15. Emmy
FIFTEEN
Emmy
I’m trying not to read into things, but it’s hard not to when Hattie and I keep having these intense emotional moments. Maybe I’m just overthinking things because she’s someone I have a history with. I don’t want things to be weird with us now that I’m living with her.
We walk into Lina’s bakery, and Ollie is already munching on a chocolate chip muffin. Hattie says hi to the other parents she must know through Ollie, and I just wave hello. Then Hattie and I order our coffees, mine extra sweet with a shot of pumpkin and hers black with a splash of milk.
“Come on, Ollie, we’ll walk around with you.” Hattie looks at Ollie, who’s somehow on his last bite of muffin already.
As we’re leaving, we see a woman with long auburn hair and a clipboard. She’s wearing thick leggings that hug all her curves and an oversized orange sweater that hangs off one shoulder. At first, she almost walks past us until Hattie smiles.
“Oh, my goodness! Sorry guys, I’ve been so busy double-checking everything, I almost didn’t see you there!” The woman clutches the clipboard to her heart and smiles, making me notice her warm red lipstick.
“Bells, this is my new nanny, Emmy. Emmy, this is co-owner of Sapphire Falls Orchard, Bells,” Hattie introduces us.
“OH! Hi! It’s so great to meet you. Tilly said you just moved in. Everything good so far?” Bells smiles, shaking my hand.
“Yeah, just wanted to check out the festival.” I smile politely.
“Of course! I hope you all have fun. You haven’t seen Tilly anywhere, have you? She texted, but I can’t seem to find her.” Bells looks at her Apple Watch then around the place again as if Tilly would magically reappear.
“No, sorry. I’ll tell her you’re looking for her if we see her.” Hattie smiles.
“Perfect! Thanks, I don’t mean to run but I need to make sure we’re on time for everything today. Have fun.” Bells heads further inside the bakery as we go back outside.
“You didn’t have to work today?” I ask Hattie.
“I usually do, but Bells insisted I take it off. There’s a lot of work lately she’s been trying to hire locals for from the town so we’re not so overworked. I’m not sure if it’s hers or Tilly’s idea, but I don’t mind it.” Hattie chuckles.
“Mommy, can we go to the petting zoo? I wanna see Muffin and Oreo,” Ollie begs Hattie.
“Of course, let’s head over now.” She nods. I must make a face because she leans in close enough for me to smell her eucalyptus body wash. “Muffin and Oreo are the cows.”
“I really wasn’t sure because he said petting zoo, but now I’m realizing we’ve already been to the bakery.” I laugh.
There’s a makeshift petting zoo set up in the parking lot to the building where the masquerade party was held.
I assume parking for today is in the outside parking lot of the entire orchard.
I almost parked there by accident the night of the masquerade party, but thankfully, a nice stranger directed me.
I had thought for a moment they were leading me nicely to my death because of how dark it was and the woods.
But instead, they saved me from a long walk in my heels.
I’m a little curious about how people are going to be petting cows.
I’ve never been to one up close before, and from what I thought, they are not usually friendly.
But as we walk up, there’s someone working in the pen with them, handing out small handfuls of cow food.
Which honestly just looks like grass clippings, but who am I to judge?
“Good morning, Hattie,” the guy says.
“Good morning, Barry. How’s everything going so far?” Hattie asks, looking around.
“Wonderful! The animals are all in a good mood, and no rain is scheduled for today, so hopefully no issues.” He knocks on the wooden fence for good luck and winks.
“Glad to hear it. Give me a call if you have any trouble,” Hattie says.
“Will do.” He nods and gives out more food to Ollie. “Would you like some?” he asks me.
“Oh no, it’s okay. I wouldn’t even know how.” I smile politely.
“Have you never fed a cow before?” Ollie asks, looking shocked.
“Uh, well, no,” I admit. “There weren’t too many farms where I grew up, and I don’t think my mom liked animals.”
Ollie looks at me like I told him my mother ran over his beloved pet. “What?”
“Not everyone loves animals as much as we do, Love Bug. But that’s okay. Do you wanna ask Emmy if you can teach her what to do?” Hattie says, bending down to Ollie’s level.
He stares at me, brows smushed together, then looks at his mom and snaps out of it. “Okay, sure.” He nods and holds out his hand for more food, then looks at me. “Do you want me to teach you? It’s not scary, just might tickle your hands.”
“Um, okay. Sure.” I hadn’t really anticipated this, nor did I wear the right bottoms. So, when I squat down, I have to make sure not to flash anyone with my skirt.
“You hold the food out with your hand wide open. That way, the cows know you want to give it to them. And then you wait. It’s hard, but try not to move while they’re eating.
It won’t hurt, but sometimes they nibble you if they think you’re taking the food back,” Ollie explains, putting a handful of grass in my hands.
“Okay.” I try to sound brave; I am the nanny here after all. But Ollie is clearly the more experienced one. He doesn’t flinch at all as a cow looks like it is literally going to eat his hand whole.
Hattie must sense my anxiety because she bends down again to my and Ollie’s level.
Positioned in between us, she places a palm on my back, and I freeze.
I’m unable to move, afraid that if I do, she’ll get spooked.
Now I don’t know if I’m more afraid of that or the cow chomping my hand off.
No, definitely the cow. But I put on a brave face and hold it out under the cow’s nose.
I assume this one is Oreo, because it has two large black spots covering the front and bottom, leaving the middle white to look like an actual Oreo.
My hand shakes a little nervously as Oreo begins to eat.
Ollie was right; it is tickly. Hattie reaches and places her palm on the back of my hand, steadying mine as Oreo eats.
I can feel a blush rising in my cheeks, feeling her hand on my back and the other on my hand.
My glasses start to fall down the bridge of my nose, and I have to wiggle to keep them from falling off.
I’m afraid to make any sudden movements.
“See!” Ollie exclaims. “That wasn’t so bad, right?” he says proudly to me.
“Yeah, that was fun,” I agree.
Hattie helps me stand. I’m not sure if my knees are like Jello from all that squatting or from her touching me so much.
Either way, I’m appreciative of the help.
I nudge my glasses up my nose with my arm since my hands are covered in cow spit.
I can’t say I’d want to do that all day, but I don’t mind experiencing it.
“Thanks for teaching me, Ollie,” I say as we walk toward the goats.
“Wanna do it again?” he asks, getting a handful of goat food that looks like brown noodles.
“Sure, why not?” I shrug. If I can feed a cow, couldn’t I feed anything?
So we spend time getting to know the goats.
There are six or seven of them; it’s hard to count with how much they are moving.
Ollie explains how he named most of them when Benny was still alive.
She thought it would be fun, and it brought everyone joy to talk about the goats with names like Gary, Lilo, and Norm.
Ollie, of course, didn’t know the difference, but that was half the fun.
I don’t like feeding goats because they’re a little too wild for my taste.
You try to feed one, and all of them are nipping at your hand like it’s the last food they’ll ever see.
The cows are much more tame and chill. So Ollie hangs with the goats, chasing and teasing them while I stick to the cows.
I feed one more, and then I get to pet them.
It’s not as soft as I thought it might be; its hide is rough, like it needs some conditioner, not that I’m going to suggest that to Hattie.
“Can we go on the rides now?” Ollie asks.
“Sure, let’s wash our hands first.” Hattie brings us inside the building where the Masquerade party was held and leads us to the bathrooms. She and Ollie stop at the family one while I go to the women’s one.
When we’re done, I meet them outside the Masquerade party building and ask Hattie what it’s used for.
“It used to be just for storage, but Bells thought it would be good for hosting larger events as well as bathrooms for the public for events like this,” Hattie explains.
“Can we go on the Ferris wheel first?” Ollie asks excitedly, pulling Hattie toward the rides nearby.
“Okay, are we all going?” Hattie asks as we get to the end of the line. The festival started to get busy by the time we visited the petting zoo.
“I like rides, if that’s cool,” I say.
“Just making sure, I didn’t know if you were afraid of heights or anything,” Hattie explains.
We ride the Ferris wheel, then Ollie convinces us to go on something called the Gravitron.
But in reality, it should be called no gravity because it’s one of those rides where you’re stuck lying against a wall and can’t move at all.
I didn’t mind it, but after the second time, Hattie is starting to look green, so I suggest something a little tamer.
I point out the inflatable things for Ollie, and he jumps at the chance to go, literally.
“Thanks, I was worried I would lose everything if I went on that again. I’m usually so good on rides; I guess I’m getting old.” Hattie chuckles as we sit on a nearby bench to keep an eye on Ollie.
I laugh. “You’re not old. What are you? Twenty-five?”
“Cute, I’m twenty-nine. I turn thirty in December.” She smiles.
“See, you’re barely a decade older than me. And you can keep up with me in other ways.” I don’t mean it as suggestively as it sounds, but I can’t take it back. Hattie’s cheeks turn bright red, and I clear my throat.
“Let’s see how I feel at the end of the day when I need a long bath and several Tylenols, and you can keep going,” Hattie jokes.
“Excuse me, I’d love to be in bed by eight p.m. with my Kindle any day of the week. All my friends used to call me an old lady.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being in bed at eight, but damn, I miss the days when I was out with my friends until two a.m.” Hattie laughs.
“When did you even do that?” I raise an eyebrow. She had Ollie pretty young, so I never considered her having a wild party life.
“I had a time in high school. I grew up not too far from here in an even smaller town; it was either smoking pot in someone’s basement or getting drunk in a random field. But trust me, I never went home before two a.m.”
“That’s probably how you ended up with Ollie,” I joke.
“Oh, for sure! I was wild, and his father knew that too.” Hattie shrugs. “But I wouldn’t change it for anything; my Ollie is my everything.”