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It gets on my nerves though. Having to taxi her around. She’s just lucky Penny is such a good friend. I love Ash and Boone but eventually, I’d tell them to fuck off and find someone else to drive them. Or get their own damn car.
“Is he alright?” Maya asks as she passes me to throw open the barn door.
“He’s fine. The fence he chewed the shit out of isn’t doing so hot though.”
“Dammit, Chip.” Maya crouches down and scrubs Chip’s ears. He leans into it.
“Hey, Penny. How’s it goin’?” I ask her when she stands next to me in the open barn door.
Penny wraps her arms around herself and mumbles, “Okay.”
I’ve known Penny since before she can remember. That’s how long she and my sister have been friends. Still, she treats me like a stranger. I can guess why but the obvious reason would be wrong. But maybe she’s afraid to do or say something she doesn’t want to get back to the guy she does like. Poor Penny’s had a crush on Boone since before she was old enough to know what that meant. Of course, Boone is oblivious. She’s not his type. Besides her age, Boone doesn’t go for cute, sweet, shy girls. He likes them fast, loud, and loose.
The best thing for Penny will be to get out of Towering Pines. Away from Boone long enough to realize there are far better men out there for her than that shitkicker. Ones that will acknowledge her existence, for a start.
“So, I heard Boone’s cousin is staying with them,” Maya says after Chip screams and then trots off.
“Where’d you hear that?” I ask.
“Where do you think?”
We all shrug and say together, “Mrs. Turner.”
“Well, actually, Ash’s grandma told me but she heard it from Mrs. Turner,” Maya explains.
Maya spends a lot of time with Ash’s grandparents. She works for Ash’s grandpa, at his vet clinic on their farm. And I honestly don’t know what he’s going to do without her when she goes off to college next fall.
“Typical,” I say and close up the barn to keep the prisoner from escaping.
“You met her yet?” Maya asks looking me up and down, taking notice I’m in my riding gear which means I was at Boone and Marta’s house.
“Yeah.”
She leans forward and walks slightly ahead of me waiting for me to say more. When I don’t, she asks, “Does she seem cool?”
“Sure.”
“Ugh. Can you give me more than one word at a time? I’m dying here. What’s she like?”
I can’t tell her what I think of Skye. It’s completely inappropriate and even more so if she ends up becoming friends with my sister.
When it seems that Maya isn’t going to let me go until I give her a better answer, I say the first family-friendly thing that comes to mind. “She didn’t cut off my hand when I stole her toast.”
“Wow… Way to make a good impression. I should make you sleep in the barn with Chip. If she holds your assholery against me for being your sister, I definitely will.”
“I’ll see you later, Maya,” Penny says standing next to her car.
“See ya, Pen.” Maya stops and waves. “Thanks for the ride.”
Waving as Penny backs down the drive, Maya asks, “You going back tomorrow?”
“Going back where?”
“To Boone’s. To ride,” she says, frustrated with me. To be fair, it doesn’t take much to frustrate Maya.
“I don’t know. Maybe?” I want to. I want to go back right now. Never leave. But I worry that if I give into my desire to see Skye as much as possible, it will be a lot harder for me to resist getting too close to her.
“Well,” Maya says, still frustrated. “If you do, let me know, so Penny and I can come with you to meet her.”
