Page 39 of Barbed Wire Hearts

“Hey, Kate! I got you something,” Naomi teases. “I heard through the grapevine that you’ve always imagined yourself a princess.”

I scowl over at Wiley. Clearly the rumor came from him. “When I was a kid. All little girls do, right?”

“Sure, sure,” Naomi grins. “Well, I got you something to help with that.”

She pulls out a tiara and tosses it over. It’s a heavy one, too, quality, and I blink in surprise down at the bright blue and black stones decorating it. “You bought me a tiara?”

“For your hat,” she clarifies. “You can add it to the brim. I’m gonna be disappointed if you’re not wearing it tomorrow.”

My eyes mist just a little and I glance up at her. “I. . . thank you.”

Noami beams. “I might get me one, too. These men don’t know the royalty they’re working with.”

“Alright, alright,” Dakota interrupts with a grin. “Pass me the meat lovers, Your Majesty.”

Naomi giggles and tosses him a slice of the pizza.

The rest of the dinner goes like that, a happy family, everyone teasing, someone talking about Jenny and her pregnancy. Jenny is one of the other ranch hand’s wives, George’s to be exact. Apparently, they’re pregnant with their fourth, and it turns out, it’s not just one. It’s twin girls! They’ve only had boys up to this point so it’s a big deal. I celebrate with them, talk about it all, and when the conversation turns to the cattle drive, I start to ask questions.

“So what exactly is the cattle drive?” I ask, taking a bite of margherita pizza. Levi was right. It’s great.

“Once the calving finishes, we drive our cattle herd out to Teton National Forest. It’s a grazing allotment controlled by the U.S. Forest Service, about one hundred and twenty-seven thousand acres,” Dakota answers.

“Takes about thirteen days,” Wiley joins in. “And it’s about seventy miles. There are about eleven ranches left who join in the tradition. It goes all the way back to the eighteen hundreds. We’ll be crossing creeks, groves of aspen, driveways, and highways, out toward the mountains where the cattle’ll spend the summer. They drift back home by winter.”

Dakota nods. “It’s called the Green River Drift. It takes a lot of preparation, making sure the horses are fine, making sure there aren’t cattle not able to make the trip. Most ranchers use trucks and come on home each night. But we prefer to stick to traditions and camp out under the stars,” he muses. “All the work we do now is in preparation for that.”

“Wow,” I say, shaking my head. “That sounds insane. Thirteen days? And they just come home by themselves?”

Wiley nods. “There’s someone who camps out there to keep watch of them, make sure any who are lost to wildlife are accounted for. Not much can get away from a bear.”

Happiness. This is what happiness feels like I realize as they keep talking. Things out here aren’t as chaotic as the city, but I find I like it. I may not be able to find a fast food joint open at all hours of the night close by, but I can always count on someone to be around to converse with.

After dinner is done, I head back to my cabin to spend some time with William, letting him out to explore more. I no longer have to leash him as he’s figured out how to behave around the other animals. So I let him out and trail along behind him to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.

He’s even started getting along with the cattle dogs, and often trails up onto the porch to rub against Ole Red and the other cattle dogs resting there.

It’s easier to wake up so early now, and every day I get to spend time with three gorgeous men, even if one of them is still withdrawn. What more could a girl ask for?

This is home now. It’s safe. I’m safe.

Everything is great.

I can’t help but smile as I trail behind William, enjoying the spring air and the smell of wildflowers on the wind.

ChapterTwenty-Nine

Kate

The next few days are a busy blur. Despite my conversation with Wiley, there isn’t a ton of time for romance between work, so I end up just wearing myself down into exhaustion each night. He gives me a kiss and leaves me to sleep, never complaining once. Dakota has been warmer toward me, but he hadn’t really changed his bossiness, nor has his stoic demeanor disappeared completely. I suppose that’s just a part of his personality. It must take so much to run a ranch of this size.

And Levi? Despite Levi’s moment of softness after the bar, he returns right back to his silent, grumpy self. That’s the Levi I get when I head out to the pastures with him on Thursday, a few days after we all went out to the Boot Scoot. Apparently, we have some fence posts to fix out on the edges of the ranch which is so far away from the house, we have to drive a good fifteen minutes to reach it. There’s nothing out in this field except for the barbed wire fences and a small lean-to meant for the cows when they’re in this particular pasture. They’re in a different one today so it’s quiet except for the sounds of the birds that fly overhead and the soft breathing of Levi as he hauls a post from the truck. His limp isn’t lost on me, more pronounced now after the bar but not so much you’d notice it unless you’re looking.

“Is your leg okay?” I ask when he kind of stumbles over a clump of grass.

“It’s fine,” he answers.

Of course he won’t admit to any sort of pain. So I let him meander through it even if he’s working slower than normal. I do as he says, getting everything ready to attach the barbed wire to the posts once we get them in the ground. Overhead, storm clouds start to gather but I don’t say anything about that either. When Levi’s ready to head back, we will.

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