Chapter 11 – Tag
ELEVEN
TAG
I left the barn in a piss all mood. Fucking Donald was drunk again.
Seasonally, we picked up a lot of extra laborers and Donald knew his shit. But knowing your shit when you were drunk before noon didn’t do me any good. I had to fire him, watch him get his gear out of the bunkhouse, and then go back and do his job for him.
The good news was, calving season was coming to an end.
We had a few hundred late cows who would give birth any minute, but the rest of the herd had yielded a high, successful birthrate.
And given that we moved part of the herd to be solely grass fed, those late births would work in our favor as we could begin to advertise a boutique line of grass-fed beef.
I would be happy to let the extra staff go and all the headaches that came with them, and just focus on the day-to-day operations of the ranch.
The paddock door closed behind two cows and their calves who needed to be watched because they weren’t latching on properly, and I glanced up just as Sunshine and the boys, which sounded like a retro hippy band, broke through the tree line into the east meadow.
From this distance, Sunshine looked like she was still sitting loose and happy in the saddle, so that was good news.
Must be all those core exercises she was so fond of.
My mind went back to the spa day in New York and I had to work to push the taste of her skin out of my head. The sight of her nipples, the sound of her low moan of need. I didn’t need to be greeting Sunshine with a hard on in front of her brothers.
Shit. If the McGraw boys had an inkling about the things running through my mind when it came to Sunshine, I’d hear about it.
I took my time making my way to the south gate to let them back in. Didn’t want to seem too eager.
The sound of their voices drifted over the wind and Ethan laughed, something he’d been doing a lot of since he and Harmony got married. In response to whatever was so funny, Sunshine smiled. Really smiled.
Unguarded. Warm. She fucking killed me when I could see the happiness shining from the inside out. This woman was miles away from the rigid woman I’d met in a New York City conference room. Tense and reserved. Guarded.
Ethan and Carter were saying something that had her laughing, and it hit me in the chest that she could be happy here. Just because she’d had a hard time growing up, didn’t mean that this place wasn’t her home and couldn’t be again.
But better.
“I’m not telling you where I keep my bras,” she told Carter.
“But we have to freeze them,” Ethan explained. “Basic sister pranks 101. ”
“For a girl with her first bra. You’re not taking my La Perla and putting it in the freezer.”
“Are there any boys you like that we could embarrass you in front of?” Carter asked her.
“Yes, I’ll write up a list for you,” she said, dryly.
“We need to get the guys home,” Ethan said. “Eli is always super creative when it comes to this shit. Remember how bad he pranked Seth that Christmas?”
“What did he do?” Sunshine asked.
“It involved cow shit, toothpaste and a homemade catapult.”
“You’re making that up,” she said.
“Seth wishes it was made up, he flinched for years every time he saw Eli.”
“They treating you right, Sunshine?” I called out to her, wanting to be a part of what was making her smile. “Do I need to step in and put them in their place?”
“Apparently, now that they’re my brothers, they have to tease me,” she explained, and gently pulled up on the reins.
Shirley, like a good girl, came to a halt and shook out her mane, looking for love.
Sunshine patted her neck, scratched her behind the ears.
“They’ve been threatening me with pranks the whole ride back. ”
“Black snake under the bedsheets should do the trick,” I offered. A classic for a reason.
She glared at me and then at Carter and Ethan. “A snake makes its way into my bed and I’m taking the next jet back to New York.”
“Noted,” Carter said. “But they are harmless.”
“How do I get off Shirley?” she asked.
“See?” Carter said to me, as he dismounted. “You should have let her get up on her own. Now she doesn’t know how to get off.”
“Come here, darlin,” I said, and reached my arms up to her. “Just fall into me and I’ll catch you.”
“Sounds a lot like one of their pranks,” she insisted, jerking her thumb back at her brothers.
“It’s not. I swear. Take your feet out of the stirrups and just pretend like you’re falling.”
I expected a bit more of a fight, but not a second after I gave her the instruction, she was falling into my arms. I caught her, snugly up against my chest, as I pulled her off Shirley.
She glanced up at me, the Swinging D ball cap perched on her head, some stray hair blowing around it, and those deep bourbon eyes cut right through me.
Damn, this girl had grown up.
She turned me on in her fancy business suits and she turned me on dressed up like a cowgirl. Her brain turned me on. Her smile turned me on.
Fuck. I think I’m in trouble.
“Thanks,” she whispered, her long lashes sweeping down over her eyes.
“My pleasure,” I said, my voice rumbling through my chest. Pink climbed her cheeks and I thought about pleasuring her.
Carter cleared his throat and I caught his eye. Slowly, he arched one eyebrow, and Ethan, beside him, crossed his arms and stared at me. The message was very clear. No touching our sister.
Yeah, that’s what I thought. They weren’t going to be real pleased with my dirty mind when it came to their new half-sister. Things were seriously complicated enough. I took a step back and forced myself to drop my arms from her waist.
“I need a ride home,” she told me. “It was nice being a McGraw for a day, but confrontation with my mother awaits.”
I nodded and turned to Carter. “Had to fire Donald.”
“Fuck,” he cursed. “Drunk?”
“As a skunk. And sloppy. I finished out his work for today, but I need to keep an eye on the south pasture. We’re expecting those calves any week now.”
“Got it,” Carter said. “I’ve got parent-teacher shit today. Apparently, all three of my kids aren’t behaving in class.
“You don’t say,” Ethan drawled, under his breath.
“Zoey is only in kindergarten and she keeps taking some kid’s blanket during quiet time. The teacher put her on the other side of the room and she sneaks over when the teacher isn’t looking and takes the kid’s blanket. Like…who does that?”
It sounded pretty on par for Zoey. The girl was a menace. A sweetheart, but a menace. All of them were, to be honest. Carter had his hands full.
Mrs. Walker and Mac did a lot of the babysitting. But Mrs. Walker was starting to hint at retirement and Mac was as much a menace as those kids were.
“Anyway,” Carter finished. “I’ll head back out as soon as I can.”
“Oh, Carter,” Sunshine said. “If you’re heading into town, can you drive me back to my house?”
The Calloway house was very literally on the way. But I wasn’t ready to see her go yet.
“Nope. Carter is probably already late,” I said. Predictably, Carter looked down at his watch and swore. “Besides, I want you to tell me what this big idea is to save the ranch.”
“No. You don’t,” Ethan said. “Because we’re not doing it. ”
“We’re definitely not doing what she suggested,” Carter said, removing the saddle from Gus. “It’s insane.”
I studied Sunny’s face, which seemed unperturbed.
“What is it?” I asked her, even more curious.
“I’ll tell you in the car,” she told me, with a small smile. “You’re going to love it.”
“No way,” I said, as soon as she got the world crypto out.
We were in my truck, headed towards the Calloway place.
“Yes, way,” she said. She had the window rolled down and her hand out in the breeze. She still wore the hat and looked like every country song I ever loved.
But she was nuts to think the solution to our problems was some made up fake money bullshit.
“It’s never going to happen. Crypto isn’t real. Everyone knows that.”
“Oh, crypto is definitely real. It’s just…tricky unless you know what you’re doing. Which I do,” she said. “Turn right up here.”
“Sunshine,” I growled. “I know the way to your home.”
“Right,” she said. “Force of habit.”
“Telling people what to do?” I asked, with a smile.
“No, thinking…” she shook her head. “That I am invisible in this town, you know?”
I snorted. “The Calloway Sisters are far from invisible.”
“Did you…” she stopped. Bit her lip.
“Did I what?”
“Ever date one of my sisters? I mean, it’s a small town and they’re beautiful. I imagine Harmony would have told me if she’d ever dated you, but Amity and Bliss and I are practically strangers.”
I immediately pulled the truck over to the side of the road and turned to look at her.
“You seriously think I would have dated one of your sisters, then messed around with you without telling you first?”
She squirmed and wouldn’t look me in the eye. “You said it yourself. It’s a small town. It’s not like there are a whole lot of options for…female companionship.”
“Female companionship?” I squawked. “You think I fuck prostitutes?”
“No. Wait. Are you calling my sisters prostitutes?” she shrieked.
“No,” I shouted back. “Of course not. I also never fucked them. I don’t just fuck women for the sake of fucking.”
“I know that! You dated Jenny Masters for two solid years back in high school.”
I smiled fondly, remembering my old girlfriend who’d moved to California to raise bees and babies. “I liked Jenny. And I did fuck her. A lot. But I have had relationships since then.”
“See? It’s not out of the blue that I would think you’d date one of my sisters.”
“No. It’s out of the blue that you think I wouldn’t tell you. I know it would make you uncomfortable and you’d deserve to know.”
The wind went out of her sails and it was a pleasure to see.
“That’s…nice, I guess.”
“I’m a nice guy. ”
“You are,” she laughed. “How come you’re not married?”
I put the car in drive and pulled off the side of the road. “Not interested.”