Page 30 of One Wild Chance

I duck at the last second as a shovelful of manure sails over my head. “What in the… Rhett! You almost hit me.”

He grins shamelessly. “Gotta watch where you walk on a horse farm.”

“No, you have to watch where you’re throwing that stuff.”

Grady is in the stall next to him, working through a mess of his own.

“Why are you guys mucking stalls?” I ask. “I thought Colton did that.”

“Earl said he called in sick,” Grady answers. “So today it’s our job. Earl can’t do it, and all the part-timers answer to Colton anyway.”

Wyatt wheels a loaded barrow through the center aisle. “Why aren’t you helping us?”

“I’m heading to the farmers market with Summer.” I glance across the yard where she’s checking her inventory one last time, moving around the truck in that white sundress. Right now, she has no idea what she’s doing to my ability to focus.

I wonder if she dresses like this every Saturday and if anyone in town has noticed.

Who am I kidding? Any man with eyes can see she’s gorgeous. I don’t even know if she has a boyfriend, and asking her would look like I’m interested.

Well, there’s only one way to find out, and I’m going to pretend that’s not part of why I’m going today.

“I’ll tag along too,” Wyatt volunteers. “I’d love to get out of here.”

“You already have a job,” I say. “And I’ll represent Lucky Chance for all of us. If we’re going to get this place out of debt, people need to know we’re invested in staying here. This is about community relations.”

“Riiiiight,” Rhett says with a laugh. “I see what you did there, making it all about the farm.”

“What? I’m serious.”

“I’m sure it has nothing to do with Summer.” Rhett nods toward the yard.

“Course not,” I say.

“Jaxon.” Grady leans against his stall. “We all watched you ride back to the barn with her yesterday.”

“You looked like two spoons.” Wyatt smirks.

“She was injured.” I throw my hands in the air. “It was the only way to get her back here fast.”

“Could’ve walked,” Grady notes. “But you didn’t.”

“Are you done?” I ask. “Because I am.” I storm toward the door before they aggravate me more.

“Hey, Jaxon,” Rhett calls after me. “You might want to fix your face before you get out there. You’re drooling a little.”

Grady and Wyatt burst into laughter, but I just keep walking.

Chapter 10

Summer

“Can you pick up the pace?” I check my watch again as Jaxon saunters over. “I should’ve been on the road five minutes ago.”

“I thought this was the farmers market,” he says. “Not a horse race.”

“You’ve been shooting the breeze with your brothers.” I cross around the truck. “Some of us actually have a business to run.”

He grabs the door handle. “You’re awfully bossy for someone who’s getting free labor.”