“Yeah. These are for you.” Rob held them out to her.
“No. I can’t take those.” Maizie pushed the box back to him.
“But I did it for you,” Rob insisted.
Christian glued his feet to the grass, so he didn’t do something he would regret.
“I know how much you like to listen to your music. And you always complain when you get stuck in the tractor without a radio. These are noise-canceling so you should be able to hear your music even on the loud tractor or while milking,” Rob continued.
What a load of cr—
“That’s so sweet. Thank you.” Maizie took them and gave Rob a hug, and Rob met Christian’s eyes over Maizie’s head with a satisfied smirk.
Christian clenched his hands at his side and turned to Lyla. “Ready to finish those games?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Lyla beamed.
He should have asked her five minutes ago. Better yet, he should have gone back to the farm after dropping Maizie off at Rob’s.
Twenty-One
Maizie slammed the last bucket into the back of the truck, spilling warm milk into the bed and down the front of her shirt.Great. Christian and Jayce always helped her with her afternoon chores, but she hadn’t seen them return from town yet. They were probably with their girlfriends even though the festivities at the park were long over by now. When did Christian even meet Lyla? Not that Maizie cared. Because she didn’t.
“Need some help?” Hugh appeared at the passenger side.
“Yes, thank you.” Maizie silently praised her Aunt Julie for bringing her cousin Hugh into the world. He often came to help out even though he lived an hour away.
“How are you, Maiz?” He looked at her over the stack of cow medicine on the middle console.
Maizie narrowed her eyes and took the truck out of park. “I’m good. You just saw me the other day. Why?”
“Just curious,” he said, still eying her, and Maizie shrunk back. She barely had any bruising around her eye anymore, so what was he looking at?
“What?” Maizie shifted the truck back into park, waiting for him to speak.
“Nothing, I just heard Jayce bad-mouthing you, and I wondered if you were okay. You guys have always been best friends.”
“Lies. You and I have always been best friends.”
“Oh, we both know that’s not true. When we would hang out at family parties, it was always you and Jayce, and me and Mack.”
Maizie closed her eyes. He was right. He and Mack had been inseparable. Hugh was one of the people she hadn’t been able to look at during the funeral. The pain in his eyes was just too much. She hadn’t even been able to handle her own pain, let alone others’.
“He’s being dumb,” Maizie finally said.
“He thinks he’s in love,” Hugh said.
“But he can’t be.”
“Why not?”
“What do you mean why not? It’s ridiculous. I know both of them, and they are polar opposites. It would never work.” She slammed the truck into drive.
“So then by your logic, you and Christian would make a great pair since you are both so headstrong and at times annoying,” he said.
“Uh, no. That’s not what I said.” Maizie’s face warmed. “And I’m not annoying.”
“You still have to love him.”
