Chapter 60
Jake
Midday the next day I see Scarlett leave the house more dolled up than usual.
She’s wearing a flowy, floor length dress that’s the same forest green she painted the cottage.
High heels are on her feet and I wince when I see her wobble in them going down the steps.
Once she corrects herself she throws a black blazer over her dress and gets in the truck.
Backing out of the driveway without a text or a call.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a controlling person, I never have been.
Scarlett is free to go and do as she pleases but I can’t help but feel like the chasm in my chest grows just a little bit more.
Heels, business attire, she looks amazing.
And like she’s maybe going into the city for a job interview.
I go outside and walk into Henrietta’s pen.
I don’t need to do anything, all the chores are done for the day.
Sure, there’s things I could get done for the farmer’s market but all of a sudden I have zero desire to do anything productive.
Inside the pen I simply sit down in the patchy grass.
Henrietta slowly stomps her way over to me.
I wait for whatever shenanigans she’s going to get into.
Biting my hair, eating my shirt, kicking me in the chest. I can’t seem to get myself to move in order to avoid any of it.
Instead, Henrietta comes over to me in a slow and peaceful manner.
She looks at me almost thoughtfully as she chews the pieces of grass in her mouth.
Then she does something I’ve never seen her do before.
She sits down in front of me and lays her head into my lap.
Still chewing, her head bobs up and down, her eyes are looking in two different directions but somehow staring into my soul.
“What if she leaves us, girl?” I scratch her head in between her ears, the same circular motion I’ve seen her love from Scarlett’s touch. “What will we do?” She huffs out a short baaa in response and then leans into my hand, not so subtly asking for me to keep going and with more pressure please.
A noise pings in my pocket and I grab my phone to find a text from Scarlett. It’s poorly spelled and no punctuation because I’m sure she sent it while she was driving.
Scarlett: Shit I just letf and I fogrot to ask you if u could keep an eye on Penny
Me: Of course I can, everything ok?
I hate myself for adding that second part of the text.
I feel grossly insecure and I haven’t felt this way since I was a teenager.
I always told myself I wouldn’t chase a girl, ever.
And while I am not technically chasing her there’s a deep desire inside me to do just that.
To get her to tell me what’s going on. Confirm whether or not I’m really going to lose her.
Scarlett: Graet!
It’s a weak response and I want to be mad about it but I also know that she’s driving and shouldn’t be putting a lot of effort into texting right now. But she could call me. I wish she would.
It isn’t easy but I force myself up onto my feet and go inside the house to work on orders I have for next week’s farmers market. All I can think about is whether or not I’m currently in the middle of losing Scarlett.
After an hour of working on orders and peeking out the window to spy on Penny, I walk over to her pen and make sure she’s all good.
I’ve helped Henrietta give birth before and according to the vet, Penny is looking like she’s still a few weeks away.
I know Scarlett is nervous about it and I hope that it goes smoothly.
It won’t do anything for her nerves in the future if her first birth is a rough one.
Then I realize that I don’t know if there will be another one.
“Hey Penny-girl.” She’s laying in the shade, lacking her usual spunk.
“Yeah, it’s a hot one today isn’t it?” I put some more water in her water bowl to freshen it up.
She doesn’t make a move towards it. “Hey sweetie, let’s check you out.
” My gut tells me that Penny may be closer to giving birth than the vet originally thought.
Upon further inspection she’s showing all the usual signs that she’s very close to giving birth.
Me: Hey, Penny might be getting close to giving birth. Not sure how long exactly.
Scarlett: Oh my God, OK I was just about to leave anyway. I’m on my way!
She doesn’t go into detail, doesn’t tell me where she is or how long it will take her to get back but I let it all go and focus on Penny. She shows no interest in food or water, the only time she gets up is to fix her bed of straw. A good sign that labor might come sooner rather than later.
Things progress quickly with Penny and I’m so glad I came over here.
Within the hour she’s pushing and I am locked in, ready to help her if she needs it.
Henrietta needed a lot of help her first birth but after that she was an old pro.
Now, I’m basically just there to make sure something bad doesn’t happen or the baby doesn’t get stuck.
“Alright Penny-girl, you got this,” I say. I’ve got the supplies I need to clear the airway and some towels and warm water. Penny bleats a long beat and I see her bare down. She’s getting ready to push and I want to text Scarlett but Penny needs my focus more.
“I’m here! I’m here!” Scarlett comes around the corner, still wearing her flowy green dress and black blazer.
She runs over into the pen with us and immediately drops to her knees.
“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you girl.
” She scratches Penny on the head and Penny leans into Scarlett’s hand and lets out a long exhausted bleat.
“I think she’s almost there,” I say. A few more pushes and out comes a tiny kid. She’s all black with one white dot over her left eye. Scarlett jumps right in with the bulb aspirator and clears the airway.
“Oh, you’re so beautiful,” she coos. “Good job Penny, good job.” She switches her focus back and forth between the two, congratulating Penny and welcoming the new bundle of life into the world.
Watching an animal give birth is always emotional.
It’s a roller coaster for a little while wondering if everything will be okay until finally, it is.
Most of the time. I’ve been lucky that Henrietta has never had a traumatic birth but I know other farmers, especially those with cows, who have not been as lucky.
“Oh I can’t wait to tell Andee,” Scarlett says as she rubs the kid with one of the warm wet towels.
This confuses me slightly because I know that Andee is one of her good friends but I’m not sure why she’s so excited to tell only one of her friends. I open my mouth to ask but she speaks first.
“I’m going to name her Bell. Like wedding bells.”
“Wedding bells?”
“Yep! Andee and Dennis finally tied the knot today! Andee had been so nervous about the idea of a wedding because she’d already been married before so she’s been dragging her feet on the idea.
She’s been telling Dennis for weeks that she wants to get married but the idea of the planning and the big white poofy dress and everything else that goes with it just sent her into hives.
So, Dennis being the sweetheart that he is, planned everything without telling even Andee.
He called all of us with zero notice and asked us to meet them at the bakery.
It’s been a whirlwind event but now they’re married!
And now this little girl is with us,” she coos again.
She switches her focus back to Penny, leaving me reeling at the entire situation.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you girl.
But I’m so glad you had old Jakey here.” She winks in my direction and stops short when she sees that I’m still stunned. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought,” I stammer and my voice cracks slightly.
Clearing my throat I stall for time to clear my mind.
“You got that call about the job, then you turned down family dinner, and then you left the house in a hurry without telling me where you were going, which is fine but I thought… I thought that meant you were going to Denver.”
“For the magazine?” She comes closer to me, a soft smile on her face.
I wait for her to say something, anything to ease how stupid I feel, how vulnerable I let myself be.
Before she says a word though, she reaches up between my eyebrows and runs her thumb where I know there is a crease.
“Yeah, the magazine called. They said the job would offer a big amount of money. They asked me to come in at 4 o’clock today to speak with everyone about coming back and what it would entail.
” I look down at my watch, seeing that it’s only a little after five o’clock.
“You didn’t go,” I say, my voice soft and small.
“I had somewhere more important to be,” She put her hand on mine.
“Oh look, Bell is about to stand!”
Together we watch the tiny goat stand on her wobbly legs and take a few steps.
I notice a tear stream slowly down Scarlett’s cheek and think to myself again that this woman may always be a slight mystery to me.
And that maybe Amelia was right. Scarlett is nothing like my mother.
She enjoys this life, just like I do, and it appears she is here to stay.