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“This is what happens when you start socializing with other kids. You get their cooties.”
“Only girls have cooties, Mom,” he rasped, then coughed loudly.
I grimaced, leaning away from him.
“Germs, then. Jesus, Holliday. When was the last time you took any medicine?”
“Dad gave me some before lunch—” Day colored, then relaxed, giving me a side-eyed look. “Grant did. He gave me medicine.”
I smiled softly to myself, rubbing his back. “He doesn’t mind that you accidentally call him Dad sometimes, you know.”
“But he’s not my dad. I don’t have one.”
“Well, you have a Grant. That’s cooler, in my opinion.” I smiled, tucking the sheets around him. “I’m going to go get you some medicine and some soup, okay?”
“Can I go to Jason’s house tomorrow?”
“No… Jason is sick, too.”
“Oh, great!” he cried, flopping onto his bed and sticking his lower lip out.
“I know you’re bored.” I sighed. “You’re staying in this bed, though, until your fever breaks.”
“Fine.”
“Fine,” I teased in a silly voice that made him smile, even though it was obvious he was trying not to. I patted him on the belly before I stood up and gathered up my dishes and the paper I’d printed and closed the door behind me.
Grant was outside when I went to find him after forcing Day to eat some soup and take his medicine.
He was leaning on paddock, one foot propped on the railing as he watched George break in a brand-new stallion.
King was nearby, lingering near the railing separating the paddock area from the pasture. He seemed to be egging the new horse on, much to George’s annoyance, who kept yelling at King to get lost and mind his own “goddamn business.”
I skipped over to Grant, wrapping my arm around his waist. He looked down at me in surprise, but a smile warmed his face, nonetheless.
“What’re you doing out here?”
“Watching George get his ass kicked.” I smiled. George shot me a look from the back of the horse. “I actually got some news today. From the EPA…”
Grant straightened up, arching his brow.
“We got an A on the report. They closed the case!” I said excitedly, jumping up and down.
Grant threw his arms around me, squeezing me tight. “Thank God—”
“Thankme,” I corrected, pushing him away and handing him the report the EPA had just emailed me this morning.
Grant rolled his eyes before scanning the email I’d printed out, but then glanced up at me when he read the last line. “They offered you a job…”
“In Helena,” I breathed, swallowing hard. “I’m not taking it.”
“You’re not even going to consider it?”
“No, of course not.” I shook my head. “Maybe a few months ago I would’ve considered it, but I’m not moving away, and I’m definitely not going to be working for a group that tries to take land from people. I have something else planned.”
“Oh?” Grant chuckled, folding up the paper and putting it in his breast pocket. I could tell he was trying to keep up as I leaned against the paddock and crossed my ankles, looking up at him sweetly.
“I take it you didn’t get a bill from your lawyer yet about the little phone call I had with him last week?”
