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I growl in frustration. “God. What is wrong with you?”
He grins. “There she is.”
I’m stunned for a moment by the upturn of his lips. His eyes light with the smile and my knees go momentarily weak. I didn’t think he could possibly be more attractive.
I press my lips together tight to suppress a reflexive smile. “I don’t like you.”
His grin vanishes. “And I don’t like to be manipulated. If you want my help, get your sisters involved. I’ll deal with Clover directly.”
With another growl, I get in my car and slam the door, glaring through the windshield at him. He waves with a smirk and it takes all my willpower to put the car in reverse instead of revving it and driving toward him.
Not that I’d hit him. I’d just give him a good scare.
CHAPTER TWO
Honey
I’m walking toward my house, replaying my entire encounter with Bigfoot - I didn’t even get his actual name - and trying to figure out where I went wrong, when Dani shouts my name.
I spin and head toward the fence line, where I can see my sister with a … I squint. Is that a camel?
“Where have you been?” Dani’s brown curls have mostly sprung free of the bun she’s tried to corral them into and there’s a smudge of what looks like icing on her cheek. “The white board says you got off work at two.”
Shit. I should have anticipated this and had a back-up story ready. “I met up with friends after work. Is that a camel?”
She glances over her shoulder and slumps. “Yep. A group came through town loaded up with exotic and domestic animals. They said they wanted to have a petting zoo at the spring Fling next week, but they didn’t have permits for the animals and, when the officials called in Jared, he found signs of neglect and abuse.” Jared is the local large animal vet and our cousin Brittany’s husband.
The camel snorts like he, too, is disgusted. “How long are we keeping them?”
Dani shrugs. “Until the powers that be decide if the owners can have them back. If they can’t, some of the animals will have to go to a zoo or something. We can’t keep all of them.”
“What else is there?”
Dani raises her hands like she wants to rub her tired eyes, then lowers them, probably because she’s remembered she touched animals who might be ill or infected. “Luckily, Jared found a local reptile expert to take the snakes and lizards.” She closes her eyes.
“That was quick.”
“Not really.” She lets out a jaw-cracking yawn. “Jared called me into the mess at eleven. The reptile guy just left with the snakes and lizards about fifteen minutes before you got home. We’ve got two white-tailed deer, an opossum, a serval, a miniature donkey, and two sheep.”
“Wow.” I’m exhausted just thinking about what needs to be done. “I can’t believe I missed it. What can I do?”
“Jared’s still checking out the animals. And they’ve all got food and water. If you can just feed and check on the rest of our crew?”
“Of course.”
I go inside long enough to slip out of my flip-flops and into big rain boots, then I load up a wheelbarrow with hay and oats from the feed shed and head to the closest barn, where we house Daisy’s horse, Zephyr, a donkey, and two alpaca. The animals all greet me with their various noises or just by following me from the pasture into the barn. We mostly allow them to come and go from the barn as they please, especially now that it’s June and the weather’s warmer, but I’ll shut them up in their stalls for the night.
They don’t complain. I give them all pats as I load their stalls up with their dinners, but they’re more interested in food than me.
It takes over an hour to get all the animals fed and tucked in for the night. Also, I might spend extra time with the two potbellied pigs we currently have because they’re my favorite. They just have so much personality.
By the time I make it back to the house, my stomach is growling, and it’s almost five. No one is in the kitchen and the house is quiet and still. I sigh and try not to let it bother me that my sisters are all out with their boyfriends, living their lives, and not here with me.
Just like when we were kids, and I was always left behind.
I pull bread and peanut butter from the pantry and grab jelly from the fridge. I decided a couple months ago to try a vegan diet, but I’ve never been much of a cook and haven’t quite figured out what to feed myself yet.
I’m halfway through the apple I grabbed after I finished my sandwich and watching reels on my phone when it rings in my hand.
