Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“Oh, wow. You weren’t exaggerating,” she said as we pulled up to the security checkpoint.
“Nope. If anything, I was underselling it. We’re going to leave the car here. They can be squirrelly about cars.”
“Look at the chickens!” she cooed as we climbed out. “Oh, there’s a bunch of bantams.”
“What are bantams?”
She stepped closer to me, her body nearly against mine as she reached out past me to gesture. “Those ones. With the fancy feathers on their feet? Those are bantams. They don’t all have feathered feet, though. Just a lot of them. They’re my favorite. Next to the Polish ones,” she pointed those out as well. “And I have one mutt that is my all-time favorite.”
“A mutt?”
“Yeah. The girls have several purebred breeds, but they also have a few who went ahead and mingled, then produced babies.”
“Why is the mutt your favorite?”
“She just has so much personality. She wants to be involved in anything you do. She’s always clucking and chirping and trying to escape. Her name is Kevin.”
“Her name is Kevin?”
“The girls thought she was a roo when she was little. But, nope, she was just loud and confident and crazy like the boys.”
“You’re really loving the homestead, huh?”
“I’m loving the freedom. Honestly, I don’t know how the girls do everything they do in a day. Just weeding seems to take forever. And they muck out stalls, feed animals, drain and scrub duck pools and ponds, cook, mow—I mean it just goes on and on. But they seem tireless. Meanwhile, I need a two-hour afternoon nap after just completing one of their tasks. Though, I wouldn’t object to having a few sweet chickens as pets one day. They’re not as much work.”
We moved through the security checkpoint and out to the grounds, where one of the dogs—a shepherd mix—came running up to meet us.
“I adore Edith, but I’m starting to have a soft spot for large breeds. The Great Pyrenees and the Anatolians have grown on me. And Edith loves them. She thinks she’s their queen and they her minions.”
“As it should be,” I agreed.
“Heya, Nave,” Fischer greeted me, holding open the door. “Trust you know the way.”
“Yep.”
“Congratulations, sweetheart,” he said to Lolly before wandering off.
Her curiosity melted into a sweet, soft look.
“I don’t want you to think I’m spreading your news around,” I explained as we stepped inside. “But Fischer is a higher-up around here, so I think Chris must have mentioned to him why we were coming here.”
“It’s okay. I mean… it is going to come out eventually. Wow, this place is winding.”
It was. And the deeper we went, the more dumbstruck Lolly became.
“It didn’t seem this sprawling from the outside.”
“Yeah. This place was fucking amazing for playing hide-and-seek or capture the flag when we were kids. Didn’t ever make it easy. But this is the hospital ward,” I said after pressing a finger into the buzzer.
The door unlocked, and we moved into the open patient room, lined on each side with metal beds, white bedding, nightstands, and privacy curtains. But with no active patients, all the curtains were open.
“It’s amazing how bright it is in here when there are no windows.”
“It’s the sunlight lamps. Can almost make you feel like you’re outside.”
“Hey, Nave!” Steph, the pretty brunette nurse, greeted me. “And you must be Lolly. Why don’t you come on in? We are just going to get things started.”
We were led into a little exam room where Lolly was weighed and had her vitals taken.
“We’re just going to need to take some blood,” Steph said, reaching for her kit.
“Do you want me to step out?” I asked.
But Lolly’s hand shot out, grabbing my forearm, fingers digging in hard enough to hurt. “Don’t you dare.” At my raised brows, she winced. “I don’t like needles.”
“No?” I asked, stepping closer to the exam table. “They’re not so bad. The trick is you can’t watch.”
“How can I not when it’s right there?” she asked, staring down at the needle like it might jump off the tray to stab her a dozen times.
Steph shot me a worried look. “We need to run a few tests.” Code for: I’m going to need a fair amount of blood.
“Alright, how about…” I said, stepping even closer as Steph prepped Lolly’s arm. I reached behind her head, turning her and pressing her face against my torso.
She tensed for the barest of seconds before relaxing into me. I kept my hand at the back of her head so she wasn’t tempted to look. She wrapped her free arm around me, holding on tightly.
“You won’t feel anything,” I assured her, earning a snort.
My fingers started to massage her scalp, feeling the way her body went lax with each little circle my fingertips made.
When a soft little sigh escaped her, I gave Steph a nod, and she was quick to find the vein and tap it.