Wren retrieved Maisie’s cane and brushed off the street grit.
Behind us, Wyatt was backed up against the truck, Maisie pressed tight to his chest. She wasn't screaming anymore, but she let out small, wet hiccups into his collar.
"You’re okay,” Wyatt murmured, rocking her. “He’s gone. We ran him off."
"My heart is beating too fast, Daddy."
"I know, baby. Mine too."
Sienna reached down, picked up the pale, lumpy pumpkin from where it had rolled under the bumper, and moved in slow.
"Hey, Maisie," she said.
Maisie sniffled and tilted her head toward her.
"I think you dropped this." She nudged it against Maisie's arm. "I really need your help with it, too. It feels strange. Can you tell me what animal it reminds you of?"
Maisie’s hand slowly uncurled from Wyatt’s shirt. She reached out, her fingers finding the warty skin.
"It is bumpy," she said.
"Yeah. What else?"
Maisie’s thumb traced a deep ridge. Her hitching breaths began to level out. "It has lumps. Like a toad."
Sienna smiled. "I knew you'd get it. I was thinking dinosaur, but you're right. It’s definitely more like a toad."
Maisie sniffled one last time, then wrapped both arms around the pumpkin and hugged it to her chest.
Wyatt closed his eyes and exhaled a long, heavy breath. He glanced over Maisie's head at Sienna. "Thank you," he said.
"Come on, sweetheart,” Dad said to Maisie. “Let us get in the truck. I’ll crank the air conditioning until we freeze, and you can pick the music."
He took her, pumpkin and all, and carried her to the cab. Wren followed, muttering a string of creative curses toward Harlan.
Wyatt pushed off the truck and started gathering the chalk pricing signs, his movements stiff.
I stood there staring at Sienna in the morning sun, feeling a sudden tightness in my throat. I wanted to pull her against my chest and kiss her. It took everything I had to stay rooted to the asphalt.
She stood beside me, twisting the lace at the bottom of her top between her fingers, watching the truck.
“Who was that man?" she asked quietly.
"Hayes." The name tasted like dirt in my mouth. "He owns half the land around Redbow. Thinks that means he owns the town, too."
"He seems like a monster."
"He's a piece of work. Last time his dog went for Maisie, Wyatt got in his face, and Hayes threatened to ruin the ranch. He’s got enough money and influence to actually do it, so we try not to poke the bear."
"But you just made him drop his cane."
"He let his dog go after Maisie. He's lucky the cane was the only thing that hit the ground."
She searched my face, her dark eyes softening. Then she looked at the truck.
Through the glare of the windshield, I saw Dad sitting with Maisie on his lap. He held her tiny hand, guiding her fingers to the radio dial so she could find a station.
The chatter of the market began to swell back around us, but the world felt like it had shrunk to the few inches between me and Sienna. I stopped caring who was watching.
