Chapter 20
LUCY
“Here you go, sweet girl,” I coo, holding out the bottle for Carla. She runs over to me, from where she was chasing Daryl, wobbling clumsily on her hooves in excitement, and almost knocks me over as she skids to a stop in front of me.
“Whoa, take it easy, wild thing,” I tease, holding up the bottle for her to take. She immediately starts sucking the bottle and bouncing from side to side as she eats.
“Silly girl, you can’t even be still for a minute, can you?” I ask, shaking my head at her antics.
As she feeds, I find myself thinking about last night.
Colton and I have spent a lot of time together over the last few weeks, but each time we’re together, it shocks me how easy everything feels.
When I’m alone, it’s easy to convince myself that he’s only spending time with me because we’re living together.
That the kisses and touches are just because I’m convenient for him in this little town.
But the more time we spend together outside of sex makes me wonder if that’s really true.
I’ve never felt so seen by anyone in my life.
A tap on my leg lets me know that Carla has finished eating, bringing me back to the moment. She looks up at me expectantly, rubbing her side against my calf.
“It’s all gone, sweet girl, but you’ll get some more later,” I promise, reaching down to pat her head. As soon as I do, Knox, Denise, and Daryl all rush towards us, jealous of the attention.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I say with a chuckle. “There’s enough pets to go around for everyone.”
I sit in the grass, trying to give each of the animals their own attention as they all fight to sit in my lap.
Denise tries to head butt her brother out of the way, and Knox uses his thick tail to try to move Carla further away.
I watch them push each other around for a few moments before finally throwing up my hands.
“Guys, I love you, but this is getting out of hand,” I giggle, patting their heads again and standing back up.
“Y’all go play,” I tell them, and they immediately run off to chase each other around the back of the house.
Heading inside, I rinse out Carla’s bottle in the sink so that it’s ready to go for later and grab myself a bottle of water out of the fridge.
I know I need to get ready for all the volunteers that will be coming tonight to help set up the obstacle course, but instead, I grab my phone and collapse on the couch.
Realizing I haven’t heard from Amelia in a few days, I tap out a quick text.
Lucy: Hey, are you coming to set up tonight? If so, I thought we could get dinner after or something. I miss you, Mel.
I wait for the bubble to pop up, indicating she’s typing, but they never come. After waiting over fifteen minutes, I sigh and stand to go get ready.
All right. Looks like I’m doing this one by myself.