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Chapter Seventeen

EVA

Noise frorabbed my phone to check the tiet here this early during the fall I threw the covers back and grabbed a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt from my closet and pulled them on If he was here this early, that otten out or one was sick But I hadn’t heard one crying last night

After I’d brushed my hair and teeth, I slipped on hts before heading outside I turned the corner of the house and froze That wasn’t Jeree had used I backed up and looked back toward the driveway Cage’s Mustang was right besiderobbed But as Cage doing? Where was Jeremy when you needed hi down to the barn to confront Cage

He was loading bails of hay He was going to go spread it How did he know that was on Jere air was cold now that the heat of su-sleeved thermal shirt ,and that hat Daddy had let him use was on his head He turned around with a hay bail in his hands and stopped when his eyes ," he said with a sle before he walked over to the truck and tossed the hay back there He dusted his gloved hands on his jeans and tilted his hat back "Don’t worry I work for free" He winked then went right back to get another bail of hay What the hell was he doing?

I just stood there, unable to forrabbed another bail and tossed it into the truck A h my mind, but none of thee," I said calh ?"

He stopped and glanced back at rin of his "Well, sweetheart, I’d have thought that was obvious I’et to the feed next, and did you know that the east corner is weak on the fence? I drove around it this s out, and it needs to be replaced Also, you got two calves that need to be tagged They’re getting bigger"

Again I ithout words

"I’ll get to it though Jereet started without him"

Jeremy? What? I just shook my head This didn’t make sense Was I still asleep? And if I was, then as I drea choices were limited or nonexistence when he showed up in ainst a piece of furniture Not talking about e?"

"H towardthis?" There I’d ed to ask a question that runts here and there

After he’d tossed the hay into the truck, he walked over to stop only a couple of feet froaze wasn’t playful this time He was serious "Because I want to, Eva That’s why" He replied then turned and started to walk off and stopped again I watched as he turned back to irl startsI want to feel her"

I simply nodded, and he pulled his hat back down to shade his eyes fro back to work As if I wasn’t standing there Was this his way of us talking about it? Today I expected hiure this all out That wasn’t happening apparently Instead he orking on my farm

I could stand there and stare at hi else Before I could decide if I was supposed to go inside or stand there or pinch e walked over and opened the truck door "Back up, sweetheart, I gotta take this on out to the field"

I did as I was told Then I watch hiate He juate and then drove on inside A door sla around Jere out at Cage with an expression on his face I couldn’t read "I’ll be da this? "You kneas coht Told me he’d be here whether I wanted hi to help you Didn’t offer any other excuse--just said he’d be here at six and wanted to knohat needed to be done I told hi he’d had too "

I watched as Cage began to spread the hay and slapped one of the cows on the side to otten up close to a cow and how freaked out he’d been The memory h I didn’t think Jereured that out just yet," he replied Jereet to work He was as confused as I was I turned around and walked back to the house If they were gonna work, then I guess I should ood chance Jeree He couldn’t work on an empty stomach

Bliss kicked as I walked back up to the house I placed a hand on my stomach "Could you save that excitelanced back over my shoulder to see her daddy, and I wondered how this would work Hoould he be her daddy and not live here? He’d be back in Tennessee next week When Bliss was born, he’d be in the thick of baseball season I doubted he’d even be there There was soof many I’d never be in Tennessee with hiroith an absent father One who just dropped by when he had a chance I wanted her to feel loved Could Cage give her that?

CAGE

Not looking back at Eva and Jere and jump the damn fence and jerk him away from her if his lips went anywhere near her body I was here to show her I was ready to be the man she needed But I had my li They weren’t in fucking love They’d barely spoken That wasn’t the way to tell Eva goodShe deserved a helluva lot more than what I’d just seen

"You showed up Not sure what the hell you’re up to though Still trying to figure that out," Jere out theof his truck

"That the way you always tell Eva goodhis comment

I watched the frown crease his brow He didn’t even realize rong hat I’d just witnessed Yeahthey weren’t in love They’d always be friends Nothing more

"What do you mean?" he asked

"The fact you had to ask et into et it fixed, a cow is getting out I’ over there next to work on it"

I opened the door and cli up easy," Jere up," I replied then drove off I had a fence to fix

I hadn’t even got started on the fence when Jere up the wire that had been used to patch the weak spot and looked up at hio eat," he said

I wanted to go eat I was starving But did she want me there? "Doubt she made it for me," I replied

Jeremy spit out the , and I wondered how she dealt with the fact that he dipped during the day when he orking That shit was gross "She hasn’t ot too sick to eat it She didn’t fix it for me"

Hope rose up inShe’d o eat it," I replied