by A. D. Ellis
“Hey, Wes, think this little filly would be a good one to break-in Reid?” Walker hollered across the corral to Wes while pointing at a foal.
“Yeah, she’s super sweet and loves attention,” Wes hollered and waved back.
The rest of the horses were out of the corral or being tended to so Walker opened the gate. “Come on. Time to meet your nemesis.”
“She’s not my nemesis, her mother and father are.” Reid grimaced and looked toward the other horses. “Are they going to see me with her and come running to protect her?”
Walker laughed. “Nah, her mom is out in the pasture. Her dad isn’t here. He was sold before she was born.”
“That’s cruel. You sold her dad? So she’ll never know him?” Reid stepped forward and let Walker close the gate behind him. Don’t notice the soft gruffness of his laugh.
“That’s the way it works. She’s got her mom. That’s who she needs most. But soon she’ll be completely independent. Even if her mom wasn’t here, the others, especially the older mares who have had foals, would take her in and teach her.” Walker clicked his tongue and held out a hand toward the baby then turned to Reid. “Hold your hand out and let her sniff you.”
Reid did as he was told, and the foal nudged his hand and bumped his chest with her head. “Hey, careful.” Reid’s voice shook, but he stood his ground.
“She’s wanting you to pet her.” Walker scratched the horse on her jaw and down her long face.
“Funny way of asking,” Reid grumbled but stroked the filly’s nose. “She’s so soft, and her nose feels like velvet.”
The foal nuzzled against Reid’s side.
“She likes you,” Walker stated.
When a large horse was led to another part of the corral, Reid opted to end the foal love-fest. Walker locked the gate behind them, and the men stood outside the fence as the foal scampered off to play with her buddies.
“Holy shit,” Reid drawled.
“What?” Walker looked his way.
“You must be magic.” Reid shook his head.
“How’s that?”
“I swore I’d never get near a horse ever again. Ever. Again. And you just had me touching one.” Reid rested a hand on top of his head.
Walker winked. “Nah, no magic. Just the adorableness of a filly.” He turned toward the barn. “I’ll show you the tack and feed areas.”
As the men left the corral, Walker cleared his throat. “So, what happened to make you so scared of horses?”
Reid’s lip curled. “Went riding at a park when I was little. They put me on one of the tallest, biggest horses. Supposedly he was the calmest, but he was scary as fuck. When we were on the trail in the woods, one of the other horses came up beside my horse, and ran us into a tree. So my leg was trapped between the horse and the tree. My horse stumbled, I scraped my arm and leg against the tree, and then I fell off. The falling part was likely my fault because I let go and tried to get off. But the whole situation scared the ever-loving shit out of me. I vowed to never go near a horse again.” Reid huffed. “Which wasn’t hard living where I did. But living on a horse ranch is going to make that a bit of a bitch to stick to, ya know?”
“Well, three months isn’t that long. You can probably avoid the horses most of the time.” Walker glanced over at Reid.
Reid gave a wan smile. “Yeah, that’s true. But I’d hate to miss out on petting…wait, what’s her name?”
“Haven’t named her yet, actually.”
“Cinnamon. Her fur looks like the color of cinnamon.” Reid frowned. “That doesn’t seem right, what’s a horse’s fur actually called?”
“Her coat,” Walker answered. “You’re right, though. She’s definitely cinnamon colored. Cinnamon it is.”
Reid smiled.
“I think that was your first official act on the ranch.” Walker swung the door open. “We let the horses graze in the pasture, but not for long periods of time. We keep them healthy with hay and grain feed. The hay is kept in the loft and some down here on the floor. The grain feed is kept in these large cans. We can’t really keep mice out of the hay, but we keep the grain sealed to keep the critters out. It’s important to keep the hay and grain dry.”
Reid grimaced as he glanced at the hay. “There’s mice in there?”
“Likely.” Walker chuckled. “We have four or five cats on the ranch, so they help to keep the rodents at bay.”
Reid shuddered. “I don’t really like cats, but if they keep the mice away I guess I can deal.”
“The ranch cats aren’t all that friendly. They roam around, and we keep them fed, but they aren’t super social.” Walker led the way to a small room in the barn. “This is the tack room.”
Reid popped his head into the room. “Ohhh, it smells good in here. Like leather. I like this room.”
Walker laughed. “I guess I know where to find you if you ever go missing. Maybe you can help out with oiling the leather.”
Reid pretended to toss hair off his shoulders. “Girl, I’m a pro at oiling things up.”
Walker stared at Reid for a moment and then shook his head. “Just couldn’t help yourself, huh?”
Reid’s cheeks pinked. “Sorry.”
“No worries. I walked right into it.” Walker winked and cleared his throat. Do not think about oiling him up. Jesus, man, get it together. “Let’s head to the garage. We’ll take the four-wheelers out. I’ll show you cows and some of the fences on the property lines.”
“Four-wheelers?” Reid clasped his hands together. “That’s the first thing you’ve said that I’ve been totally down with.”
Walker smiled. “Let’s go then, cowboy.”
“Yee-haw,” Reid drawled.
7
Reid sneezed as they walked back through the barn. “Eeeww, what are they doing?”
Walker glanced toward where Reid was looking. “Mucking out the stalls.”
“So, like, scooping poop?” Reid held a hand over his mouth. “Gross. I choose to never do that job. I’m high enough up to make that choice, right?”
Walker laughed. “Sure, big guy. You don’t have to scoop poop.”
Reid sneezed again. “Gah, my nose and throat are itching like crazy.”
When they left the barn and headed toward the garage, Reid sneezed five more times.
“Damn, man. Let me see your eyes.” Walker reached for Reid’s arm.
Reid turned after sneezing again.
“Your eyes are red and watery. Sneezing. Itchy nose and throat. You must be allergic to something.” Walker reached into his pocket. “Here you can take this for now. We’ll get you some allergy meds in town.”
Reid popped open the packet and swallowed the pill.
“Dang, I could have gotten you some water.” Walker laughed.
“I’m used to swallowing things down.” Reid winked.
Walker rolled his eyes.
“What do you think I’m allergic to?”
“Could be anything. Grass, horses, hay, dust? Who knows.” Walker shrugged. “You’ll want to be sure to shower and wash your hair really well each evening. Norma will give you some allergy meds until we get into town and get you something from Doc.”
“Doc? You get medication from someone named Doc?” Reid pinched the bridge of his nose. “My entire face feels like it’s about to catch fire any second, I’m likely allergic to ninety percent of my surroundings, and you want me to take medications from some guy named Doc? Fuck my life.”
“You can wash your face at the garage. Doc is a female. And you won’t be here long, so no worries.” Walker slapped Reid on the back.
“Gee, thanks.” Reid huffed. “Your bedside manner sucks.”
“Don’t go getting all excited, because this one’s an automatic,” Walker drawled as he patted the seat of a four-wheeler.
Reid smirked and dried his freshly washed face on a towel. “Shame,” he purred.
“You feel any better?” Walker opened the smaller garage door on the side.
“Face isn’t so itchy.” Reid swallowed. “Throat is maybe a little better. Hope that medicine is non-drowsy.”
“Pretty much. I take it quite often, and I don’t get tired.” Walker climbed on a second four-wheeler and indicated Reid should climb on the other.
“Yeah, but you also get up at the ass crack of dawn so I’m not sure your definition of drowsy is the same as mine.” Reid tossed the towel at the sink and straddled the ATV.
Walker laughed. “We won’t be going terribly fast, but grab a helmet if you want one.” He pointed to the wall of helmets.
Reid shrugged off the suggestion.
“You know how to drive one of these, right? It’s pretty much like a golf cart or similar.”
“I’ll excuse the insinuation that I’m a golfer,” Reid quipped. “As long as I can get it started, I’m sure I can drive it.”
“Okay, stay beside or behind me. We’ll go to the property line.” Walker pointed to the key, started up his machine and waited for Reid to do the same.
They traveled first over mostly flat, dusty land, steering clear of driving through the grass area.
Walker slowed to a stop and pointed. “There’s our herd. Not large at all. Enough to provide some beef every once in a while, but we still have to buy meat. Norma uses the dairy cow milk whenever she can, but still has to supplement with store-bought. She’s been hounding me to get a few more dairies so we can use only our own milk. We’ll see.”
“So they just roam around eating?” Reid watched the quiet, doe-eyed cattle chew the grass.
“They get to graze, which is what they really like, but we feed them grain to fill in nutrition, as well. This area isn’t super lush for grazing. We rotate them so they aren’t always grazing in the same spots.” Walker pointed to the horizon. “See that tree over there? That’s the edge of the property. We’ll ride the fence and check for breaches.”
The terrain became rockier and rougher as they drove away from the cattle. Soon they reached a lone tree just inside a fence line.
Reid glanced around. “Not very exciting. I guess I thought there’d be signs or something.”
Walker laughed. “The fence is our sign. Obviously this isn’t the only property edge. But this is the closest one. So, we’ll drive back toward the house, but stick to the fence line. We’re looking for broken posts, cut or bent wire, or any spot that looks different.”
The men rode along the fence until the house was in sight. Only the sound of the motors broke the silence of the wide-open space.
Walker halted the vehicles with a raised hand and shut off his engine.
Reid followed suit.
“See anything amiss here?” Walker spread out his hands and indicated a large area of fence.
Reid scanned the posts and wires. “That post is split in two and the wire looks loose.”
“Good, I’ll make a rancher of you yet,” Walker teased. “So, myself or others will come out here and fix that up within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. We don’t want to leave it like this. It’s a risk of entry, a risk of injury, but most importantly a risk of one of our animals getting out.”
Reid was quiet for a moment while the sounds of nature filled the air.
“Doesn’t this ever get old?” Reid asked. “Being out in the middle of nowhere, same people, same work, same everything?”
Walker was silent as he gazed at the vast openness around him. “Nah, man. It’s beautiful, peaceful, and truly never gets boring. Plus, we’re not that far from town. I’ll take you there soon. Show you around. Movie theaters, stores, restaurants, and bars. Bet we can even find you somewhere to dance if we ask the right people.”
“What about your love life? How are you going to meet someone? Do you have a lady friend on the ranch?” Reid turned on his seat and pulled one knee up and under his leg.
Walker frowned. “I don’t date.”
“Why?”
“Tried it, bad ending, so I just don’t date.” Walker clenched his jaw.
“Cheating? Bad breakup? They didn’t like ranch life?” Reid shifted his knee to his chest and propped his chin on it.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but it just ended badly. Too many feelings, too hard in the end.” Walker scowled. “I’ve got all I need here on the ranch, so I’m not missing out.”
“What about sex?”
“What about it? Sex isn’t everything in life,” Walker grumbled.
“True, but sex can be good. And just having someone to share with and be close to…”
“I’ve got friends here on the ranch I can share with,” Walker bit out and shut down any further conversation by starting the ATV’s engine and waving to Reid.
By the time the sun started to set, Reid was about to drop. Lunch had been a boisterous and enjoyable affair, and Reid had longed to sneak off to his room to cuddle the puppies and take a nap. But Walker had declared they would be unloading hay after lunch and didn’t allow Reid the escape he so desperately wanted.
With the beginning of blisters on his hands, despite the work gloves Walker had given him, and every part of him damp with sweat or exhausted or both, Reid followed Walker to the barn office and collapsed into a chair. “Please tell me this day is almost done.”
Walker laughed. “Most evenings I try to get about an hour of paperwork completed. Just to stay caught up. It sucks, but it’s worse if I let it go.”
“What kind of paperwork?” Reid cracked an eye while resting his head on the chair back.
“Bills, payroll, accounting for supplies we’ve used and what we need.” Walker ticked items off on his fingers. “Notes on the livestock, correspondence with people wanting to use our services, purchase or sell a horse, just to name a few.”
“Sounds like a barrel of fun,” Reid drawled.
“It’s all part of the job.” Walker shrugged and started tapping keys on the computer. “I could hire it out,” he began.
“Seems like it’s better to keep it in-house if possible,” Reid commented. “I mean, safer? Make sure it’s done right?”
“Yeah, that’s what Jack always said.” Walker nodded. “Sounds like you’ve got more of Jack in you than you think.” He smiled as he continued typing.
Reid scoffed. “Whatever.” He leaned forward. “Anything I can do to help? I’m pretty good with numbers and spreadsheets.”
Walker set Reid up to enter paid bills into a spreadsheet. They worked comfortably for about forty-five minutes, a few comments and questions here and there. Within the hour, they finished their work.
“Please, dear lord, tell me it’s time to go to bed?” Reid groaned as he stood and stretched.
“Yeah, definitely bedtime.” Walker yawned.
They walked toward the house. The pack of dogs met them at the door, and Reid bent to give them pets and loving. Once inside, he straightened and kicked off his shoes. “What’s on the agenda tomorrow?”
“Rise at ass crack o’clock,” Walker teased with a wink, “breakfast, strong coffee, chores and that fence. Then I think we better make a trip to town. We’ll see if Zeke wants to go.”
“Ohhh, road trip.” Reid clasped his hands together.
“Get some sleep, cowboy. We work before we play.” Walker slapped Reid on the back.
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” Reid pouted, quoting the old proverb.
“Maybe makes Jack a dull boy, but builds character for Reid,” Walker quipped. “And I’m pretty sure you’re at no risk of ever becoming dull.”
Reid smiled and batted his lashes before executing a dramatic bow. “Why, thank you, kind sir. And with that compliment, I bid you adieu.”
Walker snorted. “G’night, kid.”
The pack of pups followed Reid all the way to his room and disappeared behind the door into their new favorite sleeping location.
Walker headed to his room. Behind his closed door, he studied himself in the mirror and ran a hand over his face. “Never been jealous of a bunch of dog
s before tonight,” he muttered to the room. The large kind-size bed had never looked so empty.
8
Reid looked around. “So, this is “town,” huh?”
Zeke curled his lip. “Yep, this is it.”
“I’m going to leave you two to shop for clothes, shoes, and a hat.” Walker pulled into a parking spot and turned off the truck. “I’ll go gather the odds and ends we need before our next big order goes in.” He looked at his watch. “Let’s meet back here in two hours. We’ll grab lunch before Reid’s appointment with Doc.” Walker turned and headed down the street.
Reid nodded then faced Zeke. “It’s not too terrible, honestly. Looks like a nice place. Not at all run-down like I was thinking. Definitely looks like it’s got more than one stoplight.” He gazed from left to right. “Yeah, I can work with this.”
“For now, right?” Zeke asked. “I mean, you only have to work with it for three months. Think about those of us facing a lifetime here.”
“Oh, well, yeah.” Reid raised and lowered a shoulder. “I mean, it’s not like I’ll be here forever.”
Zeke grunted.
“Okay, where should we start?” Reid rubbed his hands together. “I love a good shopping trip.”
“Simmer down there, man.” Zeke chuckled. “We’re not on Rodeo Drive.”
“Doesn’t matter. I love shopping. And I get to try some new styles, so I’m extra excited.” Reid used both hands to point left and right. “Which way?”
Zeke shook his head and pointed across the street. “We’ll start over there. You’re gonna need jeans, boots, shirts, and a hat. Probably socks too so the boots don’t rub your shins.”
An hour and a half later, Reid and Zeke, loaded down with bags, headed back toward the truck.
“Dude, I don’t know how the hell you made getting some clothes seem like such an event. Like, most people go in, grab some jeans and a shirt, and they’re done.” Zeke glanced down at the bags he was carrying. “You made it an extravaganza. Like it was fun.”