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“You think that, but then he does the lip thing, and it’s hard to say no.”
“Must you forget? I have four siblings. The pout has nothing on me.”
I opened the back door and waited for Gio to jump out. He was about to take off when I bent in front of him, blocking his path. He was a boy full of energy, but despite the trees surrounding us and the open field in front of us, this wasn’t his backyard or the playground.
“Are you excited?” I asked, acknowledging his feelings.
Gio shook his head with a gusto of enthusiasm. His brown hair flopped over his forehead, and I pushed it out of his eyes.
“I want you to remember animals sometimes get a little nervous around humans, so we have to do everything we can to make them feel as comfortable as possible.”
“How do we do that?” he asked.
“No running. No sudden loud noises, and we talk with our inside voices because the outside for the alpacas is their inside. We don’t want to scare them. Sound good?”
He bounced in place. “Can we go now?”
I laughed and pushed up. “We can go.”
Gio went to take off, then stopped himself. My lips tilted upward at his attempt to rein in his excitement. I wasn’t expecting miracles, but I appreciated his effort.
An older woman with auburn hair approached us. Green rubber boots were pulled over black stretch pants, and her gray t-shirt was surprisingly clean, considering the shovel she carried was covered in mud.
“Hello,” she greeted us.
“Hi!” Gio said, his feet kicking in to run up to her, but then he tiptoed instead.
The woman laughed. “That’s a funny walk.”
“I don’t want to scare the alpacas.”
“That’s very kind of you.”
I came up behind him and smiled. “Hi, I’m Quinn and this is Gio.”
“Gio?” Her eyebrows curved toward the bridge of her nose. “You wouldn’t happen to be a Grasso, would you?”
“I am,” Gio exclaimed.
“I thought so.”
“His father, Franc, said to tell Cindy and Addy hi,” I said.
“Well, I am Cindy, and it is a pleasure to meet you both. I’ve been trying to get Franc out here forever.”
“He’s been busy,” Gio said. “He’s always busy or stressed out. Grandma said that’s because he takes on too much.”
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. Kids really had no filter. Cindy met my eyes, and I could tell she was trying not to laugh as well.
“Your father is busy being a great dad and the best winemaker in the state.”
“In thecountry,” Gio corrected, and this time Cindy and I let our laughs free.
“In the country,” Cindy agreed.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” I said. “I’m Gio’s nanny, and since he loves animals and facts, I thought this was the perfect place for us to visit.”
“Where are the alpacas?” Gio asked.
