“Lolo!” he said, and Lorenzo stood to give him a hug. “It’s been a while. This is Karina.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said. “This is Jace, his family own the ranch I’m at now in Vermont.”
“Vermont,” they said in unison.
“Nice to meet you too,” I said. “I was worried you—”
“In a wheelchair,” Thomas finished. “Nah, I was for a couple months but Karina helped me through it all. She works the reception desk at the place I was getting my leg rehab done.”
Lorenzo took a step back and sighed. “I’m so thankful you’re standing, walking even.”
“He’s put in a lot of work,” Karina said. “But he’s not going on anymore horses, ever again.”
“So, what are you doing now?” Lorenzo asked, sitting back beside me. “Last I heard, you weren’t at Dixon’s, so I assumed you were back with your folks.”
Thomas laughed. “Nope, not working at that ranch anymore, instead, I got a little insurance payout. I didn’t even know I had insurance, but I bought a laundromat. Those things are cash cows, and all I’ve got to do is restock the detergent and stuff.”
The fear that they’d had some intimate relationship had well and truly vanished from my mind. And we spoke for over and hour. Lorenzo and Thomas shared their stories about working together, and I talked about pies. Karina was keeping Thomas from the event and Thomas agreed it would’ve been like sitting him in front of an all you can eat buffet and telling him he couldn’t touch a thing.
Once we were back at the house, Lorenzo headed back out, telling me he was doing a quick scout of some horses for my dad. All three of them had left the house, and it was the perfect condition to begin my work.With my alpaca stuffy,Berty, propped up against a salt and pepper shaker, I had all the audience I needed to create magic.
There was some strong competition at Saddle Up, and I was going to throw my hat into the ring. It was going to be much tougher than all the events I’d been part of in Pineberry, but like those events, I would put on my best confident smile and force myself to believe I’d already won. Because I had, the judges just needed to eat one of the pies I made, and I had to decide which one to put forward.
Saddle Up was a huge event. There were plenty of other livestock shows and rodeo events that happened throughout the year, and I’d been to a lot of them, but this one was the one my father decided was the best, and by proxy, I’d also decided it. It didn’t hurt that there were also a lot of unique animals here—most specifically, the alpacas.
With a couple of pies ready, they were just for tasting right now since the actual ribbon giving contest wasn’t for another couple of days, but that didn’t stop people from seeking out the judges and swaying them early with samples, getting feedback, then incorporating it. It was an underhanded tactic, and I wouldn’t be caught doing that.
The following morning was the first day, and I went armed with Berty, my alpaca stuffy, he was my comfort and support. The first stop for me was the alpacas. There were two breeders there selling them for far too much money. But that didn’t stop me from going there to see them.
A woman at the metal fencing approach me, tipping her head and hat. “You in the business?” she asked with a big smile.
I looked around to see if she was talking to me, and since Lorenzo had stopped a couple fences away to look at some other animals, I knew she had to be talking to me. “What business?”
She laughed. “Alpacas.”
“I have two of them.”
She nodded to the small herd of them behind her, staring nonchalantly while chewing their way through grass and hay. “Is that made from their fibers?”
I’d been clinging to the alpaca under my arm so much I’d nearly forgotten it was there as my comfort support. “Yeah, we produce yarn with it. Obviously, not too much yarn because we only have the two.”
“Want to come inside and give these a feel?” she asked. “They’re all about ripe for collecting soon.”
They were so fluffy with all the fur, some of it falling over their eyes like a little fluffy mop. “Yeah, I’d love to.”
As I stroked the alpacas, too busy eating to even bother trying to spit, the woman told me all about their pedigree and how many competitions they’d won for their fibers. It was the start of a sales pitch, and I had to listen to it all, knowing this trip wasn’t going to result in me getting any new friends for the ranch.
“I’ll have to swing back with my father, he does all the major buying,” I said, and before I left, one of the alpacas dipped its head to my arm where the teddy was, letting out a couple huffs to sniff. “Hope it doesn’t try taking it.”
“Oh no, these ones are curious, well-behaved as well,” she said, more to her sales pitch. “If you buy multiple, there are discounts, and they all come with their papers.”
Lorenzo appeared by the gate with a smile, almost like he was there to get one for me. “Come on,” he said. “Your dad wants to know your thoughts one of these horses.”
I groaned, almost kicking the ground. “Fine, but I’ll be back here later, I want to know more about those discounts,” I said, even though it wasn’t likely, I could dream, maybe take out a loan, and hope my bank could process it the same day. I wasn’t ever this desperate for new alpaca friends when I was on theranch, but when they were right in front of me, every fiber of my being was desperate to collect.
“We’ll be back later, I’m sure,” Lorenzo said as I walked out of the structured pen. He placed an arm around me. “You’re just teasing yourself at this point. I don’t want to see you sad, ok.”
He had a point, and I hated it, but that was quickly overturned when I realized he was walking with me, joined at my shoulder. It was practically the same as holding hands. And then he kissed me, right here, among all these cowboys.
