Page 78 of Whispers of My Skin

“Tara, where are you?” Joel calls out as he walks through the door.

“In the kitchen,” I shout back.

“Are you ok?” he frowns, looking at my flushed face.

“I’m fine… Just recalling our antics yesterday.”

A smug look crosses his face.

“Ah, my poor baby, we had fun, didn’t we? I promise to take care of you later,” he winks. “But right now, I have a surprise for you.”

“Oh? What kind of surprise?”

“You’d best come out to the barn, take a look at what’s just arrived. You want to see?”

“Yes! Of course I do.”

I quickly switch off the oven and take my husband’s outstretched hand to follow him out of the house.

We walk the short distance to the barn hand in hand, where a truck with two large containers is being unloaded. Connor’s directing the operation, but doesn’t notice us as he’s totally focused on what he’s doing. Reliable, dependable Connor. This friend of my husband I most certainly do approve of. He’s already an integral part of the Redlands family as far as I’m concerned.

“Joel!” I squeal, “This is fantastic!”

We stand in the corner of the barn to watch as they bring in the equipment we’ve brought in to implement the new cattle feed program for the ranch. It’s an ambitious project, affordable thanks largely to the income brought in from renting out parcels of our land. We’re both confident this is the way forward, and that the investment will pay off in time. Joel’s talked about little else for weeks, so much so that I think I’m already an expert, but I don’t mind, I’m just so thrilled to finally see some progress at Redlands, after so many years of the ranch stagnating and failing.

Joel has also accepted that it makes a lot of sense for me to study accountancy at college. It’s something I’m interested in for one thing, but it’ll also be beneficial for the ranch, because once I’ve gained my qualifications, Joel won’t have to worry about coping with that side of things on top of everything else he does. It’ll give me a sense of purpose, allowing me to take on an important, valuable role, as we work together, as part of the same team.

“Are you happy?” he asks, turning to look at me and smiling.

“Very,” I smile back.

“Watch out, Mr. Sadger!” someone yells in the distance.

Then we’re suddenly plunged into chaos.

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