Page 42 of The First Day of Breeding Season
My mouth falls open.
He turns, cups my face, his thumb brushing my jaw, and winks. “Back to work, cowgirl.”
By late afternoon, even Ten Gallon has called it quits. The sun is low in the sky, a big golden orb drifting toward the horizon. The cattle have settled down into the grass. More heifers have joined the herd, but there’s still no sign of Thor.
“Let’s break for dinner,” Drew says. “And while we eat, we can send the drone up to see where the big guy is.”
CHAPTER 18
DREW
After twenty years, I’ve learned how to camp smart. We have top of the line portable solar panels that make it easy to bring tech with us, and keep things charged up.
It’s one of the things Brynn had shown the most interest in when I was emailing her. When I thought her name was Brian and we were going to nerd out about technology and herd management all summer.
Turns out, I was right all along, about everything but the name.
Shelovesthe drone, and her questions are on point. Her instincts are bang on, too. She guesses correctly about tracks in the grass, helping me quickly narrow in on not just where Thor is—where I thought he was from the sounds earlier—but also where some of the herd is, about an hour’s ride away.
“We’ll saddle up and go there tomorrow. See if we can gather them up and bring them in the direction of the bulls.”
“Can’t wait,” she says, her breath a warm puff against my temple as she leans over my shoulder.
I turn and kiss her cheek.
Brynn smiles against my lips, then makes a happy humming sound.
I’m about to kiss her more deeply when my radio crackles, the first time anyone from the ranch has tried to contact us all day.
“Here.” I put the drone controller in her hands. “Have fun flying.”
While I talk to Raul about how today’s fencing went back on the ranch, I grab the cots and bedrolls and set them up.
Before we went to the waterfall, I’d have given Brynn her own sleeping space, but now that I know she’s on the same page as me about this feeling like a kind of destiny, I can admit to myself that I don’t want her anywhere but right beside me.
I set up the cots side by side, latching them together so they won’t shift apart. Then I unroll the zipped up canvas-wrapped bedding.
And then it’s time to catch the drone on its return, and dig into a well-earned meal, even if it’s basic and simple.
“This is so organized,” Brynn says, her voice full of awe as she looks at the compact dinner kit I pull out.
“Inez puts together great meals for us.” I hold up the vacuum sealed pulled pork in barbecue sauce that I heated up with a small sous vide water circulator while we were flying the drone. “This is so good on a buttered bun, with some coleslaw.”
“Yes, please. This reminds me of food from my childhood, for sure.” She looks at me with curiosity. “Did my dad know Raul and Inez, too?”
I shake my head regretfully. “No, they came to work for us after Trick bought the ranch.”
Her face falls. “Oh, I was hoping you maybe knew them from back in the day.”
I catch her hand. “I can find other people from back then. Who knew him, who can tell you stories about him.”
“Thank you.” She clears her throat, being so brave. “My mom never talked about him. I had his sketchbooks and that’sbasically it. Everything that I know about him, I learned from the notes in the margins on the sketches.”
My heart slams against my ribcage. “He wrote things down? About the tattoos? Or the people he put them on?”
“Both.” A small smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. “Do you want to know what yours says?”
I rock back on my heels. “Yes. Even if it’s bad.”
