Page 16 of Love for a Lifetime

Dawson parked beside Olivia’s vehicle and pulled his goat boots out of the backseat.

Yes, goat boots were necessary.

With his boots changed and his speech prepared, he stepped out into Mr. Lawrence’s driveway. The chickens were about twenty-five yards behind the house, and the goats were another twenty-five yards past that.

He’d spent more than half his life at the Lawrence house, and somehow he still found himself here every day, even though Beau and Olivia moved out years ago.

He used to come over because Beau was his best friend. Then high school came along, and Dawson’s focus was drawn to another Lawrence family member. Olivia went from a little girl to the woman of his dreams. Things changed so gradually that Dawson hadn’t known what was happening until he was fully wrapped around her finger.

Beau wasn’t the “Stay away from my sister” kind, but he did occasionally remind Dawson to tread lightly. Who in the world knew why? Dawson would fall on his own sword before he’d hurt Olivia.

His phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket and answered quickly once he saw the name on the caller ID. “Hey, man. How’s it goin’?”

Aaron Harding chuckled. “Pretty good. You?”

“Right as rain.” Dawson squatted down as Gertie the chicken waddled over. He reached out a hand to pet her, but she stopped, did a little hop, and ran off as soon as she got to him.

“I’m calling for a favor,” Aaron said.

“Consider it done. Whatever you need.”

A loud chuckle filtered through from Aaron’s end of the line. “You’ll want to hear what it is before you agree.”

“Way to sell it. Just tell me what you need.”

A baby’s scream echoed in the background. “Jade and I want to take a trip. Just a couple of days in Colorado. We have plenty of family who can keep the kids while we’re gone, but Levi asked if he could have some cool new babysitters one day.”

“Are you saying I’m the cool new babysitter?” Dawson asked.

Aaron chuckled. “Well, you and Olivia. Levi says the two of you promised to take him to the Lawrence Farm.”

“That’s right,” Dawson said. He loved hanging out with Levi, and getting to spend time with Levi, Olivia, the goats, and the chickens at the same time was a win on all fronts.

“Great. I’ll text you the dates we’ll be gone, and you and Olivia can decide which day works best for both of you.”

“You got it. Thanks, man. Tell Levi I’m looking forward to it.”

He ended the call, and Genella walked up to him. His chicken friend always greeted him on his way across the farm. She had either developed a true chicken-human connection with him, or she liked getting carted over to the goat pens to see her friends.

“Hey, lady. You keepin’ everybody in line around here?”

As soon as he lowered his hands to the ground, Genella hopped in. The old hen was probably his favorite out of all the chickens on the Lawrence farm, but he’d never say the words out loud. The others would definitely be jealous, and the last thing they needed was an uprising when the birds outnumbered Olivia and him seventy to two.

Well, three if Anna was here.

Dawson checked Cluckingham Palace first, but there wasn’t any sign of the women. The place was aptly named for the ridiculous amount of time Olivia had put into designing the luxury estate for her chickens. Dawson had built about seventy percent of it based on Olivia’s instructions, and he had to admit, the place had class.

He headed for the goat barn and heard the women talking before he reached the entrance. Anna’s high-pitched feminine voice carried over the warm August wind.

“Come on. He’s got that bad boy vibe going on, and he probably won’t be a clinger. Plus, he’s handsome in that masculine-rugged way.”

“Are you talking about me?” Dawson asked as he walked into the barn.

Anna jerked to face him with bulging eyes like she’d just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, but Olivia didn’t look up from the milking machine.

He got a kick in the chest every time he saw her. No other person in the world did that to him.

“Way to toot your own horn, Keller,” Olivia said over her shoulder.

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