Chapter 9 Jovie
“Okay, so then you click here, and that’s where you verify each cow’s gestational age, expected due date, and parental lineage. And then here,” Wylie’s fingers brushed the computer screen, leaving a smudge that annoyed me, “is where you’ll access reproduction and fertility rates.”
“Everything Devin is putting into the system calculates this data for me?”
He nodded, “that’s right. You just gotta make sure he keeps up on his notes. Sometimes, if it’s a busy day for him and his guys, he gets behind, and that’ll throw off your analytics and cause you to think that calves haven’t been born that have, you need to order more feed than you do, they are missing immunizations... stuff like that.”
I nodded as I clicked on another screen, and Wylie’s phone pinged on the desk next to him. He picked it up, scanned the text, and then typed back a response before clicking it shut.
“Well, that’s it for me today,” he spoke, stretching his hands over his head.
“What do you mean? It’s only 2 o’clock. I thought most days went until at least 3 in the afternoon?”
He grinned. “I got a hot date with the girlfriend over in Abilene.”
I rolled my eyes. “Would Rig let you off work early to go on a date?”
“What my dad doesn’t know, doesn’t matter. Plus, you’re a charity case. You should be grateful I’m even taking the time to show you all this stuff.”
I sighed; he was right. Wylie had taught me a lot in just one day.
“I am grateful. Thanks for everything today, Wylie. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 5?”
He pointed finger guns at me as he walked out of the door. “You can count on it, babe.”
Deciding to play around with the software a little more, I spent a few more hours going through my grandfather’s binders in his cabinet. Not only had he taken meticulous notes on what I needed to do to maintain the ranch’s current state, but each year he had a separate binder full of handwritten notes that tracked the things he worked on around the ranch. Pages of notes detailed calves being born, crops rotated, fences fixed, and equipment replaced. I marveled at just how much my grandfather had managed for decades without me even knowing.
Around 7 in the evening, I decided to reheat some of the spaghetti and garlic bread that Gloria had made for dinner and enjoy it with a glass of wine in the deep soaker I’d remembered was in my grandfather’s bathroom. I searched under the bathroom sink and found an old bag of Epsom salt soaks, dumping a hefty pour into the tub.
My body ached from the long day and hot sun, and I relaxed in the moment as I ate and drank my wine, listening to a new audiobook I’d downloaded on my phone. After completing my dinner and a lengthy soak, I realized my skin was on the verge of pruning. Deciding to call it an early night, I stepped out, dried off, and changed into a pair of cotton pajama shorts and a tank top.
As I made my way to the kitchen to turn off the lights, I noticed a glow emanating from one of the guest bedrooms. Unsure which room Wylie had chosen to set up in tonight, I thought I'd discreetly enter and turn off the light, without invading his privacy.
However, when I opened the door, I found the shock of my life instead – Nash was standing in the middle of the room with nothing but pajama pants on, his shirt halfway up his arms as if he was mid-tugging it off. Miles of abs accompanied his flat stomach tapering down to his slim waist and a deep V that seemed to point down to the main event. His pajama pants had to be made of the thinnest material to ever exist because they did nothing to conceal what was behind the light grey fabric - his massive package that was currently dangling between his thighs.
I let out a gasp as my eyes connected with it.
“Oh hey, Jovie. I thought you were already asleep,” Nash spoke with a grin.