Page 2 of The First Day of Breeding Season
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Mentorship
Friday is the first day of breeding season. If you arrive mid-day Thursday, we’ll be done with most of the chores and Raul can find you a good horse to ride up into the hills. You excited to camp under the stars? We have a good group of wranglers this year. Theo and Benji will be the ones you work the closest with.
I’m so excited, I think my heart might bound out of my chest. It’s the longest email he’s ever sent me.
The door to my dorm room swings open, and I look up long enough to see my roommate’s just come back from the shower.
“We’re heading to the food hall,” she says after she gets dressed.
“Okay.” But I sound distracted. Iamdistracted. “I’ll meet you there.”
I re-read the message. Just a few more days, and then my summer on Wildfire Ranch can begin. I can’t believe it’s come together. When my professor suggested his brother might be willing to mentor me, I had my doubts. But I think I’ve proven to him how seriously I am taking this opportunity.
From: B. Hughes
To: Drew Lowry
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Mentorship
Very excited and grateful for this opportunity. I’ll see you on Thursday.
I have a final exam tomorrow, and I need to finish packing up my entire life. My time at Climax Springs Community College has come to an end, pending the submission of my final cumulative project that I’m doing this summer with the best cattle breeder in all of Wyoming.
Smiling so hard my cheeks hurt, I scroll back in the history of our emails back and forth to the first one.
From: Drew Lowry
To: B. Hughes
Subject: Mentorship
Noah gave me your email address. Tell me more about your project.
No small talk. He didn’t even sign it. Just all business, right into it.
So I matched his tone and replied with my proposal.
From: B. Hughes
To: Drew Lowry
Subject: Re: Mentorship
My research documentation is attached. My proposal is to shadow you for the summer, creating a comprehensive resource that your ranch will benefit from, the kind of in-depth notetaking that you might not have time for with the rigorous demands of the ranch. In exchange for that breeding season record, I’ll have an invaluable up-close exposure to the natural cover program you are known for.
Thank you so much for considering this and giving me an opportunity to put my learning into action.
Re-reading my email now that I’ve corresponded with him for a few weeks, I’m embarrassed by how wordy it is. His reply, when he sent it back four days later, was a single word.
From: Drew Lowry
To: B. Hughes
Subject: Re: Re: Mentorship
Sure
I’m not a dummy. I matched his tone going forward. We had a few off-shoot emails next.
