Page 22 of The Mistletoe Wish

Laying the blanket neatly on the couch, Sara then moved over to the stove and handed him his coffee. “You sound like you need this.”

“Sorry. Rough night.” He took the mug and nodded his thanks.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked.

“My mind wouldn’t shut down.”

“Same.” Lowering her voice, she bit her lip. “Have you had a chance to get another solicitor’s opinion about the bequest and all those conditions?”

“I emailed my lawyers a copy a couple of days ago. However, what with Christmas and their shut down period they couldn’t give an indication of when they could get back to me.”

“Pity.”

What the devil was she thinking?

He took a sip of his bitter brew then said, “Look. About our arrangement here – you know how important it is to me, but what about yourself? You’ve never told me what’s at stake here for you.”

“Boring,” sang out Skye from where she’d perched on the stool. “I want to know about the llamas.”

The tension straining between him and Sara dissipated when she smiled.

“Today, we’re moving my llamas from a paddock a few clicks out of town to here.”

“Why do you have llamas? Are they your pets or something?”

Sara shook her head as she moved to the kitchenette and began to pour cereal into a bowl. She added a splash of long-life milk and offered it to Skye. “Not pets, although they are really cute.” She flicked Darim a quick glance before replacing the containers in the cupboard. “My goal is to run my own business which is why I need land. The house doesn’t really faze me. I could camp in a tent if I really had to.”

Skye crunched on her cereal then waved her spoon in the air. “I don’t know anyone who has a llama. This is way cool. Go on please, Sara. How many llamas do you have?”

“I only have three at the moment. Two young females and one male. By the way, as they are only a few months old, they are called crias. My intention is to build up a herd and make hand-woven, dyed rugs, wall hangings, that kind of thing from their wool. They produce a strong soft low-micron wool that is lanolin free and also come in a wide range of natural colours. So I may not dye all of the products I want to make. Once I have a decent size herd, I’ll probably sell some of the wool direct to knitters and spinners as well. I may also make hats and jackets from their fleece.”

“You’ll need a decent website, one with shopping facilities,” Darim advised.

“Agreed. Abby and Roman’s eldest son Drew is a whizz with computers. He’s just finished a website for Troy Davidson’s new venture. Troy’s a newbie in town. He arrived last July; apparently he’s related to Ms. Lette and her family.” She tilted her head and considered him. “He’s ex-Army and has set up a hang-gliding business out in the Akuna National Park.”

“I believe I met him at a recent local business gathering when we discussed a few of our military training initiatives we intend to run in the area. We were investigating the impact, if any, these activities may have on the town in general. I also wanted to see whether it was feasible to incorporate hang-gliding into the training.”

Skye set her empty bowl down in the sink and rinsed it. “Dad. No army talk, okay? Llamas are way more interesting.”

He laughed and ruffled her hair as she passed.

“Awwww, seriously? Now I need to fix my hair again.”

“It doesn’t need fixing. You’re perfect as you are.”

“You are so lame.” His daughter rolled her eyes, but her grin was wide erasing any sting in her words. “Sara, about your llamas. What are their names?”

“I haven’t called them anything yet,” she admitted.

“No way! Ooooh, can I name one please?” Skye placed her hands beneath her chin and widened her eyes.

Sara looked at her, a smile tugging at her lips then turned to Darim. “One word. Precocious.”

“She was born that way.” He grinned.

“I bet,” Sara said in a dry voice. “Yes, you can name one of them.”

“This is so cool. Wait until I tell my bestie. She’s going to be green!” So saying, Skye scampered over to the dresser and yanked open a drawer. She tossed a pair of socks onto the bed. “Are you two ready yet?”

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