Page 38 of Holiday Hire

He ignores my question and replies, "I'm not playing this game, Phoebe."

"It is not a game! We're taking a break. Some space between us will be good, and when my job's over, we can talk and decide what we want to do going forward," I adamantly repeat.

"And when exactly is this job over?" he fires back.

"Two months."

"Two months? Are you serious, Phoebe? You think I'm going to just let my life sit on hold for two months while you do whatever you're doing on that ranch?" he fumes.

I squeeze my eyes shut again, holding on to the window sill. His voice is taking on the tone that I hate. It tends to turn ugly andmakes me want to crawl into a hole and never come out. So I gently order, "Calm down, Lance."

"Don't you tell me to calm down," he hurls.

I cringe, then lift my chin, square my shoulders, and stare out at the ranch.

It's Saturday. The boys are running around the yard. Alexander and his brothers are in the corral, working their horses. The posts and fences all have lights, burlap, and pine cones wrapped around them.

The sight normally makes me feel happy, but right now, nothing is calming the shaking in my gut. And I realize I want to be outside, not arguing with Lance. So I say, "I'm hanging up now. We can talk about this later. Maybe in a few days?"

He booms, "A few days?"

Anger hits me at a new high. It slaps me, pushing past all the heartache and disappointment I was starting to feel again. I seethe, "Yeah, Lance, in a few days. That should be fine since you know how to disappear and not tell me where you are. Correct?"

"Don't you?—"

"I'm hanging up now," I inform him, then hit the button and toss my phone on my bed.

"Ugh!" I exclaim, leaning against the wall and staring at the ceiling, taking deep breaths, trying to slow my racing heart. I don't know how long I stand there until I'm finally calm enough to leave my bedroom.

I'm halfway through the house when I run into Willow.

She chirps, "Hey, I was coming to get you."

I smile. I really like Willow. Ever since the first day, she's made a point every night to come talk to me and try to hang out. We're becoming friends, which I didn't expect when I took this job.

We're only a year apart in age. We have a lot in common, but she's also a breath of fresh air, as her world is so different from mine.

"Okay, so you're still going to come with me tonight, right?" she asks, her eyes burning with excitement.

I laugh. "I'd love to. But are you sure it's okay for me not to be on kid duty?" I ask, still worried that the boys might need me.

She scoffs. "Yeah, of course. Alexander and the boys will be there anyway. Actually, so will our entire family."

I arch my eyebrows. "They will?"

She nods. "Yes. Tonight's a charity event for the Thanksgiving holiday. All the money raised goes to the food bank to feed needy families over the holidays."

"That's great," I declare.

She nods. "There are a lot of different events over the next few months since we're getting into the holidays. But the rodeo is one of the biggest events. The food bank really depends on the money that'll be raised tonight."

"We had a lot of different programs in the school where the food bank was involved."

"I bet. But we should talk about the most important part."

"What's that?"

She wiggles her eyebrows. "I get to introduce you to all the bull riders."

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