Page 20 of Single All the Way

“Your mom and Skyler and Ruby and I will be in the barn, feeding the llamas and horses.”

“Okay!” He rushed to join Evelyn in putting on shoes and a jacket.

As the two went out the door, Evelyn was already instructing him like a future boss lady, making me smile.

“You’re coming for cookie day, aren’t you?” I asked Emerson.

“I…guess so?”

“You might want to change into something less nice.”

“I’ll just watch from a distance.”

“Okay. Give me three minutes to change, and we’ll have cookie time.”

“Do we get cookies too, Mommy?” Skyler asked.

“We’ll save them for after our dinner,” I answered when Emerson looked to me.

I changed into barn clothes, and when I came downstairs, Ruby, Emerson, and Skyler had their jackets on.

“How long?” I asked Berty about dinner.

“Thirty minutes.”

“Let’s go,” I said.

Ruby took Skyler’s hand, and the two girls preceded Emerson and me out the door.

Emerson was quiet as we walked toward the barn.

“You okay?” I asked her, matching my pace to hers.

She took in a deep breath and looked up at the sky. “Fresh air seems…fresher out here.”

I noticed she hadn’t answered my question but let it go. “I can’t imagine moving back to town.”

“Do you ever take time to enjoy the peace out here?”

“As often as possible,” I said.

“Which I’m betting isn’t very often with two kids and your clinic.”

“I take it in little bits whenever I can. Walking to and from work. Feeding the animals. Sometimes when the weather’s nice, I sit out on the porch after the kids go to bed.”

She nodded but went quiet as we entered the barn. I was beginning to suspect she was afraid of either the horses or the llamas.

Smoky snorted, knowing it was time for his dinner. Bay stuck her nose eagerly over the gate of her stall.

“Hey, guys,” I said as we walked past the three horses. “Cookies first. You know the routine.”

Ahead of us, Skyler stopped, and Ruby kept going toward the llamas. Skyler’s eyes were wide as she gaped at the llamas, who were peeking out over their stall walls.

“They’re big, but they’re friendly,” I told her. “Especially when there’re cookies.”

Emerson came up behind her daughter and rubbed her head affectionately, looking uncertain herself.

Ruby already stood in front of Betty’s stall, her neck craning up at the gentle spotted animal. “Betty, we got the cookies!”

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