Page 91 of The Hard Way

“Can he get out the fence?” Odin asked.

“Hopefully not,” I said.

“Just a squirrel,” Odin said. “That’s all they’ll think.”

“Petey has way higher standards than that. Just a squirrel indeed!” I put the spyglasses to my eyes. The herd had grown—I knew it from the newsletter, but it was exciting to see. Petey raced back and forth behind the four dozen or so sheep, nipping and barking.

I spotted Vanessa, coming down the field. And then there was Kaitlin, running behind her.

My heart skipped a beat. Kaitlin.

She’d grown her red hair out and had it caught up in a ponytail. Her face was filled out—she looked more mature. Like a young woman. Vanessa had said she’d made the soccer team, and I felt like I could see that confidence in her movements.

I couldn’t stop looking; every step and glance she made gave me a new hit of how much I loved her—and missed her. She glowed with energy. She caught up with one of the ewes and ruffled its back. She’d always gotten close to those animals. Well, we all had. We celebrated those animals. Some of them were like family.

Candace came into view, running to catch up to Vanessa. When she got there, they walked as a pair. Candace had her phone out and was talking to Vanessa at the same time. She wore a baseball cap and a side braid and a blue jacket I recognized.

“My jacket,” I said, like that was the most important detail of the whole scene. “Once upon a time, she would’ve gotten in a lot of trouble for borrowing that without asking.”

Thor put a hand on my shin. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“How do they look?” Zeus asked.

“Happy,” I said. “Amazing. They’re going on.”

Without me.

It was here that it really hurt. I couldn’t climb down there and run over and congratulate Kaitlin for making the team. I couldn’t laugh with her or look over those college catalogs. Or watch old movies with Candace, or do crafts with Vanessa while we watchedSleepless in Seattlefor the millionth time. Or make cheese and fight about who had to get in there to do the smear or turn a batch in the middle of a movie.

“They wouldn’t have all this if you weren’t sending that money,” Odin reminded me.

“It still hurts.”

Sure enough Petey came to the edge of the fence, a black and white streak. He went wild, barking in the direction of our tree.

Candace went up and petted him. I held my breath as she squinted at the tree we were in, but I knew she wouldn’t investigate.

Eventually she turned away, leaving Petey to his freakout. They headed up and inspected a rotting section of fence. Candace and Vanessa seemed to be consulting on a repair. Vanessa slung down her pack, and they banged a pair of two-by-fours into place. At one point, while Candace was hammering, Vanessa smiled in my direction.

I passed the binoculars to my guys and let them look. I loved that they got to see it all.

Candace and Kaitlin took off after a while, but Vanessa lingered. “What’s she doing?”

“Maybe she wants to talk,” Zeus said.

Eventually my younger sisters disappeared from sight, and a few minutes later, a diesel engine roared to life. Candace would be taking Kaitlin to school in the truck.

Vanessa waved us over.

We climbed down, trekked over to the fence, and jumped it.

Petey jumped up on me, barking madly. I knelt and let him lick my face, ruffling his scruff.

Vanessa was all smiles. “Did you see?”

“Of course! Oh my god.” There were no words. I introduced Zeus. Vanessa shook his hand with an undisguised look of awe.

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