Page 52 of Tiger Lilies and Tight Ends

His laughter fills the cab of the truck.

Eventually, we get out, and he leads us in the direction of the large barn. Inside are all kinds of animals—horses, cows, a donkey, chickens running around, and of course goats. Big standard goats, and then in the middle is a pen set up to hold the baby goats.

“Baaaa,” they bleat at us as we approach, and my heart races. There are six baby goats, and I’m over the moon by their cuteness.

“Welcome,” a woman says, entering the barn from the opposite side. “You all made good time getting here this morning.”

“Traffic was light,” Tyler tells her.

“Would you like to hold them?” the woman asks, smiling in a way that a grandmother smiles at someone they love, and then I feel my hand being squeezed. Looking down, I see I’m holding Tyler’s hand, or he’s holding mine, as I’m not sure when or why this happened. My eyes climb to find his, and they’re wide and pleased. He knows I’m loving every minute of this and not even allowing myself the time to freak out over what his holding my hand might mean.

“Go ahead,” he says. “Pick which one you want.”

Which one I want. I want them all. I want to beg him to let me keep them forever, even though we aren’t together, and he and I are not for forever, but still, at this moment, I feel like he’s the person I should be asking.

“Baaaa.”

“I think I want to hold that one,” I tell her. It’s the smallest baby, and it’s black and white.

She bends over and picks up the goat and hands it to me. “This is Luna.”

Next to me, I see that Tyler has his phone out and is taking pictures.

I’m not quite sure how to hold her, but I tuck her up against my chest and snuggle her tight.

“She’s so sweet,” I tell the lady, and she smiles at us.

“Luna is very sweet. She likes to play, but she’s not too crazy. Tonight, she’ll sleep when you sleep, and she might take a few naps throughout the day, but mostly, she’s ready to go.”

“I feel a little nervous. I don’t know how to care for her.”

“Don’t be nervous. Tyler and I already talked this through, so he has a good idea, and baby goats are fairly easy. I have all of her things packed and that includes a one-pager on do’s and don’ts, when to feed her, things like that.”

“Wow,” I tell them, as I tuck my face next to Luna’s. She smells like lavender and not a barn. “When do I need to bring her back?” I ask, looking at them both.

“You don’t. We offer Guber service. Get it, Goats and Uber.” She chuckles to herself. “You just let me know when is good for you tomorrow, and we’ll come pick her up.”

“This all seems so easy,” I tell them, while only having eyes for Luna.

“It really is,” she says.

“Baaaa.”

“Would you like me to take a picture of the three of you?” she asks. You can tell this isn’t her first rodeo. She’s prepared to get us in and out, and knows all the moves.

“Yes, please,” Tyler says.

He hands over his phone, and the three of us pose together. I can’t wait to show this to Morgan. She is going to die. And then I remember Vivi.

I turn to him. “We have to go to Jonah’s.”

He smiles. “I already gave him a heads-up. He said we can swing by later when she gets home from school.”

“Oh, school. I forgot about that.” I laugh. I’m so happy.

Tyler pets the top of Luna’s head. His hand is so large it covers almost a third of her.

“I bet two months ago you never imagined yourself on a farm picking up a goat,” I tease.