Page 64 of Till The Cows Come Home
“What’s all this?”
Before he answered, he grabbed my wrist, dragging me from behind him until I sat tucked into his lap.
“This, my dear, is our farm.”
“You’re drawing blueprints?”
“Yep. I’ll have to get official ones stamped by an engineer, but I wanted to give them exactly what we wanted.”
“Show me.”
A smile spread across Miles' cheeks as if he’d waited an eternity for the request, and he happily arranged the papers until I could recognize parts of the old layout.
“I think parts of the structure are salvageable, so I worked them into the plan, but I’ll start from the beginning,” he said, trailing his finger until it landed on the tiny lines on the paper representing the new front doors.
“Two front doors?”
“Yes ma’am, one will lead into the hallway like before, the other will lead into no other than the beautiful Miss Baker’s brand new classroom.”
He winked at me before tracing further along the fictional path and I couldn’t help but giggle, nerves and excitement bubbling underneath my skin. We continued this until we reached the final room, traveling through the improved parlor, purposefully arranged stalls, and the brand new creamery that Miles gushed over, his eyes lighting up as he explained the stainless steel work stations, hinting at the idea of an ice cream machine. I listened intently, my eyes following the changes inhis face as his excitement danced across his features, and I realized then the altruistic joy that accompanied love. I was becoming wholeheartedly invested in Miles’ dreams, enamored by his drive, and I could hear my father’s words echoing in my ears, telling me that life is richer when you have someone to spend it with.
“It could be a dual purpose space. We could sell ice cream, but the kids would love it too,” he continued rambling, eventually pausing under the weight of my stare. “What? Is it too much?”
“No, no, no.” I laughed. “I was just caught up in my own head realizing how lucky I am. It sounds likeyouwould love it, and therefore I love and support it,” I said, pointing my finger at his chest.
“I love you, Sage.”
“I love you too, Miles”
He let out a breath, pushing a stray curl behind my ear.
“I never thought I’d ever hear you utter the phrase and now that you have I'm certain I’d agree in an instant to never hear the songs of the morning birds again, to give up ever listening to the chords of my favorite song, if it only meant I could hear you say those three words for the rest of my existence. They sound like god damn silk coming from your lips.”
“Luckily, you can have it all,” I murmured into his lips, kissing him softly, but after a moment he leaned away.
“Unfortunately I think in order to move forward, we need to face the past. The demolition company is coming in to help me today and I would love it if you'd do a final walkthrough with me. I just want to appreciate everything that got us this far.”
“Are you trying to make me cry?”
“Hopefully soon enough they’ll be happy tears,” he said, lacing his fingers intomine.
“I’ll be there with you, now and forever, whenever you need me. And probably even when you don’t”
“I’ll always need you, if not simply just to be a pain in my ass.”
He stood, smiling at me as he filled an empty mug, adding a dash of creamer before handing it over to me.
“Mmm,” I hummed, noticing my usual hazelnut was replaced with deep notes of cocoa. “This is different.”
“Different doesn’t always mean disaster, sweetheart.”
I could sense the deeper meaning lacing his words. A lot of change would be happening in the foreseeable future and it wasn’t just me affected.
“Shall we?” I said, standing with my hands firmly grasping the sides of my mug, absorbing the comfort of its heat radiating through my palms.
“Now?” he said, looking out the window to the sun just beginning to rise.
“I’m sure the girls have already been fed and milked by now. We can’t turn into late rising normal people in their absence. They’d be appalled.”
