long-ago pumpkin farm that had been designed for tourists. Redbud Farm was clearly a working farm, meant to be practical rather than pretty. But it had its own sort of appeal.
The view was stunning, for one thing. Rolling green hills dotted with wildflowers stretched out under a wide blue sky as far as the eye could see. What a sight to wake up to every morning. Mia’s gaze returned to the farmhouse, and she tried to imagine what it would have been like for Andie and Josh to grow up here.
Not so bad, she decided. It felt like a home. A place where a family lived.
Had lived.
Josh lived here alone now, she reminded herself. All this space for only one person. It seemed lonelier when she thought of it like that.
“You won’t see him,” Birdie said, coming up beside her.
“What?” Mia blinked at her, startled out of her thoughts.
“Josh. He never comes out while the class is here. He hates it.” Birdie’s mouth twisted into a satisfied smirk. “He didn’t want to let me use his farm, but he couldn’t bring himself to say no to me. So he stays out of sight until all the paying customers are gone.”
A door slammed behind them, and Mia spun around, hoping Josh had come out after all.
A young man was coming toward them from the nearest barn, carrying a large plywood sign. Mia’s heart sank when she saw it wasn’t Josh. But as he drew nearer she realized she knew him.
“Antonio?” she said in surprise. He was one of her Calc I students. One of her best students, in fact, though he was still a little shy about speaking up in class.
Antonio grinned at her, appearing much more confident and relaxed than in class. “Hey, Dr. Ballentine. Fancy meeting you here.” His gaze moved to Renée with a deferential head bob. “Morning, Mrs. Robbins.”
Renée paused her warm-up exercises long enough to give him a wave as he passed by with the sign, which had been hand-painted with the words GOAT YOGA.
“Thank you, Antonio, you’re a dear,” Birdie called after him.
“He’s one of my students.” Mia watched him carry the sign out to the end of the drive. “Does he work here?”
Birdie nodded. “His father worked for Josh’s dad, and now they both help Josh out around the place.” She pointed out a small red house farther back on the property. “They live in that house back there. Ray, Antonio’s father, is a sculptor. Metalworking, primarily. Josh let him convert one of the empty sheds into a studio.”
As Antonio finished propping the sign against the fence, a car pulled into the drive.
“Oh, they’re starting to arrive.” Birdie rubbed her hands together gleefully, and Mia could swear she saw dollar signs shining in her eyes. “Better claim your spot.”
Mia laid her mat out on the side of the pen farthest from the house, just in case Josh happened to look out one of his windows. She didn’t relish the thought of him watching her try to do yoga while being pooped on by his goats.
As she slipped off her flip-flops and set them beside her mat, her gaze drifted to the goats grazing nearby with their giant udders hanging between their back legs. By Mia’s estimate they had to weigh close to a hundred pounds. Surely Birdie had been kidding about the goats standing on you. They’d break your back if they tried it. Not to mention the gouges those hooves would leave behind.
More cars were pulling in now, and Antonio waved them into parking spaces and pointed the groups of spandex-clad women toward the field where they were setting up. Birdie greeted them, checking their names against a list on her phone, and showed them where to lay out their yoga mats.
Once they’d all arrived, she gave Antonio a thumbs-up, and he carried the sign back to the barn he’d emerged from. Birdie started off the class by telling them a little about the farm, including a plug for Josh’s cheese, which she advised them could be purchased at the farmers market in Austin.
She then proceeded to give a little orientation, letting them know what to expect from the goats. First of all, she said, goats liked to chew on things. That included hair, clothes, and shoes, apparently, and she advised all the long-haired women to tuck their hair into a bun. Then she told them about the pooping, which inspired a few wrinkled noses, but she assured them goat poop was clean