Changes Going On (Changes Book Two) by Kaje Harper

Author:Kaje Harper [Harper, Kaje]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-21T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

There was enough dew on the long pasture grass the next morning to dampen Will’s jeans. He eased farther from the fence, beaming his flashlight over two cows in the thin pre-dawn light. Number 106 top, number 384 standing. He made a note on his phone.

“Hey, boss.”

He turned, expecting the light voice to be Nita, and was surprised to see Kris approaching from the gate. “Hi. You’re up early.”

“So are you.”

He shrugged. He’d slept poorly, despite Scott and Casey double-teaming him when they went to bed. Anyway, he liked this time of day. “I saw an article in Cattleman that said best time of day to watch for cows to show heat was midnight to six AM. Seems to work out pretty good.”

“Can I help?”

“Don’t you want to grab some more sleep? You have a couple of hours till chores.”

She shook her head despite the shadows under her eyes. “Can’t sleep. I might as well be useful.”

“Okay.” He showed her how to read the changes in the chalk they’d applied to the cows’ tailheads yesterday, and the code he used for which cows were interested, mounting, or standing for heat. For a while they paced around the meadow watching the herd as the sky gradually brightened, turning to rose and lavender in the east.

As the sun slipped over the horizon, new-minted gold, they came together in the long shadow cast by a honeylocust tree. Kris tipped her head back, watching pink-edged clouds fade to white. “I like sunrises.”

“Me too.” He pushed his hat back from his face.

“Do you think Rusty will be all right?”

“How d’you mean?”

“Now that Mike’s gone.” She bit her lip. “Sometimes I still can’t believe Mike’s dead. And what if his family never lets Rusty come home? He’s all alone, and I try but I can’t be enough. It’s like he’s hollow inside, and when I hug him, it’s like I’m not really touching him. I’m scared for him.”

“Give him time. He’s lucky to have you. And he has his friends and a place here, and Scott says he might make a pro hockey team.”

“When Mom died, I had Aunt Mia. She let me stay till I graduated. Then, even though she said she was done, she didn’t kick me out till I found a job. I chose this. Rusty didn’t have any choice.”

Will glanced at her. “How old were you when your mom died?”

“Fourteen.” Kris kicked a tuft of grass. “She did drugs for years, and I spent a lot of time dumped off with Aunt Mia, but it still hurt so bad.”

“My mom was an addict too.” Will wasn’t sure where that came from, but once he’d started, the words tumbled out. “We didn’t have any other folks by then, so—” So when she stopped buying food, or cleaning the house, or caring about who she was bringing home, there was no place for me to go. “—so when she died, I went into foster care. But I was ten. Rusty’s older and he has life goals.

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