The Bequest

After I sit down, I allow myself to see how the post with the farmhouse is doing. More than 100k likes, and over a thousand comments. That's great, even for me. Maybe Heather was right. Maybe I needed to shake things up a bit. I go through and reply to comments with the most interaction, or the ones that are made by Instagrammers I know.

A lot of them are asking how long we're here, why, and where. Plenty of others are commenting that this is exciting and new for me. Those are the ones I hope Heather's noticing. I spend the next hour responding to texts and answering emails, with Roscoe curled up right next to me.

Zoey calls me just as I'm almost ready to begin the trek to the house. Why's everything so spread out? "Hey girl! Are you alive?"

"All evidence to the contrary," I say. "How long were you going to give me before you called the police?"

Zoey laughs. "Less than two more hours. What the heck is going on? Why has your phone been off?"

"It hasn't been off," I say. "I'm in the boondocks. There's terrible cell reception and no internet at all."

"I must have misunderstood you. It sounded like you said there's no internet."

"It's gorgeous, though."

"I saw your post with the goat. I suppose some people might find that beautiful."

"Not the animals, Z. The mountains. The big blue sky. The pine trees and the birds and the fresh air." At least, up here, it's fresh. When we were driving up to the top of this hill, I smelled cows pretty strongly. "Well, yeah, but I can see photos of that."

It's not quite the same as feeling it, or seeing it in a 360-degree panorama, but I don't bother explaining. She'll think I've gone mad. "It's only for a week."

"We'll see," she says.

"What does that mean?"

"If your posts up there keep exploding, do you think Lololime's going to be welcoming you back to New York with a parade?"

"What does that mean?"

"Check your insta, dummy."

I put her on speaker and check. The post on the goat is blowing up, and when I pull up my engagements, they're five times what they usually are. What's going on? "Why do people like the goat so much?" "I'm not sure it's the goat. I think it's because the photo's so different than what Gucci's kids' line usually sees."

When I refresh my email, I've got a message from a rep at Tide, asking to send me detergent to clean the shoes. They're offering three grand just to push their cleaner in affiliation with the dirty shoes, but they want to include a rider that keeps me from posting if it doesn't remove all the mud. In that instance, if I don't post at all, I'll only be paid half the fee.

Fifteen hundred dollars for washing my kid's shoes on the gamble that they'll come clean? I'm okay with that.

"Still mad about the internet?" Zoey asks.

I am, but not nearly as mad. "I think I can work with it. Now if I can just get down the road to recover my package from Lololime..." "What does that mean?"

"Apparently some old lady who lives down the road is named Amanda too, and the ranch hands figure my package was probably taken there."

"So that place may be different in nearly every way, but the postal service is the same." Zoey laughs. "Speaking of-if you decide to stay for more than a month, I'd love to sublet your place."

Is she kidding? "You live in Los Angeles."

"I know, but I've been thinking that a little travel and a new round of guys to date couldn't hurt my brand, either."

For the love of... "I'll definitely let you know, but don't hold your breath. This is the kind of place that works to boost interest as a short-term gimmick. Not for an entire summer."

I'm halfway back to the house, the little dog bouncing along beside me, when Jeff comes rumbling by and picks us up. Not a minute too soon-I've already got a blister forming on my left heel.

"You may want to get a different pair of shoes, if you decide to stick around. I know Roscoe's hoping you'll stick around."

What's with everyone asking me whether I'm going to stay? Does it really look likely? "Thanks."

I swing off the utility wagon thing and head for my car, Roscoe still trailing me like a furry bodyguard, but I'm stopped before I reach it. "Mom, they're all getting horseback lessons again this afternoon," Emery says. "What about us?" "Horses are the kind of thing that takes months and months to learn," I say.

"They're riding out in two weeks to drive the cattle up into the forest." Emery's eyes plead with me.

"Why would they take the cows to the forest?" I shake my head. "That sounds insane."

"They go up there for a few months so that we can grow hay here," Jeff says.

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Now he's just annoying me. "Yes, well, I hardly think-"

"Please, Mom? Can I take lessons?"

"I'm not sure even Steve can teach more than four beginners at once," Jeff says. Thankfully, after lobbing that perfect excuse my way, he parks the cart by the smaller house and wanders off toward the barn. "Exactly," I say. "Now come with me. We'll head up the road to look for my missing package, and then I need to go into town to buy some Tide."

"I can pick some up." Abby's standing in the doorway of the house, her purse slung over her shoulder. "I'm going to try and find someone, anyone, who will talk to me about installing the internet." Pretty much no hope it'll come before we leave, so I don't care much. "It has to be a very specific kind," I say.

She shrugs. "Write it down. If the hardware store has it, I'll bring it back."

If not, there's always Amazon, assuming I ever get any packages. Oh my word, what if even Amazon can't subdue the wilderness? "Alright. Thanks."

Abby calls her kids over. "Izzy, Whitney, listen. I'm going to be gone for a bit. I've got another round of documents to review today, and I need to send a brief I drafted this morning." "Okay," Izzy says. "That's fine."

"I need you guys to make lunch and watch Gabe and I mean you really have to watch him. There are a lot of animals around here, and I can't have him getting stepped on or kicked." "We will," Whitney says.

"Where's Ethan?" I ask.

"He went with Kevin to move the water, whatever that means," Abby says.

"What about Maren?" I haven't seen her yet today.

"She was still asleep, last I checked." Abby jogs down the porch steps, avoiding the fresh chicken poop like a pro, and opens the door to her minivan. "It's nearly noon."

Abby shrugs. "I wasn't sure if she knew what your rules were during the summer."

If you're loving the book, nel5s.com is where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you! "We're going to learn how to feed all the animals," Izzy says.

"And how to muck stalls," Whitney says.

"Wait," I say. "I'm not sure-"

"Emery definitely doesn't need to," Abby says, "but Jeff offered to teach mine after he finished with clearing the far pasture."

Jeff's apparently still within hearing distance, because he shouts back after mention of his name. "I'll drag it tomorrow, but I figured a break to train some helpers wouldn't be a bad thing." He gestures toward the barn. "Where's Gabe?" Abby asks.

"He's watching 'Charlotte's Web' on the television," Izzy says. "Ethan said it's called a VHS tape. The sound and picture aren't very good, but he doesn't seem to care. I told him to come find us in the barn when it's done." "Great. Well, use the house phone to call me if you have questions or problems," Abby says. "Once I'm on Steve's porch, I should have reception. I did yesterday, anyway." "The horse guy?" I ask.

"He said I can use his porch and boost off his WiFi as long as I need it," Abby says. "He might have been kidding, but I'm pretending he was serious."

How has she already met people? More than that, she's already got people offering to do her favors. It's irritating.

I open the door of my ridiculous van. "Emery, go wake up Maren and tell her she needs to help muck stalls." That'll teach her to sleep until noon. "Are you serious?" Emery asks.

"Yes. Tell her if she doesn't, I'll..." I can't actually think of anything worse than mucking stalls. "I'll think of something terrible."

Emery drops her voice. "Hey, Mom, if you meet someone who teaches horse stuff, can you hire them for me? I really do want to learn, too."

Her earnest tone and her pleading eyes pull at my heartstrings. "I'll try and find someone."

Watching her skip off to catch up to her cousins, I wonder whether we ought to stay more than a week. If Abby can work her magic and get us internet, a few more weeks might not be that bad.