Chapter 32
Levitating – Dua Lipa
Wilder
The sound of hammering, drilling and digging blasted around as Markus, our contractor and his crew worked on the barn. Nash, Gunner and myself were standing with mugs of coffee watching the hive of activity. The start of another arm of our business.
“How long is it going to take? Has Markus said?” I asked, enjoying the freshness of the early morning.
“A month, maybe six weeks. I think we’ll mothball it until after the new year, though. Let us concentrate on getting the cattle down from the high ground and making sure we’re ready for winter.”
“We have plenty of hay,” I told him. “But it wouldn’t hurt to buy some in. Yield is down slightly because of the damn summer.” We’d had a particularly hot one and the lack of rain and a reduced flow of snow down from the mountains hadn’t helped.
“Seems like it might be a long winter.” Gunner chuckled, deep from his belly. “Good job we’ve all got someone to keep us warm this year.”
“Fuck off, Gunner.”
“How’s that going anyway?” Nash asked. “It’s been a week, and you still haven’t slept in your own bed, so I’m thinking it’s good.”
Good? It was incredible. Wild nights, sleepy, fucking cute as anything mornings, and knowing that Tallulah Brown was mine.
“What about Henry and Davis, when are they coming over to sign the contracts?” A change of subject was needed.
“Friday, then they hand over the keys next month.” Nash took a long sip of his coffee and sighed. “We then need to decide what to do with the properties.”
Each farm had a small house. Davis’s was a two-story with open living downstairs and two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.
The one on Henry’s farm was even smaller with one bedroom, a kitchen, a lounge and a shower room.
He’d taken the farm on after his son left for the army, so it was big enough for him and his wife Kate.
Neither house was in bad repair, but they could benefit from an upgrade.
“Lily had an idea about that.” He smiled proudly, a faraway look in his eye. “She thought that maybe they’d be great guest houses that we could rent out. To either wedding guests or just people visiting the area.”
“Like an Airbnb.” Gunner looked pensive. “Good idea for another revenue string but more work cleaning them after each guest.”
Nash nodded. “Yeah, and we spoke to Ruby about that. Her sister has a cleaning business in Clementine Hill and would be willing to take on the contract. She’s also agreed to include the bunk house, since some of those guys have no idea what cleanliness means.
” He held up a hand. “And before you ask I checked out her price with other cleaners and it’s really reasonable.
I wanted to run it past you both first before I agreed. So, what do you think?”
Gunner and I exchanged a glance and then both grinned.
“Let’s do it.” I looked over to the guys working. “They’ll need upgrading.”
“I know but I think we can do it within a decent budget.”
“We shouldn’t skimp, though,” Gunner added. “Wear and tear will be pretty hard on rentals like that.”
“I know so you’re right, we won’t buy cheap.” Nash shoved a hand into the pocket of his jacket. “Right, I’m going. I’ve got some paperwork to do.” He started to walk away and then turned back. “Oh, and Wild, Lily says bring Tally to dinner tonight.” He pointed a finger at me. “No arguments.”
Gunner laughed loudly and slapped my back. “Seems like you got your orders, little brother. I’ll let Tally know if you like. I’m meeting her at the indoor arena now.”
“It’s fine. I’ll do it. Tell her I’ll grab lunch with her.”
He saluted me and walked away and for once I was jealous of one of my brothers. He was going to be spending time with my woman, when that was the only place I wanted to be.
Walking across to Tally’s cabin to take her to dinner, I felt nervous.
I had no idea why. It wasn’t like it was a first date, or she didn’t know my family.
Maybe because it meant something. What we were.
What we were becoming. I didn’t want anything to go wrong because I was finally starting to feel worthy of it.
“I feel nervous.”
My head whipped to her direction, my hand tightening around hers. “Why do you feel nervous? You know everyone. You’ve spent time with them before.”
She shrugged. “I know, but this feels different.”
The air released from my lungs was like a deflating balloon. “God, me, too.”
Tally pulled us to a stop. “They’re your family. Why on earth are you feeling like that?”
My tongue flicked out to wet my lips, the uncertainty pushing itself back inside my head. “Because this is important,” I told her. “Because you’re important to me and I don’t want to mess it up.”
“And because they know you better than anyone, love you more than anyone, and if I’m not right for you I’m scared they’ll tell you. And then,” her eyes closed momentarily, “and then all this will be over.”
Drawing her in, I laced my fingers in her hair and kissed her softly. Tasting the mint of her toothpaste, the zing of the freshness.
“It’ll be fine,” I whispered. “We’ll have a nice dinner and then later I’ll show you exactly how good we are together. Okay?”
“Okay.” She smiled shyly and I decided I liked it. It was cute. I went in for another kiss only to be interrupted by Tally’s phone ringing in her pocket. “Damn, sorry. I’ll put it on silent.”
“It’s okay. Take it. It might be your folks.”
Taking her phone, Tally answered it. “Hello…hello.” She frowned. “Is anyone there? Probably a sales call.” She turned the phone off and then pocketed it. “Okay, let’s go for dinner so I can wow your family.”
“Please tell me that’s not true.” Tally threw her head back and roared laughing.
I glared at Nash who’d thought it was amusing to tell her the ‘teenage pregnancy scare’ story.
“Why?” I asked him, throwing my hands in the air. “Why would you do that?”
Tally’s eyes were bright and shiny as she looked at me, still rocking with laughter. “You poor baby.” She patted my arm. “Did no one ever explain the birds and the bees to you?”
“I was drunk. I had no idea I hadn’t even put it in.” Dropping my head in shame, I pouted like Bertie when she wasn’t allowed another ten minutes reading before bed.
“Who’d have thought he’d become so good at getting cattle pregnant.” Gunner joked.
“Yeah,” Lily added. “I heard how good he is at getting Gideon excited.”
“I do not jerk off that bull off.” I pointed at her, narrowing my eyes. “Anyone who tells you I did is a liar.”
The whole table erupted with laughter at my expense, but I didn’t care. I was loving every minute. Tally was loving every minute.
“So, tell us about your family,” Cassidy said, filling Tally’s glass with wine. “You have two brothers, right?”
“Thank you. Yes, I do. Liam and Cole. They’re older than me by six years. They are what are called Irish twins, there’s only ten months between them, so they were in the same school year.”
“Really.” Lily winced. “I would want much longer than ten months before going through childbirth again.”
Nash grinned and took her hand in his. “Me too, it was fucking hard work.”
She rolled her eyes but then laughed. “Idiot.”
“What do your brothers do?” Gunner asked. “I never thought to ask.”
Tally shifted in her seat and swallowed before answering. “Liam’s a contractor and Cole is an architect.”
She looked a little uncomfortable about telling us, but they were both perfectly good, respectable professions. Maybe they weren’t very good ones. I made a mental note to check with her later.
“Wish we’d known,” Nash added, standing. “We might have got a family discount for plans for the new barn.” He flashed Tally a grin and started to clear dishes from the table. “Maybe we can put some business their way for the guest houses. Markus told me he’s just taken on a development in Denver.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Tally replied, playing with the stem of her glass. “Liam recently won a contract to build a hotel.”
“He’s got a big concern going then. You never said.”
Tally’s gaze met mine and she gave me a tight smile. “Yeah, he’s got a pretty big crew. Anyway, what other stories about Wilder have you got?”
Cassidy caught the shift in Tally's tone and smoothly redirected. “I don't have any old stories, but I can tell you he's terrible at poker. Lost three hands in a row last week because he can't keep a straight face when he's bluffing.”
"That's because Nash cheats," I muttered.
It had been a pretty quick change of subject, but I wasn’t about to ask Tally about it in front of everyone. Besides, it was probably nothing. A little sibling rivalry maybe. Whatever it was, something protective flared in my chest. I didn't want her embarrassed by anyone pressing her.
“No, there are no more stories,” I warned, taking her hand in mine. “Let’s just eat Cassidy’s lemon pie and forget all my teenage inadequacies.”
Her shoulders relaxed as she nodded and gave me a beautiful smile, and that was all I cared about.