“You don’t grill often?” she asked.

“You kidding, right?” Fynn grinned at her, taking Silas’ chair. “Do you know who our neighbor is?”

Alanna shook her head. “No. Why?”

“Greer Porter,” Matthew supplied, his arms filled with cans of soda in one arm and a case of beer in the other.

Alanna choked on a bite of her steak.

Silas patted her on the back until she managed to clear her airway.

“How close?”

“Close enough I’m surprised he isn’t here yet,” Matthew said, taking a lawn chair and setting it between hers and Fynn’s.

Silas handed Matthew and Fynn plates. “He’s on duty.”

Alanna loosened her grip on her plate.

Matthew’s eyes dropped to her hands. “Greer really messed with you, didn’t he?” Noticing Silas’ questioning look, he explained, “Alanna told us how Greer drove her crazy when she was in jail.”

Silas nodded. “He does have that effect on people.”

“He’s why you don’t grill out often?” Alanna unwrapped her steaming potato.

“He has a nose that would put a bloodhound’s to shame,” Moses said, adding a steak to the plate Silas had given him. “Greer’s a bottomless pit. He could eat all our steaks and still ask for more.”

“Greer expends a lot of energy,” Silas said.

“From searching for his next meal,” Moses joked.

“I can’t argue with that.” Silas gave up defending Greer and changed the topic. “What happened about the fence? I didn’t expect you for a couple more hours.”

“Al twisted his ankle in the dark,” Matthew said drily. “He’s letting us come back in the morning.”

Fynn noticed the marshmallows and candy bars. “Can I have a s’more?”

“After you finish your steak,” Silas agreed.

Alanna sat quietly, enjoying listening to the group of men talk and tease each other. Feeling someone watching her, she realized Matthew was staring at her.

“How’s the allergic reaction? Are you feeling better?” he asked softly, in an undertone, so as not to disturb the others talking.

“Much better, thank you.” Setting her fork and knife on her plate, she said, “I feel bad I won’t be able to help out milking the goats.”

“Silas will take over doing it. None of us go near those four-legged mules after Moses’s arm was broken by one of them.”

“They’re really sweet.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You’re a woman.”

“So I’ve been told,” she joked.

Matthew’s eyes held hers. “By whom?”

Her contentment vanished at the memory of when she had been brutally shown the difference between boys and girls.