“Uh-oh. Jailbait. Steer clear of that, son. It could spell trouble.”

Kennedy forked another mound of straw and manure into the skidder bucket. “I know that. Do I have stupid engraved on my forehead?”

Slade crossed his arms. “Oh, boy. She’s got your tail tied in a knot, judging by the temper you’re in.”

That comment aggravated Kennedy even more. “It isn’t only about sex. Why is it that everybody always boils everything down to that?”

“Sex makes the world go ’round,” Slade replied. “Not to mention that procreation keeps the globe populated.”

“True. But it isn’t only about that. She’s pretty, yes, and I’d have to be dead not to notice. But I don’t have scrambled eggs for brains. It’s just that she’s pretty and smart. She’s planning to become a vet and work to rehabilitate wild animals so they can be returned to their natural habitat.”

Slade said nothing, and Kennedy sent him a questioning look. “What?”

The older man crossed his ankles. “Just thinking. It sounds like the two of you have a lot in common.”

“Exactly!” Kennedy jabbed the pitchfork tines into the earth and cupped his palms over the handle end. “She’s got her sights set on college. She doesn’t want to make any dumb mistakes that might ruin her plans. I don’t know if she’s saving her wages for college, but I think she is. She’s perfect for me. You know? Only I’d have to be nuts to even take her out on a date, let alone get involved with her.”

Slade scratched behind his ear. “Son, the age difference may seem gigantic to you right now, but in the end, relationships between men and women aren’t based on birthdates. It sounds like you’ve found a young lady who’s a good fit for you. As long as you keep your fly zipped, there’s nothing wrong with you dating a girl that’s younger. You have some lofty plans of your own, and you don’t want anything to screw them up, either. It sounds as if you two could be good for each other.”

Slade left the barn then to let Kennedy mull that over. As Kennedy finished the stall, he considered the possibility of dating Jenette. Problem. He hadn’t dated much since coming to Mystic Creek, and he wasn’t confident in his ability to keep his jeans zipped with a girl he found so attractive. He should probably just stay away from her. Only he kept remembering what she’d said in the text about her sister and how she didn’t want to make the same mistake. Maybe when his willpower bit the dust, Jenette’s would kick in. Or, if all else failed, he could use superglue on his zipper tab.

* * *

As Erin emptied the dishwasher that evening, she couldn’t get Wyatt off her mind. His failure to leave the pasture with her that afternoon had been more eloquent than words. He truly meant to keep things platonic between them, which bothered her. Okay, okay. I agreed to those terms, but if he’s truly attracted to me, why isn’t he willing to at least take a shot at romance? She had no answers. But something he’d said kept circling in her mind. “I had what you might call a difficult encounter with a woman. There was a lack of communication, and I had a brush with the law. It all got sorted out eventually, but when I came out on the other side of it, I promised myself that I’d never have anything to do with women again.” The story had been so vague that she hadn’t stopped to think at the time that she had at her disposal a wealth of information. Brushes with the law normally remained on someone’s record, and with her training and a law enforcement computer, there was very little information on the Internet she couldn’t find if she dug deep enough.