Page 79 of Under the Mistletoe
One of the six goats wandering around clamped his teeth on the corner of her clipboard. She nudged the animal’s nose away for the third time. “No, Crazyhorn.”
She hadn’t learned all their names, but with one of his horns curling up while the other curled down, it was hard to forget his.
Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out. Finally. Logan.
She opened the text.
Logan
Running late. But I’m on my way.
Ack. If he was leaving now, he wouldn’t be here for another twenty minutes.
Her heart sank at the sound of an engine outside. People were arriving.
She eyed the sheep gate as the barn door creaked open. But it was just Greyson. She could have cried with relief. “Greyson, you’re here! Thank you.”
He left his heavy coat by the door, but he wore an insulated flannel over a thermal shirt and jeans. He walked to her, his dark-brown eyes shining. “Where do you need me, boss?”
Greyson had this way about him that put everyone at ease. She couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “You know I’m not your boss, right?”
“This is your event, so you are the boss of everyone.” He scratched Crazyhorn’s back.
“This”—she pointed at the sheep—“is Hamilton. I need you to stay right here and make sure kids don’t get too close to him.”
He eyed the sheep in the corner, who appeared to be taking a nap. Greyson lifted an eyebrow. “Hamilton seems vicious.”
“Looks can be deceiving.”
“Tell me about it,” he mumbled, then stood in front of the gate and crossed his arms. “Got it. Sheep bouncer.”
“Thank you.” Then the door opened, and the Barlows walked in with the three kids. She headed that way. Mr. and Mrs. Barlow seemed more on edge than usual. They still hadn’t responded to any of her most recent messages.
She walked over and pulled three brushes from a bucket and handed them to the kids. “You want to brush the goats? Or Mrs. Miller over there will help you feed a carrot to the horse. Just no running and no chasing goats. If they walk away, just let them go.”
The kids each took a brush and found their own goat. Even Alani found a tiny goat standing on a crate and brushed her.
Devin turned back to the Barlows. “Is everything going all right since the incident?”
The couple exchanged a look. Finally, Jack spoke in a low voice. “It’s not that. We found out a few weeks ago that Heather is pregnant. The pregnancy isn’t going as smoothly as we’d hoped, and we’ve decided we’re going to move near her family after the New Year.”
A tightness filled Devin’s chest. She had really grown attached to those three kids. “How do the kids feel about moving?”
The couple exchanged another look but didn’t say anything. A sick sensation filled her.
“They aren’t going with you.” If the Barlows didn’t adopt them, she had to believe God had someone else in mind, but the heartbreak and disappointment that no doubt would come for the kids just made everything in her hurt.
“We didn’t even think we could get pregnant, and with how sick Heather’s been, we’ve decided we aren’t ready to take on three more kids at once.”
“When will you tell them?”
“After Christmas. Their caseworker will no doubt want to get them settled at a new placement before school starts back up. We plan on calling her the twenty-sixth.”
Right, because they would still leave. Wait, Logan had talked about the Wallis kids. But it would be a while before he had a house on that property.
Not to mention, if he couldn’t even show up for a silly event, was he really ready to show up for these kids day after day? “I think—” Movement to the side caught her attention.
Easton stood there, his expression between heartbreak and anger. “I knew this would happen.”
