Page 63 of Ring Rust

“Having a good time so far?”

“Of course. Though, not as good as Nina—she has been very busy, sounds like. Winnie keeps stealing the bathroom, but it’s okay because Uncle Jasper’s freezer is full of popsicles, and she’s had at least thirty since I left. And she cried, but Uncle Ryan gave her a big hug, and speaking of Uncle Ryan, he really likes worms.”

Ryan burst out laughing at that. “That all sounds about right.”

“Thank you so much for this,” she said. “I know, I know, you’re happy to do it. But it’s been so great. Better than I imagined.”

“It’s been good here. Enjoy yourself. We’ll talk to you soon.”

“Tell Nina she can call any time, okay?”

“I will.”

Ryan made his way back to the living room. Nina was bright-eyed again, delighted that her movie had won the vote. He winked at Winnie in thanks, and she gave him a good-natured roll of her eyes before picking up her phone. The spot next to Jasper was still open, so Ryan fell into it. He caught Jasper’s eye and smiled, and when he smiled back, something warm curled through Ryan’s chest.

Chapter Seventeen

Sunday morning,Winnie was stretched out on the couch in the living room, scrolling through her phone while music blasted through the Bluetooth speaker. The TV was on with the volume turned down, and her laptop was open.

“Have enough sensory input going on in here?” Ryan yelled over the conflicting sounds.

“A little too much, now that you’re talking,” Winnie said, grinning to herself.

“Hmm,” he said, letting his hand bump into the laptop hard enough to close it.

“Just kidding.” She turned off the TV but left the music on and continued scrolling. “What’s up?”

“I have a proposition for you,” Ryan said.

Winnie raised an eyebrow but kept her eye on her phone. “Unless there’s a financial reward at the end of this, I’m not interested.”

“Of course there is. The problem is, my proposition requires dishonesty, and Nina is very anti-lying. So, it’s going to require you to not only lie to Jasper, but also to Nina. It requires emotional maturity. Lucky for me, you’re very mature.”

“My services can be yours for fifty dollars, minimum.”

“Then it’s your lucky day. I have a crisp one-hundred dollar bill with your name on it,” Ryan said, opening his wallet. He held it up between two fingers and watched her face light up.

“Keep going,” she said.

“I need you to convince Nina to have a party with the chickens in my room.”

Winnie laughed. “What?”

“Don’t ask too many details. It’s better this way.”

“Won’t they make a mess?”

“Well, yes,” Ryan said. They would, but that was the point. A few chickens couldn’t possibly destroy the entire room. “But I’ll handle the cleanup.”

“That’s disgusting. I don’t understand.”

“Don’t worry about the reason. For one hundred dollars, there is no reason.”

Winnie put her phone on the couch and turned to him. “Okay. So, what are we doing, exactly?”

“You and Nina will move a few hens into my room. Two or three. I’ll need you to make sure there’s no trace of them anywhere else, and you’ll need to close up the coop so Jasper doesn’t suspect anything is up when he gets home.”

“This is very weird. I don’t think so. Uncle Jasper is going to tell my mom I can work at the park next summer, and I can’t risk that.”