Page 17 of Why We Break

“It looks like there’s a chainsaw or two in our future,” she replies, causing me to laugh.

But an hour later, as I’m dripping in sweat and wood shavings, I can’t say I can still see the humor in the situation.God, it’s barely even eight in the morning, and it’s already hot as hell.Despite the heat, we’re able to clear the limb and fix the fence without too much work. I grab a bottle of water out of the cooler in the back end of the ATV and gulp it down while Hannah inspects the area.

“Okay, I think that’s good enough here, but now we’re behind on fields so finish that up so we can get going,” she tells me, wiping her brow with the bottom of her T-shirt and drawing my attention to her bare stomach.

I watch her for a moment, before needing something else to focus on. “This farm thing’s pretty fun, but damn if it isn’t a shit ton of work,” I tease.

“Tell me about it,” she says, rolling her eyes. “I love this place with my whole heart, but damn it wears me out sometimes.”

“Yeah, I knew I’d have my work cut out for me when I started, but I don’t think I realized how much went into all of this,” I admit.

“Well, don’t go quitting on me now,” she says with a laugh. “We’ve still gotta pick corn and the rest of the veggies for the farmers market this weekend, and then somebody has to check the horses this afternoon.”

“No problem. You wanna take it all on together today?” I ask, suddenly desperate for her to say yes. The idea of spending the day with her even if we’re working sounds like the perfect way to make the day pass.

“You not tired of me yet?” she asks with a laugh.

“Not even close,” I tell her, and I don’t miss the way she smiles at that.

“Okay. Well, I was going to offer for us to split once we got to the fields, but if you insist,” she says. “But don’t you come complaining to me when I start to get on your nerves.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about that one bit, Hannah,” I tell her truthfully.

CHAPTER 14

HANNAH

“Ugh, I swear I just went to bed,” I groan to myself the next morning, rolling over and turning off the alarm on my phone.

I soak in my last few minutes of peace, before forcing myself to get up and get ready for the day, knowing that since it’s Homecoming, I’ll be running around until late tonight, trying to make sure everything’s perfect. Blowing out a sigh, I pull myself out of bed and immediately tap my phone to bring up Spotify and hit Riley Green’s newest album, smiling when “Worst Way” starts to blare through my speakers.

I set to work, making Ruby’s bottle out of the powder I keep by the sink, and I take in the view of the sun rising over the farm. Damn, this place is a real headache sometimes, but I love it to death.

Once I have everything ready, I throw on my farm boots I keep by the door and make my way outside to the trailer while still in my pajamas. By the time I open the door, Ruby is already awake, doing what I’m pretty sure is the calf version of the zoomies. It makes me smile to see her up and moving, and I blow out a sigh of relief that she already seems to be gaining weight and strength the way she’s supposed to.

“Good morning sweet girl,” I coo at her, reaching out and rubbing the coarse hair on her sweet little head. “You hungry, huh? You want some breakfast”

In response, she twirls herself in a circle and lets out a softmoothat makes me giggle. “I know it, girl. Here you go,” I tell her, gripping the bottle with both hands and tilting it down to her.

The little calf immediately grabs it with her teeth, and I have to grip the plastic a little harder as she starts to pull on it. I let out a little laugh at her antics and continue talking to her while she eats until the bottle is empty.

Once she’s done, I pull the bottle away and pet the top of her head again as she curls up in a little ball. “You sleepy now, huh?” I ask, as she sticks out her sandpaper tongue and licks my palm. “Oh I know it. You’re so sweet. And you’re getting so strong. I know it may not feel like it right now, but you’re gonna be okay. And I’m gonna work on building you a pen this weekend so we can get you out of this trailer. What do ya think about that, huh?”

Once again, she lets out a littlemoobefore laying her head down beside where I’m standing, her eyes closing almost immediately.

“All right, sweet girl, you take you a nap, and I’ll see you later,” I tell her, relocking the trailer door and turning to check on Leroy.

When I make my way over, I can’t help but laugh at the sight of him in his little piggy bed. It took us a while to get him back in the pen and fill back in the hole he’d managed to dig with his snoot after his escape, but now that he’s lying in his bed with his food bowl flipped over his face, blocking the rising sun, I feel any last bits of frustration with the animal fade.

When I first got him, I had no idea how notorious pigs were for being great escape artists, and I completely panicked the first time he left his pen. But over the last few years, I’ve gotten used to his antics. He never goes far, and he just loves to roll in the mud. I’ve considered bringing him inside to see if it would help since he pretty much thinks he’s a dog anyway, but the idea of adding anything else to my plate right now makes me want to lose my mind, so I’ve just decided to let him do what he wants.

“Morning, my little precious piggy,” I tell him, and I laugh when he wakes with a start and flings his head, moving the metal bowl off his face with a clang.

He jumps up fast and wiggles his little butt while he waits on me to open the pen and pet him. After getting the gate open, I go in and spend a few minutes giving him some attention and rolling his favorite ball for him to chase. I don’t know if it’s normal that my pig likes to play fetch, but it makes me smile so I’m going with it anyway.

My Apple Watch pings, letting me know it’s time to start getting ready, so I reach down and rub his stomach for a moment, laughing as he snorts and rolls in excitement.

“Okay, big guy, I’ve gotta get ready to go to work, and I need you to promise me you’re gonna be a good boy today and stay where you’re supposed to be. No big escape plans today, m’kay?” I tell him, patting his head as I stand from where I was crouched over, and grabbing his overturned food bowl.

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