Page 5 of Daddy's Little Farmer

One of the other reasons was his mother. He needed someone to care for her while he was working at the town bank. Both he and his mother had been stern and negative people. They always had to complain about something. Her husband, Joseph, was bitter and sometimes took it out on her. Mara had gotten used to it for the most part. She’d just remind herself it was better than living with her mother and sister. It helped tremendously having the animals to take care of. They were her refuge.

One good thing that came from her sacrifice was that Joseph had money to last for the rest of her life, so she wouldn’t have to get an ordinary job and could save as many animals as possible. It had always been her dream to set up a rescue for animals that had been abandoned or abused in any way.

If her mother and sister ever found out about the money, she’d be harassed even more than she already was. She was glad she’d taken Tony’s idea about having a will for herself. If something happened to her, half would go to Tony and the other half to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in the area.

Tony didn’t want to talk about her dying or giving him part of the estate, but she told him it was “just in case.” He deserved the money for taking care of her, and he’d be the one to sell the farm. He’d also have to get the animals to the ASPCA. It would be a hard, time-consuming job, and he deserved to be paid.

Later that night, she stared up at the ceiling in her bedroom. Her thoughts turned to the group of people that had been there earlier that day. She would have liked to get to know the women better. They seemed very sweet, and she had prayed for friends for years, but that hadn’t been possible with the situation she was stuck in. The men had been intimidating and handsome—one in particular. His eyes seemed to see inside her heart and soul, and he made her feel shivery inside her body.

Her thoughts splintered when Tiny’s head popped up at the foot of her bed. She could tell he heard something and tried to listen. It sounded like something scraping and thumping against the house, and she tried to remember whether a tree or bush was close enough to make the sound, but she knew there wasn’t. Someone was trying to frighten her again, and she guessed her sister had something to do with it.

When Tiny started growling, she sat up and got out of bed. The dog only growled like that if there was a human nearby.

Mara pulled the drapes over, enough to peek outside. All she saw were shadows which made a shiver run down her spine. They could hide anywhere on the farm, and she’d never know if she was in danger until it was too late. She hated feeling scared all the time. She couldn’t remember when she felt truly safe since her father’s death when she was ten.

She snuck around from room to room, peeking out the windows to see if she saw anything. After a few minutes, she heard a car start, but it sounded like it was down the road a bit.

When she got back to bed, she sighed. She was so tired but couldn’t seem to settle down. She knew she was unlikely to get much sleep, but she was getting used to it. It was amazing what a person could do being sleep-deprived.

Chapter Three

Rafael sat behind his desk. His thoughts weren’t on work where they should have been but on the woman he’d met a few days ago. He couldn’t get her out of his head. His obsession with her grew every hour, and he had no idea where to take this. They were from two different worlds.

Someone knocked on his door.

“Come in.”

Rafael smiled when he saw his good friend Darian. They’d known each other their whole lives and came from the same background. Both had grown up extremely privileged. Both families had their own planes and traveled around the world several times. He’d met a lot of movie stars, presidents, heads of state, kings, and was even friends with a few.

Darian sat down across from his desk. “How’s everything going?”

Rafael nodded. “Fine. How about you and your sweet little?”

Darian snorted. “She’s been getting punished a lot lately.”

Rafael grinned at the frustrated look on his friend’s face. “Why?”

“She plays hide-n-seek, but she supposedly forgets to tell me. When I can’t find her, I start to worry. I have to use my mean Daddy voice, that’s what Larkin calls it, and she’ll come out. I know she’s just asking for attention, but I don’t know what’s upsetting her. She says it’s nothing, but I know her.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“Not really. The only different thing that’s happened lately was meeting Mara. I know the girls are worried about her, but they just met her. How can they feel this deeply after spending less than thirty minutes with her?”

“I have to tell you, I’m doing the same thing. I can’t get her off my mind,” Rafael said.

“Then we need to do something. Do you have any ideas?” Darian asked.

“I can’t just bring her here. She has a farm. I’ve got nowhere to put the animals, and I doubt she’d leave or give them up.”

“You’ve got several hundred acres in your backyard. Can’t you take a few acres and build a barn for her?”

Rafael hadn’t thought of that. He’d draw up a plan and get his groundskeeper in charge of contracting it out. “That’s a great idea.”

“You’ll have to find trailers to bring them here. It will be at least a seven-hour drive,” Darian said.

There was a lot to consider, but he knew his groundskeeper, Porter, had grown up on a farm. Rafael always thought the man missed the animals because he fed the small critters that lived on the land.

Rafael smiled. “I’ll call Tony and see what he says.”

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