just let them loose.”
Cole looked up the hill. “So I guess before they get here, I should probably warn you about this afternoon.”
“Do you have to sound like one of those doomsday-show announcers when you say it?”
He laughed. “It’s not that bad.”
“Which tells me it’s awful.” Jess looked up the hill. “You know what? I think actually Hayley might need me this afternoon.”
“Too bad, cowgirl. You’re stuck with me for the day. State laws and kid-to-adult ratios and all that. Whisper Creek management requires a one-to-five ratio.”
“Whisper Creek management is Kyla.”
“Yes.”
“Cole—”
He shrugged. “Hey, I don’t make the rules around here anymore. I just follow them, or I don’t get any pie.”
“Nice.” Jess raised her eyebrows. “If I’d broken my leg falling in the creek yesterday, you’d have to figure it out today, right?”
“But you didn’t.”
“I could have.”
He laughed again. “I still don’t understand how you didn’t realize that was a turtle.”
“How many turtles do you think I see, generally? It looked like a rock, it felt like a rock, and therefore, I assumed it was a rock.”
“Wasn’t.” He looked toward the kids, who were only fifty feet away now and coming fast. “Kids voted for a dance-off this afternoon. That’s why I went with the doomsday voice.”
“A dance-off?”
“Yeah. You know—we dance, they score us, I win.” He shrugged, grinning. “The usual.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Sure it is.”
“Because you can actually dance?”
“Nope.” His eyes darkened for a second. “Because I get to watch you dance.”
Jess put her hands on her hips, looking left to right like maybe she could still escape, but it was far too late. The kids were swarming around them, all hyped-up on chocolate chip pancakes and syrup.
“Jess, did you hear about the dance-off?” Ella grabbed Jess’s hand.
“I just heard, sweetie.” She tried to keep a growling sound out of her voice.
“Are you excited?”
“Um, I don’t know, really. I’ve never been to a dance-off. I have no idea how it works.”
Ella tipped her head. “You just dance, silly!”
“Yeah, silly. You just dance.” Cole raised his eyebrows in challenge.
Jess crouched down. “You know who’s a great dancer? Kyla. Maybe we should go get her instead.”
Cole laughed. “Kyla’s a terrible dancer, and you know it. So does she, so she won’t care that I said so.” He whistled to silence everyone, then pointed to the sky. “What time is it?”
The kids looked up, then around at the landmarks and shadows Cole had been teaching them to use all week. Britney started to look at her watch instead, but he caught her. “Brit, didn’t I tell you watches aren’t allowed at Whisper Creek?”
She pouted. “Then how can you know what time it is?”
“Really?” He raised his eyebrows. “What have I been talking about all this week? You don’t need a watch to know what time it is. Not out here, anyway.”
“It’s ten o’clock.” She rolled her eyes, but Jess saw a smile trying to sneak out.
“Good. You’re close. Nine forty-five, I bet.” Cole squinted at the sky, closing one eye, then the other. “Maybe nine forty-seven. Jess? Can you verify?”
Jess put up her hands. “Sorry. No watch.”
“Fine. Britney, check your watch, but then you have to hand it to me until you leave.”
Britney looked at her wrist, then tapped her watch. “No way.”
Cole leaned on the fence, crossing his arms, the confidence practically wafting off from him. “Time, please?”
“Nine forty-seven.” Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. “How’d you do that?”
“I pay attention, that’s how. Now hand me your watch, and I’ll return it on Saturday.”
Britney unclipped the band and handed it to him, then looked at the sky, shading her eyes. Jess bit her lip so she wouldn’t smile, but she couldn’t help but catch Cole’s eye. He winked, then turned toward the rest of the kids. “So, what should we do today? Frog hunting?”
“Ride!” they chorused.
“Super hot and sweaty mountain climbing expedition?”
“Ride!”
Jess laughed. Clearly this was a daily routine.
Cole put up a hand, silencing them. “Okay, all right. Scooping horse poop in the barn?”
“Ride!”
Their voices launched into a wild crescendo, until finally he shook his head and sighed. “You know, I come up with all of these great ideas, and all you little cowpokes want to do is ride horses.” He motioned them toward the corral, where the ponies were standing at the ready. “All right, then. Come on. We’ll go for a ride.”
“Yay!” The kids shouted and scrambled toward the gate, but at one tip of Cole’s hat, their voices shushed right down to nothing, and they walked