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him do just that.
    â€œWe’re not going to lie, Troy,” she said. “But I’ll tell him what a good job you did keeping my house clean while I was gone.”
    â€œNo!” Troy clutched her arm. “Don’t tell him! Don’t! It’s a secret!”
    Jodi’s eyes narrowed and she glanced up at Teague, who was still standing on the porch, his arms folded over his chest, a stern expression on his face. Teague wouldn’t abuse Troy, would he? Sometimes caretakers got impatient with handicapped adults.
    â€œI go there to be by myself,” Troy whispered into his lap. “I like to pretend it’s my house. That I don’t have to live with my brother.”
    Jodi nodded. Maybe Troy was just feeling the need for more independence. She’d have to talk to Teague about how they could make him feel more self-sufficient.
    â€œI won’t tell him,” she said. “But we won’t lie either, okay?”
    â€œOkay.” Troy puffed out his chest. “I’ll take it like a man. He’ll yell at me, but I’ll just shake it off.” He shimmied all over like a wet dog. “Shake it off.”
    Smiling, Jodi climbed out of the car as Troy slouched to the tailgate to hoist his bike out. Ducking his head, he pushed it toward the shed.
    â€œAfter you put that away I need to talk to you, buddy,” Teague called from the porch. Jodi was relieved at his tone—calm, rational, in control. He turned to Jodi, his eyes assessing her with that arrogant top-to-bottom stare again as she stepped out of the truck cab. “Where’d you find him?”
    â€œHe came by the house,” she said. “He was helping me.”
    Teague lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “How’d he know you were home?”
    She shrugged, hoping he wouldn’t pursue it any further.
    He didn’t. He was too busy watching her approach. She felt like he was eating up her body with those hard, hungry eyes, and her face heated with a blush. She was tempted to shake it off, like Troy had, but Teague would probably see that as a jiggle—and judging from the look in his eyes, he didn’t need that kind of encouragement.

Chapter 7
    â€œRocket’s right through here,” Teague said, leading Jodi into the barn. He knew he should be following up with Troy, helping his brother understand that he needed to keep his promises, especially when the animals were depending on him. But Troy had been with Jodi, so Teague kind of understood how he’d lost track of time.
    Teague tended to forget stuff when she was around, too.
    His dog Luna lifted her head as they entered the barn. The skinny black and white collie mix let out a shrill bark, then leapt to her feet and whirled in a joyful circle, graceful as a fox. Trotting over to them, all slender legs and dancing white paws, she shoved her nose hard into Jodi’s hand, begging to be petted. Jodi knelt on the floor and obliged, burying her hands in the dog’s shining coat.
    â€œWho’s this?” she asked, ruffling the thick fur over the dog’s shoulders.
    â€œThat’s Luna. She’s supposed to be a cattle dog.”
    â€œSupposed to be?”
    â€œMostly she herds Troy.” Teague rolled his eyes. Sometimes he felt like he was a cowboy at a crazy farm. “And me, sometimes. She’s part border collie and all bossy.”
    Jodi shook the dog’s proffered paw. “She’s sweet.”
    â€œSee if you still say that once you get to know her,” Teague said, but he bent and stroked the dog’s head too, his fingers brushing Jodi’s for one warm half-second. “She pretty much figures humans were put on earth to serve her.”
    Jodi laughed and they strolled through the barn, the dog trotting comfortably behind, as if the three of them were a unit.
    It was a shotgun barn with a wide alley stretching between broad sliding doorways front and back. Stalls lined the sides