Page 36 of Daddy's Little Farmer

“Here he comes,” Rafael said.

A stocky man with brown hair with gray sprinkled through it, and friendly blue eyes stopped, and they looked at each other.

“Mara, this is Porter. He’s the one who will be helping you with the farm.”

Porter reached for her hand and gently shook it, but the sweet smile relaxed her. She was pretty good at reading people. This man was as kind as they came.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” she said.

“I have to tell you, Miss Mara…”

“Call me Mara, please.”

The man looked at Rafael, got his nod, and then looked back at her. “I have to tell you that when Mr. Saunders told me about the farm and that I could help, I thought I won the lottery. I am so excited to work with you and the animals. I’ve hardly slept.”

Mara smiled. “I think we’re going to work well together.”

“Me, too,” Porter said.

Porter turned to Rafael so he could talk to both. “From the list of animals you gave us, we brought four trailers. It might be excessive, but we don’t want them crammed together for seven hours.”

Rafael glanced at Mara. “No, I want the animals comfortable, and I know Mara does, too.”

She nodded.

“Would you like to show us what we’re up against? Then we’ll have an idea for tomorrow?” Porter said.

“Sure. Can I meet them?”

“I’ll call them over.” Porter whistled and got everyone’s attention. “Come over here, guys.”

Nine men stood in a group across from her and Rafael. Their appraisal of her made her uncomfortable, so she pressed herself tighter against Rafael’s body. When he wrapped an arm around her, it helped tremendously.

“This is Miss Mara and Mr. Saunders. If you have any questions about the animals, ask her. She’s going to take us around to check out what we’re up against tomorrow.”

Porter nodded at her. She looked up at Rafael.

“Which do you want first?”

“We’ll do the closest.”

Rafael grinned. “Then the chickens and duck it is.”

She walked them through the barn and then into the fenced-in areas. She showed them every one and gave them a little history before moving on. She saved the horses for last.

“We have four horses right now, and every one of them has come from a horrendous situation. I think we’ll only have a problem with one.”

“We brought a sedative just in case,” Porter said. “It will relax them but not put them to sleep.”

“I’ll think about that. It might be better for him to not be so stressed.”

Porter nodded. “Of course, it’s up to you, but it’s worked every time I’ve used it.”

“This beauty is Stormy, and she’s as sweet as possible. The Palomino is Luca. He’s got a bit more spirit but is still nice. The black is Denver. His situation was the worst. It took me months to get him to let me touch him. He won’t let you guys, so I’ll have to trailer him.”

“I don’t like that,” Rafael said.

Mara looked up at him. “I’ll be very careful.”

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