“That happened?”
“No,” I said firmly. “And I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Hoss let you in?”
“As funny as I think he is, I’m still not going in with him. It takes one kick or gore, and I’m done, but I like to come out and watch them.”
I sent Mac in to move the Watusi back so I could go to the feed area, while Jasper watched quietly. He was more observant than I’d anticipated. In the back of my mind, at our first meeting, I underestimated him. And, I suspected, it wasn’t the first time someone made that mistake. Sissy had clearly seen something deeper than the good time he presented to the world. She was a good judge of character, so I should’ve known I was off base.
From the cattle, we went to the fallow deer and blackbuck pastures. They were fairly skittish and scattered when we pulled up. As a precaution, I sent Mac in to push them back so I could distribute their feed.
Our last stop was another triple-fenced, reinforced pen. The last line of defense was an entry gate that required the previous gate to be locked before the next would work. The nilgais and oryxes here were unpredictable and more likely to be aggressive. I wasn’t taking any chances with Jasper, so he had to stay on the path while I finished up with the animals.
“All done, sugar. You good?” Rather than stay on the ATV, Jasper had started to investigate some rocks off the path. “Find something?”
“Nah, I looking at rocks.” Jasper shrugged and returned to me. “Daddy, you got horses?”
“Nope, they’re more work with tack and grazing and whatnot than it’s worth when I can use the ATV. I don’t really interact with the herds, so there’s no need for me to be close to them on something bigger than them.”
“Don’t like ’em, Daddy?”
“I don’t dislike them, but I don’t want the hassle. My dad used to use them because he said the ATV gave him a headache, but I can find someone who’ll let me borrow one for the afternoon if you want to go for a ride.”
Jasper nodded and came close. “I scared of ’em.”
“Scared of horses?”
“Yeah, they too big.” I wrapped my arm around Jasper and tucked him under my arm. “Don’t like ’em.” All I could think about was protecting him from everything.
“If you change your mind, I can introduce you to a few sweet ones, but you don’t have to like anything you don’t wanna like,” I told him with a kiss to his forehead. In response, Jasper snuggled in close. “Your goat-a-roonies probably want some food too.”
“Oh, you’re right.”
“Then I need some food before I waste away.”
“I’m gonna feed you.”
“Nope. Little Jasper means no cooking without supervision.” I kissed his nose because I couldn’t stop myself.
He was so cute when he looked up at me with his wide eyes and sweet smile. Before him, there’d never been a time when the urge to share my space with anyone had felt like a necessity. Now, for the first time, pride made me want someone else to see it, and that someone was Jasper.
“Daddy, that’s silly.”
“Silly or not, that’s the rule. Understand, sugar?”
“Got it, got it.”
“Goat-a-roonies, you gotta behave. Be nice. Reba, no jumping. Dolly, sorry she’s naughty.”
Jasper had a steady stream of chatter with his girls while he brought out their feed. While he did that and played with them in the grassy patch next to the barn where they spent their days, I cleaned up their stall and laid down fresh hay. It seemed like the ladies might need a little something to occupy themselves. They had a tree in their enclosure, but that was all. There was some extra timber behind my barn, and I was thinking it might be nice to build a little playground so they’d have something to entertain themselves. Goats needed somewhere to play.
“Sugar, you ready?”
Jasper got off the ground, where he had been with his ladies, dropped the feed pail back in the barn, and took my hand. I pushed the barn door closed behind us and double-checked the goat enclosure. The latch was a little hinky. I added that as a needed upgrade.
“Yep, and I’m super-duper hungry. You oughta let me cook breakfast.”
“I’m gonna let you eat breakfast. Little Jasper just needs to worry about being little, and you’re gonna let Daddy worry about fixing it for you. Are you hungry for somethin’?”
