Page 71 of Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek)

“All I do is sleep.” I groan. “I’ve slept more this week than I have my whole life.”

Noah chuckles at the exaggeration, but I never sleep more than eight hours a night. Even when I don’t set my alarm, my body wakes me up, but this past week I’ve slept for twelve hours or more each night.

“You probably needed it,” she says. “Well, let’s go see Ranger. He’s been a little restless, but he’s gonna be so excited.”

I smile because she’s right. The moment he comes into view, he releases a high-pitched squeal, and I almost cry at how good it is to see him.

“Hey, buddy!” I walk inside his stall and wrap my arms around him, inhaling his earthy scent. “I missed you so much.”

Petting his neck, he nuzzles his nose against me.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner.”

Noah pets him on the other side and we talk for a few minutes while my dad walks around and checks out the other horses.

Although I can’t ride, I can talk to and groom him. Though I don’t have anything interesting to say, hearing my voice is enough to calm his anxiety.

When the brush slips out of my hand, I carefully bend to grab it, but when I go back up, I jump at the sight of Landen.

“Jesus Christ, you scared me,” he says, a palm over his heart.

“I was about to say the same thing.”

“Where’d you come from?”

I hold up the brush. “I dropped it.”

“I mean, when did you get here?”

“Oh, just a bit ago. My dad’s walkin’ around so I could spend a few minutes with Ranger. What’re you doin’?”

He holds up a thick book in his hand. “I came to read to him.”

“You did? Why?”

“You said it calms him, so I figured I’d try it and it has so far. But nothing beats you being here, so he probably doesn’t need me tonight.”

“Wait, you’ve been readin’ to him this whole week?”

“Yeah, we’re”—he flips through the book—“about two hundred pages in.”

Stepping closer, I flip the cover so I can see what it is. “Oh my God, that’s my favorite book!”

He points to the title,Project Hail Mary. “Your favorite?”

Smiling, I nod. “One of ’em, yes.”

He bursts out laughing. “You see the irony, right? He loses his memory on a spaceship?”

“Yes, it’s very funny,” I deadpan. “Maybe I’ll solve a mission.”

“You never know.” He winks. “Do you wanna read it to him tonight?”

I lower my eyes and shuffle my boots in the straw. “Um…I can’t read right now. My vision is still a little blurry.”

He smacks his forehead with the book. “Oh shit, sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

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