Camdyn shrugs, her eyes on the snow and the hair peeking out from under her stocking cap blowing in her face. “Yep.”
“Where are these goats?”
“At the barn.” Camdyn points toward what looks to be a barn across from the shop. I’ve learned from the girls this morning that Barron’s dad, stepmom, aunt, and brother all live on the Grady Ranch. It’s divided up in sections, and in the middle is a fully operational ranch that’s been in the Grady family for over a hundred years. “The barn is next to Papa B’s house. I’ll show you.”
Sev is beside me, still itching her arms and face. I kneel next to her and zip her jacket. “Are you sure you’re okay?” I feel her forehead, thinking maybe she’s getting sick. Barron said she threw up last night. She’s warm but not hot. Crap. Maybe I should find Barron and ask him what to do.
“I fine.” Sev frowns and then sneezes right in my face. It’s not the first time I’ve been sneezed on, but her reaction is a first for me. “Oh, bless your heart,” she says, wiping the spit off my face.
I don’t know whether to laugh or squeeze the shit out of her.
“That’s gross,” Camdyn says, staring at her sister as if she’s disgusting.
“I not gross,” Sev grumbles, shoving her sister right into the snow piled up next to the covered wraparound porch. A white puff of frost and snow burst from the ground as her body hits the ground.
“You dummy,” Camdyn growls, getting her footing and acting as if she’s going to murder her sister for shoving her.
Oh dear. I pick her up and separate the two of them from going WWF on each other. “Show me these goats.”
Thankfully the mention of goats distracts them.
Trudging through the thick powdery snow, the girls tell me about the goats and how they’ve named them. “Mine is Cruella,” Sev says, holding my right hand.
Camdyn tugs on my left hand, swinging it with each step, her heart-warming brown eyes on the fluffy white banks around us with determination. “And mine is Elsa. She’s all white, and I think she freezes the other ones.”
“I can’t wait to meet them.” Watching my feet, the snow beneath us glitters under the sun shining down. The snow is nothing like I imagined it to be. It’s powdery frozen balls, like walking through a field of Dippin’ Dots. The trees and fence posts pathing our way across the property are clothed in white like something out of a wintry fairy tale. I know one thing. I’m not dressed for this kind of weather. I have the proper gear I thought was necessary. Hat, jacket, scarf, boots… but I forgot gloves, and I’m holding the kids’ hands. To have them wanting to hold my hand is worth the possibility of frostbite, and dethawing my fingers seems worth it. I also realize my Patagonia puff jacket is meant for looks. Not warmth. The guy at REI lied to me because my nipples are about to chip off. Or maybe my nipple rings are frozen, and it’s making it worse. Kinda like sticking your tongue to a frozen pole.
In the distance, I can see the large blue barn with a massive Grady’s Ranch metal sign on the outside. Bathed in white, it bursts to life—grand, enticing, and exactly what I imagined a barn to look like. “That’s a big barn.”
Camdyn giggles. “That’s the bunkhouse.”
“Yeah.” Sev sneezes again. “Cowboys seeps there.”
“Cowboys, huh?”
White dust clings to our feet as the rest of the bunkhouse comes into view. Tractors line the building, horses in pastures, everything you’d expect to see on a working ranch. It’s all new to me. The most animals I’ve seen have been at the San Diego Zoo.
The girls show me the way. All the while, I’m searching for Barron. “Where’s your dad usually at?”
Camdyn points in the other direction toward what looks to be a fast open space with rolling hills. “That way.”
I eye the space she’s pointing out, but there’s nothing but white on white and faint tire tracks. “What does he do out there?”
“Brings in the cows,” Camdyn mumbles, letting go of my hand, rushing toward a small animal running and bucking with excitement. “Elsa!”
Another herd of what looks to be five baby goats rush Sev. One headbutts her in the stomach, and she cackles, falling to the ground dramatically. I panic, not sure if I’m supposed to stop this madness or watch. Brown, black, white, peach, all different colors come bouncing toward the girls and me.
“They look like puppies,” I gush, falling to my knees in the snow to gather a brown and white one with a pink collar in my arms. “Oh my gosh. How can you resist them?”
Camdyn grins, as if it’s the best day of her life. “That’s Bubble Nubble. She likes to eat hair.”
Forgetting about all my frozen body parts, I grab the velvet-soft ears as she baas at me and tries to eat my hair. “Aren’t you the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!”
We spend a good five minutes with the goats, and I’m convinced I need to keep Bubble Nubble and install a car seat in my car for her.
“Do you want to see the cows?” Camdyn asks, pointing behind her, a goat licking her face and trying to ride piggyback on her.
Being attacked by cuteness, I turn to look where she’s pointing. And now I see the barn. It’s like four times the size of the bunkhouse. “I’d love to see cows. Are there baby ones?”
“Yeah.” Her face lights up, pink cheeks and the widest smile I’ve ever seen. “We feed them bottles.”
The girls lead me into the barn, the goats following. “Always close the gate,” Camdyn warns, using all her force to slide the door closed once we’re inside. “Daddy says if it’s closed, keep it closed it. If it’s open, close it.”
“Got it.” I smile, thinking of the way these girls are growing up with country memories and farm life while I grew up shopping in Beverly Hills and had my belly button pierced before I was eleven. The smell hits me, a puff of musty odor, animal fur, shit, and sharp old smells of metal and machinery, kind of like the shop.
They show me the baby calves, which I fall in love with too. Camdyn fills a bottle up with what looks to be formula and I’m impressed at five-years-old she can do all this herself. She hands me a bottle with a nipple on the end. “Here. You try.” And then she motions toward a brown fluffy calf at my feet. “Give that one to Bear.”
Bear… he’s eager and starts to run after me. So I run too. “Why is he chasing me?” I yell out to the girls, who can’t stop laughing.
“Because yous holdin’ his food,” Camdyn says, giggling into her hands.
I’m tackled by the calf and hand over his food.
Camdyn grins at me. “Come on. I show you Lulu.”
Covered in dirt and hay straws, I follow her, unsure if I want to meet a horse at this point.
Horse stalls line the sides of the building and hay is stacked high into the loft above the rafters I imagine bats hang out in.
“Lulu is in here. Come see.” Camdyn tugs on my hand as Sev runs through the barn, her boots scraping against the wooden floor.
There’s groaning from animals, their heads hung over the doors, sunlight glimmering through the windows. Camdyn hurries toward one stall in particular and shows me a beautiful horse wrapped in what looks to be a blanket. She’s a smoky gray-brown color with a black mane and eager to see Camdyn.