Vast and smelling of animals the size of the first barn surprised Adam. There were pint-sized kids blow-drying the fluffiest cows he had ever seen. He stopped in his tracks, watching them. "Why... are they doing that?"
"They are 4H kids. Those cows are their babies and they want them to look their best when they enter the ring." She pointed out a particularly pretty cow with a curly coat. "For the past year, they have taken care of them. Aren't they pretty?"
"I've never thought of cows being pretty before, but yeah, I can see it."
"I always loved their big eyes." She brought her hands up to her face, turning her fingers into pretend eyelashes. "They have eyelashes like supermodels."
"I enjoy seeing the world through your eyes."
"Good, then you should be ready for llama petting." She flashed a smile at him. "Or we can visit the rabbits first if you'd like."
He wasn't sure exactly when he had started to hold her hand as they walked through the barn. His fingers engulfed hers.
Excited, she said, "We've got to go to the chicken house. Have you ever seen a chicken hatch?"
"Why would I want to?"
"They are so cute and stupid. At home, I love to watch our chickens."
"All right. If it will keep you smiling, let's go."
***
Fluffy and light as air, the fragile baby chick rested in his hand. Mimi curved her fingers around his to protect the chick from falling. Voice full of awe, she said, "Aren't they the softest things in the world?"
Her small hands around his own was the sweetest thing. She looked up at him.
Before he thought it through, he said, "You really are beautiful, inside and out."
She ducked her head and lifted her shoulders in a brief shrug. "If you keep talking to me like that, Adam, I am going to get confused and believe you are my fiancée, in truth."
A future farmer teen walked past with the lazy saunter of a bored high schooler.
"Young man," Adam said as he handed the fluff ball to Mimi so he could tug his phone out of his pocket. "Do you mind taking a picture of us and this wisp of yellow fluff?"
The boy accepted the phone and took a step back to bring them into the frame. "Hey, aren't you the cutie cupcake?"
Mimi rolled her eyes.
"My, cutie cupcake." Adam clarified.
After the kid took their picture, the teen fished out his own phone. "Do you mind if I take one? My friends will be pumped that I saw you. You guys have meme's now." Mimi gently handed the fluff ball back to the smiling teen.
"I think I should hire Jen. She is good at this." Adam squirted hand sanitizer on his hands and offered some to the cupcake.
"True." She accepted the jell.
Adam placed his hand on her back and headed her toward the fairway. The young man waved goodbye to them, braces flashing in the light. Adam said, "So, what else are you determined to show me?"
"I'm thinking the Bullet or Doom."
"You are planning my death already? We aren't even married yet. I suppose a fair is a good place to hide a body. They have pigs."
"They are rides." She held up her wrist and the bracelet on it. "We paid for these for a reason. Do you get motion sick?"
"I am a man. I'm sure I can handle it." He winked at her. "Bring it on."
"I could always start you with the Ferris wheel."
He scoffed and swung her hand back and forth as they walked.
***
When the bar came across his lap, he looked up at the rickety construction of the ride. "I think we might die."
Laughing at him, she said. "No one will die. People have been riding this ride all week."
"That doesn't mean they all survived. What is this ride called again?"
"The Bullet. It's fun."
"You should have warned me you were an adrenaline junkie." He bumped her leg with his own. "If I die, at least I die next to a pretty girl."
An attendant walked past them and jerked on the safety bar in front of Adam, startling him. "What the hell?"
Mimi rested her hand on his thigh. "It's okay. They have to check to see if the safety equipment is engaged. They don't want us to fall out."
"I don't either." He gripped the bar. Honestly, he didn't like heights. Be cool. Be cool.
At first, the ride swung back and forth, but then it flipped upside down. Biting into his thighs, the bar kept him from falling to the ceiling of the ride cage. Mimi, the crazy girl next to him, was laughing. He wasn't expecting the drop when it came, or the speed at which it happened. He heard someone frantically screaming and realized it was him.
When the ride blessedly stopped, his knuckles were white from the grip he had kept on the safety bar and Mimi was giggling.
"Not funny," he gasped.
"You are pale. Are you okay?"
"I will be once my heart calms down." As soon as the bar unlatched, he exited the ride and took her hand as she stepped out. "I am picking the next ride."
Teasingly she said, "Ferris Wheel?"
"Hilarious, young lady."
Ride after ride, they worked their way through the fairway, avoiding a few of the options with ridiculous lines. He liked the Ferris wheel best, but he wasn't about to tell her that. The house of horrors had been silly. They had paid two dollars to see an alligator and cheered on their chosen pigs at the pig races. The spotted pig he'd chosen won. Through the crowds, she tugged him along toward each adventure. As night settled behind the fair lights, the crowd changed. A country singer belted a cover song from a nearby stage.
Squeezing her hand fondly, he asked, "What is next after our great llama adventure?"
"Fried things."
