To keep her company, and to stop me from doing something reckless.

To keep me in line.

“Josie?” Harry sounds distracted, and as confused as I feel. No, I don’t know why she came to me of all people, but I don’t want to question it out loud. If I do, she might change her mind. “Is she okay?”

The chair creaks under my weight as I lean back, squinting out through the doorway into the bright sunshine. A slender figure is out there, slamming a shovel into the baked dirt with all her strength, her long hair piled up in a messy topknot.

Josie fished her bags out of her car this morning. She’s dressed in frayed denim shorts and a black tank top, her feet in pink canvas sneakers, and every glimpse of her makes my mouth run dry.

“She’s fine.” She’s fucking perfect. “But she won’t want to be here alone with me for long.”

Can he hear the bitterness in my words? Either way, Harry scoffs. “That’s bullshit. She loves you, Ev. She always wanted to hang out at the Barns rather than anywhere else.”

Warmth pools beneath my rib cage. I didn’t know that.

A low voice says something on the other end of the line.

My eyebrow ticks up, and I ask before I can stop myself. “Is someone there with you?”

It’s midday. Not weird to have company at all. But something about the intimate rasp of that strange voice makes my instincts whisper, and a horrible thought makes me hesitate.

“You won’t bring another girl back here while Josie’s staying, will you?”

There’s a long pause, then Harry blows out a harsh breath. I guess that’s not fair of me to ask, but I don’t really care.

I can’t stand the thought of Josie getting hurt, seeing a boy she once loved with another girl. Jealousy hurts like a bitch—believe me, I know.

“No,” Harry mutters. “I won’t bring anyone back.”

Well, shit. This is still his home, and now I’m laying down the law. What if he stops coming altogether? What if he figures out how badly I want his ex-girlfriend? What if he sees the way I stare at her?

What if, what if, what if.

“So you’ll come sooner?” I press.

Harry grunts. Like nephew, like uncle. “I’ll try.”

The line clicks off, and I toss my phone on the kitchen table. I’m feeling better after hearing his voice. Stronger. More resilient.

Doesn’t matter if Josie Martin is pure homegrown temptation.

She’s off limits. Forbidden fruit.

And I’ll never do a thing to hurt Harry.

Five

Josie

If Everett Bray wants me to dig him a vegetable patch, then I will dig him the finest damn vegetable patch the world has ever seen. I swear to god, farmers will come from far and wide, making a yearly pilgrimage to weep over the beauty of my vegetable patch.

Just as soon as I get the hang of this freaking shovel.