1-VIVIENNE

Red Falls, Oregon. Present day.

“And I'm having my own room?”

“You're having your own room.”

“And Lily will sleep with me?”

“When hasn't she?”

I couldn't help but smile at my daughter's innocent giggles.

“And is Daddy going to be able to stay with us when he visits?”

“Of course,” I agreed amused. “You know Daddy will always sleep with you when he's visiting.”

“Mom!” Taylor complained from the backseat, “Dad snores too much, can't he stay with you?”

“And me having to endure that punishment all night?” I asked, trying to sound horrified. “Forget it, honey, I'm going to be working. He better sleeps in the guest room... Or you can do what you did last time.”

I tried not to laugh at the snort my daughter let out.

“Dad didn't appreciate me sticking my socks in his mouth to make him shut up. I should’ve never listened to you,” She accused me, and I couldn’t hold my laugh any longer.

Welcome to Red Falls, home of the most beautiful waterfalls in the country.

I smiled with happiness when I spotted the sign announcing my arrival at my new home.

With a population of no more than 2,000 people, one would think that this place wouldn’t have any kind of tourist life.

Months ago, I didn’t even know of its existence, but I’d been pleasantly surprised to discover that the small town was not only hidden between beautiful mountains with colorful and diverse waterfalls and virgin forests full of life, it was also where The Eden was, a ranch that gave shelter to hundreds of abandoned animals or that had been abused by their previous owners.

I didn't even think about submitting my resume three months ago after learning of the shelter's existence and learning about their goal of saving as many lives as they could, so imagine my happiness two weeks ago when I received a job offer from the shelter. I hadn't hesitated to resign from the clinic where I'd been working in Portland for the last four years, and packed up all our belongings and moved.

“Does it really not bother you that we moved, Tay-Tay?” I asked to my seven-year-old baby once more.

“You promised me I could help you with your patients, Mom,” She answered, her gaze locking with mine in the rearview mirror before her face changed to one of panic. “And you also promised me that I could continue studying from home.”

“And you will, baby,” I said quickly, trying to avoid another episode. “George promised me the internet connection is top notch at the ranch...”

“Then we don't have to worry about anything,” She sighed, relaxing in her seat before continuing to look out the window.

I relaxed, too, knowing that Taylor wouldn't panic in the next few minutes.

My daughter... She was severely bullied by her classmates last year, to the point of not being able to sleep for fear of what would happen the next day at school.

With an IQ above the average, it goes without saying that Taylor was highly smart and always had something to say.

And she was very honest.

So, if she didn't like something, Taylor had no problem letting it be known. Something her teacher hadn’t liked at all when being corrected by a seven-year-old girl in the middle of math class.

I attributed my daughter's lack of a filter to Peter and our parents.

Being an only daughter and granddaughter, Taylor had been spoiled and overprotected by everyone around her, always clapping and praising every aspect of her life.

Sure, I wouldn't change a thing about Taylor's character and would always be proud of her intelligence, but I couldn't help but feel guilty for not listening to the specialists when they advised me to transfer her to a school that would help her develop her intellect.

In my defense, at the time I thought I was doing the right thing by letting her enjoy her childhood.

“You're doing it again. You're thinking it's your fault what happened to me at school, but it's not.”

“I'm not,” I mumbled absently as I stopped on the strip and read the name of a particular store.

Mary-Jane Dispensary, as you prefer.

Anyone would think the store was about anything...if it weren't for the marihuana leaves decorating the sign on the front.

Apparently, Red Falls wasn't as old-fashioned as I thought. In the fifteen minutes we'd been in town, I'd seen a Walmart, a gas station, three bars, a dry cleaner, three clothing stores, and what I thought were two brothels.

I guess one brothel wasn't enough for its two thousand residents.

I waved to the priest as I passed a liquor store and tried my best to ignore the two men fighting outside a hair salon―brushes and blow dryers in hands―and turned left when the GPS told me to.

“These people are very strange, Mom,” My daughter said, just as distracted as I was. “I like it.”

I laughed once more at her bluntness and then neither of us said anything for the rest of the trip.

Thirty minutes later, after leaving behind several farms and ranches and going through a road with enough potholes to destroy the suspension of a compact car, we were passing through the majestic wrought iron gate where you could read the word Eden in the center of it.

Excited beyond measure, I saw several pens with cows, bulls, pigs and horses grazing and freely ruminating. A large chicken coop stood proudly a few feet from the stables, letting us hear a cacophony of sounds.

I waved back to several ranch workers as they waved their hands in our direction, and stopped when one of them raised his hand as he approached.

“Good morning, ladies,” The young man said, nodding and smiling at Taylor before removing the cowboy hat he was wearing to focus on me. “To what do we owe the pleasant visit of such beautiful ladies?”

I smiled back at Taylor's shy giggle.

“I'm Vivienne Sweet and this is my daughter Taylor, I'm the new vet and I'm supposed to meet George Woods, the head vet.”

“And I'm Jeff, Miss Sweet.” The boy winked at me before pointing me ahead. “Follow the gravel path around the stable and you will see the main house. Don't worry, it will be difficult for you not to see which house I'm talking about. There you’ll find Silvia, the housekeeper and George's wife, she can help you while he arrives.

“He’s not here?? I asked curious when I saw the time on the car's dashboard.

I knew I arrived an hour earlier than scheduled, but I assumed my new boss would be in the ranch.

The worker’s soft laugh brought me out of my thoughts.

“The doc was called to an emergency an hour ago, but I don't think Silvia will have issues to help you.”

“Thank you very much,” I said a little confused with the boy's explanation, but before I could ask something else, Jeff was called by one of his workers and quickly ran towards one of the pens, but not before waving goodbye.

“Well, I guess we'll skirt around the barn, babe,” I muttered to my daughter as I started the truck.

“Look at the size of that bull, Mom!” She exclaimed, as we passed a specific corral.

And I couldn't help but look with wonder at the huge brown bull that stood out above all the other animals and which looked indifferent to its size. My body vibrated with emotion at the simple idea of examining the beautiful and not at all common specimen.

“Is that where we're going to live!?” Taylor squealed a few minutes later, as a modern, two-story, rustic-style house with logs facade, and large windows appeared before us.

My breath got caught as I focused my eyes behind the mini mansion and found the impressive coppery waterfalls for which the town was named.

Until now, everything in The Eden was beautiful.

“I want the room with the balcony, Mom.”

I couldn't help but laugh at my daughter's contagious enthusiasm.

“I think that house belongs to the ranch owners, baby,” I said, following the gravel path that led me to the front of the magnificent house before us. “Ready to start a new chapter in our lives, Tay-Tay?”

“Oh God, yes!”

I stopped the truck once more, this time in front of the mini-mansion's porch, and started to get out.

I was ready to start a new chapter too.