by Natalie Dean
“Okay cool. I’m gonna milk the goats then. You be safe now.”
You be safe now? What the heck was that? She didn’t know, but she rushed to the back of the barn to grab her stool and a pail and get to work.
A lot of bigger ranches used machines for milking, considering manual took longer and a little bit of skill, but the Touheys had never been into that. Dani agreed with her parents that doing all the milking themselves gave them a much better bond with their goats. Besides, considering they didn’t force any of their girls to be pregnant, and made sure that they got proper rest between kids, they really didn’t have enough of a herd to justify the upkeep of such a machine.
Thankfully, people seemed more interested in humanely gathered animal products in the last decade, and that was really helping her family. Well, that and their thriving video channel her brother ran of all of their farm animals with their goats being the main stars.
“Hey there, Dipper,” she said, going up to one of their calmer girls. Dani wasn’t surprised that none of them had really been okay with milking since the fire, but she checked every morning just to be sure. It seemed that the black and white goat was finally ready for it, because she trotted right up to the stool.
Of course, her kid came up as well, figuring he might as well get fed if there was going to be milk going anywhere. It had taken Dani a good couple of years, but her father had made sure to teach her to always make sure that the babies had enough. They didn’t formula feed unless there was an illness or other extenuating circumstances.
“Enjoy it while you can,” she warned the little guy. He didn’t have a name yet, but she knew they’d settle on one eventually. “It’s almost time to be weaned.”
He just batted his eyes at her, latching on so he could suckle while she worked.
It was relaxing to get back into that routine. There was something calming about the productivity of it all. Maybe it was the knowledge that what she was doing would be pasteurized and then made into a variety of different products.
Of course, her mother wanted to get into raw milk distribution because that was a huge thing as of the last two years. But considering raw milk had a life of about ten days, they didn’t quite have the means for that kind of rapid cooling, storage, and then shipping while still remaining profitable.
But that was all right. It was nice to have dreams for the future.
Dreams that didn’t involve fires or screaming.
Dani sighed as she finished up with Dipper, bending to press a kiss onto the girl’s spine. “Thank you, pretty lady,” she said before looking to the next girl.
Normally the goats would be all over their massive pen, jumping around the metal and wooden structures her brothers made, dancing and clip-clopping like someone had hopped them up on caffeine. Mom said that was just how happy goats acted, but Dani was willing to bet they just bred a very special line of goats.
“Hey, Cali, you wanna come over?”
California was a beautiful, white-gold goat who was only on her second kid. Both of her births had been singles, about a year apart, but they were still thinking of making her take a rest for a whole year and a half to make sure she wasn’t putting her body through too much. Cali had been sickly when she was born, as one of four kids in a single pregnancy, so it made Dani glow to see her thrive—even if her name was a pun by one of her brothers in reference to some song by a band.
Surprisingly, she trotted over too, her relatively new baby bleating as she followed suit. Dani couldn’t believe their luck that they hadn’t lost a single baby, but when she thought of how that had happened, it made her mood take a nosedive.
“None of that,” she reminded herself before delving into her task.
Once more it was easy to sink into the routine of it all, and she found herself blissfully drifting without a single thought. When she finished up with Cali, she called over Delta, who was still reluctant but eventually acquiesced. It was a nice relief, one she had thought was out of her reach for so long. Eventually, she noticed that the familiar sound of milk hitting the metal of her bucket had long since faded.
Looking down, she saw that the bucket was almost completely full. Before she could really register it, an empty pail was placed next to her.
Blinking again—she was doing a lot of that recently—she looked up to see Benji standing next to her.
“Can I take that for you?”
“What?” She wasn’t normally this stupid, but geez did the man have a way of confusing her.
“The milk? Your mom showed me your process on my first day here. I can take that for you.”
Huh. She hadn’t expected a man with such a fancy ranch to know that manually gained milk needed to be cooled almost immediately upon completion. Nodding, she leaned back so he could grab the handle of the bucket and haul it up without splashing. She hadn’t thought that through, however, because the movement brought them so very close together for a split second.
Instantly she was swamped with his masculine smell. There was the expected undertone of sweat and hard work, but there were also other things. Pine. Teakwood. Something… clean, and subtle. It was all so inherently man that she almost swayed off her stool.
“Are you all right?” he asked, standing up and looking down at her like he didn’t realize just how stunning he could be.
Stunning? Had she really thought stunning? She was definitely up way too early because that was not something that she ever cared about.
Before she could answer, however, two of the kids came bouncing up to him, one flipping off the side of his legs and the other straight up nibbling at his jeans.
“Whoa, hey there little ones. You’ve got some energy for it being so early in the morning.” He set the milk down and tried to gently shoo them off, but that resulted in both of them thinking it was playtime and another one bounding over to enjoy the fun.
“The best strategy is just to get out while you can,” Dani said, unable to stop herself from cracking a smile as she watched them try to weasel a game out of the stranger.
“Thanks, I’ll try that,” he said with a short laugh before walking out of the pen with the bucket carefully in hand.
The kids bleated like they were truly slighted, the spoiled little things, but they quickly forgot about the man as Dani called over one of their moms. Soon it was business as usual as she filled up another milk pail.
But then Benji was right there, bending to take that one too. This time she anticipated the move enough to scoot her stool back, but that still brought the side of his head so dang close to hers. His hair was surprisingly pretty and healthy for a busy rancher—even if he was rich. A deep brown with a hint of red to the ends, it caught the light of the barn way better than it ever should have. His red was so different from her own copper, her hair being more orangey like desert earth whereas his was like deep blood.
Oh boy. She was not waxing philosophically about hair, was she?
Thankfully, the kids trotted up again to get her mind off of things her mind should not care about at all. And by trotted up, she more meant trotted up with mischievous intent.
“I think they like you,” she remarked, resting her chin in her hand as she watched one jump up and try to headbutt him in his middle. “I guess there’s no accounting for character in baby goats.”
Normally a phrase like that would be a vicious barb from between her lips, but instead, it sounded almost playful. What the heck was wrong with her?
“Hey, most people like my character just fine, thank you very much,” Benji answered, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he sent her a crooked smile.
Oh Lord on High, did he think she was flirting? She wasn’t… right? Dani had never flirted a day in her life, and she certainly wasn’t going to start on a Miller boy.
“I’m aware. But I’m not like most people.”
“Now that is something I definitely would agree with,” he said, his smile increasing before he strode off with the pail in hand.
Dani stared after him, surprised by his admission. What did that mean? What did any of his strange behavior mean?
And why did she care so much?
It was all so weird and confusing and not what she expected, so she tucked it away to return to milking. Problems like handsome, rich and confusing helpers could wait until after six a.m.
Yeah, that seemed like a good rule.
10
Benji
Benji straightened, popping his back with a long stretch as he stepped down from one of the machines they had driven over from the ranch. Four of their workers were also helping, finishing up the last of cleaning up the burned remains of the Touhey primary barn.
Two weeks.
It’d been two weeks since he first started helping them and there was still so much left to do.
Thankfully, the insurance adjusters had finally come to take pictures and collect the evidence from the Touheys and the police. That had been four days previous, and he was hoping they wouldn’t drag their feet on calculating the payout and distributing the funds.
Due to the great insurance the Touheys had sprung for, they stood to make a tidy sum. It was enough to cover all they lost plus the medical costs for their sons, and maybe invest in a few more animals. If Benji knew a way, he’d personally add to it, but he knew that the Touheys were a proud family and most likely wouldn’t take a monetary handout like that when they had an insurance check in hand.
As for Dani… well, while she was warming up to him, she was still… prickly.
Or maybe prickly wasn’t the right word. Maybe it was more aloof. She didn’t instantly abrade him on sight anymore, and they had actually had some good almost-conversations.
Granted, those kinda-talks were few and far between. Once her parents came back, it seemed that she was always working on some project or another for her Ma and Pa. And it felt like it would be creepy to stalk her across her own ranch, so he just waited for chances to run into her.
Okay, so maybe he occasionally would run her a fresh water canteen in the middle of the day. And maybe he brought her sunscreen once or twice when she accidentally left it in the house. And maybe he also brought her lunch, interesting news, updates on his progress, and general questions if he was curious about something.
He often tried to keep his questions light, unpressured. How she was doing. How the goats were doing. If she needed any help milking, etcetera… etcetera…
Ever since her parents had come back, she hadn’t needed his help with the animals. He tried once or twice, but she usually told him that she was fine on her own and he was no doubt needed for more important stuff with the barn rebuilding and repairing the power supply to that half of the ranch.
Benji knew that her family had expected to hire an entire contracting team to take care of all the clearing and rebuilding. He was sure that his and his family’s help was saving them thousands of dollars. Which did actually make him feel pretty good. No one on the Touhey ranch treated him like a middle child, like a backup to Ben. To them, he was the Miller son who was in charge of everything getting them through each day.
Perhaps it was a little bit pathetic that his ego was stoked by that, but it was what it was. Besides, he didn’t care about that nearly as much as he cared about… doing whatever it was he was trying to do with Dani.
Make her like him? Maybe. He had always been well-liked in high school, and he enjoyed being popular. It grated on his nerves for someone not to like him just because. But maybe he just wanted to make her feel better. It hurt to see her so wounded, so haunted. He didn’t know what it was about Dani that made him want to protect her, but whatever caused that feeling was quite strong.
Or maybe he just wanted to fix everything, and have it tied up all neat with a bow. As Ben’s second-in-command and the problem-solver of the ranch, he hated to leave things broken or malfunctioning. When there was a mess, he was the one who came in and fixed things. Before Missy was in the picture, he was really the only one who remotely knew how to interact with Bart. Not that Dani was anything like Bart, but he had a feeling she had at least a little bit of PTSD from that fire, and that was half of her issue right there.
Benji felt a bit of remorse that he had apparently been in high school with young Miss Dani without noticing her. It almost seemed impossible. Between the intense look in her eyes and the sort of sway she had to her wide hips even under those shapeless clothes, she was exactly the type of girl to catch his eye. Even when he was young, he knew that—while he was attracted to a broad range of bodies—there was one particular type that could always be described as his favorite.
And Dani was definitely it.
Not that he was helping her just because he found out she had such a body under those work overalls. Or the determined set of her pretty face. Or anything having to do with looks.
…all of that didn’t hurt though.
Benji shook his head at his own silly thoughts, but the movement had the corner of his eye catch on something colorful in the distance. Turning and narrowing his gaze, he scanned the horizon for whatever it was.
He saw nothing for a second. And then nothing for another second. He sighed and told himself that he was just looking for another way to keep himself on the ranch longer, even though the sun had set a good ten minutes earlier.
But then it happened. The tiniest lick of color and light crackled above the tree line for only a breath and then disappeared down below the wall of foliage. All it took was that glimpse, however, and Benji’s heart locked up like someone had shocked it.
Fire!
Everything happened at once then. He let out a cry of alarm to wake up the sleeping Touheys, then yanked his keys from the ignition of his vehicle and scrambled for his cell phone. He had 911 dialed before he even realized that he had unlocked his screen, and breathlessly he told them that the arsonist had struck again.
They asked him questions, so many questions, which Benji answered breathlessly. He wasn’t even aware of what he was doing until he reached the powerful hose that the Touheys usually used for cleaning their barns. It wasn’t nearly long enough to reach as far as he had seen in the trees, and it wasn’t powerful enough to fight a true inferno, but it could help with exactly what Benji had in mind.
He tramped down panic as he raced to the edge of the large vegetable garden where the grassy pens were. Cranking the release on the hose, the intense pressure that had built up in it during his run made a jet of water shoot out in front of him like a blade.
Good.
He didn’t stop, soaking the area of the pen until he could see there were expansive puddles starting to fill it up. It would be unusable for a couple days, sure, but it would be unusable for a whole lot longer if the fire got to all that grass without anything to slow it down.
Some back part of his brain heard footsteps behind him and then Dani was beside him, panting hard. He could practically smell her panic and fear from where she stood.
“W-what’s happening?”
He simply pointed to the trees, and her breath caught even further.
“No,” she said, sounding absolutely wretched.
It was almost enough to get Benji to drop the hose and make sure she was okay, but he knew that wasn’t what she needed at the moment. No, she needed security. She needed to be protected from the blaze. And if all he could do was make a wet perimeter while the fire department raced into the woods, then he would dedicate himself entirely to that.
Mr. and Mrs. Touhey came racing up next, their steps considerably slower than their daughter. Mrs. Touhey let out a shocked little warble that told Benji she saw exactly what he did, while Mr. Touhey only gave the tiniest little gasp before starting to sway.
“Whoa, Dad!” Dani cried, gripping her father.
Between her and Mrs. Touhey, they were able to get him upright.
“Not again,” the older man whispered, making Benji’s heart ache.
In the weeks he’d been with them, he’d learned the Touheys were
good, kind people. A little quiet, a little standoffish maybe, but good. They didn’t deserve this!
“How can this be happening again?”
“Maybe it’s just a forest fire,” Benji said, wanting to comfort them but not wanting to stop spraying the next pen. He was trying to make an entire perimeter in case the fire really got going. He knew it wasn’t entirely uncommon for the flames to jump and get picked up and carried dozens of feet or even yards to cause an entirely new blaze.
“There’s no such thing as just a forest fire.” Her hands went around the headpiece of the hose and tugged it gently. “Come on, Mom can do this. We should ride out and help the firefighters.”
That seemed to spur Mrs. Touhey, and she jolted to life. “What? No! Did you learn nothing from the first time? Dani, let the professionals take care of this!”
“And what if they don’t come in time?” Dani yelled back.
Benji could see so much in her face, shining flushed in the darkness of the night. Her bright eyes were flashing defiantly, wisps of copper hair whipping around her head. She looked like some sort of ancient, Amazon warrior who was about to gear up for battle. Benji would pity anybody who was her enemy, except the fire wasn’t an anybody. It was a force of nature. An unstoppable combustion that didn’t know mercy or fear or love. It just consumed until there was nothing left.
“What do you even think you could do if they didn’t?” Mrs. Touhey argued.
It was the most vivid, the most animated even, that Benji had ever seen the woman, and he realized that he had really only seen the numbed, half-alive aspect of their personalities. How strange.
Suddenly Dani was whirring to him. “Your truck, it has that big water tank on it, right? You hooked it up for your workers?”
“Well, yeah,” Benji answered, feeling swept up in her fervor. “And the pressure washer.”
“Then we can use that! And the sandbags soaked in water. We can set up a perimeter before it gets to the maples and hackberry trees.”