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“Yep. She assigned me to Dalton Wick,” I state clearly, ripping off the Band-Aid.
Our eyes meet, and I watch as his jaw tics.
My Pops is an honest, hardworking man who is loved in this community, but there’s one thing he hates—in all capital letters, H-A-T-E-S—the Wick family and, subsequently, the other three founders of TimeLand.
The damage Mike Wick, Dalton’s dad, inflicted on our ranch and our family will never be forgiven.
He stays silent as he finishes pouring the feed and crumples up the bag before throwing it in a barrel heuses as a trash can. When our eyes meet, I can tell he’s upset, but he just shakes his head like he’s still in thought.
“Well, I’m sure Mom has dinner waiting on the table for us. What do you say we head in?”
“You’re not mad?” I ask.
“Sure, I’m mad. You know how I feel about them. You know how his dad’s actions have affected our entire family. The last person I want you or Thomas having any contact with is him.”
I bite my bottom lip, dread pulling low in my stomach as he wraps his arm around me.
He continues, “But I also know that school is important, and who are we to tell the teacher how to do her job? Our family issues shouldn’t decide how she runs her classroom. In life, sometimes, you have to do things you don’t want to do, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get done. You’ll have to treat this as one of those things.”
I lean my head on his shoulder. “This is cruel and unusual punishment though.”
He laughs. “Now, I agree with that.” He kisses my forehead. “Let’s not think about it for now. I’m sure whatever Mom’s cooking will help us forget. Remember …”
“Don’t ever bring the drama of life to the dinner table,” I say before he can, making him chuckle.
It’s one of his mottos of life. Family dinnertime is sacred in our house, and he always says there should never be anything that ruins our special time together.
There are many things we don’t have, but no matter what, good food is always on our table. A perk for beingthe producer of said food and not having to purchase it at the store.
I grab Brandy’s reins, and we walk back to the barn to put her away before heading inside. With every step, I feel slightly better about my day. My dad always has a way of making any problems I have seem to melt away. At least for the time being.
CHAPTER THREE
Natalie
Thankfully, Mrs. Anderson didn’t make us do anything with our partners today, so I slide out of English class with a smile on my face, only to remember Dalton sits behind me in Econ for my second period class.
When I meet up with my closest friends, Susie and Ashley, in the hall, they can tell I’m already annoyed, and it’s barely nine a.m.
“Oh no. What happened now?” Susie asks as she holds her arms out to give me a hug.
I hug her back with a slump of my shoulders. “I was just thinking how happy I was to make it out of English without having to talk to Dalton, only to remember he sits behind me in Econ.”
Susie shakes her head. “It’s really too bad you two hate each other so much because I would give my big left toe to be his partner.”
I squint my eyes at her for herleft toecomment. She shrugs.
“I’ve heard guys say they’d give their left nut for something, so I figured it kind of fit,” she says with a laugh.
“You’re crazy.” I nudge her out of the way to get to my locker.
“My words might be, but not my thoughts. How do you not see just how fine that boy is?”
I grab my Econ book, shut my locker, then lean my back against it. “He is not cute,” I state as clearly as possible.
Ashley laughs. “Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that, and maybe, one day, you’ll actually believe it.”
I eye her, and she smiles a big, cheesy grin.
