bad you’re not sticking around, city girl; you’d be amazed at what I can do.” I gesture with a nod. “Now speaking of chickens, you’ve seen them and the ducks, right?”
“And a little pig.”
“Ah, yes. Well, there are a couple more pigs around here. Each year, Jack purchased three.”
“Why three?”
“I don’t know. Maybe so he could call them Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.”
“Wait, are you saying…?” I give her a second to digest and understand. Her big eyes widen. Ah, there it is. She gets it and, from the looks of things, is repulsed by it. “Do you mean at the end of the season…?” She runs her index finger over her neck in a slicing motion.
Oh Christ, this woman has so much to learn. “Would you rather I tell you they’re shipped off to a farm for a good long life where they can run freely in the pasture?”
She cringes. “Yes, please.”
“No can do. Farmers are honest folk. You’ll come to learn that.”
She gives an exaggerated sigh and adjusts her ball cap. “Well, I guess I’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
“I’m sure it won’t come to that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asks, going on the defense again.
“Nothing.” She continues to glare at me. “It’s just a long way off,” I say. “It will be easy if you don’t play with them or give them names.”
“Duly noted.”
“You have two llamas. They’re wandering in the orchard somewhere. One is Barack O’Llama and one is Freddy.”
She chuckles. “Barack O’Llama, I get. Not so much Freddy.”
“‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ ‘Mama, just killed a man.’”
Her eyes narrow. “I still don’t get it.”
“Llama, just killed a man. Sing it in your head.”
“Oh. My. God.” She groans, her hand touching my arm. “That is the worst.”
The warmth of her fingers seep into my skin, and I become painfully aware of how long it’s been since I’ve been touched, since I’ve touched…
My steps slow, and she tugs her hand away. “So um, any other animals I should be aware of?”
I pull open the big barn doors, and mooing reaches our ears.
“I have a cow,” she says, like nothing more could surprise her. “I have a freaking cow.”
“Alyson, meet Sidney Cowsby.”
“Sidney Cowsby?”
“Yeah, a play on Sidney Crosby. Not a hockey fan?”
“Ohmigod, that is the most Canadian thing I’ve ever heard.” She laughs and steps up to the cow. “Jack was creative, I’ll give him that.” She rubs the cow’s back. “Hello, Sidney.” Sidney moos and licks her face. She groans and backs up. But then her eyes widen. “Wait, do I have to milk her? Or can you whisper the milk right out of her?”
“I see humor runs in the family. And yes, she needs to be milked by hand every morning,” I tell her. “Around six.”
“Six? Like crack of dawn six?”
I laugh at that. “You and six aren’t friends?” I ask, not at all surprised.
“We try to avoid each other.”
“What time do you normally get up?”
“Never mind.” She walks to the door, and her heels wobble on the hay.
“You can try to sleep in, but Mr. Norris might make it a bit difficult.”
“Great. The place comes with a built-in alarm clock.”
“I’ll send Ty over in the morning to milk Sidney.” I follow her out as the sound of another car pulls into the driveway. “Looks like you have more customers. You need me or…” I jerk my thumb over my shoulder to the worn path through the trees separating our properties.
Fear washes over her face, and I’m about to head back to the barn with her but stop when she says, “Nope, I got this.”
“Yeah?”
She nods emphatically.
“Okay, I’ll catch you later then. Enjoy the pie.” I take two steps when her voice stops me.
“Jay.”
She gives me a smile that’s so goddamn adorable, I almost forget city women are off-limits. “Yeah.”
“Thank you,” she says quietly.
“It’s the least I can do. I mean, I was responsible for giving you a cold bath today, right?”
“Well, there is that.”
“We’re a shout away if you need anything tonight,” I inform her.
I cut through the path and my cell rings. I pull it from my pocket and read the message from my buddy Colin to meet him at Crow’s, our local pub. Since it’s not too far, I chose to walk to blow off some steam but only end up tense when I pass the large lot of land my father lost—because of me. It’s not the only thing he lost because of my recklessness.