26. Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Sutton
I agreed to meet Maci with the trailer on Saturday because it was a perfectly acceptable reason to see her again, and I was positive I wouldn’t be able to go another day without doing so, even if that meant driving up to Austin. She’s done something to me. Somehow intertwined herself into my DNA make up, leaving it nearly impossible for me to go any length of time without thinking of her. Each day she was gone I grew more and more agitated. Something everyone around me seemed to recognize as well.
Even though I explained this trailer has carried countless animals in it, and has the gashes, scuffs, and manure stains to prove it, I still try to clean up the damn thing before I haul it into town early Saturday morning.
I’ve backed the trailer in, according to the booth map Maci sent me, and I’m opening the back gate when she walks up. The weather is typical for October in Texas, which is to say warm for fall, but she’s dressed in a red flannel shirt with a black puffy vest over jeans. She’s going to be warm, but she’s always in typical fall clothing no matter the weather. I’m beginning to think it’s a compulsion.
Her chestnut hair is tied up in a high ponytail with the ends curled and a few loose pieces framing her face. All I can think as soon as I see her is that I want to wrap that ponytail around my fist and possess her mouth .
I compose my face and she beams, looking from the trailer to me. “Thank you. This is perfect.”
A black, soft-sided wagon is parked a few feet behind her full of pumpkins and blankets. I hope she doesn’t think I know what to do with all of it. She catches my look. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle that.”
All I can do is nod and shove my hands in my pockets. The urge to touch her is almost unbearable. As she approaches, she pats my chest, her touch cool through my shirt, and electricity shoots through my body.
She sets to work placing pumpkins around the open gate and off the sides of the trailer, cocking her head side-to-side as she assesses. Then she’s pulling the blankets from the wagon and interacting similarly with them.
I’m beginning to feel like an ass just standing around watching when she starts talking. “How’s the ranch?” She looks up at me when I don’t respond immediately.
“Busy.” It’s so much easier when she does the talking. “We have some big things on the horizon.”
“Oh?” Her interest seems genuine, which is a little surprising because I don’t get the feeling she’s spent much time on a ranch, even if I do think she could hold her own under any condition. She sets a black structured backpack on a small table that the event staff must have left and begins to organize a few items there.
“Yeah. I’m hoping to finalize a purchase that will increase our land by four hundred percent.”
Her eyebrows shoot up and she stops moving to look at me. “That’s incredible, Sutton.”
Holy hell. I have to figure out how to make her say my name again.
I swallow. “It’s exciting. I have some plans to make everything run as smoothly as possible, but I feel like I’m missing something to use the properties to their full potential.”
Finished with the table, she straps the backpack onto her back again, a large camera in hand. “Aside from an ass ton of cows, what goes on out there?” She smirks at me.
I shake my head at her. She may not understand everything about the ranch, but I know she’s playing. Maci doesn’t need to spout off facts and figures for me to know she’s intelligent. “Our property is focused on cattle right now, but the property we're looking at is set up for horses. I believe they host guided hunts, too.”
She tilts her head softly side-to-side, as if she’s thinking on what I’ve said. “Are you continuing those?”
“I plan to. Cattle, hunts, sectioning areas off for leases—"
“Leases?”
“Yeah. People purchase a contract to hunt the land themselves for a season.”
She considers this and moves back toward the trailer. I follow. “So what do you think you’re missing?”
“I want to make sure we’re using the land effectively without taxing it. Adding too many animals would give us little opportunity to cycle through the pastures. We rest several each season.”
She sets her bag just inside the trailer and turns to me, stepping closer. “Are there horse trails?”
“Not especially. Maybe on the land we’re adding.”
“Maybe you could incorporate something like ‘A Day on the Ranch’ for visitors to come and see how things work. It would give you a bigger presence in the community and take advantage of tourism in the area. Plus, people would pay you to be additional manpower.”
“A dude ranch.” My arms cross on their own. Her lips press together in amusement like I’m being ridiculous and she places her hands on my crossed arms, the cool feeling of her palms seeping through my flannel again.
“You can do it whenever it’s convenient and set the terms. Only want to deal with lay people once a month? Fine.” Her emphasis on lay, as if we look down on everyone else, is obviously a joke.
“If you want to get really fancy, you could set up an area or two somewhere secluded on the property and build some smaller housing there for vacation rentals or something.” Her lips purse. “I guess you’d have to consider having random people near the animals though, so maybe not. I don’t know. Just a thought.” Her hands fall to her sides.
Why did she immediately dismiss herself?
“I think you have great ideas. I may be able to make something like that work and I see where you’re coming from. The vacation rentals do fit. To an extent.” She looks up at me with soft eyes and I can’t help it anymore. My hands find her hips.
“It’s all about the experience. I’m sure you’ll get it figured out.” A fleeting smile passes her lips and her cheeks blush. I’m about to claim her right here in front of everyone.
Her eyes dart past me and she waves. “Hi!”
A woman walking up with three kids in tow waves back. That’s my cue to get out of here.
“I promised my mom I’d stop by her setup.” I angle my head down, catching a whiff of her shampoo. Something spicy like cinnamon greets me. “You ok if I meet back up with you later? ”
“Of course!” She tips her head up to me, unintentionally teasing me with those sweet lips set in a grin. I wonder if they’ll taste like caramel today. “I’ll be here, snapping away all day. I really appreciate you doing this.”
Does she know I’d do anything she asks? “Yep,” is all I can manage. “I’ll be back.” I reach up and grab the end of her ponytail hanging over the front of her shoulder and give it a playful tug. Her eyes light up.
I’m so fucked.
Mama’s booth is stationed in the same place it is every year. Behind her table is a collapsible shelving piece Dad built for her especially for these events. Her tiny jars of jam look so typically-country organized by color on it.
“Mama.” I kiss her head as I approach from her side, wrapping an arm around her waist.
“Hi, sweetheart.” She leans into me, wrapping her arms around my middle for a moment, before pulling away and hurrying around again. “I didn’t expect to see you so early.”
I’m not interested in having a personal conversation within earshot of everyone in town, but Mama is known to keep at something like a dog with a bone. “I took something to Maci.”
I don’t miss the glow that accents her face, but all she says is, “That’s nice.”
A woman walks up then and inquires about the flavors of jams. Mama sets to work, offering her samples and selling her heart out .
She stays busy as things pick up throughout the morning, so I wander around a bit. Nick mentioned that he’d be out here doing some community outreach-type things, and when I spot a Birds of Prey show, I decide there probably isn’t a better place to find him.
Sure enough, Nick is stationed at the far end of the area sectioned off for the bird show. It seems too early for sessions and he’s chatting with a family, handing out stickers and pamphlets. When they thank him and move away, I shake his hand in greeting.
“Hey, man,” he says happily. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to see you out here.”
I nod, cross my arms over my chest, and peer out at the passersby. “Yeah. Maci needed to borrow a trailer so I dropped it off a little bit ago.”
His eyebrows raise. “Nice. I like her.” As if processing the latter, his brows furrow. “What’d she need a trailer for?”
I smirk. “She’s using it as a prop for a photoshoot.”
“She knows cows have actually shit in there, right?” He matches my stance.
“That’s what I said.”
“You tried to clean it up, didn’t you?” It’s not so much a question. His mouth quirks to one side. I don’t even need to answer.
“It’s a lost cause.” He knows I tried anyway.
His chest shakes gently with a laugh. “You make it out to hunt, yet?”
“No. Hoping these yahoos can keep it together one day this coming week so I can get away from the ranch. Dad’s checking on things today.”
“You still thinking of expanding? You’re gonna need to hire someone else to be you, if so. That’s a lot to do.”
I chew the inside of my lip. “Yeah, that’s the plan. I’ve got some things in the works. But it’s true, I’m going to need more manpower. ”
“Would Terrence’s crew stay on?”
I shake my head. “We haven’t gotten that far. I set up a meeting with him this coming week.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help out.”
“Always.” I spot a family making their way by and someone is getting set on the stage with stands for the birds, so I decide to head back to where Maci is. “We’ll catch up later.”
Nick throws me a two-finger wave as I walk away. “See ya.”
Maci’s setup has caused a backup of people watching her take photos of kids and families in the trailer. The seasonal feel she was going for is evident and pretty damn cool. No one has any idea there are stains beneath the blankets and pillows inside. The pumpkins spill out onto the ground playfully. Everything looks a little put together and a little haphazard, which makes it perfect.
I hang back, taking in the sight. The sign-in sheet on her table is almost full with a small portfolio and business cards set off to the other side. Southern Grace Photography.
Moving around the crowd, I situate myself beneath a tree providing some shade. It’s solid beneath my weight when I lean a shoulder into it and cross one ankle over the other.
Maci is totally in her element, oblivious to everything else going on around her. She works and I watch, entranced. Before long, a prickle runs along my neck. I scan the crowd intently.
Nothing stands out, and as quickly as the sensation arose, it vanishes. Something coils itself within me. A need to protect fiercer than I’ve ever experienced before. Maci is mine, whether she fully understands that or not, and I will not allow anyone or anything to hurt her, come hell or high water.