least. And he did that long commute with EA-level schoolwork and working on his family farm?
Part of me was starting to...admire him, but that feeling was about as welcome as an asthma attack. There were plenty of emotions I could feel toward Ray—frustrated, annoyed, and irritated to name a few. None of them included admiration.
As the miles to my destination decreased, the world changed around me. Just like on my way to the Heywood co-op, the buildings got farther apart. Pastures with grazing livestock replaced suburban homes. Barns and shop buildings replaced garages.
The sky was starting to turn gray with big, heavy clouds clustering the sky and moving by. I couldn’t tell whether it would be rain or snow, but I didn’t like it. I couldn’t wait for spring.
As my car dropped off blacktop and hit the rough gravel road, I let off the gas and slowed down, even though all I wanted to do was hurry up and get this over with.
Now the houses were a mile or more apart. I wondered if the people out here felt isolated, being so far from their neighbors—or any modern convenience, really.
My phone informed me that my destination was coming up on the left, and I took in the scene. The single-story home had been painted brown like it was meant to belong in the landscape surrounding it. The grassy pastures were brown in the winter, along with a big barn and shop to hold livestock and equipment.
I hit my turn signal—out of habit, not because anyone was actually coming—and pulled into their dirt driveway. It looped a circle around their yard, and I pulled to a stop alongside one of the three pickups sitting in the drive. I wasn’t sure whether Ray was out somewhere working, but I decided to try the house. Maybe his mom would see we needed to get homework done and give us some time to work on the project.
There was a sidewalk to the front door, even though there weren’t sidewalks anywhere else. I stepped on the cragged cement and started toward the house, suddenly filled with second thoughts.
What was I thinking, just showing up at his house, unannounced? And without asking for his address? I looked like a bona fide stalker. And they were probably the kind of people who kept guns instead of pepper spray.
This was definitely a bad idea.
I was about to turn around, get in my car, and send him a text message when the front door banged open.
Ray had his head turned toward the person behind him as he stepped out, dressed in tan coveralls that matched his worn coat. I heard him say something about the north pasture and “Star,” but that was all I could make sense of.
He faced forward to go down the porch steps and stopped immediately, making the girl and boy, who had to be middle schoolers, bump into his back.
“What gives?” the girl asked, then she caught sight of me. She gave me a guarded look that so closely matched the one on Ray’s face.
“What’re you doing here?” he asked, surprise and something else in his voice I couldn’t quite identify. “How did you get my address?”
Stumbling over my words, I lifted the school bag with video equipment. “Thought we could work on the project.”
His jaw clenched. “I have real work to do, Ginger.”
He’d finally said my full name again, but I hated it. Because some part of me responded to the way he said it, warmed to the way his lips moved around the letters of the word.
I fought off the confusing sensation and lifted my chin. “This project is important to me. You don’t have to stop working. I’ll film you. A day in the life of a cowboy.”
The boy sniggered and pretended to swoon. “Movie star Ray.”
Ray shot him a glare that sent a message. Ray was the alpha here. The man of the house.
He turned his blue eyes on me, and they were darkening like the sky above. He was frustrated. That emotion, I could handle. I held my own in this stare-down, knowing deep down I wouldn’t leave until I had what I wanted.
The door opened again, and a woman stood halfway out, carrying a younger child on her hip. “Is this one of your friends, Ray?”
“No,” he said.
She seemed confused, her smile faltering as she looked to me. “Can I help you?”
“No,” Ray said again. “She’s a classmate. Wants to come ride horses with us.”
“Oh.” Her expression changed to