Page 73 of My Small Town Silver Fox Billionaire

I tear up. I don’t want her to think she’s some kind of burden.

“You’re a wonderful person, May. And, well, if we get through this, I’ll gladly take the place over.”

“I’d appreciate that. If nothing else, you’re the one person I’d leave this animal sanctuary too. Your good, kind heart is something that can’t be beat.”

I struggle to hold back tears with her words. She always means well, and it’s hard to look at her.

“Thank you. I’ll do the rounds and make sure the animals are good for the night. It’s going to be cold tonight.”

“You don’t have to do that, dear. They’ll be fine—”

“I want to.”

I hug her and walk out of her room, back outside. As I make my way toward the horse stalls to make sure they’re taken care of, I approach Clover’s stall. When I get there and brush her sides, a sad whiny escapes her.

“I know girl. It stinks that things have to happen this way. I’ll protect you, though. I promise that no matter what, I’ll make sure you stay safe,” I say in between tears.

I don’t want to think the worst, but I’m worried about what’ll happen next. Clover nuzzles me. I hold her close, resting my head against her cleaned mane.

The tears fall. Losing this place, one of the best places in the world for me, will devastate me. There’s no other sanctuary close by that is like this. Most of them are dogs and cats only, not larger animals.

And honestly, if we lose this place, I don’t know what I’m going to do with Clover. I might have to sell her or give her to a ranch. I don’t want her to go anywhere else.

I shake those thoughts and look back up at her.

“We’ll fix this. I promise, girl.”

Clover nuzzles me in reassurance. I tell her this, but deep down, I don’t know what to do. The news feels like a shot in the heart.

After I take care of Clover I do the rounds, checking on the rest of the animals. None of them are fazed by my actions, but I can tell they sense something’s amiss. I check on the final animal, the cow named Daisy, who’s one of the biggest suppliers of milk here in the sanctuary, then I head back to the car. I slump in the seat, but I don’t want to drive. I can’t right now.

Instead, I cry. I sit in the car, sobbing. I’m losing everything, and I can’t stop this.

I continue to sob, unable to move, until exhaustion overtakes me. I sleep in my car that night, hoping that when I wake up, everything will be back to normal.

Sadly, it isn’t, and the reality settles in.

I have a month to fix this, and I pray for the answer.

Chapter twenty-six

Robert

“Robert!”

Rebecca barges in, holding a series of graphs in her hand. I look up, frowning.

“Didn’t I tell you to knock before entering?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to wait a second longer. It’s important!”

She rushes to the desk and hands me the papers. I look down for a second to study them.

“These are financial graphs.”

“Yeah, for that animal sanctuary you mentioned. The Burton Sanctuary.”

I look down again. They are. The graph’s going in a steady downtrend.

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