Page 34 of Daddy's Little Farmer

Rafael watched her make a hand signal that stopped the horse and made it come to her. They faced one another while she talked to him, and then she smiled and hugged him. It was cool to see the horse bend its head back so it could nuzzle her and what looked like his own hug.

Betty sighed. “Denver loves that woman. Every animal that she comes in contact with falls for her.”

“It’s easy to do,” Rafael said.

Tony grinned at him. “You too, huh?”

“Yes. It hit me right between the eyes.”

The couple laughed.

“That’s what happened with my Betty and me. I knew I’d marry her the first time I saw her. It took a bit longer for her, but women can be slow sometimes.”

She gasped, making them both laugh.

Rafael chuckled. He turned to see Mara lead the horse back into the barn.

“Is everything set at home?” Tony asked.

“Yes. My grounds manager lived on a farm, so he knew exactly what would be needed with space to grow.”

“I can’t believe you got it done so quickly.”

“I started a week before I got here, so that gave him two weeks, and then he hired two building companies to get it done. It’s amazing what money can do.”

“Speaking of money, Judith called me yesterday and asked about you. I hope you don’t mind that I told her,” Tony said.

Rafael shook his head. “No, not at all. It’s exactly what I wanted. She thought I was full of shit, so I told her to ask you.”

Tony studied him. “They left.”

Rafael nodded. “Good. I warned them it wouldn’t be pretty if they stayed. I gave them twenty-four hours to get out of town. I’ll tell you why later.”

“I guessed you might have had something to do with it. I’m anxious to hear what happened to piss you off that much.”

“You’ll be pissed, too.”

Mara ran out of the barn when she saw Tony and Betty and hugged them.

“There’s Half-Pint,” Tony said.

She snorted. “I thought you stopped calling me that.”

“Nope.”

She giggled and went to stand next to Rafael. He automatically wrapped an arm around her waist. He could see the surprise on the older couple’s faces but also relief and happiness.

Tony patted his shoulder. “We’ll leave you guys to finish packing. We hope you come back and visit.”

Rafael shook his hand. “Oh, I think you’ll be surprised how much you’ll see us.”

“Why?” Tony asked.

“I’ve got some ideas I want to think about,” Rafael said. “Do you guys have any family here?”

“Well, no. Betty and I are the only ones. Unfortunately, we couldn’t have children and were the only child in each family.”

Rafael nodded and smiled.

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