Chapter 3

She nodded and unglued her tongue. “Y—yeah I’m fine. Just scared the shit out me,” she said. Her heart was running like a frightened rabbit through her chest.

Unconvinced that she was telling the truth, Peyton continued to inspect her arms. He was bending over to check her legs when she took a step back. “I said I’m fine,” she bit out.

Peyton stood and nodded. “I think that’s our cue to call it a day.”

“Fine,” she said, tugging off her gloves and jamming them in her back pocket.

In silence they loaded the pickup with the supplies and made their way back to the ranch. Silence stretched through the cab except for the country music whining lowly through the speakers. “We just have one more little stretch of fence to fix tomorrow and then we’ll be done,” Peyton said.

She just nodded and continued to stare out the windshield as they drove down the dirt road past the dry and dusty fields.

With an annoyed grunt, Peyton slammed on the breaks, throwing roc