AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I gave Buttercup a hard squeeze, and she sped up to a gallop. Piper giggled with excitement, holding tightly to the horn of the saddle as we sped around the corral.
After a few minutes, I slowed Buttercup down to a trot, then guided her back to our starting place. “We should let her take a break. We can ride her again if you’d like in a little while.”
Piper looked at Liv. “Can Miss Liv ride with me?”
Liv’s mouth gaped open, eyes full of surprise. She took a few seconds to answer. “Sure. If that’s what you want.”
Piper and Liv smiled at each other, and my heart warmed. I dismounted Buttercup, then helped Piper get down. She ran over to her parents as I joined Liv.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her. “See, I told you she would want to ride with you.”
She rolled her eyes playfully, a smile on her lips. “Yeah, yeah, you were right.”
Just then, my parents came out of the house and approached us. I led Liv over to the Andrews as my parents walked up, then introduced them, “These are my parents, James and Margaret.”
Mr. Andrews extended his hand with a smile, “Tim Andrews. This is my wife, Emily.”
Emily offered her hand in greeting, also. “Nice to meet you.”
After the introductions, my father knelt, smiling proudly at his granddaughter. “And this must be Piper.”
Tim looked down at Piper. “These are your grandparents, Piper.”
Piper’s eyes darted back and forth between my parents as Tim said, “Piper’s never met our parents, so this is her first experience with grandparents.”
That seemed odd to me, and Liv must’ve felt the same because she glanced over at me with her brow furrowed in confusion.
Emily explained, “Both of our parents passed away before we adopted Piper.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” My dad stood and put his arm around my mom. “But she has some grandparents now who would love to spoil her.”
“She is welcome here anytime,” my mother added.
Tim nodded. “We appreciate that. Thank you.”
My dad directed his attention to Piper. “Piper, would you like to go see the other animals? We have pigs, goats, ducks, cows, you name it.”
Emily chuckled. “Wow, sounds like you practically have your own petting zoo.”
Piper looked up at Emily. “Can we, Momma? Please.”
Emily glanced at Tim, who smiled. “Sure, as long as it’s okay with you all.”
I smiled. “Of course. We don’t mind at all.”
My dad clapped his hands together. “It’s settled, then. What would you like to see first, Piper?”
“The pigs,” she answered, smiling widely.
“Pigs it is.” My dad extended his hand to her. “Let’s mosey on over.”
Piper grabbed my father’s hand, and they headed toward the pigpen. My mother walked with them, chatting about all the animals while Liv and I trailed with Tim and Emily.
“Thank you again for doing all this,” Emily said.
“We should be the ones thanking you. We really appreciate you letting us be a part of Piper’s life,” Liv replied.
“We’ll definitely take what we can get,” I added.
