Page 67 of Single-Minded
“She loves her niece to pieces,” Knox said. “Caring for Bronte’s the next best thing to having our own.”
“It’ll happen soon, man,” Ben said.
“Keep on soldiering on and trying,” I said.
“You better believe I will,” he said with a grin.
As I stuffed the last of my burger in my mouth, a strange sound reached my ears, like a high-pitched humming noise, too high to be coming from the men. I met Chance’s gaze, confusion on his face too.
Knox laughed.
“What the hell is that?” I asked, looking between Knox and Ben, who didn’t appear concerned either.
“It’s Esmerelda telling me she wants to eat,” Ben said with a sigh.
I swung my head toward the llama. Sure enough, she still stared our way with her big, falsely woeful eyes, though I couldn’t see her mouth moving. The sound was a drawn-out moan that sounded as if she’d been wronged.
“Do you need to go feed her?” Luke asked.
Ben shook his head as he finished chewing, then said, “I fed everyone before you all got here.”
“Did she not get the message?” Chance asked.
“Oh, she was right there as I fed her, chomping her hay as fast as I could get it in her feeder.”
“So she’s lying,” I said.
Knox shot a look of amusement at Ben. “She wants dessert, doesn’t she?”
Ben shook his head and muttered, “Fucking spoiled llama.”
The rest of us laughed, knowing exactly who’d spoiled the animal.
“You got any cookies?” Luke asked.
“I bought a dozen before I knew you were bringing fresh berries,” Ben said. “I don’t know how she knows that.”
“Smart llama,” Knox said.
“Spoiled.” Ben acted annoyed with his animals, but we all knew he loved them almost as much as he loved his new wife and four kids.
“You want me to get a cookie and take it to her?” Luke asked.
Ben laughed. “If we don’t want to listen to her whining for the next hour, she’s going to need a cookie.”
“On it.” Luke set his empty plate aside and headed into the house.
“Guess we know who wears the pants in this family,” Chance said.
“Esmerelda then Emerson,” Knox said.
“Spot on,” Ben admitted. “And I consider myself a damn lucky man.”
Luke came out of the house with a box of cookies from Sugar. He set it on one of the side tables. “Come on, West, let’s go spoil this llama like a grandparent.”
I got up and headed to the fence with him.
“How many grown men does it take to give a llama a cookie?” Knox hollered.
