Stay a Little Longer by Kait Nolan

Author:Kait Nolan [Nolan, Kait]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kait Nolan

Logan jerked at the first strident call from his feathered alarm clock.

Beside him, Athena jolted and curled tighter into her pillow as she spewed a string of vicious curses. “I’m going to wring that bastard rooster’s neck and turn him into jerky.”

Even as he wished he could wrap around her and find a better way to greet the day, Rudy crowed again. Logan pressed a kiss to Athena’s shoulder. “Try to go back to sleep. No reason for you to get up this early while I see to the animals.”

As soon as he vacated the bed, she confiscated his pillow and jammed it on top of her head. The sight of her in the thin, wispy light of dawn had him smiling. Leaving her there was maybe not quite what he wanted for a start to his morning, but a damned fine thing to wake up to nonetheless. Dragging on jeans and a t-shirt from the clean hamper, he unearthed some socks and headed downstairs to start his day.

The dogs rose from their beds in the den and padded over, wagging, butting his legs, his hands. He offered rubs and scratches and opened the door. Bo and Peep streaked off the porch and headed around the back of the house to do their business. Logan retreated inside to pour his first cup of coffee—brewed on a timer. Thank God for modern technology. With the warm mug in his hands, he stepped out on the porch to survey his domain. Sunrise lightened the horizon, limning the fields and outbuildings in an ethereal light. He loved this time of day, loved the quiet before everything got up and running. For these first, few, quiet minutes, he enjoyed the peace and bone-deep happiness of knowing he was where he was supposed to be doing exactly what he was supposed to do. And today, he had a beautiful woman in his bed. One he’d spent his whole night making love to. The crash of no sleep would hit him later, but that was why God made coffee. Finishing his, he left the mug inside and began his chores.

There were animals to be fed, cows to be milked. By the time the milking system in the dairy barn was sanitized, his two high school interns—both members of Future Farmers of America—had arrived. They took over the milking process, so Logan headed out to deal with the pastured chickens. On the way, he nodded a wordless greeting to Sebastian, who was already out in the paddock working with Gingersnap, one of the rescues. The horse had put on weight in the past weeks. She still had a long way to go, but she already looked like a different animal.

Out in the west pasture, he released the chickens from their mobile coops. They spilled out, cackling and dancing with freedom before settling in to peck up bugs and grass and clover. Cleaning beneath the roosts, checking nesting boxes, and refilling water was rote for him. As was

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