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“The milk chocolate one is Ben. The white is Bill. And the mini donkeys”—Brodie points to the gray one—“meet Bobby, and the brown is Banjo.”
Holding a hand out to each little guy, I wait to see their reaction. They sniff and then nudge it gently with their nose, so I bend over and give each of them a rub down with my hands along their backs. “Awww, hello minis,” I coo, bending over to pat each one on the head.
“Where did you four come from?” I murmur, unsure of why they are all here. The donkeys make their honking noises, and the alpacas blink their full lashes at me. They all seem very tame.
I look around, seeing Wiley standing next to a beautiful flame-haired woman, his wife, Paisley, with his arm around her. They also are wearing the same ugly sweater. She is grinning at me, holding two tiny dogs.
The gorgeous woman walks toward me, looking a little older than me. “Hi, I’m Paisley, and you two ladies are stunning! I want to go dress up too,” she sweetly whines.
“Hi, I’m Ophelia. Nice to meet you. I love the whole matching sweater look your family is rocking.” It looks fun.
Paisley crosses her eyes, and I force back down a giggle. “The guys make me wear a different ugly sweater each year on Christmas Day,” she says with fake disdain, “because I am the only female among these brothers.” And then she brightens up. “But now I have discovered you two glamor pusses. Things are looking up for me. I want to be all Sex in the City goes wine country for New Year’s Eve.” She looks hopeful. “Please, can we?”
“Oh, um…” It sounds like we are New Year’s Eve-ing with Paisley. I thought the Mighty MacDougalls were joking when they mentioned it.
“Anywho, we have five days to plan that. Now back to these two little boys.” She holds the little dogs up against her cheeks and kisses their faces one at a time. “These boys are looking for a new mommy. They got dropped off at Aubrey’s animal shelter a few days ago.”
“Oh, you know Aubrey?” I am surprised; she didn’t mention anything to me yesterday.
“Now, I do, only via the phone. But I will get to how I got talking to your cousin’s wife in a moment. Let me just put these two down, and you can say hello to them.” Paisley puts down the tiny, predominantly white dogs with cute butterfly ears and patches of different shades of brown on their straight, long coats.
My natural reaction is to kneel on the grass and pat my thighs for the tiny dogs to come to me. I smile up at Paisley. She releases the leads. The little dogs are wagging their tails and climbing all over me, sniffing and licking, making me giggle at their instant trust in me.
Paisley crouches down in front of me. “They are five years old, and their elderly owner passed away. Her only wish was they go to a loving home. Meet brothers Coco and Oscar the Papillons, and they are wondering if they can come live with you. Well, to be truthful, they are a Christmas gift for you, but no pressure.”
I scoop both the dogs up into my arms, letting them lick my face and nuzzle my hair. “Hey, Coco.” The one in my left hand flicks his ears up, cocking his little head on the side. “So, you must be Oscar.” The little dog in my other hand wags his tail enthusiastically.
Cripes. I think I am in love with these two little boys already.
Paisley clasps her hands in delight. “And it looks like they have found their new mommy.”
“Did Tucker do this?”
“Yes and no. Your cousin’s wife thought you might like them after Tucker messaged Chance to see if he could purchase two small dogs from the animal shelter as a gift for you for Christmas. Tucker learned some things about you during your overnight stay at Redondo Beach, and two small dogs for the Fainting Goat Ranch you had mentioned were on your to-do list after Christmas. And you wanted them from the animal shelter.” So, this is the surprise Chance hinted at. “These two little cuties are Christmas gifts from Chance and Aubrey and CJ. Of course, Tucker being Tucker, couldn’t help himself but be extra. These other four guys areallTucker’s idea.” She laughs, shaking her red mane.
I stand, holding the two little dogs. “Are all the animals for me?” I am confused why they are here.
“Sure are,” Angus responds.
“You can say no,” Paisley jumps back in, “please do not feel pressured into accepting all the little beasts, but I can vouch for all their temperaments.”
From the cute noises Gwen is making, she’s already halfway in love with the miniatures.
“Why aren’t they wearing ugly sweaters too?”What a dumb thing to say.I genuinely am not used to surprises, and I am a little stunned to have all these animals presented to me.
“We didn’t have any spare.” Fraser laughs. “This was the best we could do to gift wrap them for you.”
I can already hear my cousin making up ‘ass’ nicknames for the two donkeys.
“How did Tucker get a hold of these miniature animals?”
Angus pipes up, “When Tucker stayed at our place after the charity fundraiser on the Saturday—the day after ye did a runner on him—we were all sitting about having a drink.” I drop my head, feeling a blush scorching my face. “A good friend of our father was initially only looking for a home for the alpacas.” Hearing their names, Bill and Ben make some noise. I love their mops of hair on top. “Turns out the same old guy was looking for a home for all these little guys. The place they were initially going to couldn’t take them after all. The old man is selling up and going into a retirement community. Our father wants to help his friend out, so we took the animals in a couple of days ago. We found a nice grassy area on our property and put fencing up before they arrived, so the vineyards were safe. They are all ten to twelve years old and domesticated to the point the old guy allowed them inside his home, treating them like indoor pets. They were his children. They are super friendly, and I don’t think they realize they are donkeys and alpacas. We were only taking them in for the short-term until we could find another home for them, but then Tucker—”
“—called us from Alaska,” Wiley finishes the sentence off. “Shamus has been texting with our father—”
“And Tucker knew you had animal corrals,” Brodie cuts Wiley off.
“So, Tucker thought the goats and Pearl might enjoy the company, and also it sounded like a good idea at the time, and here we are,” Knox finishes of the sales pitch.
