Warlingham Warmth
"Alpaca farmer Adaeze raises therapeutic animals on her Warlingham smallholding. When anxious writer Marcus visits for animal therapy, she shows him that the most calming presence isn't always four-legged."
The therapist said animal therapy. Marcus's anxiety said everything else was failure. The Warlingham alpaca farm was supposedly miraculous.
Adaeze was the real miracle.
She was Nigerian-British, thick curves in muddy wellies and worn flannel, surrounded by curious alpacas who clearly adored her. She assessed Marcus with the same calm she brought to her animals.
"Anxiety?"
"That obvious?"
"The alpacas know. They gravitate to what needs healing." She pointed to one already pressing against his leg. "See? You're already in therapy."
Days on the farm changed something. The rhythms of animal care, the simple tasks, Adaeze's steady presence—it all accumulated.
"You're different," she observed one evening. "Less tight. More here."
"This place does that."
"I do that." She stood in her farmhouse doorway. "Want to come inside? See how country living really works?"
Her farmhouse was warm and cluttered, full of life. She poured wine and sat close on her worn sofa.
"I've been alone out here for years. By choice. But sometimes..." She looked at him. "Sometimes I get lonely for human connection."
"Me too. Even surrounded by people."
"Then maybe we can solve that. Together."
They made love with farm sounds outside the window—alpacas humming, chickens settling, the countryside alive around them. Her thick body was comfort itself.
"Yes... just like that... let everything go..."
She came with a sound as natural as everything else about her, and he followed, finally peaceful in a way no therapy had achieved.
"Stay," she said afterward. "Tonight. Tomorrow. As long as you need."
"What about the farm?"
"What about it? More hands, more help." She curled against him. "You need this place. And I need... someone."
"Just someone?"
"Someone specific. Someone who feels what the alpacas see." She kissed him softly. "You."
His Warlingham warmth had healed something broken. And Marcus had found peace in the most unexpected pasture.