27. CT
27
ct
The boys and I whistle and holler at the cattle, pushing them with our horses in the early morning heat. Logan, Stetson, and I have been out here since dawn, and I have to admit it is nice to have the help.
The sun is beating down on us already, and I am looking forward to the coming months as fall turns to winter. Then again, I will have to deal with the snow that will pile up, and I am not looking forward to that.
It is a bittersweet wish, to be sure.
I think back to last night after Graham left, and Dani and I were alone in the barn. She’d sat on my lap, and we talked for over an hour about the future, about life in general, about our hopes and dreams, and then I kissed the hell out of her for the rest of the night until she needed to get home.
Her mornings at the bakery were even earlier than mine here on the ranch.
I was hoping we could talk about opening some sort of part-time equine therapy thing for her at the ranch. We have the space, and I bet I could dive into some savings for equipment.
I’ll have to talk to Dad and Graham about it, but I doubt they would disagree.
We live in an area where people struggle, we have handicapped children at the local schools who don’t have as many outlets as some of the other kids, and I could see it being an excellent after-school thing if we could figure out all the funding.
Maybe a grant or something.
“Hey, heads up!” Logan hollers to me, and I refocus on the few cows that are trying to get past me.
We were moving them to a lower pasture that has more shade, letting this pasture return to its green state, and then they’d likely either come back up here or go to another, depending on how fast they mowed down the one we were moving them to.
“Hey, so I have a question.” Stetson moves in next to me, acting casual as we push the cattle down a narrow hill. They won’t run off to the sides as much here because they feel boxed in.
“What’s that?” I prompt, knowing that the question Stetson has is probably not as serious as he makes it out to be. As is his way.
“Are you boning my cousin?” he blurts out, a cheeky grin on his face. When he sees my expression, he hoots. “Oh shit! You are! Hey, Lo! CT’s boning Dani!”
I reach over, grateful he’s close enough and sock him in the shoulder.
“Ow!”
“Shut the fuck up about your cousin.” They may be family, but I wasn’t thrilled with him talking about her like that.
I should tell him what happened to the last guy who fucked around with her.
“Fine, fine.” He raises a hand in a defensive gesture. “But seriously,” I glare at him, and he gives me an imploring look. “Seriously! Are you and Dani back together?”
I humph at him and guide my horse a little to the right, cutting off a cow. “Yes. We are.”
It feels good to admit it. I was a little worried that when we got home, she’d pull back again, make me work for it—which I was willing to do.
But Dani is levelheaded. She has a grip on her emotions—better than I do—and she, like me, didn’t want to play any games .
We just wanted to be together.
“Whoo!” Stetson hollers, and I grin. His excitement reminds me how young he still is. Stetson’s always been the baby of that family, and he acts it. It’s what makes him likable. “That makes me happy, man.” He claps me on the shoulder when I’m close enough, hard enough that it spooks the two-year-old gelding he’s on, and the little bugger starts to buck. Stetson moves into control mode, and I laugh, watching.
Once he’s got him under control, I shake my head and keep pushing the cattle.
I’m surprised to find a car waiting for me when we get to the ranch, I don’t recognize it, so I keep my guard up as I dismount my horse outside the barn doors.
When I walk inside, I see a man standing there, looking around at the horses.
“Can I help you?” I ask, walking in with my horse behind me.
“Yes, hey.” He reaches out his hand and shakes mine. “I’m Travis. You’re CT, right?”
I keep my expression neutral. This guy looks like a city man, and I’m not sure what the hell he’s doing here.
“That’s me. ”
“Great, yeah, I’ve been interested in learning about cow horse, and I saw you at the show.” He rubs his neck sheepishly. “My girlfriend is into it, and I’d like to learn.”
“Oh, got it,” I say, surprised. I was almost certain this guy was going to serve me some papers. “So, you’re interested in lessons, then?”
“If you’ve got openings, yeah.” He’s got enthusiasm, to be sure. His expression gives away how eager he is, which isn’t a bad thing.
I nod. “I’ve got openings.”
His being here is a good sign. He admits to having seen me at the show and grabbing my card off the table where the show admins have all the trainers’ information. It’s a good sign that he’s here. It means I made a good impression there.
It would also mean an adult lesson client, which, I have to admit, would be nice.
We walk to the tack room after I tie up my horse, and Travis rattles on and on, talking my ear off. I find myself enjoying talking to him about the different aspects, figuring out what level he’s at—very beginner, it seems—and talking about times to set up a lesson.
I suppose I can use General. Then I think maybe Sadie would like to become a beginner lesson horse .
She’s older now, too old to show, and I bet she’s bored without the work. The thought makes me happy for her, happy that I’ll be able to use the mare my mom got for me for something good.
“I’ve got a little boy too. I think he’d love to do something with horses.”
Two clients in one, that’s a great start.
“Bring him by when you come next week, and I’ll introduce him around. We can take it slow.”
“Man, thanks so much.” He rubs the back of his neck, his gesture clearly stemming from embarrassment, and I wait patiently.
“I, uh, I haven’t been dating my girl very long, but I really want to be able to do this with her.” He shrugs, clearly thinking about his girl. He’s young to be a single dad, but I’m not about to ask him why he is one. “I think she could be the one, and I wanted to kind of surprise her with it.”
I nod and smile at him. “Well, I’m happy to help out.”
I realize as I say the words that I mean it. It’s been a long-ass time since I’ve had clients of my own or taught anyone anything—aside from helping Dani out—and it feels good.
Really good .
“I was gonna go to her trainer, but he’s booked and way too far. She goes an hour down the mountain to get to him and is already an hour from us.”
I frown slightly, something telling me I already know the answer to his question. “Who’s her trainer?”
“Tommy Smith.” He nods, giving a small smile. “I wasn’t really interested in learning from the guy anyway. He can come off as…”
I pause for a moment, wondering why, all of a sudden, some guy who knows Tommy has shown up here. I have to keep an eye on our interactions, he could be here genuinely, or he could be here to start shit. I nod when he trails off. “Yeah, we know Tommy.”
He nods again. “So you get it.”
“Yeah, man, well…” I gesture to the barn. “You’re in expert hands here. We’ll get a handle on where you’re at and go from there.”
He shakes my hand, thanking me.
One of the local kids, Jake, comes rushing into the barn ready for his lesson, and I say goodbye to Travis as Jake gets his horse ready to ride. It’s a good afternoon, full of people who are genuinely happy to be here, and I couldn’t ask for better.