Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
She didn’t say anything, and she didn’t make me talk at all. She simply sat there and smiled at me. She did the same for Yara, too. I didn’t know how much comfort it could bring to a person just to have someone else sit beside them.
Before she left my room, she walked over to me, knelt, combed my hair behind my ears, and said, “How lucky are you to have your mama’s eyes? It’s a little gift from God. You get to see your mama each and every time you look in the mirror.”
Then she hugged me, kissed the top of my head, and said, “Sweet, sweet girl.”
After that, I went to the bathroom, combed my hair behind my ears, just as Laurelin had, looked into the mirror, and said, “Hi, Mama. I love you.”
I pretended that Mama whispered the words back, too.
That was my last interaction with Laurelin before I started working at the farm as a teenager. She was just as wonderful and kind as I remembered, too.
“It’s good to be back,” I told her.
“You want to take a ride with me on the golf cart over to the horse stables?” she asked. “If I recall, you loved those horses when you used to work here. I can introduce you to the newbie, too. I can also show you the new additions to the property.”
“I’d love that.”
I slipped into the boots she gave me, and we headed over to the stables. As we drove, I glanced over to see River and Nathan working at the chicken coops. A tiny smile slipped to my lips as my eyes stayed glued to Nathan. Something about seeing him working on the farm sent my mind back in time.
“Don’t break an egg, or you’ll have ten years of bad luck,” Nathan told me as he juggled three eggs.
“Rumor has it that it goes the same for breaking pretty girls’ hearts,” I joked.
He caught all the eggs in his hands and stilled himself before he walked over to me. He placed a finger beneath my chin and tilted my head up to meet his stare. His face moved closer to mine, and he brushed his lips against my lips as he whispered, “And what kind of madman would ever break such a pretty girl’s heart?”
If only he knew he would turn out to be the madman in question.
“A lot has changed since you’ve last been here,” Laurelin said, breaking me from my memories. I was thankful for the snap back to reality. “We actually have an automatic egg collector machine that does a lot of heavy lifting for our poultry operations. It’s being repaired this week, which is why the guys are collecting by hand today. We’re at over five hundred chickens on our property, which is remarkable, seeing as we aren’t strictly a poultry farm.”
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
“Or batshit, depending on who you ask,” she joked. “But I heard about a nearby farm that was abusing their chickens. It made me so mad, and I paid them a big chunk of money just to rescue those hens. The boys say I love these animals more than them, but that’s just because the animals don’t talk back.”
I laughed. “That’s a good enough reason to me. It’s amazing what you’ve done here, Laurelin. You should be really proud.”
That pride shone through her smile. “I am. What is even more amazing is that everything is free-range. Even with all the tech equipment we added, I still wanted to make sure we were putting out the best products for our customers and making the best life for the animals.” We pulled up to the horse stables, and once the cart stopped, we hopped out.
“We have six horses in total now. The boys’ horses and my granddaughter, Priya, just got her first one two years ago. Hugo.”
“Hugo,” I breathed out, loving the name. As we walked into the stables, my heart almost exploded with more love as I saw the beauty that was Hugo. The white coat of the horse was striking. Its mane and tail held the same bright, snowy hue. Sweet Hugo had beautiful hazel eyes, too.
“If you look up the name Hugo, you get a lot of different meanings, but I think this sweet baby lives up to them all. Heart, spirit, mind, and intelligence. I’d never had such a horse that was so loving and smart. Not since my Gracie.”
My heart dropped a little. “Did Gracie pass away?” I asked about Laurelin’s personal horse.
She nodded. “Yes. A few years back. I haven’t had the heart to put a new one in her stable yet,” she said as she gestured down the way to the empty stable where Gracie used to roam. “It’s too hard to think about.”
“I’m so sorry, Laurelin. I know how much she meant to you.”