A black SUV pulled in just as she was about to round the cattle enclosure, so she pumped the brake and clenched her jaw until it hurt. Erin was supposed to be gone the entire weekend, so why was she sitting in the passenger seat with that stupid smirk on her face, pageant show-waving like she'd just won Ms. Teen Cooper Landing?
"Hi," Farrah called, waving back with an empty grin. "Cow," she grumbled as she pulled the four-wheeler toward the barn to escape the crap storm that was about to hit the homestead. Her new mantra was the one Aanon had gifted her last night. It was none of her concern.
Luna bounded alongside her ATV, barking and yipping at the tires, and a smile tugged Farrah's lips. Just a pregnant lady, her chainsaw, and her pet wolf. If her friends back in New York could see her now, they'd choke on their cosmopolitans.
Careful not to jostle her stomach, she stood while she drove to better pad the swell of her belly. She stopped when she came to a cluster of trees that had been ransacked by the beetle infestation a few years back. Two of them had already toppled, so she looped the chain around the trunk of the smallest and slowly eased it out of the brush with the four-wheeler. "Come on, Luna," she called, but the pup was staring off in the distance.
Braking, she tried again. "Luna, come!" Squinting over the dog's still body, she could just make out movement and gray fur. "Shit," she muttered. In a rush, she yanked the oversized pup onto the ATV with her and roared down the tracks she'd made getting there. Panting against the adrenaline, and imagining the predator chasing her, she struggled to keep the wiggling dog steady while trying not to lose the log tied to the metal bars of her ride. She and Luna would make an easy meal if the wolf so wished it.
Spinning out around the cattle pen, Luna leaped off and ran for Aanon, who stood with his arms crossed, talking to Erin on the big house's front porch. He bent at the waist and petted Luna's head but never took his eyes from Erin.
Okay, now what? She couldn't exactly let the wolf roam so close to the cattle. She wasn't a professional on predator behavior, but it was odd that it was out in the middle of the day. The situation reeked of desperation, and the wolf was dangerously close to the spring calves. They had no shot against the animal. But Erin was glaring death missiles her way, and she couldn't exactly raise the alarm that there was a predator without putting Dodge right in the middle of another fight over the homestead.
"Hey, Aanon?" she called.
He turned and opened his mouth to say something but Erin called "No!" and held her perfectly manicured nail into the air like she was a child. Right.
"What do you need?" Aanon asked with a sideways glare at Erin.
"Uh, can I talk to you in private?"
"You have some nerve," Erin said.
"I just need the key to the root cellar."
Aanon's brows drew down, heavy over the bright hues of his eyes. "No. If you need something, you okay it with me first."
"All righty then." Pursing her lips, she turned and strode to the barn. She didn't know the combination to the gun safe, but she'd seen a .22 caliber rifle on a shelf in there. Although it was on the small side for defense against a wolf, this was as good as she was going to get.
It had been years since she'd loaded a gun, and she fumbled with the lever to check if it had any bullets in the chamber. Empty.
"Where would ammo be?" she muttered, rifling through boxes on the shelf near where she'd found the weapon. Ah-ha. She checked the label twice and pulled three bullets from the box.
"Hey, what happened?" Aanon said, jogging toward her. "You already have the key to the root cellar, so what gives?
"Wolf."
"Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure, and it's less than a quarter mile from the edge of the fence line."
"Well, why didn't you just say that out there?"
She slid the first bullet in and held it down with her fingers to make room for the next. The satisfying click of metal on metal echoed through the lofty barn. "Because Erin was already squawking about Luna being a wolf and dangerous to Dodge the other day, and I didn't want to give her any more ammo against this place."
Intense blue eyes froze her in place.
"What?"
"Nothing," he said, ticking his head to the side. "It's just that's the nicest thing a girl has ever done for me."
Arching her eyebrow, she shook her head. "That's really sad, Falk."
"No, I mean, you were going to go hunt a wolf on your own because you didn't want more trouble for me."
"Whoa, there. Nobody said anything about me hunting a wolf so slow your sainthood application right on down. I was thinking more along the lines of setting up near the fence line and popping a few rounds in his direction to try and scare him off. Maybe stake out the place for a couple of hours so he doesn't slip under the wire and take a cow."
"Still, the nicest thing a girl has done for me."
"Still sad," she muttered. She slid the last bullet in the chamber and clicked the safety on.
"I'll take care of it," he said, shouldering the rifle. "Can you do me a favor?"
She stifled the groan that threatened to bubble from her throat. "What?"
"Keep her busy. Please."
"By doing what, Aanon? Letting her fillet me until you come back? No thanks. I don't go back for seconds if the food's burnt."
Anywhere else in the entire world would be better than willingly talking to Erin again. She would rather bathe under an outhouse. Naked. With her mouth open. The woman made her want to claw her own eyes out, and yet here was Aanon, with his pleading eyes and perfect pout, begging her to throw herself at the mercy of his half-rabid ex.
"I wouldn't ask if there was another choice. I don't feel comfortable you going out there. Not pregnant. I'll knock fifty bucks off of next month's rent."
"Fine," she said, clenching her nails into the palm of her hands until they stung. "And I'll even do it for free. You won't be able to cover child support if you keep knocking money off my rent payments. I saw the wolf where my ATV tracks stop. It's muddy enough you should be able to see the freshest one without having to look too hard. He was running south across the clearing."
She turned to leave, but he grabbed her elbow. "Erin says this place is a hellhole."
Her ears burned with anger at the woman's idiocy, but it wasn't a question so she waited for more. When he offered none, she said, "If she can't see the beauty in this place, she's an even bigger moron than I thought. Don't let her careless words taint the way you see it. It's paradise here."
He released her arm, and she trotted out of the barn before he could say more. The anguish in his eyes said more than words ever could.
Plastering on her least convincing smile, she held up her keys as she approached the porch. "You mind if I get something from the root cellar?"
Erin studied her through a catty glare, and Farrah sighed internally.
"Where's Aanon?" Erin demanded.
"I don't know," Farrah answered. "He's your man and not my responsibility, so you should probably be the one to keep up with him."
She turned toward the barn, and Farrah threw open the front door, doing her damndest to take Erin's attention away from the stables where Aanon was currently hoisting himself onto the biggest horse. "Do you know where it is?" Farrah asked. "If not, I can just go search the house until I find it."
"I think it's highly inappropriate for you to be in here," Erin said, following her in.
Dodge chimed in, "I know how to get there!"
"You do? Do you also know where the carrots and potatoes are? I'm making a stew and I've never been down there before."
"I do," he said with a grin. "I'll show you."
Erin offered a crimson smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Dodge, go play in mommy and daddy's bedroom."
The thought of Aanon and Erin sleeping in the same bed made her nauseous. "So, how long are you staying?" she asked as Erin led her toward the root cellar door. Not that she cared, but she'd always sucked at small talk when not behind a bar.
"As long as I want to," came the silky reply.
"Great. This is it? Do you know where the potatoes and carrots are?"
"No, you little imbecile, I haven't ever been down in that rat hole. Find what you need your damned self."
"Excellent. Lovely chat," she muttered, climbing a creaking ladder down.
Aanon was long gone, so she could go search the entire premises for him now. Unless Erin had sprouted tracking skills, she wouldn't figure out where he'd gone. "Oh, what happened to your boyfriend? Daniel, was it?" she asked, peeking her head back above the top rung.