25. Montana
Montana
I don’t know what came over me that first morning after the bonding, but I became fixated on the idea of a little “date” time for me and Piper after the intensity of the pack bonding session.
She had giddily accepted, agreeing that we would coordinate our schedules with the others so I could take her for a ride and a picnic lunch out on the range while Clay and the others watched Maisie.
Bright and early, I packed up my saddlebags with treats and a nice big blanket, making sure to spend plenty of time with Maisie as I drank my morning coffee and waited for Piper to get ready.
After two pop-up books, several rousing nursery rhymes—thanks to Zeke’s habit of bursting into song—and one plastic tea set tea party later, Clayton emerged from upstairs, hair oiled, teeth brushed, and buttoned into a fresh shirt and jeans.
“C’mon Maisie girl, go get your shoes and your hat, baby.” Clayton gave her curls a pat, sending her rushing off to get herself ready.
“Papa Kota and Daddy Clay said that we’re going to go to the feed store, and Daddy Zeke promised that I could look at the baby ducks,” Maisie announced matter-of-factly as she pulled her little pink velcro sneakers from their place by the door.
“Oh, did he now?” I gave Zeke a warning glare while Maisie fixated on pressing the velcro strips down securely on her shoes. We did not need to add ducks to the list of ranch expenses—even if Maisie had been asking about getting ducks for months.
“What? I only said that we’d look .” Zeke pursed his lips innocently, not fooling anyone.
“Make sure you only look .” I wagged my finger at him. “Or things will be de- duck -ted from your salary to cover the expenses.” I chose my words carefully so that I could make an impression on Zeke without giving the game away to Maisie.
“Daddy Clay!” Maisie called out, her feet thumping against the hardwood floor as she ran for Clayton, undoubtedly looking to plead the case for her ducks.
“Seriously, though.” I winced a little, able to speak more freely to Zeke for the moment. “Make sure y’all are spending as conservatively as possible—things are always tight, but in the next few months, we might be looking at spending quite a bit of cash in legal fees, so...” I trailed off.
Before Zeke could protest, Piper appeared at the head of the stairs, her auburn hair tied in a long braid down her back, wearing a pair of high-waisted jeans, a gray tank top, and one of my old hunter green flannels layered over.
She had a navy blue and white bandana tied over her neck to hide Clay’s bite, just in case we should run into anyone from town on our ride.
We weren’t quite ready for the small-town grapevine to spread our news just yet.
“Why in the world did we agree to leave you alone with this beautiful woman for even a second?” Zeke said dramatically as he took in her naturally gorgeous state.
“Just don’t forget which of us is better looking.” Dakota winked at Piper, darting in to steal a kiss before taking off down the hall toward Clay and Maisie.
“See you later, Pipes, be good, Montana.” Zeke pointed at me accusingly until Piper slapped him on the ass, where her bite was still healing. “Yowza!” he barked, a satisfied grin spreading across his face as he blew Piper a kiss and made his exit.
Piper was initially scared of Duke, the imposing silvery gray draft horse—who would serve as our ride for the outing—but after a few moments of patting his velvety nose and running her hands over his smooth, warm flanks, she was ready to get up into the saddle.
We rode together into the Blackbird Mountain Valley, rolling green grass shimmering in the wind like swells on the sea, dusty red mountains on the horizon, and a blue sky strewn with puffy white clouds. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful, magical day.
In the lowest part of the valley, we set up a blanket for lunch, giving Duke a feed bag of oats while we sat down to enjoy our meal.
Piper tipped back the brim of the straw hat she’d borrowed from Emmy, the sun playing in little pinpricks of golden light across her face as she took a big bite out of a shiny red apple.
“Sheesh,” she crowed happily, shaking her head in bewilderment. “It is unbelievably beautiful out here.”
I wanted to tell her that she was beautiful out here, but it felt corny—or like I was trying too hard—so I just smiled and kept my mouth shut.
Something about being out there with her, under the blue sky in the sunshine, was just restful. For the first time in… I couldn’t remember when, I actually felt at peace. Like I could relax.
As the golden sun crossed the sky, Piper and I lay on our backs on the blanket, looking up at the clouds while they passed.
“That one looks like a bunny,” she giggled, pointing at a cloud that appeared to have two upright ears and a cotton tail.
“That one looks like one of the ducks Maisie wants so bad.” I chuckled, pointing up at a beaked tuft of clouds.
“That one looks like… a cloud,” Piper offered in a serious tone before the both of us dissolved into unhinged laughter.
There was a long moment after we caught our breaths from laughing so hard, then it was Piper who broke the silence, her tone decidedly sober.
“When I was younger, I used to think I was cut out for the city—people everywhere all the time,” she sighed sadly, a smile on her lips that didn’t quite extend to her eyes.
“I figured that way I would never be lonely.” Her voice broke slightly, but she continued.
“Turns out, I ended up feeling very lonely, even when I was surrounded by people.”
“What about now?” I couldn’t help myself—I had to ask as I closed my hand over hers in the space between our bodies.
“Somehow, out here in the wide open quiet, with you and the rest of our pack,” She murmured, the fingers on her free hand moving gingerly to my bite mark-- “I feel more complete than I’ve ever felt.”
“Well, it’s hardly so poetic as all of that, but I do have a little somethin’ I’ve been wanting to give you,” I confessed before I sat up to rifle through the bottom of the saddlebag for the cowgirl figurine.
“It isn’t much,” I began sheepishly as a blush rose hot in my cheeks while Piper turned the little redheaded cowgirl over in her hands ever so carefully “but she sorta reminded me of you.”
To my surprise, the gentle pressure of Piper’s index finger on one of the cowgirl’s silver spurs produced the gentle tinkle of music box teeth plinking against a cylinder of raised notes.
One of the wooden tufts of grass by the cowgirl’s feet began to rotate slowly, revealing it as the winding mechanism for the secret music box—a jaunty if not slightly tinny arrangement of You Are My Sunshine began to play.
If that was not a damn sign, I didn’t know what was.
“Oh, Montana… this is lovely!” she whispered.
I gathered Piper into my arms and kissed her.
After lunch, we packed up our blanket and rode all the way up to the ridge before Piper started looking a little green around the gills.
“What’s the matter, sunshine?” I asked her, patting her hands atop the saddle horn comfortingly.
“I’m not feeling too hot all of a sudden.” She swooned, leaning back against my chest. “I’ve felt a little crummy on and off—probably just the bond settling in,” she laughed nervously, dabbing at her damp brow with the sleeve of her flannel.
“I know you haven’t been sleeping all that great.” I dropped my face beside hers to peck a kiss onto her cheek.
“Yeah, I can’t wait till we have a proper pack bedroom. I think I’ll start sleeping better when we’re all sharing a bed,” she admitted, relaxing in my arms as we rode tandem.
“Do you want to head back to the ranch and rest?” I offered, suddenly worried about Piper’s well-being.
“But I’ve been having such a good time,” she protested, though I could tell she was pushing her luck if she didn’t take care of herself soon.
“There’ll be plenty of time for us to ride together later,” I assured her. “If we get back in time, maybe you and Maisie can both go down for a nap together.”
Piper laughed. “Better get a move on, then, Monty,” she giggled. “My bed’s a-callin’!”