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"That's not a lie," Winnie says with a serene smile. "And back in those days, there was never any telling what sort of psychedelics might have been added to the shine."
Winnie and Grace share a look and both laugh heartily. The obvious love between them is beautiful and I envy their easy connection. What must it be like to know another person that way?
When I look at Grant, his attention is on me, his smile fond and soft. Heat rushes through me, along with a bone deep fear. "Grant says y'all have a variety of animals here?" I'm desperate to avoid thinking about what that look on Grant's face might mean or how I feel about it.
"We sure do," Winnie says. "Come on, I'll show you around."
They take us to a big barn first, where they have ten cows and three alpaca. We're barely inside the barn before Grant pulls out a notebook and a pen and flips to a blank page.
I give him both eyebrows raised high in question.
"I'll write down everything they say. You watch how they do it all."
I can't argue with that idea, and my heart melts a bit more. Seriously, who is this considerate?
We spend the next couple of hours following Grace and Winnie around the farm and helping them with their morning chores. Not only do they explain basic care for the eight different breeds of farm animals they own, including three emus, they tell me what to watch for that might be warning signs of sickness or pregnancy. I learn so much in those two hours that my head is swimming by the time we sit down at Winnie and Grace's kitchen table for a breakfast of fresh-baked bread, goat cheese made by Sunny with milk from Winnie and Grace's goats, and apples from their orchard.
"This is the best breakfast I've had in…" I raise my eyes to the ceiling, trying to think of a previous breakfast that matched this one. "Nope, I've never had a breakfast this good."
"Winnie makes amazing bread," Grace says. "Baking is not my strong suit."
"No," Winnie says. "Cooking is my department. Grace is the brain of this operation. She keeps track of all the numbers, money and inventory and animal weights. If there's a number, she's in charge of it."
"As long as the number isn't two cups or one-fourth teaspoon."
The women laugh together and it's impossible not to laugh with them, to get sucked into the love and joy that surrounds them and the warmth of their farmhouse.
We chat with Winnie and Grace for a bit longer and then head out to Grant's truck. My head is full of information and ideas as I climb up into the passenger seat.
"Thank you for this," I say to Grant as he starts the engine. "Think I'm taking on too much with the sanctuary farm? I have to admit there's a lot more involved in farm life than I thought. Who knew there were so many sicknesses to watch out for?"
Grant twists in his seat and rests his forearm on the steering wheel as he faces me. "I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't think you could rock running a sanctuary farm. I am fully convinced you can do anything you set your mind to, Dani Weston. The question is, now that you've learned all this, is running a sanctuary farm still something you want to do?"
I stare out at the beautiful farmland flanked by mountains as I consider his question.
Could I do this every day? Could I devote my life to a place like this, leaving the city and my dreams of opening a bakery behind? "I'm going to have to share everything we've learned today with Honey and give it all some real thought." Excitement for this new dream is building, but I want to be sure I won't fail this time. I want to be sure I won't let down a bunch of animals as well as my family. "You and Winnie and Grace have given me a lot to think about."
I glance over at Grant and he nods, still without meeting my eyes. Then he smiles slow and turns to me. "That didn't take as long as I expected. We've got the whole day left. What do you want to do?"
"You don't have a plan?"
His smile widens. "I just want to be with you. If you could do anything today, what would it be?"
I press my fingers to my lips as I think about it. The truth is, I don't care what we do as long as it means spending more time with Grant, and that terrifies me. I've got so much to figure out. Navigating an actual relationship on top of everything else just seems like asking for trouble. Still, I can't find it in me to suggest we spend time apart.
"Didn't you mention something about a hot spring on the mountain somewhere?"
His eyes twinkle. "I absolutely did, and I can't think of a better way to spend the rest of the day."
"Should we stop home for swimsuits?"
He pauses in backing out of his spot to give me a heated look. "We won't need swimsuits. The hot spring I'm thinking of is isolated and very private."
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Dani
Iwhistle at work as I set out more pastries and brew fresh coffee. Everything that was going wrong a week ago is suddenly going wonderfully well. We've finally been approved as a non-profit sanctuary farm, which means we get a tax break on everything farm related and we're looking into fundraiser options so we can start raising money.
