Page 12 of That Rush

“I’m thinking.”

“Think with your shoes on.”

She lets out a sigh that could power a windmill, a sound of pure, six-year-old burden, but she still climbs down and heads for the entryway.

I glance at her camp bag by the door, running the mental list. Sunscreen, check. Water bottle, filled. Library card in the front pocket for the stop I promised her later.

I glance around the small foreman’s house. It’s not the place I had in Texas, but with Josie’s drawings taped to every surface and her crayons taking over the kitchen table, it feels more like our home than just another place we’re staying.

“Dad?”

I turn. “Shoes.”

“I have one on.”

“That means you’re halfway obedient.”

She holds up the second sneaker. “I need my library book.”

“The one on the couch?”

“No. A different one.”

“We can get a different one this afternoon.”

Her eyes brighten. “The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde.”

I pause with my coffee halfway to my mouth. “The what?”

“The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde,” she repeats slowly, her tone suggesting I’m the one who needs things explained. “I need it today.”

“That title raises several questions.”

“It’s about princesses and monsters.”

“And hungry bunnies?”

“Yes.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“They eat everything.” She grabs her sparkly headband and pushes it onto her head, crooked enough to undo what little control I achieved with the braid. “You have to ask the librarian where it is.”

I pick up her camp bag and open the door. “I’ve handled bulls, blizzards, and your uncle Axel before breakfast. I think I can find one princess book.”

Josie stops skipping and gives me a serious look. “But you don’t even know about the bunnies.”

By the time I reach the south pasture, Axel has convinced six cows to stay inside the broken fence by glaring at them.

“You’re late,” he calls as I park beside his truck.

“I took Josie to day camp.”

“And yet the cows remain unsupervised.”

“They appear devastated.”

One of them stretches her neck toward the sagging wire, and Axel points at her. “Don’t encourage her. She’s the ringleader.”