Chapter 17
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Bailey meandered past the big shed on her property, and then the classic red barn where she could house goats, chickens, horses, or cows, should she choose.
It had four stables in it, but Bailey hadn’t pulled the trigger on getting any animals yet.
She honestly wasn’t sure she wanted to take care of them in the winter, as she’d had to heat her livestock shed at the veterinary clinic for the past few months, and that had been astronomically expensive.
Reeves kept chickens, turkeys, and goats next door, and he’d said he’d had horses in the past, but currently didn’t have any in his stables.
A smile came to her face when she thought of him, as the man possessed many talents, skills, and plenty of good looks to boot.
He could cook, he kept his house clean, and when she’d taken Frosting—the kid she and OJ had been caring for—next door for one of his does to foster, she’d found his livestock pens immaculate as well.
He took care of his belongings, and he was funny and personable in his videos online. He radiated a quiet charisma in person, and he loved dogs and animals, and enjoyed being outside as much as she did.
Yes, Reeves checked a lot of boxes for Bailey, and he was kind and good, and he seemed to know when she needed a treat or a cup of coffee, and when to leave her alone so she could get her work done.
She’d adopted out both Rabbit and Milky Way now, after they’d made full recoveries.
She missed them, but she caught sight of the black-and-white mutt she’d brought home with her today.
He’d been brought in yesterday after being found nesting in the grass at an abandoned house.
A landscaper had shown up to cut everything down and trim back the trees as the city prepared for an auction on the property, and he’d found the dog.
Bailey was glad he’d thought to bring him to her, as that was what she’d endeavored to do differently with her clinic than others in Coral Canyon. She also ran a doggy and kitty daycare, which no other clinics provided, and she attributed her early success to both of those programs.
She’d sent a picture of the dog to OJ, who’d immediately wanted to come to the clinic and help bathe him and assess his wounds. Bailey had told him she already had it handled and she simply needed a name for the dog. He’d given the dog the name of Boots.
Bailey whistled through her teeth and said, “Come on, buddy. Come back this way, Boots,” when he started to wander through the thicker trees where she hadn’t cleaned up yet.
When her daddy, uncle, cousin and Bryce’s family had come to help after the flood, they’d cleaned up her backyard and her pathways to the shed and barn. She had a road that ran through her property too, which she currently walked down and which she needed to grade and remove the debris from.
She’d been to Reeves’s enough times in the past few weeks to see his immediate farm, and she’d seen a tractor with a grader in one of his sheds. She knew if she asked him to come help her with her road and property clean-up back to the river, he’d do it.
Her mind moved from the overwhelming chores she needed to do on her property to her new boyfriend. They’d be attending Boston and Cora’s wedding together in only a couple of days, and she couldn’t control the way her stomach started to buzz as if she’d swallowed a family of hummingbirds.
The Youngs were a huge family all by themselves, and they knew seemingly everyone in town. Her whole family had been invited, and while Bailey hadn’t asked for a copy of the RSVP list, she knew all of her aunts, uncles, and cousins would be at the wedding.
The Hammond family had become prominent in town as well, and Bailey knew all five Hammond brothers from her teenage years growing up at Whiskey Mountain Lodge.
Each of them had come there seeking refuge, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual, and they’d each married a woman who’d once worked for Bailey’s daddy.
Three of them still lived here in town, while the other two had settled in their small Colorado hometown, trading one mountainous place for another.
Boots trotted over to her and then came to a complete stop. His head turned back toward the house, and his body stilled, as if his herding instincts had kicked in. His shoulders and hips lowered, and Bailey faced the house as well. “What is it, boy?”
A growl started down in the dog’s throat, and he lowered himself further to the ground, just as Bailey saw Sir come galloping around the front of the house. Pansy streaked by him a moment later, and Boots jumped to his feet, barking, barking, barking.
Bailey’s heartbeat jumped up into the back of her throat, as she didn’t know what Boots would do with Reeves’s two friendly dogs. Pansy barked too, and because Bailey had never heard her do that, she wasn’t sure if it signaled to Boots that she was friendly or on the attack.
Sir barked, and his whole body seemed full of joy as he tried to keep up with Pansy and failed. Boots darted over behind Bailey, where he flattened himself to the ground, bared his teeth, and barked again.
“Hey, you’re okay,” Bailey said. “You’re all right.”
She crouched down next to the dog and held out one hand as Pansy neared. Thankfully, the blue heeler had been trained well, and she slowed and came to a stop in front of Bailey, just out of arm’s reach.
“Hey, come on, girl,” she said. “Come meet Boots. He’s just staying with me for a little bit, and he’s really nice.”
He’d also had flea bites all over him, and Bailey had shaved his hair down close to the skin to get at the more infected ones and make sure she could treat them with her antibiotic cream.
Sir arrived in a much less graceful fashion, and he ran in a full circle around Bailey, while Boots tracked his every movement.
She laughed as Sir finally cuddled into her chest and rubbed himself along her shoulders like he had part feline DNA.
“This is Boots,” she told him, as if the dogs would exchange pleasantries.
She glanced up and saw Reeves walking down her dirt road, unsurprised to find a pink pastry box in one hand and to-go coffee cups in the other.
The man loved to bring her food and drinks and make sure she was comfortable.
Bailey certainly wasn’t going to complain, because it had been a long time—too long—since someone had been obviously thinking about her the way he did.
Pansy lowered herself into her herding stance and approached Boots. A sniff-fest started, but Bailey didn’t think a fight would break out. She rose to a standing position and started back toward Reeves.
“You’re not at work today,” he called, not really asking a question.
She shook her head and paused in the shade of a tree.
“I had some morning appointments out at a couple of small farms,” she said, reaching for the coffee cups he carried as he neared.
He’d been down to the Sip and Stay near the vet clinic, and a slip of guilt pulled through Bailey. “You made a long drive for nothing.”
“I should probably text you instead of trying to surprise you.” He smiled at her and then leaned in for a kiss.
She received his touch, enjoying the way the world turned slower with his mouth against hers.
It didn’t matter that four of her five acres needed a major clean-up, or that hundreds of people would see them together at the wedding on Saturday, or that Bailey needed another front desk secretary to handle the workload and two more pet daycare attendants.
All that mattered was making sure Reeves knew how she felt, and being as close as possible to him.
He pulled away and lifted the pink pastry box. “I brought chocolate croissants,” he said. “And lemon blueberry muffins.”
“Both of those sound amazing.”
He opened the box and held it on display for her while she peered inside. He glanced around her farm, and Bailey knew he’d have opinions on it, which didn’t bother her so much. She lifted a chocolate croissant out of the box. “How’s Frosting?” she asked.
“He’s doing real well,” he said. “Matilda took to him immediately, and she seems to have enough milk for both babies.”
Bailey nodded. “I’m real glad.” She took a bite of her chocolate croissant, and pure happiness flowed through her. “You don’t have to keep him forever. I’m sure we can adopt him out once he’s weaned.”
“I’d like to keep him,” Reeves said. “He might be a good stud for my does next year.”
Bailey grinned at him, and he reached out and wiped his thumb down the side of her mouth. “You got some chocolate there,” he murmured, and Bailey only smiled wider.
“You need a picnic table or something out here,” he said, immediately pulling in a breath and looking away from her. She noted the way a slight flush crawled into his face, and that only sent a thrill right down to her toes.
“There’s one down by the stream.” She turned back the way she’d been walking before Boots had started growling. “My place needs a lot more work than yours,” she said. “And I’ve been thinking of hiring someone to come till me a garden this spring.”
“I can till you a garden this spring,” Reeves said, raising his eyebrows.
She leaned into his chest and placed one hand right over his heart. “Would you?”
“Sure,” he said. “You show me where you want it, and I’ll start prepping the land.”
“We don’t have to plant for probably another month, at least.”
“I’ve been burned before and lost my peas and beans in a late freeze,” he said. “I don’t plant until at least Memorial Day.”
Bailey nodded in agreement. “Maybe we can come back here tomorrow after the wedding and find a spot closer to the house.”
“Yeah, near your barns,” he said. “So you can have your tools nearby.”
Bailey grinned at him. “It’s funny how you think I have gardening tools.”
“Well, that barn’s full of stuff,” he said, throwing her a surprised look. “Surely it’s got some gardening tools in it.”
Bailey had been in the barn a time or two since she’d bought the property. “Everything looks like it’s rusted and about one thousand years old,” she said.
A light came into Reeves’s eyes. “Maybe I could do a video on how to restore tools that haven’t been used in a while.”
Bailey grinned at him. “I’m sure you could actually do the video, yes.”
He cleared his throat and nodded down the road. They started walking together, Bailey now carrying the two cups of to-go coffee in one hand, while Reeves brought the pastries with him. He switched them to his other hand and then took hers in his.
“How many videos have you watched now?” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t know, twelve or fifteen,” she said. “Sometimes I put them on while I’m doing my paperwork, because you don’t always have to watch.” She glanced over to him. “And you have a soothing voice, cowboy.”
He chuckled and shook his head, his chin dipping down toward the ground. “You can be in some of the videos with me if you want,” he said. “In the spring, summer, and fall, I obviously don’t do many survival or winter camping videos.”
“Those are your most popular ones, though,” Bailey said, as the one she’d texted him about, where he spent three nights outside in subzero temperatures, during a blizzard, had twenty-four million views on it, with thousands of comments.
“Wyoming is the new Alaska,” he said. “There’s plenty of people making outdoor videos about that state, but not much going on here.”
“That’s about how Wyoming always is,” Bailey said. “Some people don’t even know it’s a state.”
Reeves burst out laughing, and Bailey sure liked the sound of it. Fisher’s Kill Stream came into view, the sound of rushing water meeting her ears.
“Looks like you’ve still got quite a bit of debris down here,” he said, kicking the toe of his boot against an errant tree branch.
“Yeah, when everyone came to help clean up, we didn’t go past the barn,” she said.
“This would be great pasture land,” he said. “For cows or horses.” He cut a look over to her. “Or goats in the summertime. They’d eat all this down and clean it right up for you.”
Bailey knew she’d bought a property with animal rights and room for them, but she’d never had them and had said she didn’t know how to take care of them—but she did, and she could if she wanted to.
“I just don’t know if I have time to dedicate to animals,” she said. “Talk about a twenty-four-seven job.”
“Yeah, they need you, rain or shine,” he said thoughtfully.
They approached the water’s edge, where an old metal picnic table had been placed by someone in the past. The end of it nearest the stream sat in the shade, and Bailey went and perched on the end of it.
Reeves sat on the other side and slid the pastry box closer to her.
She put their coffee on the other side of it, and together they simply existed with the sound of a babbling brook and the Wyoming wind in their ears.
Yes, this was the life Bailey wanted, and as she glanced over to Reeves, she couldn’t help but wonder if the handsome mountain man cowboy could be her forever prince.