Page 114
“I’m serious. Can we keep her?”
He glances past me at the sheep, then back to me. “You want to bring her home? Keep her as a pet? That ain’t what she was bred for, G.”
My eyes go wide. “You are not sending her anywhere to be slaughtered, Colten. Don’t you dare.”
He laughs. “Baby, you know how farms work, right?”
I snap my mouth shut. “Then that’s it. I’m never eating meat again.”
I’d never thought about where my food came from, the sacrifices made to keep my belly full. And now I’ve fallen in love with a sheep; I can’t unsee it. “I’m deadly serious, Colten.”
“I don’t doubt you are, sweetheart. You think I spent a fortune on vet bills to keep her walkin’ if I intended to kill her?”
I grab the collar of his shirt and drag his face down to mine. “Let me keep the sheep, and I’ll wear the hat and nothing else the second we get home.”
“Deal. Sheep is all yours.”
“Ours,” I correct him. “Remember, I don’t have a clue how to care for animals, let alone livestock.”
His lips graze my jaw. “Maybe you should have asked for a puppy first, then, G.”
“Nope. Your wife needs this sheep. And maybe more of them.”
“Hey!” Wyatt calls out behind us. “How come she gets to keep the sheep and I can’t? That’s not fair.”
Colten straightens up and walks over to Wyatt, bending down to his level. “You can come and visit the sheep at my house, maybe help Gianna learn how to care for her. How does that sound?” he says gently.
Wyatt's eyes light up. “For real?”
“Yes. For real,” Colten tells him.
Wyatt jumps in the air with excitement, making the sheep back away.
“What shall I name her?” I ask, resting my hands on the railing.
“Sally the sheep?” Wyatt suggests.
“Sally,” I repeat. “I guess that works.” I shrug, turning my attention to my new sheep. “Preziosa, Precious, what do you think? Do you like Sally?”
Nothing. No response. But with how excited Wyatt is, I can’t say no to him. But I’ll call her Preziosa.
“So that’s settled. Once the vet has cleared her, we can bring her home,” Colten says.
“Thank you.” I rest my head on his arm, running my hands up his muscled forearm.
“You’re welcome. Perhaps we can take her out on the yacht soon?”
I burst out laughing. “I’m sure she’d love it.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Colten
It’s only been five hours since Gianna left for LA, but already I’m on a private jet flying to see her.
She wasn’t able to make good on her promise to me about wearing nothin’ but my hat. Her dad called asking when she would be over, so she started her road trip back.
The second she left Sterling Ranch, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had a bad feeling about her leaving, but I ignored it in favor of helping Xander out on the ranch, the way I used to before Dad died. Makin’ sure the animals all had feed, checking none of them needed to be looked over by the vet. Secured some fence line.
