5
I wake up to the smellof biscuits and gravy with a side of a pounding headache. I’m in my bedroom and still in the clothes I went to the bar in. I sit up. Shit. I grab my head and turn to the nightstand to grab my phone. A water and a bottle of Tylenol lay by my phone. I take one and drink some of the water.
Slowly standing up out of bed I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror across from the bed. Yikes. I look like I’ve been ridden hard and put up wet. A pair of jeans and a tank top is laying over the chair beside the mirror with a note; We will go get you some clothes after chores this morning. Put these on. – Meg.
I smile. I’m thankful to have found such a good friend since ending up here. I change clothes quickly and throw my hair up in a messy bun. Walking down the stairs I hear laughter and conversation at the kitchen table.
“Morning, Sunshine.” Margaret says to me as she sits biscuits down on the table.
I grunt holding my pounding head, “Someone is a light weight.” Megan laughs fixing an orange juice. I grunt again sitting down in the seat beside her.
Looking up I realize there’s an extra person sitting at the table, my eyes widen when I realize he’s snarling at me. “I’m guessing drunk me gets angry quick?” I shrug trying to give a sweet smile.
He snarls, “You will work the back forty with me today.” He says taking a bite of his food. “So, eat up, Buttercup. You’ll need your strength.”
Megan looks at him, “Now, Logan, you know that is not the place for her to be right now. She will get hurt.” She shakes her head at him as if silently telling him no.
Margaret looks at him with her hands on her hips, “Logan, what is this about?” she asks while pointing back and forth at us.
He huffs, “Someone decided to pour her beer all over me last night.”
“Well, someone took my food without asking nicely.” I whip at him.
Margaret grins, “Nah, Megan. I think you’re wrong. This one has a fire in her. Kind of reminds me of myself when I was her age.” She sits down at the head of the table. “I think it’s a lovely idea.”
I smile at her and nod, thankful for the support.
“Have you ever ridden a horse?” Collin asks me.
I freeze, “No.”
Logan laughs, “Well, today you get to.”
I drop my fork in my plate, and everyone giggles.
***
Logan and I are standingin the hall of the barn with two horses tied up waiting to be saddled.
“This is Tiny.” He says patting the horse on the neck. He is a large brown horse with a long dark mane.
“He is what we call our babysitter. He is our most trusted gelding. He normally hauls the kids around when we are giving lessons but today, he can babysit you.” Logan jokes.
I roll my eyes at his remark.
“What are we doing with them?” I ask him.
“We are checking fences and making sure there aren’t any new calves in the pasture who need to be brought in.” He throws a pad and saddle over Tiny, and I watch as the stirrups fall to his sides and a long pad hangs low.
“This is called your girth.” Logan instructs me, “it goes under his belly to keep your saddle secured.”
He cinches his girth up on the other side. When he’s done, he does the same to his horse. He walks into the tack room and walks back out with two bridles and two ropes.
“Why do we need ropes?” I ask, confused.
He chuckles, “You seriously don’t know anything do you, city girl?” he places a rope around each of our saddle horns. He turns to me and hands me a pair of gloves.
“Here, put these on.” He turns walking to Tiny and putting the bit in his mouth, “In case we have to rope a calf to bring it in. The back forty is about 80 acres across the pound. You never know what we might get into.” He puts bags on the back of the saddle and ties them to it. Sticking a few waters and crackers in the bags. “In case you get hangry.” He says with a smirk, jokingly.
“Such a gentleman.” I roll my eyes.
He walks both horses over to the end of the barn and wraps his reins around his. She stands there politely while he helps me.
“Okay,” he starts, “I’ll boost you up, just put your foot in that stirrup, and pull up with the horn.”
I nod, “Any excuse to touch my ass huh?” I laugh.
“Believe me, it’s not my type.” He smirks as I pull up. He pushes and helps me throw my other leg over. I freeze. Tiny is a big horse, a lot taller than he looked from the ground.
“Hang on, I need to adjust your stirrups,” Logan says placing his hand on my thigh and I jump at the touch. He notices that he’s touching me and removes his hand quickly. “That should do it.” He says after adjusting the back of it to let the stirrup out some and I place my foot back into it. He was right, it feels so much better now.
“You are going to have to relax, Ivy. Tiny will take care of you. He knows this place like a tracking dog. I wouldn’t put you on anything that wouldn’t take care of you.” He says to me, pulling himself up on his mare.
I nod but don’t say a word. I feel Tiny shift under me, and I jump. “What is he doing?” I exclaim a little louder than I expected.
“Relax,” Logan says, “he’s getting flies off his leg. He will follow me most of the time. Just pull back on the reins in your hand if he’s going too fast for you.” He kicks his mare and walks off in front of me. Tiny follows. I tense up and hold on to the horn so tight the veins in my hands are visible.
After a moment, I relax and take in the beautiful scenery around me. The mountains and sky are so beautiful, and the grass is flowing with the tiny breeze the morning has given us. I’m in awe and look down at Tiny. He is a magnificent creature. To think, today I was supposed to be on my honeymoon in the Caribbean. Instead, I am on a beautiful ranch with beautiful animals doing things I have never done before.
Logan’s mare crosses over a creek and he turns around and says, “Let him do the work. You just hold on and lean back as he crosses the ditch.” I nod and Tiny does exactly that. Such a smooth cross and I reach down and pat him on the neck.
We are riding side by side as logan is the closest to the fence line and I’m on the outside watching what he’s doing. He’s checking the barbed wire making sure its still intact.
“How long have you been doing this?” I ask him.
He is silent for a moment as if he’s unsure if he wants to discuss this and then says, “About five years. I came here looking for work after my mother and father died. Collin and Megan’s grandfather gave me a job.” He says without looking at me.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Is there anyone else in your life other than the people you found here?” I ask and we stay quiet for a little while longer.
“I did have a girlfriend. But we broke up after my parents died. I wanted a fresh start after I met Mr. Jefferey, Margarets husband.” He finally answers me.
I was about to ask about their grandfather, but he cuts me off, “How did you find this place?”
I laugh and he looks at me like he doesn’t realize what is funny.
I sigh and explain, “It was random. I was supposed to get married two days ago. But, the morning of my wedding, I found my soon-to-be husband getting head from my sister.” I laugh to keep the tears from forming.
He stares at me, no emotion on his face. It makes me feel like I should keep talking so I go on, “I got in my car, hysterically crying,” I sigh, kind of embarrassed, “and I hit the interstate. A few hours later, I ended up here. I walked into Nana’s diner and Megan was my waitress. She offered me free breakfast the next day and brought me here.” I stop and look at him to see if he’s even following and he is still staring at me. So, I go on, “and now, the day I’m supposed to be in the Caribbean on my honeymoon, I am on the back of a horse, checking fences with a grumpy dude, doing more work than I’ve ever done in my life. It’s so random.” I laugh again.
Logan doesn’t say anything and turns to look at the land before us. My breath hitches as I realize we are on top of the mountain. I can vaguely see the farmhouse and the barn at the bottom. The sky is so blue, and the grass is multiple colors of green. The birds chirp around us and I watch as cattle are just ahead of us. Calves are playing and running around their mothers.
“There’s no such thing as random.” Logan finally says and it catches me off guard. He never looks my way, but I stare at him. Half of me feels like he’s not as grumpy as he shows himself to be.
Something up ahead gets my attention and I look at Logan, “Do you hear that?” I ask him.
“No?” he says looking to where I’m pointing. “What does it sound like?”
I don’t answer him, instead my body reacts before my brain can and I kick Tiny in the sides. He takes off trotting first and then opening up into a lope. My muscle instantly starts moving along with his rhythm. Again, I get a weird sense of déjà vu.
Coming to a flowing creek I pull Tiny to a stop and Logan comes riding up behind me. “Jesus, Ivy. You can’t just take off like that, you will scare the cattle.” He says angrily at me. I ignore him, hearing the sound again and this time it’s louder. Logans head shoots towards the direction of the sound.
“Shit.” He says, “That’s a calf in distress.”
My heart starts hammering in my chest and he kicks his mare taking off towards the area we heard it. Tiny instantly follows behind him.
We get up to a creek and I hear rushing water. The creek is much bigger than the one we crossed to get here. It looks deep and is flowing rapidly with a current.
He stops as we get close and says, “There!”
I see what he is pointing at. A dark brown calf is stuck on a rock in the middle of the creek. Its hoof just barely hangs over the rock to keep it from floating down the stream. It is soaked and its eyes look almost nonexistent. There is a brown color heifer with a white stripe on her face standing at the edge of the creek hollering out, jumping back and forth. It must be the mother.
“That’s a newborn.” Logan says, “Couldn’t be more than a few hours old.” He pulls out his phone calling someone and says, “Collin, quick. Grab Meg, we have a calf stuck in the large creek in the back forty,” he pauses. “For fuck’s sake, hurry, and bring the pistol.” He hangs up in a hurry and grabs his rope off his horn.
My eyes widen, “W-why a gun?” I ask.
But as soon as the words leave my mouth I see why. A coyote has emerged from the tree line on the opposite side of the creek from us. It”s stalking its way towards the calf. My heart rate speeds up, and I think I might vomit.
“Ivy, I hate to put you on the spot, but I don’t have a choice. We have got to get to the calf before the coyote does.” He says, not looking at me but his voice is shaky.
“O-oh, okay.” I stutter. “Tell me what to do.”
“It’ll take Collin and Meg at least a few minutes to get here after they saddle up. I need you to hold my weight with Tiny. I’m going to loop the lasso around me and wade into the water. When I tell you to, you pull Tiny back. He will pull us out.”
My eyes widen, “Logan, it’s too dangerous. What if I mess up?”
He looks at me with emotion in his eyes, “Nothing’s random, remember? We are here for a reason. You found this farm for a reason. You heard this calf for a reason.” He jumps down off his mare and wraps his reins around her neck. She stands still.
“The gloves you have on will protect you from getting rope burn, once the lasso is around my waist, I want you to wrap it as hard as you can around your horn. Hold your end as tight as you can, okay? Follow me until you get to the edge of the water and then release tension until I tell you to pull us out. Whatever you do, don’t let go.”
I nod, taking a deep breath trying to lower my heart rate. Ok, Ivy, you can do this, I say to myself. Logan loops the lasso around his waist, and I walk with him closer to the creek. The coyote stops in his tracks but does not run off.
“Watch me but keep your eye on him, too.” Logan says pointing to the coyote. I nod.
“Talk to me, Ivy, I need to know you understand.” He orders me.
“I understand.” I say back at him, and he turns and starts walking into the creek. My firm hand is on the rope and once I start to feel tension, I wrap it around the horn as tight as I can allowing Tiny to walk towards the creek. I make sure a little bit is left to hang so Logan can walk without pulling him backwards. Mama cow has switched from hollering to now, pacing the area. It’s as if she understands that we are here to help. I am amazed how she trusts us.
Logan is almost waist deep in the creek and finally makes it to the rock. “How is the calf?” I yell at him.
He unhooks the foot that is around the rock and pulls the calf to his chest. “It’s alive but not looking good. We need to get it to the barn and warmed up.” He says turning back to face me, “Okay, Ivy, now slowly back Tiny up.” He says and I do as I’m told. Tiny listens to me as I’m pulling back on the reins and starts slowly backing up. I can hear hoof beats coming up the hill from behind us. I look over my shoulder to see if I can see them, but they haven’t made it over the top yet. When I turn back to face Logan and the calf, the coyote darts towards them at full speed.
“Logan!” I scream and he turns around to see it too.
“DRAG US OUT!” he hollers at me as I pull tension on the rope and pull on my reins telling Tiny to move back faster.
BANG.
Ringing sounds in my ears and I see the coyote drop dead in a split second.
I look beside me, and Megan is holding a shot gun up on her shoulder. I let out a big breath and Logan makes his way out of the creek completely. He quickly looks over the calf checking for any sign of injury.
Mama cow walks over to sniff and lick her baby. “Good Mama.” Logan tells her. My heart swells with happiness seeing the mama interact with her newborn calf.
“We need to get it to the barn,” Megan starts, “Have you checked if it’s a boy or girl?”
Logan wipes his soaked jeans with his hands and says, “Nope. Been too busy trying not to die.” He gives her a look and Collin snickers.
“Are you okay?” Logan asks turning to me. “That was a lot to ask of you.” He says taking the rope from my shaky hands.
“I’m just glad that baby is safe.” I say with tearful eyes watching it and its mama.
“It’ll ride back with me. You follow and make sure mama stays with us. She should follow us back since we have it. We will need to milk her to get the colostrum for the baby.” I nod at him, and he picks up the calf like it’s a feather and places it in front of his saddle. He then climbs up and lays it over his lap.
“Ready?” he asks me, and I nod. We turn around following Megan and Collin back to the house. I turn my head back to see the coyote lying there dead. I cannot believe I was supposed to be in the Caribbean right now. Logan is wrong, everything is definitely random.