”
She was quiet for a long time, and I wondered if I’d said too much. But then she smiled, and it was different from her others. Less guarded. More like the Allie I was coming to… Not love but like a lot.
“You’re either very wise or very naive,” she said.
“Probably naive. But I’m alright with th-that.”
We finished cleaning. The barn felt peaceful in the late afternoon light.
Outside, the sky had been getting darker, heavy clouds building on the horizon. The air held the charged feeling that came before a storm. In the orc kingdom, we had ways to predict disasters. Subtle changes in air pressure would make the deep caverns groan, and certain fungi would close hours before cave-ins. This felt similar. This wasn’t an ordinary storm, but something that carried change with it. The hairs on my arms stood on end.
“Looks like we might get some rain,” I said, glancing out the barn doors.
Allie followed my gaze and frowned. “Looks ominous. Should we check the kiln before it arrives?”
“Good idea.”
We hurried to the back shed, finding the kiln finished with the cool-down process, and loaded the creations on trays, bringing them back into the main part of the barn.
People arrived not long after, exclaiming about what they’d made, a few peering out the barn doors, watching the storm come closer.
When they’d left, we finished cleaning up, hurrying to get it done before the weather let loose outside.
A low rumble of thunder rolled across the valley, still distant but definitely heading our way. The sound made Tressa lift her head from her bed in the corner, her ears pricking forward.
“We should close up.” I rushed toward the barn doors. “Prairie storms can be intense, and I don’t want anything getting wet.”
That’s when I noticed that the door to one of the smaller sheds near the sorhox pasture had been left open.
“I’ve got to go close that,” I yelled over the growing storm, pointing.
She rushed over to me. “I’ll come with you.”
With Tressa galloping at our side, we raced across the open area, reaching the shed.
As I reached for the door, thunder boomed overhead, followed by a bolt of lightning hitting the ground nearby.
Chapter 9
Allie
