Page 93 of Opposites (Never) Attract
Although, to be fair, Wyoming had it all over Central Park.
“Uh, hello, the coffee, obviously. And I’m not talking Starbucks. I’m talking about the best coffee houses in the world. Small little cafes with the most incredible baristas. Lattes that will make you cry. Macchiatos that will make you believe you’ve tasted God’s tears.”
“So, you’re saying you love my sister, more than you love coffee.”
“It was very close, but, I went with your sister over the coffee.”
“I’m telling her you said that,” I warned him.
He simply laughed. “My point is, when it comes down to it, nothing else matters more than the person you’re in love with. You just don’t know that until you’re in love.”
Well, maybe that explained it. I’d never been in love. There’d never been anyone I would sacrifice everything for.
Had Tag ever been in love that way?
As soon as I asked myself the question, I pushed it aside. It wasn’t my business and it wasn’t relative to my life.
We eventually crested over a hill that gave way to a beautiful, lush, green valley filled with beef cattle. The sound of them lowing became an oddly comfortable rumble in my chest. There were so many cows, and after all mycalculations, I knew exactly how much each of them was worth, down to the penny.
This wasn’t the first time I’d seen a pasture filled with cows, but it was the first time I was connecting these animals to the money I’d pulled out of the ranch’s equity to invest in crypto.
Something that was so real, so tangible, you could see them, smell them, and hear them, and I was turning them into something no one could even hold in their hands.
No wonder everyone was worried about what I was doing. One false step and this place could legitimately face bankruptcy. All those cows gone, like they never were. This ranch. The jobs.
“Maybe I should go back?” I called over to Ethan, the anxiety rolling over me, crushing me under its weight. “Maybe I should be keeping a closer eye on the markets?”
“You’re here now. Come see the magic happen.”
Tag was marching over to us with some determination. “Ethan, what the hell did you bring her out here for?”
I snapped back at his words. This wasn’t the same man who’d kissed me before he left this morning. This man was all business. Or, maybe he was cranky because he hadn’t gotten any sleep last night. I filed that away as something to know about Tag.
He needed his food. And he needed his sleep.
“Thought she might want to see the calves dropping,” Ethan said, dismounting from his horse. “What’s the problem?”
Tag was snapping off some plastic gloves. “We’ve got wolves in the area.”
“We always have wolves in the area when the calves come.”
“This pack is a little too close for comfort to have herout here. It’s not safe for someone who doesn’t know what she’s doing on a horse.”
Ethan looked back up at me. “Tag’s a bit worried about you, sis. Wonder why that is?”
I shrugged, but said nothing. Perhaps I could not outrun a wolf, but I had total faith in Shirley.
Mac and Carter were trailing behind Tag. Both men’s shirts were covered with bloody wet stains and they were also snapping off plastic gloves and shoving them in their back pockets.
They both wore baseball hats as opposed to Tag’s cowboy hat. Seeing them made me realize my nose was already stinging from the sun on my face. Tag hadn’t been there to remind me I needed a hat, and Ethan hadn’t thought of it.
Maybe if I was going to add some clothes to my wardrobe, I could get my own hat, too. Something that didn’t say Swinging D on it.
Something I could leave here for when I came to visit.
Because, really, I should have been visiting more often. It was something I would change moving forward.
“Last one just gave birth,” Carter announced. “Sorry, you missed it.”
