Chapter 21
F**kin’ Perfect – P!nk
Gunner
The last few days had been busy. We’d started calving late this year because of some bad weather in February.
That meant that we still had heifers giving birth, so for the last week we’d all been up by three helping with the births.
We’d lost one heifer which had been an awful experience.
Thankfully, Rose, our vet, was able to save the calf and then Nash and I managed to get another heifer, who’d just had a calf two days before, to adopt it.
Then there was Songbird and her foal. Songbird was doing great but the foal, Gypsy, was struggling to wean, still preferring her mother’s milk.
It wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle but it was just more to do along with getting the documents and images together as evidence against the development.
One good thing was that they hadn’t yet broken ground and I wondered if it was Sandra O’Neil who had managed to get us some thinking and planning time because of the details I’d sent to her.
Cassidy had been over last night. She came over after dinner to show us her first draft of the documentation.
I was blown away by it, we all were. The wording, the way she’d bullet pointed each of our points of argument and then gave measured responses on how they should be addressed.
It was perfect. Her visit had been fleeting, though, and as much as I wanted to make her stay so we could talk, she said she was meeting someone in Downtown Bar you’ve spent the last three years having angry foreplay.
“We have not.” We totally fucking had if I was being honest with myself.
Years of sniping and backbiting with each other had led to kisses in the dead of night.
Kisses that I could still feel and taste on my lips.
“She’s not what I thought she was, Wild.
She’s so much more than I gave her credit for. ”
Wilder wiggled his brows. “So, you do like her. Well, well, well.”
“I didn’t say that. I just said that she’s different from what I thought. She lived on a farm, you know.”
“I know she did. I knew before it was even mentioned the other night.”
I blinked at him. “How did you know?”
He sighed. “I actually talk to people. It’s a concept you should get on board with.
You talk to someone, ask them questions about themselves, tell them about yourself.
And then,” he said, pointing a finger at me, “if you realize that you like them, and maybe they like you, you ask them on a date. How does that sound?”
“Like you’re a stupid dickweed who lets his penis rule his life.”
“Unlike you, big brother, whose penis has been in its hidey-hole for waaaay too long.”
Peanut, my horse, moved to the side of a cow that was getting ready to run. He was such a good horse, knowing exactly what he needed to do without much guidance from me.
“My penis gets plenty of action,” I yelled across to Wilder.
He waved his gloved hand. “Yeah, I’ve heard you cranking.”
“I do not cry while I’m wanking, you fucker.”
He shrugged. “Not what I hear when you’re pulling on your dick, every damn night,” he said with a long, exaggerated sigh. “We have another runner. Jack! Let’s go get it.”
As he rode off I wondered two things. Should I ask Cassidy on a date, and did I need to wank less?
Things between Charlie and I were better.
They weren’t perfect but much improved now that things were out in the open.
Today she was taking a day to prepare for her move back to Tennessee.
I’d also got her to make a note of her daily tasks, and I was going to ask Ruthie to type it all up when she started.
That way whoever I took on as her replacement would have some sort of guide to follow.
The snow had stopped outside, but it had been replaced with wind and rain which was building up to be an apocalypse out there, random weather for the time of year.
After getting the cattle to the storm barn we heard a tree had come down on the north edge of our land.
It wasn’t particularly dangerous, but it was in good grazing land, and we didn’t want any cattle hurting themselves on it.
Wilder had taken a gang of guys over to get it sawn into logs.
I told him to wait until the weather calmed down, but if there was one thing my brother was, it was a doer.
He didn’t procrastinate like me, or way up a thousand options like Nash. He just did.
“Knock, knock.”
I turned to see the door cracked open and Cassidy’s head, wearing a pink wool hat with a huge gray bobble, poking around it.
“Come on in,” I called, getting out of my chair. “It’s hateful out there.”
She pushed inside, her coat wet and her nose bright red with cold. “Hi, I thought we could do some camp stuff, but if you’re busy.”
I glanced at my phone, shocked that was the time, that school was out for the day. “No, come on in. I have time.”
“I didn’t have anything on tonight so thought…
damn glasses.” They were steamed up and as she wrinkled up her nose she snatched them from her face.
Wiping them with her gloved fingers she gave a heavy sigh.
“I forgot to take my contacts out last night so thought I should wear these today. I’m thinking of having laser treatment. What do you think?”
I didn’t say anything, I couldn’t because I was speechless at how damn beautiful she looked.
Her hair was down, damp strands from the rain hanging over her shoulders, there was a cold pink to her cheeks and the end of her nose, and she was wearing a lipstick just a shade darker than her lips, yep, I knew exactly what color her lips were.
Her whisky colored eyes framed with thick lashes studied me as her fingers gripped her glasses.
“Gunner, are you okay?” Her eyes went narrow as she leaned a little closer. “I think you look a little bit weird.” She put her glasses back on. “Yep, you definitely look weird. Have you heard something about the camp or the development?”
“N-no. All good. You look frozen. Take your coat off, it’s wet. I’ll pour you some coffee.” I didn’t move, though, because I couldn’t. There was something about her. Something different. It was like she was standing taller although she was a tiny little thing, barely reaching my shoulder.
Frowning, Cassidy shoved her gloves into her pockets and then shouldered out of her coat, grabbing her hat off her head.
Her hair stood on end, static running through it and her plaid shirt had a few buttons undone, showing the curve of the top of her breasts.
She was fucking beautiful. Exquisite. How the hell had I never noticed before?
Why had I been too busy fighting with the person I thought she was to get to know the real Cassidy?
“Sit down and I’ll get you that coffee.” I held out my hand for her coat and taking it from her hung it on the hooks by the door. “I have a sweater here somewhere if you want to wear it.”
“I’ll be fine. Coffee will warm me up.” She took the visitor seat at my desk and rubbed her hands together. “I heard on the radio that we might get more snow again soon.”
“Yeah, we moved the herd to the winter barn early this morning.” I cleared my throat and moved over to the coffee pot. “Creamer no sugar, right?”
“Please.” She put her phone on my desk and then reached down for her purse. It was a huge thing, but I hadn’t noticed it because my attention was all on her. A buff colored folder appeared from inside and was placed next to the phone.
“More camp stuff?” I asked, placing the coffee in front of her.
Glancing up at me, she sighed. “Yeah, my stupid laptop decided to die. I took it to the IT repair place in Clementine Hills, but he’s not convinced he can rescue it. It is old to be fair, so I probably need to invest in a new one.”
“That’s shit.” I took my seat opposite her. “So, what’s in the folder?”
“Oh, it’s some details about the camp,” she pushed it toward me, “I at least managed to print it off before the laptop died. I found this app that can create images from the description that you input. So,” she started to flick through the pages and pulled out some photographs.
They were clearly computer generated but depicted how the camp and stables could look.
One image showed a state of the art stable block with two horses in showers, while the other was the interior of the building where the kids would sleep.
There were bunks and a kitchen area, as well as a sofa and bean bags.