Page 12 of If It's You

By the time they had finished mending the fence, Jayce was surely sick of hearing about high school drama. But more importantly, Christian’s smirk had disappeared long ago, replaced with a hard frown. It was a win-win.

“Hey, guys?” Maizie’s dad drove by on a four-wheeler with Mason in tow. Perfect timing. She swore her dad had some sort of implanted device on her that told him when she was almost done with one chore so he could assign her with another.

“There are some new baby calves on the south side of the barn that need to be moved into pens.” He drove off again, in search of his own next project.

Maizie groaned internally and drove the boys back to the farm, though she should have made Christian walk the mile back to the barn in eighty-five-degree weather. That would knock the arrogance off his ridiculously attractive face.

Three baby calves walked somewhat unsteadily around the open area next to the calving pen, and Maizie headed straight for the smallest.

“I got this one.” She was strong, but short, which meant getting the calf into the back of the truck was a little tricky. She cornered the calf, put one arm under its neck and the other below its hind legs, and used her whole body to lift the calf into the back of the truck. She climbed in behind it, holding it down so it didn’t fall out and get hurt. She looked expectantly back at the other two babies, waiting for them to be loaded in.

Christian’s mouth hung open as if he’d just witnessed her hauling a killer whale out of the ocean.

“Close your mouth. You’ll catch flies.” Maizie broke him from his trance.

He clamped his lips shut and looked at Jayce.

“Put one arm under its neck and the other below its butt, like this.” Jayce showed Christian again by picking up the next calf and laying it effortlessly in the back of the truck.

Christian tip-toed toward the last calf, watching the fresh manure at his feet more than the baby.

“We’re going to die of old age,” Jayce said.

Maizie laughed, and the calf Christian had just been closing in on took off.

He approached it again, but before he could get a good hold of it, it ran away. It happened three more times, and each time Maizie laughed a little louder.

After his last failed attempt, Maizie left her calf in the truck with Jayce and hopped back down.

“Don’t worry City, I got this.” Maizie marched past him.

She made a grab for the calf, but it ran away on her as well. Stupid thing, didn’t it know she was trying to make a point? It was a Lucy for sure.

“I thought you had this.” Christian mocked her and followed after the calf.

“Fine, I won’t help.”

He made another attempt and managed to snatch the calf up like it was nothing more than a puppy. “Didn’t need it.” He winked at her as he added the calf to the two already in the back of the truck.

Maizie’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ll hold them in,” Jayce said, already struggling to wrangle the three babies.

Maizie hopped in the driver’s seat and started up the truck. She threw the truck into drive just as Christian slid into the passenger seat.

Darn it. Two seconds too slow.

She turned the radio on and kept her gaze straight ahead.

“I’m still waiting, by the way.”

Maizie shot him a confused glare. “For what?”

“For you to apologize,” he said.

“Why would I need to apologize?” She gripped the steering wheel, glancing back momentarily to check on Jayce and the babies.

“For nearly killing me with that fence post.”