Neil paced angrily behind his shop stall, glaring so fiercely that only the hardiest of souls dared approach him that day, and both his business and Rod's suffered as a result. Finally, fed up with his agitation and the effect it was having on their animals and businesses, Rod exclaimed "Neil, just cool it already, will ya? So your girlfriend's ex showed up and wants her back. Doesn't mean she wants to go, does it? I mean, she seems pretty happy with you, right? So why get so worked up about it?"

"Fuck off," Neil snapped, pausing in his restless circuit to glare at him.

"Yeah, okay, whatever. But you're upsetting the animals, so just knock it off, okay? You might not care about people, but I know you care about animals."

Rod was right, of course, and Neil did at least try. But even if he could force himself to stand still, he couldn't rid himself of the tension that stiffened his spine and tautened his muscles. He found himself thinking back to when he first laid eyes on Rio, a week or so after she arrived in Echo Village. He had thought at the time that she was too damned beautiful to possibly be any use on a farm, let alone one that was so badly run down—just like the rest of the town. But to his complete surprise, she was not only competent and determined, she was tough, too, and before he realized what was happening, she'd not only fixed up both her farm and the town, but she'd won his heart, too.

He flushed a little, remembering their first kiss. They'd taken a picnic lunch up to the lake near the mountain peak, and he'd finally worked up the nerve to admit his feelings for her. He'd never been so surprised as when he learned that she reciprocated. And then she'd kissed him—a kiss like honey, sticky-sweet and delicious.

Snorting with impatience, he looked at his pocket watch again—only two minutes had passed since he'd last checked. He glanced in the direction of her farm, clear across the village and down the hill, by the river. He couldn't see it, of course, not from where he was. But he couldn't stop thinking about her—and about this Vaughn guy that had appeared out of nowhere, saying they'd been lovers and that he wanted her back. Lovers! That's more than he.... And they'd even had a kid together!

He shook his head, still feeling that it was all so... unreal. He hadn't understood why she had kept it from him, but after Vaughn left, she explained how it had all been so painful to her, the still-fresh wounds stinging like lemon juice on a cut. She hadn't wanted to talk about it with anyone there at her new home among strangers, fearful that, in such a small town, she'd have been judged for her past. He still wished she'd told him, but as accustomed to small-town life as he was, he could understand her fears.

"Neil? Hey, Neil! Wake up!" Rod was shouting from his stall. Neil started and looked around. A bewildered tourist was standing at his counter, trying to get his attention.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, sorry. Neil's Animals. Whaddya want?" he muttered gruffly.

Flustered, the young woman stammered, "Oh, I-I... I wondered if you had any baby chicks for sale?"

"Yeah, I guess. But aren't you a tourist? Why do you want a chicken?" he asked, eying her suspiciously.

"I-I... well, they're just so cute! All fluffy and yellow and sweet. So I thought it would be an adorable present for my little sister—you know, kind of a souvenir."

Neil scowled angrily. "Listen, lady, chickens are not toys. They have hearts and minds, same as any animal—which is a lot more than I can say for some people. You want a toy, go find a toy store. I'm not selling you a chick just to have you dump it by the side of the road somewhere when it gets too big or noisy or ugly for your taste."

Taken aback, the girl backed away from the stall, tears welling in her eyes. Then she turned and fled, Neil glaring after her disdainfully.

With a deep sigh, Rod looked up at the sky. From the sun, he'd guess there was around another two hours until closing time, maybe more. He looked over at Neil again, and called out, "Hey, let's just pack it in early. You're only scaring people off, anyway—from my shop as well as yours."

Neil slammed his hand down on the counter, but only said, "Whatever." Then he started packing his cart to leave, and Rod followed suit. Soon the two men were leading their caravan back along the hot, dusty trail out of the village.

 ************

"You came here to wha—" Rio began to exclaim, outraged, struggling against Vaughn's firm hold on her, her legs kicking into empty air as she pounded her fist against his chest. But he'd cut her words short with a passionately intense kiss, breathing hard as he crushed greedy lips to hers, caressing her mouth hungrily with his tongue.

Then she bit him.

He dropped her, clapping his hands to his mouth and doubling over in pain as a muffled stream of expletives poured out. Neil reached them just in time to grab her—not elegantly, but enough to keep her from landing on her backside. She glared at Vaughn, and Neil was quivering with barely-suppressed rage.

"'at da hay?" Vaughn exclaimed, prodding his tongue with his fingertips and scowling first at the red smudge of blood on them, then at Rio.

"That's my line," she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest as she continued glaring furiously at him.

"Yeah, well, I'm not gonna mince words," Neil growled. "What the fuck do you think you're doing to my girlfriend?" Pushing past Rio as he spoke, he grabbed Vaughn by his shirt.

Vaughn glared disdainfully at the younger man and grabbed his wrist, prying his fingers from his shirt. "Hands off, kid," he drawled, looking down at him through narrowed eyes. "Come back in five years or so, when you've grown up some."

Neil hauled off to deck him—but Rio stepped between the two men. "Knock it off, both of you!" she shouted. "Absolutely no fighting in my house! If you can't be civil for ten goddessdamn minutes, then get out!" The two backed down—at least, a little bit—and she glared from one to the other of them, her hands on her hips as she stared them down. "Look, I have work to do, and Neil, so do you. Vaughn, if you have anything more you want to say to me, it's going to have to wait. You might as well go get yourself a room at the inn. It's getting to be a little late for you to start back today anyway, so you'd better plan to stay overnight. And if you have more to get off your chest, you'll have to hang around a while—the Critter Festival is in just a couple days, and I'm going to be too busy getting ready for that and participating in it to have much time to spare for anything else."

"Stay longer than just tonight, huh? Sorry, Rio. No can do. Wish I could," Vaughn said flatly, shrugging one shoulder.

"Can't? Or won't?" Rio said, sharply. "I'm not going to force you to stay, Vaughn, far from it. But I just won't have time for you for several days. Summer is just too damn busy."

"Can't," he replied levelly. "I quit my job to look for you, and since then I've only worked a few odd jobs here and there, whenever my money started to run out. And it's run out now. I already paid for a room at the inn for tonight, but that used up the last of my funds. I'll have to go find work tomorrow, or else I'll be sleeping under the stars and living on wild berries."

Rio sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, for the Harvest Goddess's sake, Vaughn. Fine. You can come work for me. I've been stretched too thin lately, with just too much to do and not enough time to get it all done. I'll hire you to take care of my animals, since I know you're good at that, and we'll take it from there. I know you could be handy at one or two things around the ranch besides the animals, at least when you wanted to be. I'll pay for your room tonight, then I'll pay you enough to cover your room and board with some left over. Okay?"

He moved in a little closer, put his hands around her waist and drew her to him as he said in a low voice, "Or I could just stay here with you. You wouldn't even need to pay me to help out then."

Neil lunged for him again, but Rio stopped him and pushed Vaughn back. "Forget it. I've already told you, it's over between us. Just be grateful that I'm taking pity on you." Then she walked over to the door and opened it, looking back at the men in her kitchen. "Get moving, Vaughn. Tell Hossan I'll be along later to settle up with him, and he'll refund your money. The food at the inn's good, or there's Clement's restaurant down the road. That might be a bit trendy for your taste, though."

With a sigh, Vaughn picked up his hat from the sideboard where he'd set it. "All right, we'll just leave it at that—for now. When do you want me to start?"

"Come back first thing in the morning—the earlier, the better. If I'm not in the house, I'll most likely be in one of the outbuildings. Just keep looking 'til you find me. Oh, and the small stable at the inn tends to fill up during the summer, so you can keep Flash here. There's enough room in my barn, plenty of good grass in the pasture, and my mare and the cattle for company."

"Sure." He pulled the hat on, tugging it low over his brow as he sauntered out the door. He paused on the doorstep, then looked back. "Hey. Thanks. And I'm, uh... I'm sorry. For... everything." Then he turned and sauntered off, vanishing from sight as he moseyed up the long, shady drive back to the village.

"What the hell, Rio? What are you thinking, giving that guy a job working for you, here on the farm? Why didn't you just send him packing?" Neil fumed, scowling as he turned to stare at her once Vaughn was out of sight.

She looked at him calmly, though her brilliant blue eyes had turned stormy. "Last I checked, Neil," she said, coolly, "my hard-earned money was mine to do with as I please. I can't just turn my back on someone in need. What I did was no more than I'd do for anyone else in the same position, even a stranger, and you know that. I could have just offered him some money, of course, but he's too proud to take it—and I really could use the help. You of all people should know just how busy I've been lately."

"Yeah, well... that may be true, but I still don't like the idea of him hanging around you all the time. Especially when you'll be all alone with him here, and...." Neil looked at the floor, his face flushed.

Rio grinned and sidled up to him, reaching her arms up around his neck and caressing his cheek. "Just admit it, why don't you? You're jealous!"

Turning beet-red, Neil scowled. "N-no way! I am not jealous!"

"Mmm-hmmm," she said, tracing along his jaw line with a slender fingertip, stopping to lightly caress his lips before she stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

As he felt himself melting into her touch, he thought—just to himself, of course—that maybe he was just a little bit jealous. Just a little.