Reese shuts the tap off on the sink and grabs the towel from Jude. “Do I have to wear anything special tonight?”

“Not unless you want to. Nothing messy will be happening, though, at least not on you. You’re gonna love it.”

She smirks at him. “You keep saying that, and yet . . .”

“What? You cannot tell me you aren’t having the time of your life, Tootsie Roll.”

She laughs and flicks at him with the towel. She’s different. Relaxed. Happy. Is it because of this Duke character? Is Duke butt-chin man? And why does it bother me so much?

I shove the thoughts away. I have to focus for the next challenge.

An hour later, I’ve eaten and changed and I’m out in the backyard with the rest of the crowd, awaiting further instruction.

Wading through the crush, I eventually find Reese in what I’ve determined is her spot, off to the side of the yard near the bushes.

The giant tarp is back. Except this time instead of chutes and ladders, it’s a large grid of lettered squares and it’s all roped off from the rest of the yard.

“What is this?” Reese asks when I make my way next to her. “Any ideas?”

“Could be anything. Jude is a man of many surprises.”

“He really is.”

We share a smile and watch the crowd gather together in comfortable silence.

After a few minutes, a strange bleating resonates over the hum of the crowd along with the jangle of . . . bells? We both turn in time to see Beast leading in three baby cows from around the side of the house.

“Is this . . . cow-pie bingo?” I ask, looking at the grid of letters in a new light.

Jude appears from out of nowhere, holding a hand out to Reese, the megaphone clutched in his other hand. “Ms. Reese, you have the key?”

She pulls it from around her neck and hands it over.

And then Jude is on. “Babies! Listen up! You all know this game. We couldn’t get any big steers back here without violating about ten county laws and tearing the place up, but the rules are the same. Our competitors will each pick out their squares. Instead of spelling Bingo, we’ll be spelling Jude.”

The crowd laughs and someone yells out, “You the man, Jude!”

“I won’t deny it, babies. Reese, Fitz, you can take turns choosing your squares and since Reese is the reigning champ, she goes first. There are twenty in total so you each get ten.”

It doesn’t take long to pick our squares out and then Jude nods at Beast. “Y’all ready?”

The crowd screams.

“Release the calves!”

At his words, Beast releases the cows onto the tarp, tying the rope off once they’re all in.

All three are a light reddish brown, indistinguishable from each other except their bells are all different colors. The one with the red bell runs back and forth along the fence line. The other two, one with a blue bell and one green, chase each other near the middle of the roped-off area.