Shoved (Moonlit Lake Matchmaker #4)

Chapter 14

SERENA

The heaviness of the summons weighed on me all night and through the next day. I went through the motions of taking care of Sadie, working at the shop, doing everything I needed to do, but it was always there. The looming threat that these people I didn’t even know could come in and rip our lives apart hung over us like snow overhanging the roof, ready to bury me in an instant.

Tonight was the holiday goat yoga event that my mom was leading. Sadie and I were wearing our favorite Christmas sweatshirts—a llama one for me, and Olaf the snowman for Sadie. She was so excited about the event. She’d been talking about the goats non-stop and asking a bazillion questions.

“Mommy, will the goats kiss me like a puppy does?”

“I don’t think goats do that. But I’ve heard they might try to nibble on your hair or your clothes.”

She shrieked and covered her hair with her hands. “They’ll try to eat my hair?”

“They might try, but if we put your hair in a ponytail, that will be less likely to happen.”

“But what if I want them to nibble my hair? That might be kinda funny.” She grasped a clump of her hair and brought the end of it to her mouth and nibbled it, then spit it out. ”Blech.”

“I don’t think you’d want a bald spot on your head, would you? That wouldn’t be so funny.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “No. I don’t want them to make me bald. That’s mean. I thought goats were nice.”

“They are nice. They just like to snack on strange things. They eat anything . We need to keep the things we don’t want them to eat away from them.” I didn’t want her to be afraid of the goats, but she needed to understand that they were unpredictable animals.

“Okay.” She was quiet for a moment, her brows pinched in thought. “Can we give them other treats that are better? I could bring them some Christmas cookies or a granola bar. That would taste much better than hair.”

“That’s thoughtful of you, but I’m sure they have special treats for them. The goat handlers might let you feed them their treats, if you ask nicely.” I brushed her hair and put it in a quick ponytail. My own was in a messy bun. No goats would be gnawing on me. “It’s time to go. Let’s get your coat and boots on.”

As I helped her put them on, she asked, “Do I have to do yoga, or can I just play with the goats?”

“I think the fun part is when you are in a yoga pose, the goats will go under you, or sometimes even jump on top of you. It’ll be fun. You’re going to love it.”

She peppered me with questions the whole way to Willowbrook farm. This girl brought so much joy to my life, I didn’t know what I’d do without her. A lump formed in my throat.

Don’t think about that. Tonight is about having fun.

As we walked up to the barn, Junie was there taking tickets and checking everyone in. She wore a red and white outfit with a matching hat, and looked like a young Mrs. Claus. I was surprised at the line waiting to get in. “Wow. What a great turnout!”

“Yep, sold out! We might have to do this more often.” She took our money and gave me waivers to sign. “Go on in. Yoga mats are against the wall over there. Grab one for each of you. And then pick your spot. Anywhere along the walls is fine. We need the middle to be open for the handlers to move around. The goats will be ready in about ten minutes.”

Sadie tugged on my coat. “Mommy, where are the goats? I wanna see the goats.”

“She said they’ll be here in a few minutes. We need to get set up so we’re ready.” I pulled two mats from the pile and looked around. The space was an open loft of a barn, with wood floor and windows on each end. There were white Christmas lights along the ceiling and floor, and wreaths hung on the walls. It was very festive. “Where should we put our mats down? You can pick the spot.”

She ran to the middle of the room and pointed to a spot. “How about right here? I think the goats will love this spot.”

“That looks perfect.” I spread out our mats next to each other on the floor.

We each sat down and waited for the goats. Christmas carols played through the speakers, and Sadie sang along to the ones she knew.

“There are my favorite elves.” My mom spread her arms wide and gave us both hugs.

I took in her crazy Christmas sweater with green and white striped leggings. “And look at you. Did Santa give you the day off? Or did you escape from the North Pole to lead this?”

“Santa approves of this event. I assure you.” Mom winked and turned to Sadie, who had plopped herself back down on the mat and kept watch for the goats. “Sadie-girl, I’m so excited for this. Aren’t you?”

Sadie bounced up and down on her knees. “I can’t wait to see the goats. I hope I can pet them.”

Mom glanced at her watch and then peered out the window. “I think they’re just about ready.”

My little girl looked like she could burst with excitement and anticipation. Her hands flapped at her sides, and her body practically buzzed.

Mom stepped into the center of the room with Honey and explained how the session would go.

Honey prepared us for what the goats would be doing. “The goats are trained to go between your legs when they are apart, and if you are on your hands and knees, they’ll climb on your backs. They are very gentle and won’t bite. But they might pee or poop. They are animals, that’s what they do.” She chuckled and continued her explanation. “Handlers will keep an eye on the goats and will give them treats to get them to do what we want.”

Mom was dancing along to the music, waving a silver garland like she was a Vegas dancer with a feather boa, trying to get everyone excited. “Most important part of this is to have fun. Think you can do that?”

Everyone in the room called out, “YES!”

“Alright, bring in the goats.” Mom swung her arm around to point at the door at the end of the barn. It opened and in walked Storm and Junie with six goats following behind them. Junie closed the door to keep the animals contained in the room. Everyone—goat and human—were wearing holiday sweaters.

The goat sweaters included a Santa, Mrs. Claus, an elf, and other green, red and white designs. They were adorable.

Sadie jumped up and pointed excitedly. “Look. Look. Aren’t they cute? I like that one that looks like Santa. He’s my favorite. No, the elf is the cutest. Oh! I love them all!”

I laughed when I saw Storm wearing a Grinch sweater. How appropriate. But I had to admit, he wore it well. Then he looked at me, and I felt his gaze slide down my body and back up,—not like he was ogling, more like drinking me in. The heat in his eyes as they met mine, made me stumble and almost fall off my mat.

Mom guided us to all get in a line and with our legs wide. The goats took the invitation to go underneath. Sadie laughed. “They’re going through the tunnel. Can I go through the tunnel too?”

“You need to stay up here and be ready for the next thing, sweetie.”

We snaked our line around the room doing different standing poses, but every time our legs were apart, the goats would go through them. Sadie, having short legs, almost got a ride on the backs of the bigger goats as they tried to go under her, which she wouldn’t have minded a bit.

Tillie was on a mat on the opposite side of the room from us, doing much more difficult poses than the ones Mom was guiding us to do and putting us all to shame. Standing on one leg with the other pulled up over her head, she somehow managed to maintain her balance with goats running all around her. At one point, she was on her stomach and grasped her feet behind her to make a circle with her body. A little goat jumped through the center.

Sadie tugged on my sweater and pointed. “Did you see that? That little elf goat just jumped right through Tillie like she was a hula hoop.”

“What a crazy little goat.”

Next, we got on our mats and on our hands and knees for the goats to jump on top of us. We were to be next to each other, so the goats had a bigger platform.

Sadie was the step they used to get on my back. She giggled as they stepped on her. “That tickled.” When the goat was on my back, Sadie jumped up and approached Storm. “Mr. Storm, can you get a goat to stand on my back like he did on Mommy’s?”

Storm looked around at all the goats. “Let’s get that little one for you. He’s the youngest one here and should be just your size.”

Sadie got back down on her hands and knees and Storm guided the little kid to jump up on Sadie’s back, then gave it treats to stay there. Sadie was giggling so much. I’m surprised the goat stayed on.

As I watched them and took pictures, Tillie appeared at my side and gave me a nudge. “Isn’t it a marvelous when we take a chance and are so delightfully surprised?” She winked and danced away like a mischievous elf.

I didn’t want to think too much about what she was trying to say. But I had to hand it to Storm. He was so gentle with Sadie and the little goat. My heart squeezed. And my ovaries swooned. Even though he still didn’t crack a smile, maybe he wasn’t so grinchy after all.