by Lux Miller
It was my idea to invite him to our formal engagement announcement. I figured it would be safest to have him surrounded by a large group of people when he finds out that his perfect, little princess is marrying down the social ladder. Just like his other two children, I’ll disappoint him because I didn’t make wise decisions regarding my future. But not all of us can sacrifice everything we love to be successful.
I look up as I hear childish giggles and see Gwen tearing across the yard with Eli and six of the Anatolian pups hot on her heels. Normally, half the Anatolians are all out with the alpacas, and with the addition of eight of the nine to the herd, the losses from wild predators has dropped to zero. With the ten of them roaming around the property, we’ve at least four mixed in with the herd at any given time. The others are fiercely protective of their people.
The runt didn’t bond very well with the herd, but he’s doing excellent as a barn dog. He sleeps in with the horses, and we’ve named him Knight, because he stands proud, even on stormy days and guards my horse Fiona, Liberty, and Hunter’s horse Dallas, plus the seven little miniature horses that arrived around the time Eli did. He fits right in with their goofy personalities, and Gwen is especially fond of him.
Eli scoops Gwen up into his arms just as she blasts past me, her sweet laughter filling the spring morning with a sense of calm. My mother always said the ranch should be a place where love grows and multiplies, and it certainly has been for her children. Blake and Aspen will have two kids under three by the fall, Carter is in a serious relationship with a man he met through a tale almost as wild as mine, and Eli and I are planning for a late summer wedding when the roses will be in full bloom. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but even though I don’t believe in fairy tales like I did when I was a little girl, I’ve never been happier
It also helps to know that Aspen’s sister is finally breaking free of the dark cloud that’s hovered over her for the last year and a half. Aspen and her went through something horrific that nobody should ever have to go through. While Aspen has come through the tragedy with a positive outlook on life, Raven has gone down a dark path. It’s the whole reason Aspen wanted her to come up to the ranch and it seems to be working. Truthfully, though, I think the ranch is only half of the equation and Hunter has a lot to do with Raven’s frequent smiles.
This ranch has healed a lot of people. It healed my mother after her divorce from my father. It healed me and Eli after the people who should have been close to him betrayed him. I hope it can give Raven some time to heal too. She was damaged so much more deeply than Aspen was and hidden beneath the outer shell of innocence is a darkness that will eat her alive if she ever gives in to it again.
Raven smiles at me as she walks across the grass, with a little nod of her head. I wave her over and she changes directions from her intended destination of the horse barn and walks over to me. “Yeah?”
I smile at her, “So how are the miniatures doing?”
She shakes her head. “The dwarfs? They’re good...except Ditsy. I’m not sure he’s ever going to figure out that his head doesn’t belong in tight spaces. Other than that, things are going well. Heigh-ho and off to work we go and all...”
I nod. “And with you? And Mr. Hunter?”
She blushes and nods. “Yeah, that’s going well too. I still wonder when I’m going to wake up and realize it was all just a dream and I’m still living in my hellish nightmare. As the Brothers Grimm said, ‘It is when we are most lost that we sometimes we find our truest friends.’ Truer words were never spoken. I was definitely a lost, little girl when I came here.”
Raven glances back over her shoulder at Hunter. Everybody knows there’s something going on between them, but nobody is quite sure what. She then looks to me and a smile twists her lips, “Pretty smart dudes, those Grimm brothers. Too bad I don’t have a magic mirror to tell me everything I want to know and what the future holds.”
Laughing, I nod at her again. “Yeah, that’s true… but they said a little bit about that too. They said ‘Love is like death. It must come to us all…’ I believe that’s true. Sometimes our own hangups and shortcomings can make us downright evil to deal with…”
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Also by Lux Miller:
Barresi Series
Fairly Twisted Tales Series
If you found errors or inconsistencies in this book, please email [email protected] and let me know about them! Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review!