Page 5 of His Wilde Little
“Have you milked a goat before?” he asked, raising his brows at me.
“Milked a cow, think it’s possibly the same mechanics there.”
He smirked. “Yeah. Except harder, they’ve got a whole routine and they’re very active. Which reminds me, actually, have you ever been headbutt by one?”
“Nope.”
Jace continued to smile and nod. “Again, first time for everything. Yesterday they were a little subdued from feeding and being milked, but they pack a hard hit, especially in the thigh.”
I’d heard about goats, but I was the animal whisperer after all, and I wasn’t going to be worried by a couple little goats and their hard heads.
He was right. It was different.
They all looked the same to me, so trying to milk a goat that had just been done nearly had me bitten. They had teeth, and apparently it hurt. I kept my fingers tucked away after that. But it was fun to have Jace teach me the way the goats were conditioned to approach when he had the bucket and wooden stool out for them to perch their front legs so he could go to town spitting the milk in the fistfuls.
We went from the goats to the chickens who were fed a mixture of feed and red chili flakes, as we forced our way into their coops to grab their eggs. It was another job I hadn’t done before, and seeing how some of the chickens stuck around, not wanting to leave their eggs behind was also a new experience.
“Henrietta always stays behind, she’s like the neighborhood watch,” Jace said, filling his basket full of eggs.
“Yeah, well, I’d say she’s pretty bad at watching them.” As I turned from her, she pecked at my hand. “Fuck.”
“Oh yeah, she’ll do that if you’re not careful.”
I was so used to dealing with the bigger animals that I forgot how smaller ones behaved. I wondered if my animal whisperer title should be contested. But I’d only just arrived, and they’d all warm to me eventually. Everyone did.
3. JACE
I’d gotten the wrong impression of Lorenzo, he was nice, oddly nice for someone I thought wouldn’t have two positive words to rub together. I definitely couldn’t admit it to my family, and I was not going to let my sister know. I wanted her to be indifferent to him, even if she assumed he was brought here for her, because maybe he was brought here for me. And the rescue horse we were getting in that he was here for, and still, that confused me, we were going to get rid of the stables once our mare was gone.
Horses scarred me if I was going to be real. They were so powerful with their backlogs, and it just was not the vibe for me. I didn’t mind the occasional spitting from the alpacas because at least they did it lovingly, and I don’t care what anyone said, it was a sign of affection.
As the day progressed, people from town came up to the ranch on their little visits, some of them to buy eggs, others to pet the goats. It was one of my favorite things to walk around talking to people about the animals and giving them oats or sliced carrots. And as I walked around, I couldn’t see Lorenzo at all.
My sister was stood on the porch on the phone and as I approached her, she held her hand up to me and then walked off inside. I followed behind her and as I walked in, I caught Diane on her way out.
“Jace, Jace, Jace,” she said, swinging her arm around mine and pulling me in. “Where is this handsome cowboy you’ve imported all the way from Texas?”
Diane was my mom’s friend, newly divorced—well, two years ago, and she worked part-time on the ranch in the small cheese processing factory we had. It smelled awful inside, so Iavoided that place as much as possible, even if I devoured the goat’s cheese whenever samples were brought out.
“Lorenzo,” I said, trying not to smile so big. “I was actually looking for him. Did you stop Olivia?”
She waved a hand and scoffed. “Oh, you know she wouldn’t have stopped what she was doing even if she spotted me in flames that girl when she’s gabbing away on the phone,” she laughed. “Anyway, where is he? And are you going to introduce me?”
“If I can find him, sure, but he’s a pretty quiet guy.”
“Is he—you know,conversative?” she asked in a hushed voice. “Your mom was telling me she was worried about—” And she gestured to me in my whole being. “Which I told her was awful, you know, Brokeback Mountain did your community so many favors.”
“My community,” I laughed. “Someone filled up your tank with an extra dose of audacity today.” I snorted. “I don’t think he’s homophobic, if that’s what you’re getting at. And I’ve already scouted out all my rainbow utensils from the kitchen.”
She patted my arm. “Good to know and is he single?” she asked. “Your mom said you were showing him around, so I’m assuming the two of you got to talking.”
I gestured to the door but before we could leave, Olivia walked over huffing. “Those people delivering those rescues are asking for proof we’re equipped to handle them. And apparently, it’s three horses, not just one. Three. Dad knows how much it costs to house a horse, right? Or did he fall through the roof and bang he had recently?”
“Jeesh, remind me not to get on your bad side,” Diane laughed, still tugging on my arm.
“Have you seen Dad?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Have you seen Lorenzo?”
