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Clover isn't put off. "Dani's never been very good at taking care of herself. She's never been any good at dealing with confrontation or discomfort. She needs her sisters to look out for her."
"That's not the Dani I see." I'm getting more annoyed by the moment. "She can do anything she puts her mind to, and your 'help' sounds patronizing. Did you ever think maybe you put her in a box that doesn't fit her anymore?"
To my surprise, Clover doesn't get defensive or angry. She smiles. "You're wrong, but I like the way you defend her." Her expression sobers. "If you hurt her, I will destroy you."
"Pretty sure Dani will hurt me worse than anything you can dream up."
That surprises Clover and her brow wrinkles. "Dani's a lover, not a fighter. She doesn't even stick around to argue with me when I probably deserve it."
I glance back in the direction Dani went, wondering if Clover and I are talking about the same woman. "Dani argues with me every time I see her."
Clover's smile blooms slow. "Maybe you really are her soul mate. I've always said the right guy, hell the right anything, for Dani will be the one she fights for."
I twist in my seat to look in the direction Dani went, but I can't see her. As much as I like the sound of Clover's words, they aren't accurate. I'm the guy Dani fights with, not the guy she fights for. But I sure would love to be the latter.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dani
Skidmark rolls across the hardwood floor chasing a small, blue ball that he never catches. Every time he gets close, he bonks it with his nose and it rolls away again.
I'm sitting on my couch, Hailey's binder laid out before me, munching on brownies one of my cousins made and making notes as I read over the information. Every few moments, I'm distracted by memories of Grant on his knees before me, of the way he tasted. It's freaking annoying, because I don't want to think of him. The last thing I need is to get hung up on a guy when I'm trying to start a business. Especially a guy who disapproves of me as fiercely as Grant does.
I rub my eyes and focus on the paperwork. There's a lot more to opening a sanctuary farm than I realized, but I can't help being excited about it.
This could actually work. Hailey has a good, workable plan and seems to really know her stuff. She even included a list of books for me to read about running a sanctuary farm. I'm going to read every one.
Before the cousin games started, I got Jared to run through a checklist with me for the care and feeding of Mari and the pigs, Oink, Boink, and Oscar.
Skidmark chases the ball out of the living room and I hold my breath. Will he stray out of my sight?
Moments later, he noses the ball back into the room and I sigh. I love how much Skidmark loves me, but he needs to learn some independence or I'm never going to get a full night's sleep again.
Just the thought makes me yawn.
"Think you're tired now?" Goldy plops onto the couch she brought with her when she moved in, a delicate, antique-looking love seat with pink, flowery upholstery. "Just wait until you've got a farm full of animals."
I slam the binder shut before she peeks inside and finds more reasons to criticize our plan, then I lean back and prop one ankle on one knee, going for an 'I don't give a fuck what you think' look. "You're only here for eleven more months, Goldy. I don't see how this affects you."
"Who do you think is going to clean up this mess when the farm fails? Will you even make enough to keep the house from falling down around your head?"
Hailey's notes make it clear the farm will be an expensive endeavor that may never pay me or Honey, but she has some great ideas about ways to bring in donations and revenue, including an on-site bakery and pottery shop, educational opportunities for school groups, and guided tours of the farm.
Even so, we won't get rich making this farm a reality.
"I swear on Skidmark's sweetness that I will never, ever ask for your help. Now, will you stay out of this?"
She sighs. "Dani. I'm worried about you. A sanctuary farm is a good way to bankrupt yourself if it's not run properly. Are you willing to risk bankrupting yourself and Honey?"
I want to run. I want to tell her to fuck off then hide in the woods, but I'll have to come back to this house eventually and Goldy has made it clear she's never going to happily let the issue drop and move on. "That's Honey's choice. Not yours. If you want to convince her she's making a mistake, go talk to her."
Goldy frowns disapprovingly at my admittedly loud outburst. "I'm not trying to argue with you, Dani. I just want you to consider the ramifications of what you're doing here. If you get bored with this project, what will become of the animals? What will happen to poor Honey, who has bet her future on this plan?"
Sometimes, it seems as though Goldy lives on another plane of reality from the rest of us. Honey's only future plan before the sanctuary farm idea was to find a job to support her pottery habit.
She sells a decent amount of her ceramics, but she sells it cheap and has no plans to make a living from it. In fact, she told me once that making a living from her art would stifle her creativity, because she would focus on capitalism rather than communing with her artistic spirit.
The level to which Goldy is out of touch with the rest of us might be laughable if she hadn't just insulted me. "I don't know if you noticed, Goldenrod, but I'm not six anymore. I'm not the little girl you remember who gets bored with her dolls mid-play and leaves them lying around on the floor."
