CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
-:- CORK -:-
Finishing our breakfast, I take all three plates, rinse them and pop them into the dishwasher.
After the near miss Dallas had with the assholes, Colt has taken to getting up earlier than ever and doing a round of the house and outbuildings, plus the nearby woods.
Once he’s happy that we have no unwanted visitors, he lets himself in and puts the coffee machine on.
Colt is very taken with the coffee machine, and I’m going to get him one the next time I’m in town.
He still makes coffee with a kettle and a coffee pot at his home, but I know he likes the quickness of a machine these days.
Besides which, with the machine every mug is drinkable.
Some of the coffee Colt makes is so strong it could beat the hell out of a double espresso and steal its lunch money!
Seeing the look of contentment on Dallas’ face, I have to chuckle. “You’re eating enough for triplets, you know that, don’t you?”
“The hospital is convinced there’s only one, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they lined up in there to fool the scans.
Give it another hour, and I’ll want all that food again.
He, or they, is a ravenous monster, that I do know.
” Dallas will snack before the hour is up.
That baby must be consuming some calories because so far, other than her baby bump, she doesn’t appear to have put any weight on anywhere else.
“Maybe we should dump a bale of hay by the door for you. That will tide you over 'til lunch.” Colt grins at Dallas and I don’t think she realizes that despite her parents being here, Colt has adopted her as his own.
We’re only a couple of months into our new partnership, but we’re building the herd up rapidly.
I suspect, I’ll rephrase that, I know that Colt has been buying some darn fine stock out of his own pocket.
He tried telling me they were wild mustangs that he’d had corralled at the far side of the ranch.
If they were, they were the most mild-mannered mustangs in the world.
They didn’t balk at humans and stood remarkably still when saddled.
I wasn’t surprised that a few of the brothers had been coming over on the weekends, even crashing in the bunkhouse overnight.
The place lends itself to a calm body and mind.
I was surprised when Fist and Roadrunner claimed two of the bunks and staked them out with their own gear.
They are here most weekends, and if we had women working on the ranch, I would have been less surprised.
Fist has taken to the horses as though it were in his blood.
There’s a particularly large gelding that has taken to him too.
It waits for him by the fence every Saturday morning.
I swear that horse can hear his hog from more than a mile away.
His ears start to twitch, and then he snorts some.
He trots around like he’s the king of the patch and then waits by the fence.
When he sees Fist on his hog, he starts blowing and nodding his head.
Fist sure don’t need a dog for a pet. I think we should make a gift of the gelding to Fist, because he’s never going to belong to anyone else.
When the business needs more hands, I might even offer the pair of them a job. Who knows!
Talking of more hands, Ava was over the moon when I asked her to step up as manager for the wine shop.
When I explained that she could move into the apartment rent free as part of her promotion package, she was even happier.
She’ll need to employ another member of staff, but she’s capable of choosing the right person.
I’m going to stay on the books as a consultant and relief manager for the time being, but we’ll see how everything works out before I step away from what is essentially my baby.
I’d like to keep a part of me in the business, somehow.
Wiping down the counters, I can feel Colt and Dallas’ eyes on my back. “Cut it out you two. I haven’t grown a vagina I’m just looking out for my woman.” Turning to give them a death glare, I can’t help but laugh as they both start meowing at me. “I’m not a pussy either. Screw you both!”
“Hell, no,” Colt giggles. “I’ve seen what happens to a body that you screw.” He points at Dallas’ belly, and this has me resting my hand on it.
“You won’t feel anything yet, I hope,” Dallas says, placing her hand over mine.
Standing and leaning over Dallas, Colt gets his peck on the cheek and then points out the door.
His way of telling me we’re now on the clock.
Giving Dallas a chaste kiss on the lips, she grabs the back of my head and forces her tongue into my mouth.
Only when she needs to breathe does she let me go.
“That’s more like it,” she states. “I may be pregnant, but that doesn’t make me a nun, you know.”
“I swear you’re hornier now than before you were pregnant. It must be all those hormones zooming around inside you trying to find someplace to escape.” I grin, and she knows that I’m not complaining. “I’ll see you later, Hun.”
“I think you’re in danger of sounding more like a cowboy than a biker, Kemosabe.” She laughs, and her eyes sparkle.
“I’ll be anything you need me to be, Walks Far Woman.”
“For fuck's sake. You know she killed her husband, right? You could at least make me Pocahontas or maybe Calamity Jane like you have before. Now, get out there and get some work done to put food on my plate.”
Grabbing my hat from the peg by the door, I stop and look at it thoughtfully.
I have my own Stetson for working in. Three months ago, my work hat would have been my crash helmet.
She could be right. I could be in danger of becoming a cowboy first, then a biker.
Stepping out the door, I look to the barn and think of the ATV I’ll be riding.
Nah, I don’t see horsepower taking over my love of the internal combustion engine.
Checking the ATV is good to go, oil, tires, fuel, etc.
, I mount up and head sedately to the stables.
Most of the horses are okay with the ATV now, but a couple remain nervous, and there’s no need to dash around the yard spooking them.
As I wait outside the stables, I have to laugh as I hear Colt cussing his old hoss and turning the air blue.
When they come out of the stable, I raise my eyebrows when I notice Colt limping.
“Goddamn horse stood on my foot and wouldn’t get off.
He’s lucky we don’t have a glue factory no more.
He don’t make an iota of fuss when Dallas is around.
He’s a different animal altogether when she’s near him.
Goddamn animal.” Old hoss must understand that term by now because he grabs Colt’s hat from his head, drops it on the ground and stomps on it with his foot.
Grabbing his hat from the ground, Colt slams it on his head, turns around and leads the horse back inside, muttering all the way. When he reappears he says he’ll take the damn Honda today and with that, old hoss appears behind him.
“You didn’t lock him in his stall.”
“Oh yes I did. He knows how to unlock it and walk out any time he wants to. Alright, let’s go check on the herd. Wanna call at the twins' place on the way?” Colt asks seriously.
I don’t know how or why it started, but Colt insists on calling Dallas’ parents the twins. They are of similar height and age, but that’s about it. I can’t guess where he got that from, and I only asked him once. He looked at me as if I were an idiot, so I never asked again.
“No, they’re probably already on their way to the house.
Mom can’t leave Dallas alone since she heard about the pregnancy.
Dallas takes a morning and afternoon nap just to get some alone time.
I think her mom is smothering her, and Dallas doesn’t know how to tell her to back off.
I sure as hell ain’t getting involved in that shit.
” I shake my head and start the ATV as Colt mounts old hoss.
“You’re getting to sound more like a cowboy than a biker every day. You know that, huh?” Colt grins at me.
“Fuck off! At least my transport don’t bully me and stomp on my hat!”
When we arrive at the herd, I scowl at Colt. “I see you’ve been busy ‘rounding up’ some more mustangs? I know there has to be another entrance to the ranch. You aren’t sneaking this many horses past the ranch house. Not even in the dark, you ain’t.”
“Oh, I ain’t, ain’t I?” Laughing, he points to an enormous white stallion. “He needs to come out of this herd and have his own. He’s a good-lookin’ fella, but he’ll breed foals too large and feisty for cutting horses. That boy will breed speed and stamina for sure.”
We spend a good hour looking over the herd and all the new mustangs that have mysteriously found their way here. Deciding that we’ll separate the white stallion tomorrow, when I can come out on a horse rather than the ATV, we head back for lunch.
After Colt has had his fight with old hoss to get him unsaddled and in his stall, we head into the kitchen via the back door.
As we enter, we hear a squeal and throwing the door open in a rush to help, we see the twins frolicking around the kitchen table.
Before I can get Colt quietly back out the door, he shouts, “Yeehaw! Ride her cowboy!”
Colt laughs. I hope for the floor to open up and swallow me whole. Dad grins and just shouts, ‘Howdy boys!’ Mom pulls her skirt down and fluffs at her hair, all innocent-like. The effect for Mom is spoiled somewhat by the fact that her panties are still visible below her knees.
We are all saved further embarrassment when Dallas appears from the direction of the stairs, where she is returning from her morning nap.
“Mom, pull your panties up. Daddy, you need to catch her quicker and quieter.” Smiling sweetly at us all, she takes a seat at the table. “What’s for lunch, guys? I’m famished.”
With lunch out of the way, I send the parents home to get their hormones under control.
Mom blames Dad and the fresh air out here.
Dad blames it on Mom getting in shape with all the walks and horse rides.
I’m in no way attracted to my mother-in-law, but Dad has a point.
She has lost a few pounds and firmed up in places since she got here.
I can see that would reignite a flame in him.
Telling Dallas about my day, or I should say morning, she is thrilled by the talk of the white stallion.
This leads to ideas for watching horse movies in the evening.
My suggestions are Black Beauty or War Horse.
They are the only two movies I can think of that are ‘horsey’.
Only when Dallas shows her knowledge of ‘horses in Hollywood’ do I realize how many there are out there.
The Horse Whisperer, Seabiscuit, Hidalgo, Secretariat to name a few. Champion and Flicka, how did I not remember them? Golden oldies. Touching Wild Horses, which is one of her favorites. I guess there are enough to keep us busy for a good few nights.
That evening as I enjoy my Irish coffee, and Dallas has a hot chocolate with marshmallows, we sit back and start our marathon of horse movies with Secretariat.
We are so engrossed in the movie that when Dallas rests her warm mug on her belly, it shocks the hell out of us when it jumps enough to slop over the top.
Oh, my God. Our baby's first kick!
“I can’t wait to meet you baby. No matter what you are your daddy is going to love you.
” I kiss Dallas’ tummy and can’t help but think how much things have changed in such a relatively short space of time.
Who would have thought I would be married and have a baby on the way as young as I am?
I don’t know, don’t care, and can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with Dallas.