CHAPTER 473

As she waited for the next play, she realized it’d been ages since she’d goofed around outside with no real purpose. Likewise, Brandt, Tell and Dalton worked in the great outdoors every day, no matter what the weather did, so they tended to stay indoors when they finished for the day.

Maybe the sunshine and crisp air had brought out her melancholy. But it bolstered her spirits to see these three banding together outside of the hours they spent working on the ranch. It hadn’t always been that way, due to Casper’s tendency to pit his sons against each other, so at least one good thing had come out of Luke’s death.

“Stop chasin’ butterflies, Jess, and pay attention,” Tell shouted right before he threw her the ball.

She yelled, “Crap!” but somehow managed to catch the football. Then she took off.

Behind her came a loud oof as her teammate tackled one of his brothers, but she didn’t stop to see which one, because guaranteed, the other one was chasing her.

She’d almost reached the goal line