Page 17 of Charm and Conquer

I busy myself filling my water bottles and packing a few snacks.

"We'll just do a couple miles on the trails today. I know you can go farther," he says quickly when I shoot him an annoyed look. "But we want to build up to a lot of mileage in a short time. We can't overdo it today. Next Saturday, we'll do five miles."

"Sounds good. I'm going to wait for you outside so I can stretch before we head out."

"Actually," Grant says. "We should drive to the trailhead to get the maximum amount of time on the trails today, especially since you haven't been running on them."

"Sure," I say. "I'll stretch anyway."

"I'll be out in a minute." He goes back to watching Bigfoot, seemingly in no hurry at all.

I take my coffee with me onto the front porch and then around to the side of the house opposite Bigfoot, just in case he opens his eyes.

I've got everything I need, including a bottled water and a small camera for filming our run, inside or attached to the running belt around my waist. It's cool outside, everything budding, the grass green, and the scent of flowers on the breeze. I breathe it in and try to enjoy it, but my whole body is stiff this morning.

The last few weeks I've been increasingly stiff and sore in the mornings, I'm fine once I've warmed up and stretched, but it's been taking longer and longer stretches to loosen up since I've been doing more training runs on my own, taking clients on runs, and teaching classes. Word is spreading about my services, which is great for business but hard on my body.

I'm bent over, reaching for my toes to stretch out my hamstrings when something butts me in the back of my calf. It's the surprise, more than the force of the bump, that makes me lose my balance. As I step forward into a lunge, both hands on the ground, I'm sure that when I turn, I'm going to see Bigfoot behind me.

That bump could absolutely have come from him poking me in the calf with one furry finger.

Slowly, I bring my back foot forward to the outside of my left hand and lift my upper body until I'm in a low crouch. Step by step I turn, trying not to spook whatever is behind me.

Before I make it all the way around, something heavy lands on my back, something sharp digging into my right shoulder. "Ow," I say, somehow managing to keep my balance.

A furry head drifts into my peripheral as Barley starts chewing on my ponytail, which has fallen over my right shoulder.

"Stop that, Barley."

Barley is unfazed.

"Seriously. I don't want to have to tip you onto the ground because you might get hurt." I grab his little head and push it away from my ponytail and my shoulder. He takes the ponytail with him and seems determined not to stop chewing. "Let go. That's not yours."

"Hold still," Daisy says. With a few quick movements, she removes my hair from Barley's mouth and pulls the little goat off me.

I push to a stand and face her. She's holding Barley in her arms like a woman who's never held a baby before, awkwardly and obviously hoping someone will take it away immediately.

I'm not in the mood to help her out, even if she did just save my hair. "Thanks. You should probably take him back to his barn and let Dani know he got out."

Daisy shifts Barley onto her hip and sighs like I've disappointed her. "Are you upset that Goldy said I could still get my share of Dad's inheritance? Because I'm not going to accept it."

"You shouldn't. You didn't earn it."

"I'm not, okay? I'm also not going to tell Dani or Honey that you turned down a donation from a very interested donor."

I stare at her, considering my options. Probably better to get it out in the open when she's got a goat in her arms and every reason to go away soon. "That interested donor is the son of a man Dad conned out of fifteen grand." I speak in a low voice in case anyone, or Bigfoot, is eavesdropping. "Since you gladly accepted that money for your college education, I doubt you'llunderstand, but I don't think another Weston should take a dime from any family our father conned."

Her face goes through an array of emotions, from confusion to anger and back to confusion. "Clover, I—"

"You ready to go out here?" Grant appears around the side of the house, already jogging in place.

"Just a minute, Grant," Daisy says.

But I'm already walking past her and toward Grant's truck. "Let's get our run on. The mountain waits for no one."

"I can wait if you need to talk to Daisy," he says, following me.

"I have nothing else to say to her."