Brinley smiles without meaning to. “She’s perfect.”
Defense flicks an ear and takes one unhurried step closer.
“Named her after my favorite thing to play,” I say.
Brinley edges up to the fence. “Hi, Defense,” she murmurs, like she expects a response. All she gets is a huff.
“Careful,” I warn. “You’re not supposed to like her more than me.”
She glances back at me. “Are you jealous of a cow?”
“Completely.”
We wander over to the goats.
“That little asshole is Penalty.”
He stops mid-chew and stares at her.
She reaches her hand out toward him. “He’s adorable.”
“He’s trouble.”
Penalty decides she passes inspection and presses his forehead into her glove.
I shake my head. “Unbelievable.”
She glances back at me, smug. “He likes me.”
“You say that now. Wait until he’s chasing you around or head-butts you because you didn’t feed him quickly enough.”
She doesn’t hesitate when I hand her the feed bucket. Doesn’t complain about the dirt on her jeans or when Penalty tries to chew the sleeve of my hoodie. When I show her how to latch the gate so he can’t nose it open again, she watches, then does it herself like she actually cares about getting it right.
At some point, she swipes at her face and leaves a streak of dust across her cheek.
She catches me staring. “What?”
I step closer and brush it away with my thumb. “You’ve got a little—”
She goes still under my hand. “Oh.”
Her fingers wrap lightly around my wrist before she lets go. “Thanks.”
My shoulder pulls when I lower my arm. I ignore it.
“You’re good at this,” she says after a minute.
“At feeding cows and goats?”
“At taking care of things… people.”
I let out a quiet breath. “I’ll always take care of the people and things important to me. Plus, someone’s gotta do it. Right?”
She studies me like she’s deciding whether to push further, then just nods.
We finish the last of the feed, and by the time we’re done, it’s late afternoon. The sun is starting to slide down behind the tree line. Penalty loses interest in us the second his bucket hits the ground, head down like we never existed.
Brinley leans against the fence beside me, her hip brushing mine.
