Page 67 of Shared on the Ranch

It didn’t make any sense.

Suddenly, the sound of voices broke her out of her thoughts. She turned her head from side to side, but she didn’t see anyone. Her ears strained toward the noise, and realizing they were coming from behind a line of bushes, she felt a sudden prickle of déjàvu.

Run, do not walk, back to the room! You don’t need more trouble!

But Chyanne had never been one to walk away from curiosity, so she leaned forward, listening.

“I don’t care what you say,” she heard Betsy’s voice. “Bubbles is clearly the superior Powerpuff girl.”

“Bubbles?Bubbles?Can she intimidate even a rabbit? I don’tthinkso.”

“Intimidation isn’t everything, Ashley!”

Before she could stop herself, she laughed. Then, realizing her mistake, she slapped her hand over her mouth and held her breath.

“Hey. Did you hear that?” one of the girls asked.

“Is someone out there?” another called, their voice louder.

What do I do? Do I run?But when she looked around, Chyanne realized that she’d been so deep in thought while she walked that she actually didn’t know where she was.

“It’s just me, guys.”

Almost as soon as she’d spoken, Veronica’s head popped between two short trees, and when she saw Chyanne, her expression relaxed. “Oh. It’s you. Well, come on, then.”

To say she was surprised would have been an understatement. Veronica had seemed to dislike her from the very moment that she’d arrived, and those feelings had to have only intensified since she’d snapped at her yesterday. Yet, she was inviting her in on the fun, and not knowing if such a thing would ever happen again, she was determined to take her up on it.

She slipped through the cluster of hedges, and gasped at what she saw.

“A lazy river,” she breathed reverently. “Thisisn’t in the brochure!”

“Yeah.” Lora was floating on her back and she grinned. “Pretty awesome, huh?”

“I’ll say!”

Leaving her standing there with her mouth open, Veronica jumped back into the water.

“Hey, Chyanne!” Betsy waved. “You coming in?”

She laughed, gesturing to her clothing. “I didn’t come dressed for it. Sorry.”

The Little made a face at her. “So what? Come on in! The water’s great… once you get used to it.”

Grateful to be included, she couldn’t help but smile. “Not this time. Isn’t it a little early for swimming?”

“We wanted to cheer Betsy up,” Ashley informed her, and each of them looked sympathetically at her.

Ah. “The new paddle arrived?”

Betsy’s adorable face turned down in a pout. “Yeah, and he says it’s the same one, but I swear that thing has two more inches than it used to!”

Chyanne winced. A lot had happened since they’d first met, and now she could really,trulyfeel the other girl’s pain. “I’m so sorry, Bets.”

“That’s okay.” The Little was floating in a large rubber ducky float and doggy paddled. “This helps. Thanks, guys.”

Chyanne was only half-listening. Somehow, the apology she’d given Betsy reminded her of someone else she owed an apology to. The very same someone who was currently drinking from a water bottle.

Damn Chandler and Aaron and their making me a better person crap.

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