Page 24 of When It Burns

What. The. Fuck.

As we load up the rolls of fencing and barbed wire in silence, all I can think is what the hell just happened.

There is no way I am anywhere close to good enough for this girl. The more she gets to know me, the clearer that will become. She is going to come to her senses sooner or later. What happened to us being just friends?

We get into the truck and I’m about to shift it into drive when Caroline leans over and puts her hand on my leg. “Easy cowboy.” She swoops in and presses a quick peck to my cheek before saying, “So, what do you say we go fix this fence?”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CAROLINE

Oh my GOD. What the hell is happening?

We arrive back down at the fence and set to work fixing the gaping hole. We work together to cut off the old wire that was completely trampled by the cattle and throw it into the bed of the truck. Once that’s done, Hannah holds up the new wire while Theo makes quick work of cutting it to the proper size and snipping it with the wire cutters. Margaret hands me the ties we’re using to hold up the replacement fence until we can help Hannah figure out a more permanent solution.

We work in silence, ensuring that the new wire is secured well enough to keep the curious calves in and finish as the sun is slipping behind the horizon.

When we finish, Hannah breaks the silence, “Thanks. I really don’t know what I would do without y’all. I’m sorry this craziness interrupted your evening. I know the whole damn fence needs to be replaced, but the last quote I got was outrageous. They said it would be twenty thousand dollars to fix it all. There’s no way I can pay for it right now.”

I open my mouth to comfort my best friend, when Theo pipes up, “Who were you gonna use?”

“Uhhh, I talked to Ray in town. He’s a nice guy, but everything is just so expensive right now,” Hannah says, looking a bit bewildered.

Theo just gives a silent nod while turning back to the truck loading up the remaining supplies. Hannah turns back to us saying, “Okay, but really. Y’all are the best. Margaritas on me this weekend at Boot Scooters. Now, let’s grab some dinner. After today, I need a beer or-“

She stops talking and squints toward the animal pen on the other side of the driveway before cursing loudly. “Fuck. Little son of a bitch. Leroy get your hairy little ass back in that fence!”

Margaret looks bewildered, and I finally burst into laughter. “Looks like Leroy is in trouble again. Let’s go,” I tell her, and I notice Theo following us also.

We make our way over to the pen Hannah’s grandfather had built close to the back door of the house. I swear it’s no wonder Leroy thinks he’s a dog. His pen is complete with a small water trough, a “pig house” with lots of hay, and a dog bowl with “Leroy” embossed into the side. I am pretty sure if Hannah thought she could house train him, she would let him live inside. She even had a collar custom made so that she can walk him on a leash. I note where Leroy bent back the pen to make his getaway. Hannah chases him as he makes his way to a mud pit across the field. I see his leash lying up on the porch, so I hurry to grab it before turning back to Margaret and Theo, who both look completely confused.

“Come on guys, we have a pig to catch,” I tell them, thankful I wore my junky tennis shoes before starting to run across the grass in the direction of Hannah and Leroy. I hear Margaret laughing as she and Theo join me in our sprint towards the pig. When I reach Hannah, she is ankle deep in the mud. I drop the leash beside the pit and charge in after her.

“Leroy, come here little piggy,” she yells before reaching out to get him. Instead, he dodges her advances, and Hannah loses her balance, falling into the mud. The animal then turns to me, and I swear the booger winks at me before charging at me.

“I got it,” I holler as I dive to grab him, but the mud covering his large body makes him impossible to hold onto. I collapse into the mud and laugh loudly as Hannah and I both fight to regain our footing. I look up expecting Margaret and Theo to be standing at the foot of the hole watching us, but I’m surprised to see they both made the trek into the mud as well.

Theo looks determined to make sure Leroy doesn’t slip by him, and he assumes a football-like defensive stance. “Oh you aren’t gonna get past me big guy,” he says.

As Margaret makes her way to Hannah and me, the three of us dissolve into a fit of giggles. “Here let me help you,” she says, holding out her hands to help us up. We each take one, and Hannah and I look at each other before pulling her down into the mud with us. At the same time, Theo charges at the pig, who has decided that this is a fabulous game of chase. Theo gets his arms around Leroy but is unprepared for how incredibly heavy the animal is. Leroy wiggles out of his hold, and Theo joins us in the mud pit. The three of us look at each other before bursting into laughter again.

“Thought he wasn’t getting past you,” Margaret taunts her brother. She grabs a handful of mud and lobs it at him, hitting him squarely in the chest.

Theo looks at the place where she hit him and back at her with a frown on his face. “The hell was that for?” he asks.

“Just because I can. Loosen up brother,” she responds, slinging another handful of mud in his direction. Leroy has started rolling in the wet dirt, and we have all forgotten about our quest to capture him.

The sun has set, and I can mostly see the outlines of my friends in the dark. However, I don’t miss the quick malicious smirk that touches his lips before he grabs two handfuls of dirt and lobs it back at his sister. Unfortunately for him, he misses thanks to the moonlight, and ends up hitting Hannah in the face.

“What the fuck?” she screams before deciding to forego the handfuls of mud and launching herself directly at him. She misses and once again skitters into the mud where Leroy comes over to check on her, rooting his snout into the crease of her chin. She lets out a laugh before grabbing another handful of dirt and lobbing it at me. After that, we are all a mess of limbs and mud, chasing each other in the darkness and laughing as we take turns slipping and falling. By the time we call it quits, Leroy has fallen asleep in the mud and the four of us are completely coated.

Hannah leans down to Leroy, attaching his leash and gently petting him to wake him from his slumber. Once he is secured, she turns back and smiles before saying, “See I told you. Brighter days.”

* * *

After Hannah puts Leroyin his cage and blocks off his escape route, she and Margaret go inside to find some towels while Theo and I make our way over to the water hose. There’s no way we can drive home covered in mud, so I turn on the spigot and allow the cold water to run over my muddy skin.

Without giving it much thought, I whip off my shirt, knowing there’s no way I’ll get the mud out without a good soak. I feel my nipples harden as the frigid water runs down my body, and I see Theo’s gaze darken as he looks down at my chest where my thin, white sports bra is not hiding much of anything. Whoops.

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