“I’ve got him.” Before Ethan could even lean over to reach for the baby goat, Dash rushed past him.

“I’ll get him.” Hannah tried to sneak up on him. She was just about to grab him, when he ran off.

From the fence, Nikki giggled and Hannah’s brother let out a hearty laugh.

“We told you he earned his name,” her brother called out.

She turned back to see Ethan tiptoe up behind the baby goat. He was almost there. He almost had the goat. But then Dash sprinted away. Ethan ran after him. His foot hit a patch of mud. He slipped. He landed on his knees in a mud patch.

Hannah tried not to laugh. She honestly did. But when he stood with a couple of spots of mud on his face, muddy knees, and a big frown on his face, Hannah let out a laugh that bubbled up from deep inside. Once she started to laugh, she couldn’t stop. It felt so good.

She hadn’t realized until now just how stressed she’d been over finishing the bakery and planning Spring Fling. She’d let it all take over her life. But from this point forward, she promised herself to remember to take time for the fun parts of life.

“It’s not funny.” Ethan frowned as he tried to wipe off the mud only to make a worse mess.

“Would you guys like me to get him?” Nikki asked.

Hannah shook her head. “I don’t think that’s good idea.”

“It’s okay.” Nikki marched over to the gate.

Hannah sent her brother a questioning look. Sam shrugged but didn’t make any motion to stop his daughter. If he didn’t care if Nikki got dirty, who was she to worry?

Ethan gave up trying to clean his jeans. “I’m done.” He headed for the gate. “You ladies are on your own.”

Meanwhile, Hannah moved to the older goats—the ones she’d already made friends with during prior visits. She fussed over them when they came over to her to see if she had something good to eat. Sometimes she had snacks for them, but today she’d been utterly distracted with the thought of having Ethan get to know her family and vice versa. But she didn’t know what she’d been worried about; so far it was going great.

“Dash. Here Dash.” Nikki’s sing-song voice called to the baby goat.

Hannah turned to tell her niece the baby goat wasn’t like a puppy, but before she could form the words, she noticed the little black goat stopped running around to turn and stare at Nikki. Surely he wasn’t going to march over to her. Was he?

In the background, she could hear the two men talking. So far, so good. A smile tugged at her lips. When she realized she was smiling, she stopped. It wasn’t like she wanted Ethan to fit into her family. Did she?

No, of course not. She was just being nice to him because none of his family were around and…and because they were friends now. After all, you didn’t spill your feelings to a stranger like she’d just done out at the bluffs.