“Yeah. Be gentle with her,” I warn. “She’s been through some shit,”
“She has that ‘lost girl’ kind of look,” he observes.
“She’s getting better,” I tell him. “It’s been a long road.”
“Hi,” she greets us as she approaches.
“You grab fresh eggs?” he asks her.
“I do almost every morning. I try to get up with London to feed them and help with the horses,” she explains to Afton. “But sometimes I do it after we all wake up.”
“I love fresh eggs,” he tells her.
“Shane’s making you a plate. Come on we have some hay to put down.” I kiss Snow’s cheek and pull Afton along with me.
“Shane said I could come to breakfast?” His eyes widen in surprise. I guess he didn’t expect the invite.
“He did.”
“Have you . . .”
“Not all the way. He’s still figuring things out. He’s straight, or he was.”
“You’re his first?” Afton asks with a smile.
“I will be.” I smirk.
“Nice,” Afton says. “He kind of has that ‘Daddy’ vibe going on.”
“‘Daddy’ vibe?”
“He’s older and all, is what I mean.”
“Not much older than us, and I’m the dominant one,” I relay to him.
“Nice to know.” He grins.
“London,” Carlton greets me.
“Sorry you have to be up so early,” I say.
“It’s all right, Sal pays me well.” He grins.
“I’m ready to start.” I nod.
“All right.”
“Action,” someone shouts.
“Good morning, guys and gals. Gather round. This is your first activity. You will work as teams and hook the trailer to the tractor, then race to the end and back. Along the way, there will be posts marking where you need to leave a bale of hay,” Carlton explains to the tired-looking contestants and the camera. “First team across the finish line and to put the hay in the right place gets a date with London. But there will be a catch. I’ll let you know about that at the end. Oh, and you’ll have to do it wet.” Carlton grins as hoses start spraying water all over the place, and everyone screams as the cold water hits them.
“You do this even in the rain?” some girl in the back asks.
“I do.” I rock on my heels, grinning from ear to ear. “Rain or shine.”
“You’ve been given numbers. Take your spot behind the proper number of your tractor.”
People move, albeit slowly, to their perspective spots. I give Afton a thumbs-up.