Page 55 of Truth or Pack

There was a different moo from her now and Holt reached out for the little one that was moving closer to him. It sniffed his hand and backed up a little. The nursing one stopped to see what was going on and it had a little milk on its nose. I wished that I had my phone so I could capture this sweet scene but I was just glad that I could witness it at all.

Maybe I needed to add a few rancher books to the mix so I could shoot videos out here.

“Do you know if the babies are boys or girls?” I asked as Holt kept his hand out for the baby.

“This is a girl, here. I have to check the other one,” he told me.

“What are you going to name them? Or do you name them?” I asked, leaning on the gate.

“Well, we don’t usually name them. Most of the babies are raised and sold. We do keep a few, but mostly just the girls,” he said as he got ahold of the baby. He picked it up and walked towards me.

“How do you know this is the girl?” I asked as I reached my hand towards Holt and the calf.

“She has the same markings as her momma, the other one has a solid face, like the dad,” he answered and stepped a littlecloser to the gate. “Let the baby sniff you before you try and pet her.”

“So, are you going to keep her?” I questioned as I did what he asked.

“I wasn’t planning on it, but after I almost lost Daisy, I think I will. Do you want to name her?” he countered as the little girl let me touch her.

My fingers stroked gently over her soft fur, emotion swelling in my chest. It might seem like a simple offer to let me name her, but I knew it was so much deeper. He almost lost his girl and was keeping this one because it was such a close call. I felt honored.

“What about Buttercup?” I asked.

“Buttercup it is. What if the other one is a girl and we keep her, too? What are you going to name her?” he asked as he let the baby down and returned to my side.

“I’ll have to think on it,” I told him, eyes shifting to the other baby.

“How about we eat and then we can head to the campsite for some s’mores and your first video that I owe you,” he smirked at me.

“Hell, yeah, I like the sound of that,” I answered as my brain started going crazy with ideas to torment him with.

It didn’t take us long to get back and eat but it felt as if it was forever. I was ready for s’mores and Holt reading. All I could do was picture him in firelight, reading one of the smutty chapters I had in mind.

When it was finally time to head to where Holt had Buck started a fire, I ran off to grab my e-reader for him to read.

As we walked the little distance to the campsite, I was searching for perfect paragraphs to be read, ignoring them all for a few minutes.

Ash took my hand after I stumbled over my own feet and a rock since I wasn’t watching where I was going.

“Thanks and sorry. I’m a little excited for the reading. I think that the lighting will be perfect, so I want to get a good section for it,” I told him.

“I mean Holt in the campfire light is brilliant, don’t want to scare the audience with him full on,” Ash joked.

“Keep it up, mister and you’ll be reading with your motorcycle helmet on,” I warned him.

“And cover this face?! Ouch. There ain’t no way,” he complained as we stopped to take a seat.

“Where do you want me?” Holt asked. “I don’t want marshmallows on my face when you record.”

I laughed a little at them but I didn’t want the followers to focus on food on his face, either, but his words.

“Sit on the other side of the flames, leaning on that log,” I pointed across from me. “I’ll zoom a little and record from here.”

“Here’s your tripod,” Mathias said, having it all set up for me already. The way they were all supporting me with my work without an ounce of hesitation, made my heart happy..

“Thanks.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed as I took it from him.

How sweet was that? I didn’t even ask him to grab it for me but they’d paid attention. They had no idea how much these little gestures were making me swoon.

---