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“Uh-huh.”

Jodie narrowed her eyes. “Don’t uh-huh me.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You said an entire paragraph with your little uh-huh.”

Ripple tried his foot again.

“Buddy, I am fighting for my life here and losing. Cooperate, please.”

Arden laughed, then mercifully went quiet.

Jodie stared down into the cloudy water around Ripple’s hoof.

She could go back. That was the irritating part. Kyle had made that clear years ago. He’d offered to work around classes, help with tuition, whatever she needed. She was the one who had said not yet, over and over until Kyle quit asking.

Because there was always a reason. And they were good reasons.

“I like my job,” Jodie said.

“I know.”

“They need me.”

“I know.”

“If I suddenly start taking classes, everything changes.”

Arden didn’t answer.

“Kyle will panic.”

Still nothing.

“Do not sit there being silently reasonable. It’s obnoxious.” Jodie glared at her.

Arden scratched Ripple beneath the jaw. “I’m not telling you to go back to school, Jodie.”

“Good.”

“I’m asking when you decided you couldn’t.”

Jodie opened her mouth. Nothing came out.

Arden didn’t press. She simply checked the time on her phone and nodded toward Ripple’s foot.

“Five more minutes.”

Then she went back to the horse, leaving Jodie with the question.

FOURTEEN

Mac woke to Jodie’s mouth on his neck and one of her bare legs sliding between his. Grinning, he opened his eyes. She was already watching him.

“Morning,” she whispered.

“Morning.”