Chapter 284: Christian

Good. Then pour the wine.

~Westley in The Princess Bride

Christian heard the rumble of Adam's truck long before he spotted it, and just at the sound, his heart sped up.

"Hey, I need to go talk to the vet for a sec," he said casually to Dave. "Be back in a minute."

He headed out of the barn and into the bright sunshine, squinting as his eyes adjusted. It was a hot one today, and he instinctively hunted out a bit of shade under a lean-to, to wait for the vet. Adam was there to check on a couple of cows with a nasty greenish discharge, but while he was there...

It'd been a couple of weeks since Yesenia had dropped the bad news on his lap – a nuclear bomb that would destroy his life and all that he wanted from it. He'd struggled with it every day since, knowing that he should break up with Carla, but not able to make himself do it. He'd prided himself growing up on the self-control that he had – how hard he could work. How dedicated he could be to completing a project.