“Good,” I said with a smirk. “You can help me clean the stalls.”
She stared at the shovel like it was an insult.
I walked past her, back to the stall, and tossed a glance over my shoulder. “You wanna wipe that stupid look off your face and get to work?”
She didn’t say a word, just followed me in silence, lips pressed tight. Probably thinking up another ridiculous story. Good. Let her stew for a bit.
When we finished spreading the last bit of fresh shavings, I handed her both shovels and grabbed the wheelbarrow.
“Why are you giving me these?” she asked.
“So you can put them away,” I explained like I was talking to a five-year-old.
“Yeah, I got that, smart-ass,” she shot back. “I meant, why’d you give me the girl job?”
I paused, then looked back over my shoulder. “You wanna haul the manure instead?”
Without another word, she dropped the shovels and marched over, shoved me aside, and grabbed the wheelbarrow handles.
“It’s heavy,” I warned, watching her closely.
“If you can do it, I can do it.”
She lifted the thing with a grunt that told me she was already regretting her decision, but pride kept her moving. I let her go it alone and stayed behind to finish cleaning up.
A few seconds later, I heard a crash from outside and sighed.
Please don’t be what I think it is.
I walked to the back door of the barn, and sure enough, there she was—sitting in a pile of manure next to a tipped-over wheelbarrow.
I couldn’t help it…I laughed.
She glared up at me with murder in her eyes. “I’m glad you think this is funny.”
“I mean…” I shrugged, still chuckling. “You kind of stuck the landing.”
“You’re a jackass.”
I held up my hands, trying and failing to wipe the grin off my face. “Hey, you’re the one who insisted on doing it yourself.”
Her nostrils flared as she rose to her feet, manure clinging to the back of her jeans and half of her shirt. “You could’ve warned me the ground was uneven.”
“I thought you could handle it,” I said, unable to resist plucking her nerves. “Didn’t you say if I could do it, you could do it?”
“Ihateyou,” she spat, then stormed past me and headed straight for the house.
“Yeah, well the feeling’s mutual,princess!”
As I turned to go back for the barn, Luke rounded the corner with a young colt in tow. He took one look at my face and raised a brow. “What was that about?”
“She’s just mad because she fell in a pile of horse shit,” I said.
Luke shook his head as he unclipped the halter and let the colt loose into the pasture. “Why do you have to be so hard on her?”
“She’s not as dainty as she looks,” I muttered, watching her disappear into the house. Amusement tugged at the corner of my mouth, and I forced it away.
Luke looked at me like he could see right through me. “You’ve gotta get over your trust issues. Not all women are heartless liars.”
