Page 154 of Huckleberry Hill
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?”
