Now that I had time to think and process things, I wondered if I should tell this lady the truth. That James was gone now and kindly ask if I could return the order. I could barely take care of myself right now. I wasn’t going to be able to take care of whatever she had in that trailer.
But my heart ached at the thought of returning a gift from my sweet husband. A beautiful gift that said he’d believed in our dream. The farm.
By the time I walked over to the barn, Darlene was already unloading two white-and-black-spotted goats into one of the stalls.
“You out of hay? I have a few extra bales,” she said.
Tell her. Tell her the truth.
“It’s been a crazy week. We meant to get the barn ready, and then one thing happened after the next. James just texted, and he is actually at the feed store right now getting everything.” I’d never been a liar; how was I lying so easily now?
She smiled at that, nodding. “Good,” She chucked the black chicken into another stall. “Watch that one. She thinks she’s human but is sweet as honey.”
As if she understood Darlene’s words, the black hen leaped up onto the top of the stall door and began to nuzzle her head into my shoulder like a dog would when asking to be petted.
Darlene and I laughed at the same time. Hers was a light and airy sound, mine a haunting thing. As if I’d forgottenhow. It was forced and full of cobwebs, and I instantly felt guilty. My husband was dead. I should never laugh again.
On cue, over a dozen hens of various breeds and colors stepped out of the trailer, pecking and scratching at the ground as they went, and I gasped.
“Are those silkies?” I pointed to some of them that had fuzzy feet and fluffy hair. I’d seen them on a social media post once and thought their fluffiness was adorable. I told James we had to have a hundred of them. He’d gotten me four. All white ones.
“Sure are. Sweetest girls you’ll ever know.” Darlene reached down and patted one of their backs.
“Mooooooo.”
I jumped at the sound and spun.
“Is that…” I burst into a sob then as a highland cow walked off the trailer, and Darlene looked at me with alarm.
“I’m sorry.” I wiped my eyes. “I’m just so happy and really emotional.” I lied.
Highland cows were fluffy and also my absolute dream farm animal. They were expensive, too. James had said I’d have to wait at least a year before we could afford one.
“All the other animals you can name. But this girl will only answer to Bliss.” Darlene stroked her neck, and I nodded, walking up to pet her reddish shaggy hair.
“Hi, Bliss.”
“You gonna be okay until your husband gets back? He said you didn’t know much about animal husbandry and were both beginners.”
She hadnoidea. James had probably planned to tell me weeks ago, and then we would have researched and prepared together.
I nodded. “Just maybe give me a pointer or two.”
An hour later, Darlene drove away after having overloaded me with information, and I wished I’d taken notes. I had over a dozen animals in my barn and no food or water for them. I was honestly surprised she’d left me with them.
Moving into damage control mode, I locked Bliss in her stall. The goats were in theirs, and I left the chickens to free-range while I went to the feed store. I’d have to search for some videos later to figure out what the heck I was doing.
I had wanted a distraction in the form of a job, but this would have to do.
Once I got to the store, I was shocked to see how busy it was. I waited for over ten minutes, hoping to talk to someone about what kind of feed to buy for the chickens, and then gave up and went in search myself. The cow and goats would eat primarily hay, but the chicken feed was confusing. Grower, layer, meat bird, grit, oyster shell… There were so many things to consider. While I was agonizing over two bags of organic chicken feed, a voice called behind me.
“Can I help you decide on something?”
Finally, a worker to help me figure this out!
I spun to face the voice, and my stomach dropped.
No.Not him.
