“Phoenix Foster! That’s mine!” I charged the porch and snatched the cookie from him even though he’d already taken a bite out of it. Maybe that made me look just as childish as I’d accused Vance of being, but it didn’t stop me from wedging the entire cookie in my mouth at once to prevent any more thieving.

Once everyone finished laughing at my expense, I handed out chore orders and they scattered. Boss and Peg on animal-feeding duty, which included a bunch of chickens, six pigs, two dogs, and a few cats. Raleigh and Charlotte on twin duty, which included keeping them out of mischief.

I collected the empty container off the porch steps and was about to head inside to work on supper, but Vance grabbed my wrist, gentle this time, and waited for me to meet his gaze. When I did, it jolted something inside me.

Heaven knows, I was only fifteen, but my heart knew what my heart knew. It began to race as heat rose along my neck. Mama got in a few love talks before she passed away, telling me about the warning signs of attraction and how it would make me feel sick to my stomach, dizzy, and flustered when it struck. I figured she was just messing with me, because there was seriously no appeal to being attracted to someone if it involved symptoms similar to a stomach virus.

Standing there with Vance’s total attention on just me, each one of those warning signs was present. Honestly, I’d crushed on him from a distance for years, just like every other girl at Magnolia High, but this was different and nothing about it felt safe.

“You okay?” Vance asked softly. “You look beat.”

I shrugged a shoulder and lied, “Just a bad night’s sleep.”

“Anything I can do to help?” His thumb drew continuous circles on my wrist, making it hard for me to breathe.

The moment grew too serious and we were too young for such and I was too tired to avoid making a fool of myself if we didn’t move away from it soon. I broke the stare and sassed, “Another cookie would help. Too bad you stole mine.”

Vance tilted his head and laughed. “You were holding it up to my mouth. I didn’t want to be rude by not accepting it.”

That made me laugh in spite of myself, because I probably was, without realizing it. “I did no such thing!”

We bantered back and forth a little longer, neither one of us making much effort to end the visit or his hold on my wrist, but responsibilities were still waiting on me, so at my insistence he finally left.

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The following week, Vance showed up again with cookies and that lopsided smile he wore so well.