20. MATTHEW
Chapter twenty
MATTHEW
FINDING A FLOW
It’s hard not to spend every day all day at the ranch with Atlas.
But I have a job to do, and after the fire at the Diamond Ranch, Connor has me drafting new, improved action plans for every site under the Richmont Group.
I’ve spent every morning this week at the office, researching where we can leverage nearby operations as we did with the drones, and drafting proposals to set up independent operations that could service several of our properties and technically others in the same area should something like that happen again.
And let’s be honest, it’s not impossible with the dry heat summer brings to see more than a couple of fires take hold.
While the setup and maintenance costs to establish his own operation with drone support will cost a ridiculous amount of money, it could also save people, families, livestock, and the land they call home, and I have no doubt that Connor will want to go ahead with it.
Getting the board to agree to back the idea might be another story.
While Connor has a controlling interest, he still needs the board to vote when the expenditure has the potential to dip into the company’s profits, and this one will dip big.
But it’s also a huge tax break too, given its use, and I’ve linked in a bunch of government environmental and industry protection grants that could help offset some of the initial cost. That is, if they’re willing to agree that where the country’s interests are at stake, the facilities can be requested to assist in other impacted areas outside of the Richmont Group’s land holdings.
I’ve made a case for and against and included it in the proposal so that Connor has all the information, and I’m just doing a final read-through before sending it on to the board and printing a copy for Connor to review.
He doesn’t particularly like reading stuff on the computer, and at least with a printed copy, I can digitally highlight particular areas I know he will care about so he doesn’t miss them.
While it’s printing, I jog upstairs to my small apartment and change for the ranch.
It’s funny that I still feel the need to get dressed in my suit to work downstairs, like someone walking past might look in and see me at the desk in anything but a dress shirt and that would be the end of the world.
I throw on a green plaid shirt that I ordered online.
It’s made of a light bamboo fabric that breathes a little more than the thicker shirts, and given that the days are growing warmer, it’s good to prepare.
I pull on the brown suede jacket I picked up at the boutique down from my office.
It used to belong to one of the farmers who lived out here years ago.
They stock heaps of stuff donated and picked up from estate sales.
I got a second pair of boots from them too, which are way more comfortable than the new ones I bought.
The leather is perfectly soft from years of wear, and somehow the inner sole fits snug, like they were made for me.
I quickly add the tabs where I need them in the papers, then I pick up my new cowboy hat from the old stand by the main doors and make my way over to Beaker Brothers.
The whole way there, my heart is picking up its pace in anticipation of seeing Atlas again.
I know I’ve seen him every day, and I don’t mean naked, though I’ve seen a good amount of that too this week.
But it’s just being around him that I think I love most. I thought this life would feel slow, and I’d miss the city noise, lights, and activity, but the ranch has its own forms of all three.
“I think Loki spotted you,” Atlas says as I walk past the stables on my way to see Connor to drop off the papers.
“What makes you say that?” I ask, then I hear the neigh. “Tell him I’ll be right over,” I say, and Atlas shakes his head.
“Still deaf,” he laughs and turns away before I can argue that it shouldn’t stop him from delivering my message. I pick up my pace and jog the rest of the way to the cuddle cove.
“Here’s the proposal you wanted. I’ve highlighted the important parts and added section tabs to make it easier to see where one ends and another begins.
There are three big ones, huge, like crazy expensive, but you’ll see them, and you’ll see why they’re expensive.
Oh, and you can maybe get RedTech involved in a joint thing if you want too,” I finish with a gasp.
“Wow, okay, take a breath, man, where’s the fire?”
“No fire, not yet, but you set these up, and we’ll be ready if there is. Floods too. And I included tornadoes but wasn’t sure about some of the info I found for those. I’ll keep looking into that part.”
“Don’t want the cows to go the way of Dorothy, do we?” he chuckles and takes the stack from me, setting it down on an old wine barrel table and putting an old metal bucket that’s being used to hold cow brushes on top to keep the pages from blowing away.
“I’ll check it out later and let you know if I have any questions. Did you inform the board?”
“Yes. I sent them the same pack before coming here.”
“Good. Let me know if you hear anything from them.”
“Will do. Was there anything else you needed?” I ask, bouncing a little on my toes as I look over my shoulder toward the horse stables.
Connor laughs.
“You can go play with Atlas now,” he says, and my cheeks instantly burn.
“I’m not…”
“You’re going to take a few horses up the trail today, right?” he asks and I realize he means horse play not play play, though I guess you could call that horse play too.
“Yeah, we haven’t been able to for the last few days. They needed reshoeing, and Atlas was busy teaching Skye how to file the wild ones’ hooves.”
“How did the kid do?”
“Pretty good. He got one horse to stay still long enough to get them done. Atlas says they’ll get used to him helping them out and will start lining up for their turn.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Well, if you need anything, just give me a ring.
I’ll have my phone on silent, but it will vibrate. Or send a text. Text is good too.”
“Have fun,” he calls after me as I jog back to the stables, to Loki, and to Atlas.
When I get there, I find Atlas standing with Loki at the back of the stables where they open to the horse paddocks, brushing his mane and talking to him. I have to laugh.
“So you do talk to deaf horses, then?” I say, taking off my hat and hanging it on the hooks by the door.
Atlas turns and smiles that big, wide grin that he does whenever he sees me now.
I have to say I much prefer it to the frown he used to get when I walked into a room.
Before he knew the real me, he thought I was just a suit pretending to want to be here.
“I’ve always talked to him, I just like giving you a hard time about it,” he laughs, and I nudge him in the side. Loki stomps excitedly, and Atlas drops the brush.
“Settle down,” he tells him, and I laugh.
“I know, I know. Deaf horse,” he chuckles.
“He’s just excited to see me. Can you blame him?” I ask.
“He’s not the only one,” he says, wrapping one arm over my shoulder and pulling me to him, before kissing the top of my head. Loki stomps again.
“I know, I know, you want to show him, don’t you?” I say, and I slip free from Atlas’s hold and climb through the railing surrounding the horse paddocks.
“Are you sure about this?” Atlas asks, but I don’t reply.
I’ve told him twenty or more times since I first mentioned my work with Loki that he’s ready for a saddle, and now that we actually have time to take him for a ride through the new trail, I don’t want his nervousness about it to spook him or me.
“Just like we practiced,” I tell Loki as I grab the saddle from the railing.
Atlas’s horse Thor is already saddled and waiting, tied to the railing a few feet down, happily eating some fresh grass.
I chuckle as I realize we’re taking Loki and Thor out together, but then I refocus on what I’m doing, because if I mess this up, Loki will have to stay here, and I really want to take him out.
The saddle is heavy, and I make a grunting humph noise when I heave it up onto Loki’s back, but just like the last few times we’ve practiced, he stands tall, proud at his accomplishment.
“That’s a good boy,” I say as I move to fix it in place. I’m careful to do it in the exact same order as the times before, the way he remembers it, to ease any nerves he might have, but I get it all on and set up faster than ever and turn to Atlas.
“See, perfect, right? He’s ready.”
Atlas folds his arms over his chest with a sort of half smile on his lips.
“You still have to get on him and stay on him while traveling him through a new trail.”
“It’s not totally new to him, though,” I say, and Atlas frowns.
“What do you mean?”
“We sort of took a small walk the day before yesterday.”
“You and Loki?”
“And Gramps,” I say, and the stern look on his face softens.
“I swear you can take the cowboy out of the ranch, but it’s never really out of their heart.”
“He wanted to see it, you know, now that it’s done.
And Dean told him you wanted to go through first to check it out, but then he saw me practicing walking Loki on a lead rope, and given Loki likes Gramps, and you know, didn’t play dead, or even stir at the sight of him when he asked us to join him for a walk, I figured, why not.
I swear, at first, I had no idea that he meant along the trail. ”
Atlas leaps over the rail like it’s nothing and strides over all sexy like.
“It’s okay. I honestly don’t mind. Gramps has a way of getting what he wants, so when he heard I was caught up with shoeing the horses, I figured he’d find a way to check it out for himself.”
“Really? You don’t mind?” I ask.
“I don’t mind,” he says again, this time leaning down and giving me a soft kiss on my lips. My stomach flips, and I look around quickly to see if anyone might have seen us.
“Anyone might have seen that,” I say, my cheeks growing warm.
“I don’t care. Do you?” he asks, and I shake my head. “Good. Now show me how you get up on this fella. We’ve got a trail to explore.”
It takes me two goes to get up onto Loki, but it’s not his fault.
I didn’t push myself up hard enough the first time and couldn’t get my leg over.
Once seated, I give Loki a good pet to congratulate him on his achievement and then hold the reins.
While with the other horses I can grip them further up, resting my hands basically in my lap, Loki likes me to hold them closer to him, so that my fingers rest against the sides of his neck.
“See, he’s good to go.”
“We’ll see,” Atlas says, and in one swift leap, he’s on his horse, feet in stirrups, and he’s swooshing his reins, making a clicking sound with his tongue to tell his horse to move on.
I slide my hands forward on Loki’s neck up toward his head, the reins slacking around his bridle, and he starts walking.
“That’s a good boy, just like we practiced,” I say, resting them back into the holding position.
If I need him to slow down, I can pull back on the reins a little, and he follows left and right fine with a soft jerk in that direction too.
The only thing I haven’t figured out is how to get him to go faster, but considering this is a walking trail, I don’t exactly need to know how to do that yet.
At least Loki won’t get spooked by some rustling noises in the woods.
My pocket vibrates, and I release the reins on one side to check it in case it’s Connor. Loki slows like he knows I’m not giving him my full attention.
It’s an email from the internal recruitment team, and the subject reads: Congratulations. Please review the enclosed offer for the position of Junior Project Manager.