TWO WEEKS LATER
The smell of hay and barnyard animals clogged Josie’s sinuses. She stood outside a fenced-in area filled with baby goats and yoga mats, entertaining serious doubts about this adventure. Stupid T-Rex pancake mold. It had clearly been defective and yet, no one bought that. Misty, Harris, and Noah all agreed that she had lost the dinosaur pancake-making contest to Wren and now they all had to endure goat yoga. Besides the smell, her itchy sinuses, the heat, and her general trepidation about having a farm animal walk over her spine while she was in child’s pose, Josie found herself mourning the loss of the drawing she’d never get from Wren.
One day, she told herself. One day she would earn that girl’s trust and learn all her secrets. Even if she had to do this to get there.
“Aunt JoJo,” Harris called excitedly from the other side of the fence. “We can feed the goats, too! They have baby bottles!”
Josie couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face. Harris had that effect on her. He stood between Wren and Erica as the three of them listened intently to the instructions one of the farm owners was giving. He was so amped up, he kept hopping from one foot to the other. A few feet away, Misty andNoah had already chosen their yoga mats, and sat atop them, surrounded by curious and somewhat aggressive baby goats.
Josie had to admit they were really cute.
“You have to go in, you know. I have it on good authority we’re here because you lost a bet.”
Josie turned to see Gretchen and her adult daughter, Paula, approaching, carrying water bottles.
“I’m going in,” Josie grumbled. “In a minute.”
Paula, who was taller than both Josie and Gretchen, looked down at Josie, one eyebrow arched. “I didn’t peg you as someone who would be scared of farm animals. Didn’t you shoot a guy a couple of weeks ago? Thanks for that, by the way. I kind of like having my mom around.”
“I’m not afraid of farm animals,” Josie said.
“She’s not afraid of farm animals,” Gretchen said at the same time.
Paula laughed and backed away, headed toward the enclosure. “Right, okay. We’ll see.”
Once she was out of earshot, Josie asked Gretchen, “Did you get them?”
Reaching into the small backpack hooked over her shoulder, Gretchen produced two tickets, waving them in Josie’s direction. Each one of them was good for a hot air balloon ride from a company based in southern Pennsylvania, about an hour away.
“Great,” Josie said, taking them and tucking them into her own bag.
“You think they’re coming?” Gretchen asked.
Josie gave a nod in the direction of the parking lot. “They’re already here.”
“Great. I’ll see you in there.” Gretchen still wasn’t completely on board with socializing with Turner but she wouldn’t give Cassidy short shrift, and when Josie had suggested Turner andhis daughter join them today, Cassidy had practically jumped up and down with excitement.
The moment they were close enough, Cassidy threw her arms around Josie. “Thanks for inviting us!”
The first time Josie met the girl, she wouldn’t have thought she was a hugger. Maybe it was the trauma. Maybe it was that Josie was one of the people on the other side of the door when she was rescued. It didn’t matter. Josie would take it. Even when she noticed Wren eyeing them from across the fence, a frown on her face.
“Oh, there’s Noah!” Cassidy said. “And Wren!”
With that, she was gone, leaving Turner and Josie face to face. She took out the tickets and thrust them against his chest.
“What’s this?” he said, brows drawing together as he studied them. “Quinn, I can’t take these.”
“Shut up,” she told him. “They’re not for you anyway, although if you aren’t on that ride with her, I will kick your ass.”
He shook his head, staring at the tickets. “Noted.”
The sound of giggles drew both their attention. Misty was being full-on attacked by a half-dozen baby goats and apparently loving every second.
“Whoa,” Turner breathed. “Who’s that?”
Josie’s head snapped in his direction so fast, she almost gave herself whiplash. “Don’t,” she said sternly. “Don’t even think about it. In fact, don’t look at her at all.”
He chuckled. “I asked who she is, not for her hand in marriage.”
