Page 19 of It's a Wonderful Knife

“I gathered Jameson was new?”

“It seems so.”

We came to a clearing, and we stopped. There was a stream trickling a few feet away, and in the distance, a white fence separated acres of pine trees from the main farm area. In the middle of the clearing, three alpacas grazed, ignoring us. There were also a few white-and-black goats mixed in, and they raised their heads to stare at us.

“Those animals aren’t tied up,” I said sharply. I wasn’t sure what I thought about the idea of animals roaming free on the farm. Judging from my elevated heart rate, I wasn’t a fan.

Royce grinned. “Nope. They’re friendly though.”

“Why do they have alpacas?” I frowned.

“They do a lot of school tours, and the kids love them. Sometimes around Christmas, they put halters with antlers on them and pretend they’re reindeer. The littler kids are easy to fool.”

“So all over Texas, there are kids growing up thinking alpacas are reindeer. Not sure that’s a great thing.”

Royce started to walk toward the grazing alpacas, but I didn’t budge. He glanced back at me. “Come on. Don’t you want to pet the alpacas?”

I lifted my brows. “Certainly not.”

He laughed. “Why not. I told you they’re friendly.”

“All the same, I’d rather not go near them. You go on ahead. I’ll just watch.”

He frowned. “Seriously, Max, they’re very sweet animals.”

I ignored him and tugged my phone out. “I’ll take a photo of you with the alpacas. Go on and pose. You can send it to your mother.”

“This might be your only chance in life to pet an alpaca.”

“I guess I’ll just have to push through somehow,” I said drolly.

Chuckling, he shook his head and walked toward the animals. “Okay, but you might regret missing this opportunity.”

“I’m willing to bet my boots I won’t.” I eyed the piles of alpaca pellets and goat waste nearby.

Royce stopped next to a reddish-brown alpaca, and the animal raised its head. Royce rubbed its neck, and it sniffed his shirt, as if searching for a treat. “Sorry, fella, I don’t have anything for you.”

I snapped several photos of Royce as he moved around and petted the alpacas. He was so relaxed and unafraid, it was interesting to watch him. The goats came over too, also apparently hoping for a treat of some sort. Royce laughed and scratched their heads, talking to them in a low voice.

My chest squeezed with affection as I watched him. He really didn’t let anything stop him from doing what he wanted. I found that inspiring. He lived his life just how he wanted, without worrying what anyone thought of him. I aspired to be more like Royce. Not that I’d cared much what people thought of me in the past. But that had mostly been because I’d barely noticed there were other people. I’d been completely disconnected from others. Royce had me reexamining that way of life.

“Come on, Max.” Royce gestured to me, smiling happily. “Come and pet this one. She’s supersweet.”

I really didn’t want to, but I knew it would please Royce if I pushed myself out of my comfort zone. With a sigh, I stepped carefully over a pile of alpaca poo pellets and made my way to Royce. His eyes were warm, and he put his arm around my shoulders.

“Rub her behind the ears. She seems to love that,” he said softly.

“I’ve always heard alpacas don’t like to be petted,” I muttered, feeling uneasy as the animal turned to look at me.

“Most don’t, but Mona has socialized these animals. They’re used to kids and adults. They actually like people.” He smiled at me. “Go on, it’s okay to touch her.”

Holding out my hand, I rubbed the animal’s cheek. “Softer than I thought.”

He smiled at me. “I’m proud of you. I didn’t think you’d come over.”

“Well…” I shrugged and pulled my hand away from the animal. “I may never see another alpaca, right?”

“You will if you come with me next year.”