Only Tuck seemed to soften her, at least from what Briar had seen, and no matter how early Briar came out to the Goatel, Bobbie Jo always beat her here.
“How are things here?” Briar asked.
“Just humming along,” Bobbie Jo said. “The goats don’t seem to mind the snow at all.” She turned back to them, a fond smile reappearing on her face. Fine, the goats softened her too. “What about you? How are things at the cabin with Tarr?” She deliberately didn’t look at Briar then, but Briar didn’t mind the question so much.
“They’re fine,” she said. “We still don’t have power, but we’re making do with the fireplace and my gas appliances.” She joined Bobbie Jo in front of one of the pens. “Are we letting them out today?”
“Yeah,” Bobbie Jo said with a sigh. “I got a lot of the pasture cleared, and we’ll let them get out there and frolic.”
Briar nodded and dusted her hands together. “I’ll go outside and get the gate open then.”
“But you guys are doing okay with hot water? Your generator is still running?”
Briar met Bobbie Jo’s eyes then, and she did find care and compassion in the other woman’s expression. “Yeah, it’s running okay,” she said. “The furnace is the biggest energy hog, so if I can keep the fire burning to keep the place warm, it does great with the hot water heater and the fridge.”
Bobbie Jo nodded. “I’m glad. You let us know if you two need to come stay with us, okay?”
“I thought Rosie was coming.” Briar tilted her head and watched Bobbie Jo.
“She is,” she said. “She was supposed to be here today, but the storm that we got moved north, and she decided to postpone her trip a couple of days.” Bobbie Jo stuck another sheaf of hay into the feeder, though the goats had plenty. “We’ve got seven bedrooms, Briar. There’s plenty of room for you, Tarr,andRosie.” She lifted her head and met her eyes squarely again. “And us. Tarr doesn’t need to stay somewhere else.”
“I know that,” Briar said. “And you know that. Heck, evenheknows that. He’s just being stubborn.”
“I don’t get it,” Bobbie Jo said. “It’s not like me and Tucker are gross.”
Briar smiled at her and shook her head. “No, you’re not. I don’t know why he’s hung up on not staying with you.”
“Maybe you could talk to him about it.” Bobbie Jo looked so hopeful, and it almost seemed like her statement had a question mark at the end of it.
Briar blinked and then burst out laughing. “I don’t think that’s going to work,” she said between giggles.
Bobbie Jo grinned at her and leaned one hip against the inside enclosure gate. “Why not? He likes you and respects you and will listen to you.”
“Yeah, he likesyouand respectsyouand will listen toyoutoo,” Briar said. “I don’t think anything I suggest is going to be something Tarr will be raring to do.”
“That’s just not true,” Bobbie Jo said. “That man would bend over backwards to make you happy.”
The mood in the Goatel changed instantly, and Briar’s smile dropped from her face at the same time her giggles dried up. “I’ve never asked him to do a single thing for me.”
Bobbie Jo backpedaled as well, her eyes widening. “Everyone knows that, Briar,” she said. “Just like he made it abundantly clear thathewas the one who was going to take care of you after you got hurt.”
Briar had no idea how to respond to that. She’d been in so much pain, she hadn’t paid attention to anything beyond the walls of her cabin.
“I’m just saying,” Bobbie Jo said. “Tucker’s talking to his momma to see if she can get him to move in with us, and I just think that if he had another woman he really respected saying the same thing…he might seriously consider it.”
Briar nodded and swallowed, trying to get her emotions to calm. Of course, she knew Tarr liked her. He’d said the words right out loud, and he held her with all the tender care Briar had ever wanted.
“If it feels natural, I can talk to him about it,” she said. “Though I’ve asked him before why he doesn’t stay with you, and he said it just doesn’t feel right.”
She nodded, hoping Bobbie Jo would get the signal that that ended the conversation, and then she left the Goatel and walked around the corner to open the outside gate to release the goats. They streamed out, some of them thrilled to be free, while others took their time, sauntering out when they were ready. She tied the gate back so that it wouldn’t flop around in the weather and injure an animal or herself, and then she waded through the goats, most of them bleating and begging for her to open the outside gate that would let them into the pasture.
They had plenty of outdoor space here in the Goatel area as well, and Tuck and Tarr had reinforced the fences, adding several feet to their height and digging down into the ground so that the coyotes couldn’t go underneath the way they had last time.
Briar opened the first gate, and of course the more eager goats flooded into the area between it and the second security measure.
“You guys,” she said. “You’ve got to let me go through first. Noah, back up.”
Noah did not back up. In fact, the senior goat pressed even further into the gate, forcing Briar to reach over his tall, bulbous body and struggle to unlatch that gate. She finally got it, and Noah himself pushed it out as he led the way into the pasture.
