“Thanks,” Jasmine says. “Levi has been working non-stop. He wants to make it a tourist destination for families. The petting zoo was his idea.”
We reach the small corral near the barn.
It’s adorable.
Pygmy goats hop on a wooden jungle gym. A pot-bellied pig snores in a patch of sunlight. A few alpacas chew grass, watching us with disdain.
Sedona’s face lights up.
“Oh, my god,” she breathes. “Look at the babies.”
She walks over to the fence. A tiny black kid goat trots over, bleating for attention. Sedona reaches through the rails and scratches its head.
I stand back and watch her.
She’s in her element. Her sadness from the airport seems to melt away. She smiles, a real, genuine smile that reaches her eyes.
Jasmine stands next to me. She fans herself with her hand.
“It’s hot today,” she says.
“Do you want to sit?” I ask. “There’s a bench over there.”
“I’m okay,” she says. “I like watching her. She’s good with animals.”
“She’s a vet,” I say. “Best in the county.”
“I heard,” Jasmine says. She looks at me sideways. “You look at her differently, Tex.”
I stiffen. “What do you mean?”
“Like she hung the moon,” she says simply.
I look down at my boots and scuff the dirt.
“It’s complicated,” I mutter.
“It usually is.” She laughs. She groans slightly, shifting her weight. “But life is short. You gotta grab the happiness while it’s standing right in front of you.”
She pauses.
“Levi and I… we had our bumps. But looking back, I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time being scared.”
I look at Sedona. She’s letting the alpaca sniff her hair. She giggles, dodging its nose.
I watch the way her body moves. The curve of her hip. The slope of her neck. And then, unbidden, the image shifts in my mind.
I imagine her standing there, but different.
I imagine Sedona with a belly like Jasmine’s. Round and swollen. Carrying a child.
My child.
The thought hits me like a punch to the gut.
My throat goes dry. My blood heats up. I imagine my hands on her stomach, feeling the baby kick. I imagine her skin stretched tight, glowing with life.
The image is so powerful, so visceral, that I have to look away.
