Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
The door from the arena into the stall area opened. “Ladd! Vivianne! Mom says it’s time for lunch up at the house.”
“Great timing, Mike!” I called back to him.
The door shut, and I let out a long breath. Vivianne reached up with both hands and cupped my face. “I wouldn’t have had sex in your parents’ barn, Ladd.”
“Then I should stop dreaming of punching my younger brother in the face?”
Giggling, she nodded. “Come on. I’m starved!”
I groaned. “Let me finish showing you the rest of the barn so my dick has time to go down.”
Vivianne giggled while rolling her eyes. “Fair enough.”
After lunch, we spent the rest of the day wrapping up gifts for the kids who’d be here on Christmas Day. Vivianne and my mother had really hit it off, and they were sitting next to one another on the floor, wrapping gifts and chatting away.
My two younger brothers spent more time arguing than they did wrapping anything. David and my father wrapped at a much slower pace than everyone else, and were consumed with talking about the daily running of the ranch. Grandma was sitting in a recliner, knitting a blanket. All of the kids from the orphanage who came on Christmas Day, as well as the older kids who stayed behind, got a blanket. Grandma and her entire knitting group started making them months earlier, so that each child would have something handmade just for them.
I took it all in as I wrapped. I loved being home, and I was so happy to see how much everyone loved Vivianne. Not that I didn’t think they would.
When I glanced again at Vivianne and my mother, their conversation seemed to have taken a more serious turn, and their voices were so low, no one other than the two of them would be able to hear what they were saying.
A part of me wanted to walk over there and make sure everything was okay. What if Mom was saying something that was upsetting my girlfriend?
I shook that thought from my head. There was no way my mother would do anything to hurt Vivianne or anyone else.
Vivianne suddenly closed her eyes, nodding her head before reopening them. Then she let out a long breath and hugged my mother.
“What’s that all about?” David asked, reaching down and taking the gift I’d still been holding. He put it in a giant bag. “Looked serious for a second.”
“Yeah, it did,” I agreed. I looked up at him. “Is that all the gifts?”
He nodded. “Yep. We got them all wrapped. Dad wants them to stay in the house since so many people know what happens on Christmas Day here. He’s also decided to go out and get the Tiffany ornament, after we got to talking about it. It probably needs to stay in here, on one of the family trees, before and after the kids leave.”
“Is he afraid someone would try to break into the arena?” I asked.
He replied quietly, “Someone tried last week. He thinks they were looking for the gifts, but were unfortunately met with just a few bulls in the arena that were pissed off at the world.”
“Are you serious? Dad didn’t mention it to me.”
“He hasn’t even told Mom. He doesn’t want her to worry since she’s got enough on her plate as it is.”
I nodded and glanced back toward my mother and Vivianne. They were now looking at something in a notebook.
“Hey, is everything okay?” David asked.
“I think so, it’s just…Vivianne was crying before the ride this morning, and she’d been with Mom right before. And they’ve been whispering a lot while we’ve all been wrapping presents.”
“Girl stuff, maybe?”
I looked at him. “Girl stuff?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just guessing. I don’t know the first thing about women.”
I snorted. “The same goes for me. But you don’t think Mom would’ve said anything to upset her, do you?”
David stared at me. “Our mother? No way. The moment she first met Vivianne, she liked her. Hell, she invited her home and asked her to help with the event. No way did she make her cry. Why don’t you just ask her, Ladd?”
I nodded. “You’re right. As soon as I can get a moment of alone time with her, I’ll ask. She did mention she wanted to talk to me tonight, and it was after I asked her why she was crying.”
“There you go, then. You’ll find out soon enough. But it wasn’t our mother who upset her. That I would bet my life on.”
I nodded. “You’re right. I know you’re right.”
He slapped my back and said, “I like hearing you say that.”
Rolling my eyes, I started to reply, but our mother spoke first.
“That is the last of the gifts!” Mom declared as she slowly stood, then attempted to stretch while grumbling about how stiff she was, and the fact that she was getting old. Vivianne also stood and started handing packages to my father, who was walking around with a bag, just like David’s.