CHAPTER TWO
Cheyenne was in the office doing paperwork when the phone rang. She picked it up on the fourth ring.
"Hello?"
"Cheyenne? It's Langdon – Van's friend from high school football camp."
"Oh, yeah! I remember you! How are you?"
"Pretty good, great actually. Is Van around by any chance?"
"No, you just missed him. Is there something I can do for you?"
"Yeah, do you have a pen and paper handy?"
"I do."
"Could you tell Van that there's an assistant football coach position open. I'm the coach for a group of underprivileged kids and I need an assistant."
"Sure, I'll let him know that. Are there any girls on your football team?"
"Yes, there are four girls and seven boys."
"I'll make sure to tell Van that, Langdon."
"Thanks, Chey. How are things with you two?"
"Three – our daughter, Elizabeth, is five now. We bought a ranch and I have some rescued animals."
"That's amazing! Would you mind if I came for a visit? I'm actually in the area."
"Sure. Where are you?"
Langdon told her where he was. Cheyenne gave him directions to the shelter. Langdon told her he would see her soon and hung up. Cheyenne hung up the office phone and walked out of her office.
"Delivery for Cheyenne Montgomery." A man in a white uniform and long gloves told Cheyenne as she stepped into the warm summer sun.
"That's me." Cheyenne told him. He handed her a clipboard and a pen. Cheyenne signed the documents and helped him unload the two Mallard ducks, swan, hen and rooster from the truck.
"Put the ducks and swan in the back and I'll take care of the hen and rooster." Cheyenne told the guy. He nodded and did what Cheyenne told him. The guy exited the property just as Langdon pulled into the drive.
"Hi Cheyenne! This is quite the place you have here!" Langdon told Cheyenne. She smiled and hugged her old friend. She broke out of the hug and gave Langdon the grand tour while they waited for Van and Elizabeth.
"So, what do you think of all of them?" Cheyenne asked. They were outside Lucius' stall. The tan-colored llama was snaking his neck back and forth. Langdon kept his distance just incase Lucius decided to spit. Lucius didn't like strangers and he wasn't so sure about this new person.
"I think what you're doing is amazing." Langdon said, moving into the smaller barn. Cho had given birth to four babies the other night and Cedric watched over her protectively. Cheyenne planned to name the babies Harry, Neville, Hermione and Ron.
"I've been contemplating on what to call this place. I talked it over with Van and Elizabeth this morning, but I want your opinion. What do you think of Heaven?"
Langdon felt a huge grin spread across his face.
"I love it! It's perfect for this place!" he told her.
"That's exactly what Van and Elizabeth said this morning." Cheyenne told Langdon just as the familiar blue pick-up truck with a horse trailer attached pulled up the drive. "Oh, great. He got her a pony."
"What's wrong with that?" Langdon inquired.
"That Van didn't talk to me about it first." Cheyenne growled, storming over to the truck. Van got out of the truck and smiled at Langdon. The two of them went to Cheyenne's office to talk while Elizabeth talked Cheyenne's ear off about her new pony.
"She's a reddish-chestnut and that reminded me of Ginny's hair. I named her Ginny. She's shy, mommy, but she's very sweet. Don't yell at daddy about her – I wanted Ginny, so punish me." Elizabeth told Cheyenne, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"It's okay, baby. I'm sure she'll make a great addition to our family." Cheyenne told Elizabeth. Elizabeth stood to the side so that Cheyenne could get Ginny out of the trailer and into her stall.
Cheyenne felt her stomach tie in a knot as she looked at two brown eyes staring back at her. The pony's mane and tail were at tangled mess, her hooves were overgrown and she had patches of hair missing.
With a lot of coaxing and treats, Cheyenne got Ginny off the trailer and looked at her in the sunlight. Her coat was overgrown and her forelock flopped in her face, making it hard for the pony to see.
"She's in worse shape than I thought." Cheyenne told herself, trying to determine what kind of pony she was. It was determined that Ginny was a Welsh pony – one of the sweetest pony breeds.
Cheyenne quickly got a stall ready for Ginny while Elizabeth checked on the new babies.
Within minutes, Ginny's stall was ready, so Cheyenne left her to get settled.
As Cheyenne and Elizabeth headed to the house, Cheyenne saw Van and Langdon exit the barn and head for the house.
"VAN! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU – NOW!" Cheyenne bellowed at Van. Langdon shot Van a 'good luck' glance and headed to his car.
The three of them entered the house, where Elizabeth went to her room, out of earshot of her parents arguing.
Elizabeth knew that they were going through a stressful time. Her mommy had started rescuing animals and her daddy couldn't find a job. She loved hanging out with her daddy.
Since Elizabeth couldn't ride Ginny for a while, she decided to go with her dad to his first football practice for underprivileged kids.
"Hey Van! Hi Elizabeth!" Langdon greeted Van and Elizabeth as they made their way over to him. Elizabeth saw a group of boys and girls standing on the field. Van gave her the go ahead to say 'hello'.
She noticed that most of the kids were white, like she was. There was one boy who stood out from the others. His skin was black as night, along with his eyes and hair. He wore a green shirt that was two sizes too big and tight jean shorts. On his feet, he wore shoes that had holes in the toes.
"Okay, everyone! Let's start practice!" Langdon called as he and Van trotted over. The kids looked up from their conversations and Elizabeth went to stand on the sidelines. She didn't want to be in the way. "We're your coaches – I'm coach Langdon and this is coach Van. Why don't we go around and introduce ourselves? Also, say how old you are. Your age will be your jersey number."
"My daughter, Elizabeth, will be joining us sometimes. She's five." Van interrupted, indicating to Elizabeth. She waved to the kids and went back to playing with her dolls that she had brought.
"Tamara – I'm seven."
"Rico - I'm ten."
"Jackson – everyone calls me Jack – I'm nine."
"Sage – I'm eight."
"Maria – I'm twelve."
"Jason – I'm eleven."
"Isaac – I'm eleven."
"Alan – I'm twelve."
"Anthony – I'm nine."
"Noah – I'm ten."
Van and Langdon looked at each other. Now what?
"For those of you who have the same age, the month that you were born in will be your jersey number." Van told the kids. They seemed to agree on that.
Once that was settled, Van led the kids in warm-up while Langdon wrote down the children's ages and names on a piece of paper.
While the kids were warming up, Jack came over to Elizabeth and extended his hand to her. Elizabeth smiled and took his hand.
After warm-up, Van paired each kid off while Langdon handed him or her a football. Since Elizabeth was the odd duck out, Van was her partner.
"Excuse me, coach Van, but could I be Elizabeth's partner?" Jack asked. Van smiled and stepped aside so that Jack could throw the football to Elizabeth. Van went to be Sage's partner, keeping a watchful eye on Elizabeth and Jack.
Practice ended an hour later. Van and Langdon handed each kid a permission slip and wanted the kids' parents to sign it before the next practice the following Saturday.
Van picked up Elizabeth and carried her to the car when someone called after him. He turned around and saw Jack cantering after him. Langdon offered to drive the other kids home before heading to his apartment.
"Hey Jack, what's up?" Van asked as he strapped Elizabeth in her car-seat.
"What if your mom doesn't like you?" Jack inquired.
Van started absentmindly at the little boy, not knowing how to answer that question.