Page 42 of Wild Sanctuary

“She didn’t wrestle it. She sedated it,” Wyatt states flatly.

“That’s not the version going around. Supposedly, she had it in a headlock.”

“That goat has three legs and cataracts.”

June laughs, swatting his arm. “That goat is a menace and you know it. Anyway, Lou asked if she gives lessons. Apparently, his grandson needs ‘toughening up.’”

“His grandson is forty-three.”

June dissolves into giggles. Wyatt shakes his head, but I catch the corner of his mouth twitch as he turns the key in the ignition.

They keep at it as we pull out of town—something about Lou’s wife and her vendetta against the post office—and I find myself smiling despite the strange tension still humming under my skin.

My phone chimes.

FELIX

Just hit a new PR on deadlift. 285. Pretty sure I’m basically a god now.

I watch a hawk circle over the valley below, then make myself look back at the screen.

ME

That’s amazing! All that 5am training is paying off.

FELIX

I know right. Told my trainer I’d hit 300 by summer. He said most guys take a year to get there. Took me four months.

ME

Wow!

FELIX

Gonna be sore tomorrow tho. You should see my arms RN. Actually hold on.

A photo of his arm flexed in the gym mirror, the angle clearly calculated for maximum definition, pops up on my screen.

ME

Looking good!

Because that’s what he wants to hear. I type the right responses in the right order, and it feels exactly like what it is.

A performance.

The same one I’ve needed to give since the night he made sure I knew his dad and my editor had a tee time on Saturday.

My therapist would call this compartmentalizing… if I still saw her, that is.

FELIX

I know, right? Ok gotta shower. Talk later babe.

He doesn’t ask about the interview. Doesn’t ask about the article, or the ranch, or the town, or anything that isn’t already about him. I drop my phone onto my lap, simply grateful he ended the conversation so easily.

June’s still talking—something about the fundraiser setup and the silent auction items—before suddenly twisting in her seat to face me.