Page 108 of Chasing the Sun

But now, the rest of that dream wasn’t mine.

I swallowed past a lump in my throat as I fought back tears. “Hey, Levi.”

I battled the sun as I looked up at the big, beautiful barn.

“What’s up?” he answered, carrying the last of our five-gallon paint buckets to the front of the barn.

I bit back a smile. “What’s red and smells like blue paint?”

His dark brows pinched together. “Um ...” At a loss, his shoulders lifted.

I grinned. “Red paint.”

“Oh, wow.” Levi shook his head and started to walk away. “That was bad.”

I cackled at my own terrible joke. “Come on. It’shilarious.” On impulse I glanced at the paintbrush in my hand before throwing it in his direction. The brush tumbled end over end through the air and landed smack-dab in the middle of his back, leaving a massive smear of cheery, blue paint.

Levi froze. When he turned, childlike mischief sparkled in his eyes. Fighting laughter, my hands flew up. “It was a joke. I’m sorry.”

His eyes flicked to the nearly empty five-gallon bucket at his feet.

“No. Levi ... no.” I had already started backing up as he lowered to grab the handle of the bucket. I was fucked.

Quickening my steps, panic rose in my chest as he started walking toward me. “Levi. I was messing around. Don’t you dare—I’ll fire you!”

With every step, my flight impulse ratchetedhigher. When Levi took off in a sprint toward me, I turned and ran. The kid was fast, I’d give him that. Reaching into the bucket, he pulled out a soaked paintbrush, flinging electric-blue paint in my direction as I screamed, laughed, and ran like hell.

His youthful laughter rang out behind me as he shouted, “You can’t fire me. I quit!”

With wide eyes I turned, stunned. My mouth fell open. “Levi ...”

A grin hooked the side of his mouth as he shrugged. “Nah, I’m just playing.” He dropped the paintbrush back into the bucket, both of us laughing and breathless. I slung my arm around him, pulling him into an affectionate side hug. We were covered in blue, splatters slashing across our clothes and faces, but we didn’t care.

“Ahem.”The stern throat clearing behind us had Levi and I whipping around.

Cal had his phone held up, capturing a picture and shaking his head. I’m certain my eyes were wide, mouth open like a fish as I was surprised into silence.

With a smile, Cal pocketed his phone. He jerked his head over his shoulder as he spoke to Levi. “Jamie is here to get you for community service. You should clean up.”

Levi nodded, the easy smile never leaving his face. “Yes, sir.”

As he walked away, I called after him. “There will be payback for this!”

Levi jogged away, laughing. My attention rested on Cal. His expression was hard to read—like he was studying me and not quite sure what to make of me.

His eyes flicked up to the barn. “It sure is something.”

I sighed. “I know. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yeah. Sure is.” His gruff voice had me turning.He wasn’t even looking at the barn, but instead staring right at me. A smile bloomed on my face as I hugged my middle.

Cal cleared his throat, shifting my attention to the brooding look on his face. “Can we go for a walk? I’d like to talk with you for a bit.”

Dread pooled in my stomach. Cal and I hadn’t addressed the massive elephant in the room—when the summer had started, an unspoken rivalry blossomed between us and we were both fighting for the farm.

Now everything was . . . different.

Unable to find my voice, I nodded and walked in step with Callum. His long strides slowed to allow me to keep pace with him. His wide palms were stuffed into the pockets of his jeans, shoulders hunkered forward like the weight of whatever he needed to tell me was pressing down on him.