“Can I have this one, Riley?” Sterling asked as he held one of the little piglets up into the air.
Riley didn’t even look. He just couldn’t. “Pick out whichever one you want, Sterling.”
“Yes!”
Riley blinked when Sterling scooted back out from under the railing, a small pink piglet cradled to his chest. Oh good lord, he’d picked the runt of the litter. The damn piglet couldn’t weigh more than two or three pounds at best. He was baby pink from head to toe except for his corkscrew tail and a patch over one eye, and those were both as black as midnight.
“Isn’t he adorable?”
“Yeah.” Riley grimaced as he glanced around, making sure none of his family members were listening, especially one of the twins. He would be razzed until the end of time if they heard him right now. “Adorable.”
“I’m going to go show Darcy.”
Riley’s mouth dropped as he watched Sterling race out of the barn with the damn pig clutched to his chest. What in the hell happened to learning to ride the damn horse?
Chapter Three
Sterling was so happy he could have done cartwheels right there in the front lawn as he ran toward the house. Not only did he finally have his first pet ever, but Riley had given it to him. That had to mean that the guy was interested.
A guy didn’t give a gift unless he liked somebody.
Right?
Sterling had started to give up hope. There was only so much rejection a man could take before he started getting the idea that he wasn’t wanted. Sterling was almost there, but this little piglet proved that he had been wrong. Riley did like him.
Maybe the bear was just shy.
“Darcy!” Sterling shouted as he pulled the back door open and raced into the house. He quickly scanned the kitchen and then ran for the living room. He had to show his brother what Riley had given him.
“Whoa, slow down, little man,” Olsen said as he caught Sterling’s arm and pulled him to a stop. “Where’s the fire?”
“I wanted to show Darcy my piggy.” Sterling beamed as he looked down at the little guy. “Riley gave him to me.”
Olsen’s eyebrows shot up. “Riley gave you a…piggy?”
Sterling nodded so hard that his bangs flopped against his forehead. “He said I could pick any one that I wanted.”
“Does Pa know about this?”
“Riley said he would tell Pa.”
“Uh-huh.” A smile curved up the corners of Olsen’s mouth. “He is kind of cute.”
“He’s adorable. Riley said so.” Sterling’s smile grew so wide his face hurt. “I’m going to call him Bacon.”
Olsen made a small noise like he was being strangled and then started coughing. Sterling looked at him in concern. “Are you okay? Do you need some water?”
“No.” Olsen’s smile grew until both sides of his mouth curved up. “No, I’m fine. But Bacon might need a little something. He’s kind of young to be away from his mama. Maybe you should take him back.”
“No.” Sterling shook his head emphatically. “Riley said I can keep him.”
“I think he meant you could keep him in the barn, Sterling.”
Sterling’s mouth dropped. “He’s just a baby. He can’t live out in the barn. He’ll freeze to death.”
Olsen looked like he wanted to argue. He even opened his mouth, but then he shook his head, a small chuckle coming from his lips. “Okay, Sterling, but if you’re going to take on the responsibility of having a piggy, you need to know how to take care of him. Pa has a book in his study you can read. It should tell you everything you need to know.”
“That would be great,” Sterling said as he followed Olsen into Pa’s study. He crooned and stroked his piglet while Olsen searched around for whatever book he was looking for. It was actually smaller than he had thought it would be when Olsen handed it to him.
“Read this, Sterling. It should tell you most everything you need to know about raising piglets. If you have any questions, I’m sure Riley can answer them for you.”
Olsen looked pleased as punch, and Sterling knew there was more to his offer of help than just being friendly. He suspected that it had something to do with Riley. He just couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
“Thanks, Olsen. If anyone comes looking for me, I’ll be upstairs reading this and giving Bacon a bath.” Sterling wrinkled his nose. “He’s kind of stinky.”
Whatever he said sent Olsen into peals of laughter. Sterling didn’t know why. The piglet had been living in a barn with nine brothers and sisters. He smelled like, well, he lived in a barn.