Chapter 20
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
Cassidy
Gunner drove us to the property line on an ATV while Nash and Wilder followed on horseback.
I wasn’t expecting him to ask me to go, but when he told Nash, ‘we’re coming’, air rushed from my lungs.
Trepidation was mixed with excitement at the idea of sitting behind him, wrapping my arms around him to hold on.
I’d started off holding the seat bar behind me but then he’d barked out his command.
“Arms around my waist, sweetheart.”
My adrenaline spiked, as heat spread through my body. He’d spent three years being salty with me and one snap of an order and I was turned to mush.
As we approached the boundary line, the ATV started to slow to a stop, and Gunner stood up in his seat.
“Fuckers.” He got off the vehicle and walked closer to the fence. The machinery looked to be less than fifty feet away on the other side, with diggers poised to start work.
Nash and Wilder rode up alongside, urging their horses to a halt, dismounting and joining their brother.
From my seat on the ATV, I watched the three of them.
All three had the same stance, hands on hips and legs wide apart.
They all wore Roper style boots as opposed to Western style, each of them filled their Wranglers and their shearling lined denim jackets to perfection and the Stetsons that Gunner and Wilder wore were the icing on the cake.
Nash always preferred a ball cap, often backwards which was another level of sexy.
The Miller brothers were definitely a sight to behold.
“Cassidy, you got a minute?”
Nash calling over to me woke me from my daydreams and took my attention away from one of the brothers in particular. Because Gunner’s ass was just that little more perfect than the others.
“Yeah, what is it?” I jumped down and clapped my gloved hands together. It was still cold, even more so racing across the land on the back of an ATV.
“You told me once you grew up on a farm, right?” Nash asked. “Didn’t you sell produce from it?”
I glanced at Gunner, who was looking down at his boots. “I did and yes, we sold eggs and vegetables.”
“So, you must have encountered all sorts of regulations.”
“Some,” I replied. “Why, what are you thinking?”
Nash stared ahead; his brow furrowed. “I’m thinking that whatever they do might just affect the grass in this pasture and this is the grass we use for winter hay.
Without it the cattle will either starve or we will because we have to pay over the odds for it from someone else.
” He looked at me. “And then there’s the effect on the ranch and your camp. ”
Gunner pointed at the perimeter wire fence. “That fence is there because a long time ago, when our Grandpa ran the ranch, the County told him we couldn’t be an open range ranch. For years no one understood why, well it looks like now we know.”
“Took the assholes forty years to do something with it, though,” Wilder grumbled, taking his hat off and running a hand through his hair. “Never thought they’d bring it this close, though.”
“Well, they have,” Nash replied, sounding defeated.
“Where do I come into it?” I asked. “I mean, I’m more than ready to help with the fight, but I’m not sure what I can do.”
Nash held up a finger. “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.
You see, as a farmer you’ll know about the boundaries between cultivated areas and wild spaces.
You and your mom must have known the importance of transitional ecosystems and if you look closely at that disturbed soil you can see that these shit heads are going to be destroying it. ”
I shrugged. “We weren’t a huge farm, Nash. I mean we had regulations we had to adhere to, and we knew about crop rotation and had seasonal growing knowledge but I’m not sure how that helps.”
“It helps because you have experience of the kind of things they’re bound to throw at us when we dispute this,” Nash replied. “And Lily tells me that you’re a stickler for detail, so if we list the objections, you think you could put it into some document that they’d take notice of?”
“I’d be happy to,” I told him, feeling something in my chest—pride, that they valued my help, even though I wasn’t part of the family. “But you know you’re all intelligent men. You don’t need me.”
“I’m not sure that’s true.” Gunner laughed. “We’re the best when it comes to running a ranch. Plus, we can all argue the toss with the best of them, but I think what Nash is trying to say is that basically none of us know how to present our arguments without telling them to fuck off.”
“True,” Wilder replied with a humorless laugh.
“Any help you can give from yours and your mom’s experience would be invaluable,” Nash added.
I nodded, thinking back to when I was about fifteen. “Actually, Mom had to deal with a watershed protection regulation once. Our vegetable plots were uphill from a protected wetland area, and they wanted us to change all our drainage and runoff because of it.”
“What happened?” Gunner asked, his eyes so intense on me that it felt like there was no one else around. “How the hell did you deal with that? That’s huge.”
“I know,” I sighed, recalling how worried Mom had been about the money.
“We weren’t allowed to alter the natural water paths either, so it was a huge undertaking.
Mom argued and got them to share the cost in the end, but the point is,” I pointed toward the machinery, “if they’re disturbing natural drainage patterns and from the position of the creek and pond they probably are, then that’s a clear violation. ”
“In what way?” Gunner’s gaze turned to Nash. “You know about this?”
Nash scratched at his stubbled cheek. “Yeah, now you come to mention it, the water division talked about it when they were investigating the pollution of the creek. They were worried obviously that because of the flow it would go down into the supply for the town.”
Gunner moved closer to the perimeter and looked up the hill and then back down. He turned back to us. “So, you’re saying if they disrupt the natural flow here it will impact downstream on the wetlands and then further along to the pond where the beavers are?”
“And maybe the creek?” I asked.
Nash shrugged. “Not sure. I guess it might.”
“Well, even if it doesn’t, I know they should be doing all sorts of tests to check the flow and the water levels. There’s a whole host of documentation, written observations and soil samples that need to be completed. I remember helping Mom with it all, so if they haven’t done that…”
Gunner exhaled while Nash and Wilder grinned.
They remained silent as I looked between the three of them, waiting for one of them to say something.
Watching as they looked over their land in silent understanding of what it meant to each of them.
Brothers who were willing to go to battle for their home.
“Thank you,” Gunner finally said, a shy smile touching his lips.
And it suddenly didn’t matter what had been said between us before, because those two words meant everything.
“Okay,” Nash said, clapping Wilder on the back. “Let’s get back to the house and decide what to do next.”
“My vote is getting some of the guys to smash up the machinery in the middle of the night,” Wilder grumbled.
“It’s not an awful idea,” Gunner replied and then looked at his older brother. “But we’re not going to, don’t worry. I need to send all the proof of the breeding ground to Sandra O’Neil first anyway.”
“Who?” Wilder asked.
Gunner quickly explained who she was and instantly Nash’s shoulder’s relaxed. “That sounds positive, a little lifeline maybe,” he said, slapping his brother’s shoulder.
“I still think we should smash up the machinery,” Wilder scoffed.
“Maybe that’s our last resort.” Nash walked toward his horse which was waiting patiently with Wilder’s.
“See you back at the house. I’m going to check in with Ray and see what he thinks about moving the cattle down from the storm barn to the winter barn.
The long range forecast suggests more snowstorms might be on the way.
” He sighed. “I mean I know it can change, so I want his advice.”
I knew Ray was their foreman, running things when the boys weren’t around, and I knew from Lily the winter barn was where the cattle were kept during bad weather. See, I was learning. Although, I wasn’t really sure why it mattered.
“Okay, bro. We’ll get back to the house. That’s where all the stuff is I need, anyway.” Gunner waved a hand toward the ATV. “Your chariot awaits, Miss. Turner.”
Flashing him a smile, I moved past him and felt weird that I was looking forward to wrapping my arms around his waist again.
“Okay,” Lily said as she sat back at the dining table after checking on the kids watching TV, our war table as Wilder had named it. “We now have a list of arguments against the development, ones that affect the ranch.” She turned to me. “And you have enough time to document it all, Cassidy?”
“Of course. What else do I do in the evening except read or watch TV?”
Lily laughed. “She says that because she has every lesson planned from now until Summer break.”
I groaned. “Now you make me sound really boring.”
“She clearly doesn’t know you that well,” Gunner muttered, cocking an eyebrow.
Thankfully I was the only one who heard him because Nash and Wilder were arguing over the last cookie on the plate of homemade ones that Lily and Bertie had created.
Yet, Lily clearly had heard, though, because she was smirking at us both. ‘Okay?” She asked.
“Good thanks, Lily.” Gunner stretched his legs out and relaxed back in his seat. “Perfect in fact.”
God, he was cocky, but I was beginning to like it.
“Something you need to tell me?” Lily asked, looking between us.
“No,” I snapped. “Why would there be?”
“Yeah,” Gunner added. “What on earth can we possibly need to tell you?”
She narrowed her eyes on us, staring us down until we heard Bertie yelling for her from the lounge. Sighing, Lily stood up and pointed at us. “I will find out.”
“Meddlesome woman,” Gunner muttered as she walked away and then turned to me. “Ignoring my sister-in-law, are you sure that you have time for all of this?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” I swallowed back the moan of appreciation as he linked his hands behind his head, making his biceps bulge. “I want to help.”
“There are some other ways you could help.” His tone was suggestive as his tongue darted out to run along his lower lip.
“And what would they be?” My pulse was too fast. The butterflies in my stomach were flapping their wings too fast. My lungs were too tight.
“Well,” he leaned forward, stretching his arms across the table., “I was thinking—”
“Gunner, did Deacon send that architect’s number over?”
I didn’t get to hear how else I could help Gunner, because his attention was taken with Nash.
As the brothers continued to discuss development plans, wedding venues and kid’s camps I watched them.
They were a family who loved each other deeply and I could see why Lily had been heartbroken to lose them.
Maybe working alongside them, with Gunner, wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.