Chapter Twenty-Five
Kaylee
Maybe we should knock on the door and tell him what we’re doing?
” Kaylee tried to keep her voice to a whisper as Rick led the way through the brush to the back end of the McNally farm.
All was quiet, and when they reached the edge of the fence, Kaylee could see the barn.
The door was open, but there were still half a dozen goats lying around the pasture.
“You wanted to milk a goat, but sneaking onto a farm to milk a goat? Now that is bucket list–worthy.”
“Except Mr. McNally’s border collie will chase us up a tree if he’s in there.”
Rick paused, waiting. “I don’t hear any barking.”
“He’s stealthy.”
“We just need to get to the barn, so why not take the path?” He followed the fence to its end and rounded it, walking backward with a smile. “See? No fence-jumping, no dogs chasing. We’ll go inside the barn, find yourself a nice little lactating mama, you can pinch her nipple, and we’ll scram.”
“‘Pinch her nipple’? Seriously?”
“What would you call it? Squeezing her udders? Stroking her teat?”
Kaylee guffawed. “You’d better stop right now, or we’re definitely getting caught.”
Rick jogged along the path in front of her, and she shook her head, watching the neighboring pasture.
He seemed determined to accomplish their feat, and his enthusiasm was contagious.
Although it might seem stupid, this was as close to being wild as she got, and the fact that he understood that and didn’t mock her anymore for it made her soften toward him.
They reached the barn, and Rick ushered her inside, and she giggled as she took large strides into the barn. She fell into step with him as he looked into every stall, mumbling, “No. No. No. Yes!”
He stopped in front of one of the stalls, where inside was the brown mama and her little baby from the other day when McNally’s goats got loose.
Kaylee could still picture Rick holding the squirming baby as its mama reared back, ready to stomp his head in.
If she hadn’t gotten hold of the old girl and pulled her back, he would have had a hoofprint stomped into his forehead, and that wouldn’t do because even though she’d wanted him to hightail it out of town, she kinda liked his face.
Fine, it was more than his face. She liked nearly everything about him, even his stubborn streak.
“Aren’t you worried about getting arrested as a federal agent?”
The goat bleated at them as he held the stall door open for Kaylee. “We’re not gonna get caught. You are going to squeeze, she’s gonna squirt, and we’re gonna run.”
“You’re enjoying this?”
Rick grinned. “A little bit. I was an altar boy growing up. My mother had four children. I was the second born. My brother was super serious. I think he was born an adult. My younger brother caused all the trouble, and my little sister could get away with murder. I was just kind of there, so I did everything I could to not give anyone any grief. And my mother just kind of left me alone. The only one that I was really close to was my abuela.”
“So you didn’t break any rules? No teenage rebellion, nothing?”
“Nope, I wanted to be in law enforcement, and I knew I had to toe the line. So when my friends were doing donuts in the parking lot and jumping over fences to chase cows, I was at home studying or hanging with my family.”
“Are you guys close?”
“Honestly, no. My older brother is a lawyer in LA. My younger brother is a day trader in New York, and my sister tried to be a model, and now she is a personal stylist for a bunch of wealthy men and lives in my younger brother’s basement.”
“Oh, what about your parents?”
“My dad and my mom got divorced when we were growing up, and she is remarried now, living in Arizona with her new husband. I get calls from her every once in a while, but we’re not close.”
“That’s sad,” she said. “You don’t even go back to see them at the holidays?”
Rick shook his head. “It’s one of those things where you don’t get to pick your family, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep them.
My parents weren’t abusive or anything like that.
They were just indifferent. There wasn’t a lot of closeness, and I think my mom only had us because she thought that’s what she was supposed to do.
” Abruptly, he took her by the shoulders and gave her a little push toward the goat.
“So, let’s get on with this milking business. ”
“Well, how do we hold her still?”
Rick looked around the stall and saw a lead hanging from a nail. He picked it up and widened the hole. The goat backed up a little, but he tossed it over her head, making it on the first try.
Kaylee laughed. “You should’ve been a rodeo star.”
“I did some mutton busting once.”
“Remind me what mutton busting is?” she asked.
“It’s what they do when they put grade schoolers on the backs of sheep and see how far and how long they can stay on.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“I hardly remember it. My abuelo signed me up when I was four or five, I guess. I went through a phase where I wanted to be a bull rider, but my mom put her foot down.”
“Well, she was probably afraid you’d get hurt.”
“Or the fact that it cost money, and she was pretty tight.”
“Yikes.” Kaylee took a deep breath and squatted down, looking under the goat’s belly for her udder.
“Okay, honey, don’t kick me.” She reached out and touched the top of the closest teat, squeezing down like she’d seen on TV.
Milk sprayed out of the end, and she squealed, startling the goat.
Kaylee fell back on her butt and cracked up.
“I did it!”
“See, easy peasy titty squeezy.” He took the lead off the goat and put it back. “Now, let’s get out of here.”
They exited the stall, and he locked it back up. They walked to the exit and down the lane when a flurry of frenzied barking exploded. They both whirled around in time to see a black-and-white blur headed straight for them.
“Run!” Rick said, and Kaylee squealed in terror and adrenaline as she took off, kicking up her heels and pumping her arms. She was out of shape and was winded by the time they reached the fence.
Rick was a ways ahead of her when suddenly, something grabbed hold of her pant leg and tugged.
The sound of fabric ripping echoed in the night, and she glanced back to see that the dog had a chunk of her sweatpants in his mouth.
She kept going until she reached the tree line, and she saw Rick on a limb above her head.
McNally’s voice called the dog’s name, and he ran back to the house. Kaylee leaned her hands on her knees, breathing hard.
“You good?” Rick asked.
“That dog ripped my sweatsuit!”
“Well, at least he didn’t bite you, though.”
“You’re right, it could’ve been worse.” She looked up at him in the tree and grinned. “That was kind of fun.”
“See,” he said, dropping to the ground. “Sometimes taking risks is worth it.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah, it is.” He swiftly reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her into his body before his mouth covered hers. She sank into the warmth of him, and his delicious mouth, and she eagerly kissed him back.
When Kaylee broke the kiss, their breath fogged in front of their faces against the chill in the air, and she said, “I think we should go home and get warm.”
“Oh, really,” he said. “Do you have any ideas on how you wanna do that?”
“I think I can come up with something.”