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Page 36 of Huckleberry Hill (Saddles & Spurs #1)

Chapter Thirty-Five

The Ranch

“You didn’t,” I said as I got out of the truck.

“I did,” Dad said with a rueful grin.

“You didn’t! ” I squealed. I ran to the front porch and held out my hands.

He lifted the kid and placed it in my arms.

“It’s a she,” he said. “A Nigerian Dwarf goat.”

She was black and white with black socks, and I hugged her to me. “You got me a baby goat!”

“You’ve wanted a goat for years,” he said. “And now that you’re staying . . .”

Tears gathered in my eyes. “Thank you, Dad.”

He smiled. “What are you going to name her?”

“Don’t know yet.” I stroked a hand down her head, and she bleated.

“I’ve got her stall and pen all set up,” Dad said. “And Dr. Swanson already checked her out at the livestock auction.”

I couldn’t hold back. “I just met Dr. Swanson at Sweet Teeth not even an hour ago.”

He sighed. “Yeah?”

“She’s young, Dad.”

“Not that young.”

“She’s thirty.”

“Yeah. So?”

“And you’re forty-eight,” I pointed out.

“I’m missing the point of this conversation.”

“That is the point of the conversation. She doesn’t just want marriage, does she? She wants a family, too.”

“She does. And when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to give her that, I let her go so she could find someone else.”

“Find someone else?” I raised my brows. “In a town of eight hundred people. With maybe three unmarried men in her age range.”

“You said I was too old for her,” he pointed out. “So, which is it?”

“I know why you like her. She’s beautiful and smart. And she’s a vet. A lot of similarities to Mom.”

His jaw ticked. “She’s not a stand-in for your mother.”

“I know.” I looked down at the baby goat in my arms. “Just like this baby goat isn’t a stand-in for the baby I can’t have.”

He flinched. “Hadley, I?—”

“Thank you, Dad. I love her already. And you didn’t know about my . . . until after you bought her for me. It’s why she’s so perfect.”

“Let’s show her the new digs.”

“New digs.” I snorted. “You’re so old.”

“Not that old.”

A few hours later, Declan found me sitting in the baby goat’s stall.

“What do you have there?” Declan asked with a grin, leaning over the stall door.

“My present from Dad,” I said with a laugh. “Come meet her.”

Declan opened the stall door and closed it quickly. He then took a seat next to me on the straw bedding.

The baby goat went to investigate him right away.

“I know how this is going to go,” I said with a smile. “She’s going to love you more than me.”

“Nah.” He scratched her head, and she leaned into his touch. “She’s cute. What are you naming her?”

“Tempest.” I offered my hand to her and she nibbled on my fingers. “Hungry again, I see.”

I reached into the bucket next to me that had some starter grain and held it out to her in the palm of my hand. She devoured the grain quickly and then immediately began exploring for more. I gave her some and then she went to drink water.

“She’s going to need a buddy,” Declan said. “They’re social animals.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “A buddy would be good.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder.

“What were you up to today? I texted several times and didn’t get a reply,” he said. “Were you out of cell range?”

“Nah. I went to Sweet Teeth this morning and there was a line out the door. Abby posted something on social media and it went viral. They weren’t prepared.

People drove all the way from Sandpoint, can you believe it?

Anyway, I jumped behind the counter to help Gracie and then I called Wade and Muddy for reinforcements. We’re all going back tomorrow to help.”

“Ah,” he said, taking my hand and linking his fingers through mine.

“Sorry I didn’t get back to you.”

“It’s all good. I figured something was up.”

I lifted my head and looked at him. “Wade brought Chelsea to Sweet Teeth to help too. Looks like that’s sticking. Everyone’s falling in love.”

“Just in time for the Mushroom Festival,” he said with a smile. “You want to go to that with me?”

“Absolutely.”

“So, what exactly happens at a mushroom festival?” he asked.

“Well, there are booths, and everyone is selling something to do with mushrooms. Everything from leather mushroom totes to small, sharp knives for harvesting and even fresh and dried mushrooms themselves. Usually morels since they’re the most prevalent in the area.

I’d love to get out and forage for some, but . . .”

“But?”

“That’s something Salem and I used to do together.” I sighed. “Damn, I miss her.”

“I bet you do.”

“It’s weird, you know? I love being here. I want to be here. But this is the first time we’re ever going to live apart. It just doesn’t feel right. I’m off kilter, you know?”

“Twin thing?”

“Definitely a twin thing.”

“How’s she taking your decision?”

“She says she’s fine with it.” I shrugged. “She’d already started packing up my stuff, so she knew before I did that I was coming home for good. But she’s not fine with it. I mean she’ll be okay . . . as much as she can be.”

“Will she come home for a visit soon?”

“If I ask her, maybe. But it’s hard for her to be here. There’s a lot of unresolved . . . issues. For her.”

“You want to tell me about them?” he asked softly.

“I want to tell you, yes. And I probably should tell you. But I don’t want it to color how you see her. When you meet her—whenever that is—I don’t want it tainted.”

“Fair enough.”

Tempest wandered to the corner of the stall and started pawing at it.

“Is she secretly a dog?” Declan asked.

“Maybe.”

Goldie was in the stall next to us, and she nickered. Tempest perked her head up.

“I think they want to meet each other,” Declan said.

I scrambled to a stand and then I picked up Tempest and walked out of the stall with her. I trekked to Goldie’s stall and held the goat up for the mare to inspect.

The two of them sniffed each other and then my heart melted right out of my chest when the two of them touched noses.

“I’m pretty sure Goldie just became a surrogate mother to a goat,” Declan said with a soft laugh.

I patted Goldie’s neck and then brought Tempest back to her stall. I set her down. “I don’t want to leave her.”

“I know. But my cabin isn’t set up to house-train a baby goat. Not yet anyway.”

“Not yet?” I raised my brows.

Declan leaned down and gave Tempest a good side scratch. She pressed against his leg. “Yeah, a litter box, some wood shavings, some positive reinforcement—she can be an indoor house goat.”

“Declan.” I sighed.

He looked at me. “I just want to make you happy, Hadley. That’s all I want to do.”

A week of pure bliss went by. I gave my nights to Declan and my days were spent at Sweet Teeth. The fervor hadn’t died down. In fact, it had grown, amplified by word of mouth and customers posting their own videos of how good the treats were on social media.

Gracie was in the process of hiring some extra help, and I was grateful because as much I loved helping her out, dragging my butt out of bed at the crack of dawn and driving to town was hard on me.

I’d always been a morning person, but lately I’d been tired and the caffeine jolt in the middle of the afternoon just wasn’t doing anything to pick me up.

Plus, attempting to house-train a goat when neither Declan nor I were there full time was a chore.

During the day, Tempest was either in her stall or her pen.

She needed a routine and at the moment, she didn’t have one.

After an accident in the middle of the night, my good-natured boyfriend had grumbled and insisted that she had to go back to the barn.

He took her while I cleaned up the mess on the wood floor.

“I have to be up in three hours,” I moaned, collapsing back onto the bed.

“I have to be up in two,” he said.

“Oh, so it’s a contest now of who suffers the most?”

He turned off the lamp. “Let’s not argue—let’s just go back to bed.” He pulled me against his chest, and I fell asleep.

His alarm woke me up and in my frustration, I hit him with a pillow. He wrestled it from me and somehow it ended with him inside me.

The two orgasms he gave me before finding his own release had me sedated and mellow. I drifted off again, but my alarm never sounded and when I woke up naturally at ten a.m., I was completely horrified.

I looked at my phone; I had a few missed calls and texts from Gracie. I scrambled to the bathroom and reached for the toothbrush Declan had given me and called Gracie.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked. “I couldn’t get a hold of you, and I was worried.”

“Sorry,” I said around the toothbrush. “My alarm never went off. I’m getting ready as we speak. I can be in the truck in ten minutes.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I have more than enough help now. I was just concerned.”

My heart rate began to slow. “Did Muddy go in today?”

“Nope. I let her off the hook, too. You guys were my knights in shining armor coming to my rescue the way you did.”

“Call me Dame Hadley,” I joked.

“Okay, sorry, but I gotta hop off now.”

“Happy baking,” I said and hung up.

I set my phone aside and brushed my teeth. I looked in the mirror, grimacing in horror. My hair was a rat’s nest. I looked like I hadn’t slept at all, and my skin was pale.

“Burning the candle at both ends,” I said to my reflection.

I got into the shower and ten minutes later, I was dressed. I went and checked on Tempest, who was happy in her stall with fresh hay and bedding. The ranch hands pitched in and helped take care of her, just like they did for all the other animals.

I went to the main house. My head was in the fridge when there was a knock on the front door.

I went to answer it and saw the postman I’d known since I was a child.

He was delivering my boxes from New York.

I signed for them, thanked him, and then maneuvered them into the foyer.

There were six in all, and they were too heavy for me to cart up the stairs.

I’d wait for my father or Declan and use them for their muscle.

I was in the middle of eating my breakfast when Muddy came in. “There’s a maze of boxes in the foyer,” she said in greeting.

“I can’t get them up the stairs. I need Dad or Declan.”

“Your stuff from New York, I’m guessing?”

“Yep.”

“Knowing Salem, there might be a gag gift in there as well,” Muddy said. “I’d open the boxes in private.”

“Hmm, thanks for the reminder.”

I set off a text to the group chat that I got my boxes and thanked them for their timely delivery. Salem replied almost immediately.

Salem

tell dad I used his credit card for the astronomical shipping costs.

Me

tell him yourself

Salem

*tongue stuck out emoji*

Wyn

have you opened them yet?

Me

No. They legit just showed up. Should I be worried?

Salem

Depends.

Me

that terrifies me

Poet

We just threw in some stuff as a going away present. Since we didn’t really get to have a party and all.

Wyn

yeah, Salem and I kinda added some more stuff after you went to bed.

Poet

Sorry Hadley. I tried to keep them contained.

Salem

We are uncontainable.

Me

Dad got me a baby goat.

Poet

WHAT I NEED PICTURES IMMEDIATELY.

Wyn

Him? Her?

Me

Her. Name is Tempest.

Grinning, I sent them photos of Tempest. Several of them with Declan in them.

Wyn

I need to get me one of those.

Me

I know isn’t she cute?

Wyn

No, a cowboy

Me

He also rides a motorcycle . . .

Wyn

How does it feel to be living my dream?

Poet

Definitely God’s favorite.

I set my phone aside and finished my meal. Dad came inside and carted the boxes up the stairs. I closed the door of my bedroom and sat on the floor, reaching for the first box.

Clothes and a few keepsakes. A framed photograph of my parents on their wedding day. The hot spring during a sunset. A black and white photo of Huckleberry Hill in the 1800s.

I put away my winter clothes in the back of my closet. But when I found a men’s button-down shirt, I inhaled sharply.

There was a knock on the bedroom door, followed by it opening. “Hadley?”

There was nowhere to put the blue-button down shirt, and I knew Declan would see it when he entered the closet.

“I came to see if you wanted to get some lunch.” His eyes dropped to the shirt. “What’s that?”

I cleared my throat. “My boxes came with all my stuff. Including one of Gianni’s shirts.”

His smile slipped.

“I’m throwing it away,” I said hastily. “I wasn’t expecting to see it.”

“You weren’t expecting me to see it either, were you?”

“Definitely not.” I sighed. “Seriously, Declan, this isn’t a big deal. I don’t want to keep it.”

“You kept Wade’s hoodie,” he pointed out. He raked a hand through his hair.

“He gave that to me when we were in high school, but I’ll throw that out too. I don’t want to wear anyone’s clothes but yours.”

“I’m trying to stay levelheaded here,” he said. “It’s not working.”

“You’re angry.”

“Not at you.”

“What then?”

“You can throw away the clothes of relationships past, but what about pictures? Memories?”

I went to him and placed my hand on his heart. He covered my hand with his and stared down at me.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to get rid of photos. Because when I look at them, I don’t think about my relationships. With Wade’s photos, I remember high school, I remember bonfires, I remember sneaking in past curfew with Salem.”

“And Gianni’s photos?”

“I don’t know yet when I look at them what I’ll feel . . . or remember. It’s fresh. As for the memories?—”

“Those are yours to keep.” He kissed me gently. “It’s okay to remember. I just . . .”

“What?”

“Don’t want you to look at them and wonder what if .”

“What if? You mean what could have been if I’d stayed with him?”

“Married him. Had a whole life with him.”

“I won’t ever look at photos and wonder what if ,” I vowed.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do,” I insisted. “Because he didn’t want me. And you do. And that’s what matters.”

He took a deep breath.

“Better?”

“Better,” he agreed.

“Less homicidal?” I teased.

“Barely.” He smiled. “But it’s a start.”

“What were you saying about getting lunch?”

His eyes darkened as he closed the closet door and then he gently pushed me against the wall. “I know what I want for lunch.”

His fingers reached for the button of my pants.

“You better find something to stuff into my mouth,” I replied huskily. “I’m a screamer.”

He opened a drawer and pulled out a pair panties. With a wicked grin, he shoved them into my mouth. “Yes. I’m aware.”