Where is Cristina? Oh, there she is! I spot her driving on the road’s shoulder, honking her horn. The other cars chime in, until there’s a cacophony of horns blaring outside the farm.
My body goes still as Pane frowns. “What’s all that noise?”
Oh no. He can’t look!
He starts to move toward the sound, but I grab his sleeve and tug him back. “Supplies? What else do we need?”
His gaze brushes my hand and lingers there for a moment before his eyes flick to mine. Whenever he places his whole focus on me, it feels like I’m shrinking, like I’m falling into a deep black hole. He sucks me in and I can’t think.
I blink to shake off the feeling as he explains, “We also need man power. That’s on the list.” A truck honks loudly, and Pane’s shoulders tighten. “Why are those cars honking?”
He begins turning again, but I pop up in front of his face, diverting his attention. “How do you plan to get this man power, exactly?”
“I’ll tell you on the drive to town.” The honking gets louder and he snaps, “What’s going on outside?”
He starts to whip toward the window. He’ll see the signs, the cars, and he’ll be pissed—so pissed that he’ll probably leave right here and now, and I’ll lose my last shot at saving the place.
I can’t endure that. There’s no way to tell my mom that we had a miracle standing in the middle of our rooster-infested kitchen and I let it get away.
As Pane pivots, time seems to slow to an absolute stop. Outside, the green leaves on the trees shimmer and the scraggly grass seems to grow. The whole place inhales and whispers to me. Whispers for me to save it, to keep this land and this place that I love.
And it tells me how to stop Pane from seeing every car and truck that’s rolling out the red carpet for him.
So as he turns, my arms reach out.
I should not be doing this. He will kill me for this. But it’s a risk that must be taken.
I take the hotel heir by the shoulders and spin him around to face me. Then I grab him by the face, push myself up on my tiptoes, and kiss Pane Maddox.
