Page 28 of Sweet Surrender

“Iambeing nice,” Zane said firmly.

“And how you’re being right now isn’t an example of that, right?” Tripp teased.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Zane told his brother, wishing the man could stop joking around for once in his life.

“Listen, I’m just yanking your chain,” Tripp said. “But I do want to meet her. She’s all the boys were talking about during after-school snacks today.”

“Fine,” Zane said.

He wasn’t interested in starting up anything with Becca Hawthorne. So he wasn’t sure why his stomach was twisting in knots at the idea of his confident, good-looking brother introducing himself.

By the time they got back to the kids, Becca was already in the stall with little Sally, a brown Jersey calf, who was bolting down the bottle in Becca’s hands.

“Is it okay for her to drink this fast?” Becca asked worriedly.

There was hay clinging to her coat and hair, but her eyes were full of wonder, and even in the dim light of the barn Zane could see there was color in her cheeks.

Beautiful, he thought to himself again before he could shut down the thought.

“That normally takes her less than a minute,” Mom reassured her. “It’s okay that she’s wolfing it down.”

“Good job,” Becca crooned to the calf. “You’re doing it just right.”

Zane smiled at her sweet tone.

“Wow,” Nick said, bouncing up and down in place. “You’re feeding a baby cow, Miss Hawthorne. Isn’t that cool?”

Cal had leaned over to watch her between the bars of the door.

“She’s got a knack for it, this one,” Mom said, winking at Zane. “Got it on her first try.”

“She listened carefully to your instructions, Grandma,” Cal said, straightening up. “It’s very important to listen to all the instructions before you try something new.”

“That’s why you’re such a good student, Cal,” Becca said, her eyes still on the calf.

“You taught us that, Miss Hawthorne,” Cal replied.

She glanced up from the calf and met the boy’s eyes and then the two of them melted into matching smiles.

Zane thought his heart might stop beating at the sight.

Why? Plenty of women are nice to the boys.

But it wasn’t just her. It was Cal. He never felt comfortable with new people right away like this.

“Oh, I think she’s finished,” Becca said as the little calf abandoned the empty bottle and started to nuzzle at her belly and hips.

“I’m so sorry, my love,” Becca told her, giving her a scratch behind the ears. “I only had one bottle. But I’m sure you’ll get to have more later.”

“She sure will,” Mom said. “And now that they’ve both eaten, she gets to go be with Rita again.”

“We don’t want them to try to steal each other’s bottle,” Nick explained, turning to Zane and noticing that his uncle was there now too. “Uncle Tripp, this is Cal’s teacher.”

“Hi there,” Tripp said. “I didn’t want to interrupt while you were doing chores.”

Becca laughed, and Zane wished he had his brother’s easy way with people.

“I have a feeling that’s everyone’s favorite chore,” she replied. “I’m Becca. It’s nice to meet you.”

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