Page 92 of The Hard Way

“I wanted to see you again. To thank you. Nancy Zietlow confessed, and they charged Hank.”

“Thank goodness.”

“There is still a bad aura around our cheese, just from all the coverage, but we’re getting so much goodwill. You know that monthly cheese box I started? Twenty-some sales this morning already. And the news hasn’t even broke in theReporteryet.”

“People will come around. They may wait, but they’ll come back.” We strolled into the herd, and I looked at the sheep. So many of my old favorite ewes were there. My eyes welled up a bit as I patted their fluffy backs.

“Probably stronger than ever,” she said. “You saved us. Again.”

“I should be thanking you—for this. It meant so much. I didn’t know if I could do it.”

“Are you glad now?” Thor asked.

“It was hard. But no, I’m glad.”

“We miss you,” Vanessa said.

“I miss you.”

“Someday,” Thor said, rubbing my shoulders.

“You think?” Vanessa asked. “You think you could come back? Just for a visit, even?”

“Only if things change,” I said. “I so want to.”

“Things do change, though, right?” she said hopefully.

“Sometimes.” I brightened up. “I would’ve never thought I’d stand here being jealous of going out with the herd to fix a fence issue. So I guess things do change.”

Vanessa got a mischievous look. “Funny you should say that. So very funny.”

“What?”

“Kaitlin’s at school all day, and Candace is heading out to her temp job. Those girls will be gone until sundown. And I can’t help but notice you’re here with three capable-looking guys.”

I widened my eyes. “You wouldn’t.”

“What?” Odin said.

I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

“You know we can’t go through summer with those tarps,” Vanessa said. “It’s shantytown central in there. And the shearing shed has major issues…”

“And you have the materials…”

“Of course.”

“We’re in,” Zeus said. “Give us a list of things to do.”

Shivers went over me.

“Come on.” Vanessa picked up her pack, and we trudged all the way back with the herd and Petey, who continued to jump on me like crazy. He went even crazier when I threw a few sticks for him. God, I’d missed that dog.

Back near the house, Vanessa and I showed my guys the lamb pen. Ten lambs, going on a month old by now. A totally cute age. Before I knew it, we were in the hush of the main barn.

My guys got to work on the wall, and Vanessa and I went over the spreadsheets on her laptop and talked about the operations. She told me her ideas for marketing and expansion. She’d been taking classes at the local college.

Later, we went into the house and made lunch and brought it out to the guys. It really was like we were a family, and for a moment, with the five of us sitting there at the picnic table outside the shearing shed, I allowed myself to imagine a world where ZOX wasn’t chasing us. A world where my guys and I weren’t being hunted. A world where they got the fucking commendation they deserved instead of a life on the run. And we could come out and help. Hang for holidays.

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