Page 41 of Pigeon

“No, I’m good.”

“You’re not, and that’s okay, Pigeon. I got Ivy today, and I’ll keep a close eye on things.”

“Find anything out from the attorney?” Pigeon asks, looking at me.

“She’s looking at the will and will get back with me if she finds anything helpful,” I answer with a small shrug.

I don’t have a lot of faith that she can find a way around the will, but it is worth a try. Meanwhile, I have to keep the ranch going.

Pigeon nods his head before saying, “You’re not alone anymore, Ivy. We’ll deal with this one way or another. Your ranch will continue to be just that. Your ranch. Look to the future and what changes you want to make. Start working on those plans because Ted’s reign there has come to an end.”

I want to smile and feel relieved, but the sadness lurking in Pigeon’s eyes keep that from happening. I don’t know what has put it there, but I want it gone. As Chubs makes his way to the door, I hurry over to Pigeon, go up on my tiptoes, and brush my lips across his. When I pull back, his dark eyes stay on mine.

“Stay close to Chubs, James, and Livi today. We’ll talk tonight.”

I nod and follow Chubs out the door.

“I don’t know the rules of an MC, Chubs. I was only asking because Pigeon seems off since last night. If I don’t ask questions, I can’t fix that for him,” I answer in frustration.

“MCs are generally pretty secretive because we don’t like outside interference. We make our own rules and laws and live by them, not society’s. Not that you’re considered an outsider anymore, but still. Pigeon will tell you what he wants you to know, and you have to find a way to be okay with that. I tell Lucy everything, but others don’t. Each member has to decide how much to share with their woman. Another thing to remember is if Pigeon shares something with you, that doesn’t mean everyone has done the same, so keep it to yourself. It’s about trust and who can handle what. All I’ll say is that the club helped some people fix a wrong last night, and it was an ugly situation. Pigeon did his job, but there’s a price that goes along with that. Be patient and give him time.”

“I can do that. Thank you, Chubs.”

A few minutes after we stop beside the barn, James and Livi pull up beside us. I swallow my laugh at the disgruntled look on James’ face and the excitement on Livi’s. Chubs hands James a pitchfork and points to the horse barn. James walks off, muttering to himself while Livi taunts him about his soon to be green manure-covered, white sneakers. Flipping her off over his shoulder, James disappears into the barn.

“I don’t mind cleaning the stalls, Chubs. James can load the wagon with hay instead,” I insist.

“He won’t be a prospect for much longer, and I won’t be able to torture him then. Let me enjoy this while I can,” Chubs counters before heading for the hay barn.

Turning to Livi, I ask, “What would you like to do?”

“Anything with baby animals!” she shouts.

“Let’s make up the bottles. We have a few orphaned calves that need to be bottle-fed. You’ll love this chore. It’s the best one.”

Placing the large bottles into a milk crate, Livi all but skips next to me as I lead her to the calf enclosure. Waiting impatiently are four hungry adorable calves. Instructing her to hang on tight to the bottles, I hand her two. Taking the other two, I lower them to calf height and wait for the hungry mouths to find them. Livi does the same and then squeals in delight when two calves latch on.

“Oh my God! They’re so freaking cute!” she whisper-shouts at me.

Laughing, I agree while thinking of the list of things to get done today. It’s not long before the calves have drained the bottles, and I check that off my list.

“Now what?” she asks enthusiastically while we rinse the bottles and then refill them for later.

I smile, give her a rundown of what needs to be accomplished and then laugh out loud at the widening of her eyes. Then, we get down to work.

Riding in the side by side with Livi, I take mental notes of the hay pastures. I have to hire a few neighbor guys to help soon because haying season is about to be here. I can do anything that needs to be done on the ranch, but I can’t do it during haying season. Haying season is a full-time job in itself, and that’s why I take my vacation time from the rescue during it each year. It’s time to talk with Margie so she can prepare for me being gone for a week to ten days.

We get back to the barns in time to meet up with James and Chubs and hit the road back to Denver. Rushing into Pigeon’s house, I crash into an unmovable object. Bouncing backward, I look up and see it’s Horse I ran into. Turning his head, he grins down at me. I grin back, dart past him, and take the stairs two at a time. I grab a change of clothes from Pigeon’s room and hurry to the bathroom. Not paying attention to anything but getting to work on time, I walk in without realizing the shower’s running. Jerking my head toward it, I see a perfect male silhouette, water running down a tanned, hard body.

Whirling back to the door, I hear an invitation issued behind me.

“Would rather you join me, honey, but it’s your choice,” Pigeon’s deep rumble slides over my body.

Keeping my back to him, I ask, “Is that a good idea?”

“Best idea I’ve ever had. Been pretending for a while now, and I’d rather get back to being real.”

“Pretending? About what?” I question while my stomach tightens.

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