"Uh huh."
When I don't move fast enough for her liking, she grabs my hand and pulls me along with her. We careen through a sitting room, into a spacious kitchen and outside again into another porch on the back of the house, this one screened. She's small but mighty, this child, and before I know it, she's pulled me out the door leading to the backyard and we're sprinting down the steps.
We nearly collide with what can best be described as a wall of manliness coming up the steps toward us. He moves aside at the last second, and we glide safely past him.
"Watch out, Uncle Seth!" Harmony shouts, as if he's the one moving too quickly for his own good.
From my brief glimpse, I can tell he's a tall white guy, around my age and solidly built. Maybe I'm accustomed to scrawny Brooklyn hipster boys because he seemed grizzly bear-sized. I turn and glance over my shoulder as we scurry along through the grass. Yep. My impression was correct, but not in the "I do CrossFit and eat strictly Paleo" kind of way. He looks like he works outside and builds things with his hands, maybe tosses a ladder over one shoulder and a goat over the other as he goes about his day. Plus, he has a pair of seriously intense brown eyes. I know this because he's turned to get another look at me. Or us. He could be checking me out in an admiring way or making sure the loony woman with dandelion hair isn't kidnapping his niece. His expression is impossible to read.
I try to remember who Seth is in Renata's family. She has two sons, Michael and Trey. Seth is a family friend that she and her husband James adopted at some point, but I can't remember the exact situation. There's no time to consider it now. If I continue looking back at him, I'll take a dive on a stone or gopher hole and bust my ass.
"Barn is this way," she says. "You can meet my baby goat. I named her Tiana, like the princess. When she was born, she wasn't pretty, but then she got hair, and she's much cuter now."
She's preternaturally strong for someone her size and quite the chatterbox. I'm not sure who she thinks I am, but she's on her goat monologue now, and it seems rude to stop her. I learn about Tiana's eating habits, daily routine and family of origin. If I ever need to raise a goat, I'll probably be able to do it based on the education I've received from this kid.
The barn needs work, its red paint faded and peeled away from years of weather. The large front doors are open wide, which feels like a welcome, or it would if anyone knew I was coming. My stomach tightens—what Dad will say when he sees me? It was foolish not to call him and say that I was on my way here. What did I hope to accomplish with a surprise attack?
Right up front, I need to say that Renata is a fine person, and under different circumstances, I would have no problem with her dating my father. She's actually the kind of woman I'd want him to meet: a former nurse, intelligent and kind, who had a good marriage to her first husband (now deceased). And let's be real, he's not going to attract a gold digger with his teacher pension. What I do have a problem with is him jettisoning his whole life to be with her down here in middle-of-nowhere North Cackalacky. If she'd relocated to New York, I still would have been concerned about the fast pace of their romance, but I could have embraced it.
Hay crunches softly under our feet as we enter the barn, and my eyes adjust to the change from bright sunshine to dim overhead lights. The ripe scent of goats is so strong now that I can almost taste it. I wish I could say it isn't an unpleasant smell, but it is. Very. I don't think I've ever used the word fetid before, but this situation calls it to mind. Stalls made of metal line one side of the barn, and Dad and Renata are inside one of them, crouched down next to a goat.
"Grandma, the cheese lady is here!" Harmony calls out.
Although I love cheese and consider it a food group, I'm not thrilled about this new identity. Cheese is too closely associated with stink and cellulite to feel like "cheese lady" is a compliment.
Dad and Renata both look over at us and gape when they see who's actually walking toward them. My heart lurches, and I don't know if it's because I haven't seen Dad in a month or if I'm seeing him in the context of his new life for the first time. Shit is getting real.
"Hey, hey!" he calls out to me, rising to his feet. "What are you doing here?"
He walks out of the stall and pulls me into a giant hug, while Harmony looks on in confusion, wondering why Cheese Lady is getting such a warm welcome. I let him hold me for a long minute, his bushy mustache tickling my cheek as he pulls away.
"Apparently, I'm here to make cheese," I say.
Renata approaches, and I can tell she's wondering if I'm open to a hug from her. A handshake feels weirdly formal, but I'm only a hugger with people I know really well, so I give her a quick squeeze with a back pat and leave it at that. She's got a fit body for a woman her age and skin that practically glows even though she doesn't wear any makeup that I can detect. She's the opposite of my mother who's always trying desperately to look younger by plumping herself up with fillers and Botox.
After our initial greetings, everyone looks at me expectantly, waiting to hear why I'm here, which makes sense. No one travels 350 miles just to enjoy a glass of iced tea on the porch. I've already practiced what I'm going to say, which is why it comes out sounding robotic and rehearsed.
"I had some free time after summer school ended, and I thought it would be fun to surprise you."
"Wow," Dad says, looking over at Renata, then back at me. "Well, we're thrilled you did."
Renata and Dad explain who I am to Harmony, and I give her my best kid-friendly smile. She insists on introducing me to the goats, whose bleating I interpret as an enthusiastic welcome. Tiana, a fawn colored alpine goat, is cute, as promised. Harmony gives me some pellets to feed her by hand, and although I'm a little wary that Tiana might bite me, it turns out goats don't have upper front teeth. Her ears are like velvet, and she wants to cuddle on my lap, which I allow, until Harmony wants her back. She asks Renata for a brush and begins to groom her pet with a tenderness that seems surprising for someone her age.
"Did you drive down here?" Renata asks when I'm finished meeting the herd.
"Yes, I did." My back crackles when I stretch my arms in the air. "It took about ten hours, but I stopped a few times."
"We've got to hang out here in the barn until Lois gets here," Dad says, referring to the actual cheese lady.
"And Moana has an infection." Renata gestures to the goat they were tending to when I arrived. "We need to give her a hoof bath."
My city brain conjures up an image of a goat in a manicurist's chair, hooves soaking in water while she reads a magazine and sips Prosecco. Probably not accurate.
"Not a problem. I'm kind of tired anyway."
Renata looks down at Harmony. "Can you show Andie to the blue room, sweetie."
"We'll get you when it's time for dinner," Dad says. "Harmony, and Renata's sons Michael and Seth are joining us tonight so it's perfect that you're here."
