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with a big black headband to keep the loose strands out of her

face. She was flushed with the heat and the exercise, her black

t-shirt and worn jeans covered in dust and straw, and she wore

rubber boots that also shouldn’t have been sexy, but of course

she was. She always would be.

It had taken them a year to get the goats. They had to build

the barn for them first and include an enclosure. They wanted

to do it themselves, even though they could have gotten the

guys—short of Jason, they had never quit working on the

house—to build it.

Between advice from the crew and online photos and

inspiration, they’d actually managed to construct something

that hadn’t fallen down. It was sturdy, looked quaint and cute,

and was red. Cassia insisted that it be red because even though

it wasn’t a real barn, it was kind of a barn. Probably the only

one they’d ever have.

“I’m not sure why I thought getting goats to mow down the

lawn would be easier than mowing it. We still have to pay

someone to mow it, because they can’t take care of it all and

it’s annoying having to move them and contain them all the

time, and—”

“And you love it. I know you can’t stand to be away from

your goats for a day. They’re like your pets.”

“Oh, you love them too.”

They’d gone away for a few days to Florida as a mini

vacation a few months ago and they both worried like crazy

about their goats. They were so spoiled they were basically

like pet dogs. The chickens were no better. Cassia and

Adalynn both coddled them, petting and talking to them and

worrying over them.