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“It makes perfect sense,” Millie said. She was bent over a craft table, busy with her crayons. She paused for a moment and looked up at the nursery.
Just a few weeks ago, the space had been an empty shell, with bare walls and nothing on the floors to break up the monotony. But now, with help from the ranch family, the walls were painted pastel pink, and furniture had been carefully arranged. Each Little had a corkboard which they were slowly filling with artwork. Millie was working on a painting of the corral, and horses, and she was excited to add it to her corkboard.
“No it doesn’t,” Anita said, taking a seat on a large plastic chair next to Millie. “He doesn’t even like books. Like, I’m not even sure if he canread!”
“Of course Duke can read,” Millie said. “Mostly back issues ofGuns and Ammo, admittedly, but still, he’s definitely literate.”
“But that’s the whole point.” Anita pulled her glasses off and screwed her eyes tight. “I can’t have a crush on someone who readsGuns and Ammomagazine!”
“Of course you can! Duke is a sweetheart.” Millie was enjoying this. Clearly, Anita was embarrassed by her feelings for Duke, but Millie felt honored that Anita felt close enough to her to share.
“But he’s not my type! Not even close! I like Clark Kent, not Superman!”
“So you think of Duke as Superman?” Millie teased.
“Wait, no! I didn’t say that!”
“That’s what I heard.”
It felt so good to relax like this. The past few weeks had been tough. With Chuck out all night hunting coyotes, and Millie out patrolling all day, the two of them hadn’t had much time to spend with each other.
The work may have been hard, but it had been fun, too.
Turns out, Millie was a natural shot. England didn’t have anything like the gun culture of the US, but because she was from a more rural part of the country, it wasn’t uncommon for farmers to have a shotgun or two to protect their herds. Having said that, the closest Millie had ever come to firing one was when her father had taken her clay pigeon shooting as a child. Of course,he’dbeen the only one to actually fire at a clay pigeon.
Under Duke’s expert tutelage, though, she’d flourished. After she’d mastered the safety basics, she’d loved the thrill of squeezing the trigger and hitting targets. It had actually been a little easier than she’d been expecting, and before too long, she was regularly scoring high on the target range.
After having some time to think about it, she was now, officially, excited to have Zara visit. Her friend had actually sent her a message from a brand new phone number (which must mean she was definitely planning on staying in the states) asking her for directions to the ranch. It had made it feel so dang real. Millie knew that the two of them were gonna have an incredible time.
“I think,” Millie said, adding a stroke of green to the big tree she was painting next to the corral, “that the two of you would make a great couple.”
“I don’t think so,” Anita said, shaking her head. “I’m gonna forget about it. Maybe someone else will turn up.”
“I think all the people from Liberty are paired up already.”
It had been fun to get to know some of the folks from a different age play community. Some of the Bigs could be a little intimidating. Haze, the owner of Liberty, had a very specific intensity to him that was a little anxiety-provoking for Millie. He was nice enough, though. And the Littles were all sweet as pie. One of them, Isla, was helping with the planning of the launch party. She was Scottish, so the two of them had bonded over their roots quite quickly. Isla was one of those people who was overflowing with ideas and energy and was always fun to be around.
She was in the nursery right now, building a stack of blocks over in the corner. Millie glanced over at her. There was a special feeling of closeness that she felt with other Littles now she identified as one too. Like they all had a secret understanding before they’d even spoken to one another.
Not all the Littles from Liberty were here to help at the ranch. Plenty of them were here just to have fun and enjoy themselves at the big launch party. There was Billie, an artist with bright pink hair, who had a chaotic, creative energy. And there was Brie who — apparently — hadthreeDaddies. The thought made Millie’s head spin.
Millie had had a couple of introductory riding lessons with the Littles who were most interested. The lessons had gone well. She was still using Ranger for all her demonstrations, but all the horses — except for Thunder — were letting people ride them. It was an amazing achievement for Chuck, actually, because many of the horses had been skittish and unrideable when they’d arrived at the ranch. He’d done incredible, gentle work with the horses to get them comfortable with riders.
She was working with Thunder, though. Hopefully, one day, if she kept going, he’d let her on.
“You’re lucky with Chuck,” Anita said, absentmindedly, sulking a little.
Millie was about to reply with something smart, but she felt a sudden pang of panic.
Chuck.
She checked her watch. Eeek! She had to go right now. Today was the one day when her and Chuck’s schedules allowed them some together time at Chuck’s place, and she needed to prepare.
“Anita,” Millie said, “I’m so sorry, I’ve got to go!”
“B-but… who am I going to complain to about my love life?” Anita said with a sarcastic smile.
“How about Nanny Clara?” Millie joked.
