Maeve's POV.
I had just finished checking the last of the cows in the back pen. One of the older ones had a cough that didn’t sit right with me, so I’d stayed longer than usual, rubbing the damp sweat off my arms with the sleeve of my shirt, watching the animal settle back into the straw. Christmas orders weren’t going to wait, but neither did the herd. That was always the truth with things that mattered: someone had to do them right, and no one else was going to.
I was tightening the latch on the gate when I heard it...a soft, uneven knock at the door I’d never expected anyone to use.
I froze. My hand went to the knife strapped to my waist, the other moving to the handle.
“Hello?” the voice came again, higher, shaking.
I stepped forward slowly, eyes narrowing.
At the door was a gir
