Chapter 58
CHAPTER 58
CHARLIE
A fter a brief stop at a deli to buy some items for a picnic, Olivia and I arrived at the ranch and I parked next to my parents’ house. She wanted to say hi before we set out to go take a look at the space available for the fair.
I still owed her that kiss, and the anticipation for it was coursing hot and heavy through my veins. Not only did she look incredible in slacks that hugged her ass and a shirt that she’d unbuttoned to the valley between her breasts, but that jasmine scent of hers was clouding my ability to think logically and having her hand on mine in the truck hadn’t been nearly enough touching.
While I’d always been perfectly happy on my own, I’d found myself craving her company these last couple days. I missed seeing her almost first thing in the morning like I had in New York and I wanted her with me when I went to sleep.
Dad’s voice broke into my thoughts as I followed her up the stairs into my parents’ house. “Liv, is that you? I thought you were still in New York, darlin’. How was the conference?”
I blinked to find him offering her a hug and sending me a happy but surprised smile. My brothers were all tripping over their feet trying to reach her first and Mom gave her a big hug of her own. “I’m so glad you’re back home, sweet girl. I believe your talk was exceptionally knowledgeable and insightful. The boys seemed to have learned a thing or two from you.”
Liv chuckled as she returned Mom’s hug. “I’m glad they enjoyed it, and the conference was amazing, thank you, Jack. It’s also great to be back, though. Worrying about so many people for a whole week is exhausting.”
Mom laughed. “Rather you than me, honey.”
As I watched their interaction, something stirred deep in my chest. I’d come to love seeing how well she fit in with my family and how they’d really accepted her as one of our own.
“We’re planning on going around the ranch this afternoon to start planning for the fair,” I said. “Liv wants to get her bearings in terms of where we want all the attractions and the vendors to go, and we want to have a basic plan in place before the meeting with George and his people in a few days’ time.”
“Of course,” Mom said, smiling as she took a step back. “Have fun, you two.”
“The build-out will begin soon after the meeting. If you see anything we can do to get ahead of it, let me know.” Dad gave me a knowing grin. “Work hard out there.”
“Always, Pops,” I said instead of rolling my eyes.
Clearly, both Mom and Dad thought we were going to be focusing more on pleasure than business this afternoon, and as I took her hand, I kind of hoped we’d prove them right. Sure, we had to go around a bit so Liv could get a lay of the land and start working on a plan, but it wouldn’t take that long.
“Would you like to take the horses?” I asked her as we left the house, trying to ignore my brothers’ jeering catcalls and laughter emanating from inside until Mom shushed them. “Fucking idiots.”
“They’re just excited for you,” she said with a smile. “Let’s take the horses. It’ll be fun.”
I smirked as I slid my gaze to her. “Do you think you’ll be able to get on by yourself this time?”
She laughed. “I’m sure I’m going to need help again, but this time, I’ll ask. How about that?”
“That’s a good start,” I told her, not letting go of her hand as I doubled back to the truck to grab our picnic stuff before taking her down to the stables.
I saddled up Cutie for her and Nairobi for me, leading them out of the building before motioning for Liv to go ahead. “I’ll hold her for you. If you need it, I’ll give you a leg up.”
Liv nodded and stroked a hand along Cutie’s neck, murmuring to her as she fitted her foot into the stirrup. As she gripped the horn and pushed herself up, I expected her to start sliding right back down again, but instead, she went all the way up and slid her leg over the other side of the saddle.
I burst into soft and gentle applause so as not to startle Nairobi. “You did it. That’s awesome.”
She blinked a few times as if she couldn’t quite believe it herself. Then a slow grin broke out across her face and excitement sparked to life in her eyes. “The ranch is totally growing on me. That was so cool.”
I chuckled. “Next time, I’ll show you to how to put the tack on her.”
“That’d be so awesome. You don’t think I’d hurt her, right?”
“Not if you do what I show you to do,” I teased, letting her gather Cutie’s reins before mounting Nairobi. “Are you ready to go scope out where you want everything to be set up?”
“So ready,” she said excitedly, much more confident on Cutie’s back after the other times we’d gone out riding together. “I think it would work if we have games, attractions, and rides along the edges of our fair, and in the middle, we put the food vendors with their tables and benches.”
“Really?” I asked. “Don’t they usually do it the other way around? Food along the edges and rides on the inside? Or food on one side and games and things on the other?”
“Sure,” she said. “I’ve always been intrigued by doing it this way, though. Parents can find a spot to sit and eat or drink something while they’re waiting for kids to play a game or go on a ride. They can still keep an eye on them.”
“Okay.” I motioned at the cleared-out land closest to the main gate, the parcel Dad had designated for the fair. “It’s going to take us a few more minutes to get there, but that’s where we want to set up.”
“Oh.” She gasped. “That’s perfect. Here’s what I’m thinking.”
It hadn’t even taken her thirty seconds and she was looking at nothing, but she created a whole world. Shit, she really is a visionary.
“This is what I propose,” she said. “We use that far field over there as a parking area. People come in through the gates and are channeled directly to there. That also means that you won’t have hundreds or possibly even thousands of cars over the period driving around on the ranch and parking anywhere they want.”
I winced. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
She shot me a smile over her shoulder, heels digging into Cutie’s side to spur her on a little bit. “That’s why you’ve got me.”
“Fair enough.” I laughed, urging Nairobi to go a little faster too.
He broke into a trot and I caught up with her, reining him in to keep stride with Cutie once we reached them. Liv’s eyes were still on the parcel of land in the distance, but I could practically see the excitement thrumming through her veins, her entire face alight with it.
“We’ll build it out as a rectangle,” she decided. “Once you’ve parked, we’ll funnel people to an entrance on one of the narrow sides of it, where we’ll have a ticketing booth. Maybe more than one. We’ll have to see once we know how much interest we’ve drummed up.”
I didn’t even say anything, but she just kept going. “When you’re through the ticketing booth, we’ll have the food and drinks vendors right in front of you and games interspersed with rides around the perimeter. That’ll ensure that people keep moving instead of stagnating near the entrance.”
Within a few minutes, she’d practically planned out the whole thing, and personally, I thought all of her suggestions were great. What intrigued me even more, though, was seeing the ranch through her eyes as we went along.
She pointed out beauty in views I’d stared at my whole life without even really seeing it. She smiled at some wildflowers my mom had planted years ago, for example. “Oh, those are exquisite. We should find a way to cordon them off without ruining the view, but set up a photobooth here so people can get their pics for social media with that as their background.”
“Okay.” I glanced at the wildflowers that I hadn’t even really seen in years. “I guess they are pretty.”
“They’re not just pretty.” She laughed. “They’re magnificent. As is that field over there.”
I glanced in the direction she was pointing and frowned. “That’s an empty field.”
“Exactly.” She twisted in her saddle to look at me. “Just look at the natural beauty of that landscape and tell me it’s not gorgeous.”
“It’s empty,” I repeated. “Come to think of it, I need to talk to Dad about?—”
“After the fair,” she said, cutting me off jokingly. “We need those vistas exactly like they are for now.”
“Aye aye, Captain.” I made yet another mental note, glad that we were finally nearing the stream I’d wanted to show her. “Let’s stop over there and grab a bite to eat.”
To my surprise, Liv managed to bring Cutie to a complete halt all by herself, even hopping off the mare’s back and patting her once her feet were back on solid ground. “Gosh, that was exhilarating. How glad am I that I wore flats this morning? Otherwise, we’d have had to take the truck.”
I chuckled. “Cutie is here whenever you feel like taking a ride, baby.”
Liv slowly turned away from the horse to catch me staring at her. “You know, you called me that back in the city, too.”
“You don’t like it?” I asked as I dismounted and brought out the food I’d had in my saddlebag. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a blanket, so we’re going to have to sit on the grass.”
“That sounds just fine to me.” She made her way to a shady spot near the rocky shore of the stream and sat down crossed legged, smiling as she watched me walk over to her. “It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just, it means something, doesn’t it?”
“It means I like you, baby . A lot.” I set down the paper grocery bags and took a seat right next to her, one of my knees bent and drawn up and the other leg stretched out ahead of me. “You already knew that, though.”
“Yeah, I did.” She turned her head to smile at me, putting her face only inches away from mine. “It’s really good to be back here with you.”
I brushed my fingers through a lock of her loose hair and inclined my chin in a nod. “Let’s eat something before we have to head back.”
As she grinned and grabbed a ready-made sandwich out of the bag, she lifted her eyes to the sky and pointed at a cloud while the horses munched on grass around us. “Look at that one. It looks like a dildo.”
“A dildo?” I laughed. “That’s imaginative, but I can kind of see it. The one next to it looks like Todd.”
“No, it doesn’t.” She squinted her eyes. “It looks like a poop emoji.”
I chuckled. “Exactly.”
Her tiny fist connected with my bicep in a playful punch and I caught it, tugging her to me and sealing my lips over hers for that kiss I owed her. Neither of us had even taken a bite of our food yet, but I didn’t want to wait any longer.
We ended up giggling and wrestling in the grass, stealing kisses and tickling each other while the horses gave us lame looks, tossing their heads like disapproving parents. It was the best afternoon I’d had in years and I was going to do everything in my power to make sure it didn’t end here.