Page 2 of While the Sun Shines

“Yeah, they handle all cases of having to live with a grossly adorable couple. Line item six on the form I filled out was Whit and Cooper being obscenely in love. I also completed the addendum of—”

“I’m impressed with how quickly you can make all of this up.”

“—not having my own bathroom.”

Drew holds up his hands, careful to not touch her. “I’m very nearly done with the drywall.”

“There was a place on the form to input how many times I’ve heard you say that.” Penny squints down the hill and nods, her lips in a thoughtful purse. “Yep, he’s taking a good look at the house, which is excellent, ’cause I also put in the comments section a request for my bathroom renovation. With—”

“I know.”

“—a bathtub.”

“It’s all fun and games until we get down to the barnyard and find out he’s casing the joint and has taken off with our TV,” Drew says.

“Please, I’d be far more concerned with the strawberries I just picked.”

“You left them in the kitchen? Are you sure Sadie hasn’t eaten all of them?”

“Sadie would never,” Penny says. “She’s my girl. Me and her versus you three boys.”

“You and her versus Whit and Cooper. I’m too busy fighting with this hitch.”

“Need a hand?”

No, he needs to have planned better. Not gotten himself into this pickle in the first place. And to move farther away from her so he won’t keep looking at the shine of sweat in the hollow of her throat. Act normal, he tells himself like he has a million times now since he met her that first day of high school. Be easy and relaxed and composed around her, so she never, not ever, suspects that his heart hammers every time he sees her.

If she wanted something between them, she’d say something. And in all the years they’ve been friends, she hasn’t, so he’s not going to be the one to ruin everything—see the soft shock in her eyes, hear the stuttering, awkward thanks, but Drew, I don’t conversation they’d then have to suffer through, and the rift in their friendship that would follow. It wouldn’t ever be the same and Drew likes it how it is. Loves it.

Loves her.

Stop, he tells himself.

“Nah, enjoy your run, m’fine,” he says quickly. Self preservation, he thinks like he always does when he draws away from her. The best way to keep up that thin veneer of casual calm he always tries for.

And besides, it’d be nice to manage one damn thing on his own farm and get it right the first time.

But Penny doesn’t start jogging away. “Well, good news for you. I’m actually entirely sick of running at this point and also hanging out by myself, so yes, you’re giving me a lift back to the farm, and yes, I’m driving.”

Drew gives the hitch one last half-hearted kick. “Looks like the mower’s coming with us, in that case.”

How mortifying. Knowing his luck, they’ll end up pulling into the barnyard as Whit and Cooper drive in, and then everyone will get to see exactly how much Drew didn’t accomplish today. And Cooper and Whit will probably fix the damn hitch, knowing them. Get the tractor bucket set just so to use as a lever, grab the grease gun, and pry the fucking thing apart like it’s a piece of cake, just like they always do, tidying up after Drew’s latest screwup.

Penny jumps up to stand on the truck’s bumper and poses, arms flexed like a bodybuilder.

“Don’t. I’m fine,” Drew says, but she just rocks the truck under her weight.

“Penny Morales,” she says, “roommate extraordinaire, here to rescue the neighborhood’s favorite farmer.”

Cause someone’s got to, she might as well say, but she’s grinning and jumps harder, the truck moving with her.

The mower moves too, the tongue rocking, and the socket refusing to give up its grip on the ball. She just laughs and jumps again and despite the heat, the frustration knotting his throat, the sight of the stuck hitch, when she laughs, a chuckle wells up through him. Penny, he thinks and for one perfect, glorious moment the anxiety of the farm slips away with the brightness of her smile and her loud whoop when the hitch slips free.

The jolt throws her off balance and she laughs, trying to right herself.

He could catch her arm. Hold her in place while she regains her footing.

But she’s fine. She’s got it. Clearly. Obviously. Doesn’t need him grabbing her, that’s for sure, as she jumps back to the ground.