23. Gareth
For the next few hours, we chatted and filled my mom in on how we met, Bailey-Rose’s surgery, and the adventures we’d been on for the past few weeks.
I’d been worried that coming home after so long, Mom would start in about how I’m never around and worry over every little thing I do.
What I hadn’t expected was for her to be so absolutely invested in getting to know my pack.
Granted, once my brothers found their packs and matched with their Omegas, they didn’t bother coming home anymore.
I knew she worried about me more because of what happened with Callie and the fact it hit me so hard.
It was another reason I didn’t want to be here in this house that reminded me of my little sister, not that you’d know I had one since there wasn’t a picture to be found.
My fathers decided it was best to remove all traces of her from the home so Mom wasn’t tortured by Callie’s ghost, which was one of the many things I viewed differently than my fathers.
Through our bond, I could tell that while Bailey-Rose was enjoying the social time, she was anxious to do something else. I glanced at my watch, seeing it was getting close to dinner time for the animals and us.
“Hey, baby girl,” I said once the conversation fell to a natural lull. “If you want, it’s almost time to feed the horses. Any interest in helping me?”
Instantly, her eyes lit up. “Yes, one hundred percent yes.”
Grinning, I stood and held out my hand to her. “Then let's go see what you ordered from Ranch Depot. You’ll need something other than sandals to wear out to the barn.”
The guys excused themselves as well since it would be a good chance to get settled and figure out rooms. One of the rooms was larger and had a king-size bed with a futon that pulled out into a queen bed.
This meant we either agreed to snuggle up to all be in the same room or split it three and three.
We decided to split the rooms, and we’d rotate who slept with Bailey-Rose.
“It’s only for a short time,” Vili pointed out. “We will manage until going home.”
When we decided to come here, we decided to stay for three days so we had a week at home before our leave ended.
Of course, for most of us, nothing really changed after that, but Ulysses and Yun-Sun still hadn’t decided what they were going to do for the long term.
Either way, we had a little over a week before we had to worry about all that.
Once the rooms were sorted, the boxes were opened, and our girl was decked out in jeans, boots, and a T-shirt, we headed to the barn.
The moment we entered, I was hit with every scent that reminded me of home and fond memories of growing up here.
Guys were tossing hay down from the loft, prepping for feeding, filling the air with its sweet scent. God, I’d missed this.
“Gareth… Gareth Watson, is that you?” an older gentleman asked, walking over to us.
It took me a moment, but I recognized the man as Tripp Carson.
He’d been brought on as ranch manager a few years after Callie’s death.
My father, Jonathan, had concluded we needed someone who didn’t know our family trauma to run the ranch.
So he fired the man who’d been working for our family since I was born and brought on Tripp.
“Mr. Carson, it's nice to see you,” I greeted, shaking the man’s hand and gestured to my right. “This is my bonded Omega, Bailey-Rose.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Tripp said with a tip of his hat. “What brings you two out here…getting a little dark for a ride.”
“Actually, we were looking to help with feeding,” I explained. “Do you still use the annex barn as the old folks’ home?”
Tripp grinned and nodded. “Sure do,… best-looking lawn ornaments in all four counties that I know of. If you two want to handle those four, we’ll settle up here in the big barn.”
“Sure thing, you still keep your notes in the same place?” I asked.
“You bet, no point in changing a system when it works,” Tripp answered.
“Oh, while you’re out there, could you take a look at the water trough?
Your mother decided to try a new idea and add goldfish to the tanks.
Something about keeping them from getting green so fast in this summer heat.
Told her we’d try it out there before adding them to all the water troughs. ”
I sighed, shaking my head. “No problem.”
“Oh, and make sure to keep the little dog away from Titon. He don’t take well to them,” Tripp added as we headed for the barn.
Pulling open the barn door, I let Bailey-Rose and the dogs in before shutting it. “First, we have to open the stall doors since they’re trained to walk right in from the pasture to their spot.” I showed her how the lock worked, and she took care of the two on her side.
“Now, we put a little grain in a bucket and shake it,” I explained, stepping into the small feed room where the grain and other everyday supplies were kept.
“Those hungry beasts will come running no matter how far away they are. I’ve never met a horse who wasn’t eager to get their dinner when there was a promise of sweet, sweet grain. ”
“How come these horses are kept separate?” Bailey-Rose asked.
“It was a Watson family rule that no horse who’s worked the land will ever get sold when they can’t work anymore.
They’ve earned the right to retire here for their years of service.
So the seniors got their own pasture and small barn to themselves where they didn’t need to compete with the youngsters,” I shared, handing her the bucket. “Care to do the honors?”
She nodded eagerly and followed me to the main gate. “Waffles, Nugget, stay,” she instructed, ensuring they were out of the way.
I watched the woman, who was teaching me to enjoy life again despite the dangers that lurked around every corner, shake the bucket.
She shook that thing like it was her purpose in life and some of the grain even spilled out.
That was one thing I loved most about Bailey-Rose—she did nothing half-assed.
If she was going to do it, then dammit, she was going to give it her all.
A whinny rang out, and I knew it was Bandit—he had always been a vocal guy about pretty much everything.
However, when it came to food of any kind, that boy wouldn’t miss an opportunity.
Titon was leading the way with Bandit right behind him, and the other two picking up the rear, took their time, knowing dinner wasn’t going anywhere.
Bailey-Rose laughed as the two geldings shoved each other, trying to be the first one in the barn.
Titon was what you thought of as the perfect specimen of a working horse—even in his old age, he held his form well.
His bay coloring also made him quite eye-catching as well.
Bandit was an ornery yet mischievous, flaxen-colored Haflinger that had been Callie’s best friend.
While the ATV had been a special gift for Callie, the thing she loved most was this naughty horse that wasn’t really a pony but not quite a horse.
Those two got into all kinds of trouble as they roamed the lower pastures.
I know one thing—if Callie had been with Bandit instead of on that ATV, she would be alive today because there was no way that horse would let anything happen to her.
With everyone in their stall, Bailey-Rose and I slid the stall doors closed, ensuring they’d stay there. “Come here, baby girl… let me show you what each of these old fogies are gonna be eating tonight.”
Drawing her back into the feed room, I showed her the chart Tripp created and hung above the feed bins.
“Can you read this section off for me while I pull it all together? These guys are special and get a fair amount of supplements. It’s one of the reasons none of the stable hands like feeding out here.
It takes just as long to feed these four horses as it does half the other barn,” I joked.
“Yeah, well, it will be the same for them when they get old,” she pointed out. “Wonder if they realize the nurses will be grumbling just as much handing out their medication.”
Laughing, I shook my head as I pulled together four buckets of feed. With Bailey-Rose’s help, I got all four servings settled in no time. The final step was to add a bit of oil for Candy to mix it all up, and then we were good to go.
“Hey, there’s a note on Bandit’s column that if he’s limping or looking sore, to give him something for pain management,” Bailey-Rose pointed out. “He seemed fine when he ran in.”
“Let’s feed the other three real quick then I can look in on him. Once that feed is clipped into place, no one is able to get close to him until he’s finished,” I explained, handing her a bucket. “That’s for Candy, the white one.”
Candy was a sweet girl, always had been, probably why my mother picked her.
She’d be perfectly safe for Bailey-Rose to interact with first. Titon, like his owner, was a bit of a prick, and Diego, the other gelding, was hit or miss on how he interacted with strangers.
I doubt he had gotten better in his old age.
Done with the other three, Bailey-Rose pulled back the stall door enough for us to look in on Bandit. Looking at the fella, I couldn’t see anything wrong, but I decided not to take a risk and ran a hand down his legs.
“What are you looking for?” she asked as Bandit snuffled her pockets in the hope there could be food hidden there.
“Heat, when horses get sore or something is inflamed, it gets hot,” I answered. “Although it looks like he’s totally fine. I didn’t find a hot spot, so he’s probably good to go.”
Before I could stop her, Bailey-Rose grabbed the bucket and walked in to clip it to the hook.
Other than Callie, Bandit always charged at the person, so we installed a second hook close to the door so no one had to get body checked into a stall door.
However, to my amazement, Bandit waited for my girl to clip the bucket, pat him sweetly on the neck, and step back before he dove into his meal.