14. Will
14
WILL
"And this would be the timber mill where you said you came last week," she says, shooting me a wry grin. "You met with Finn Barnes, right?
I nod. "Yep. Met his boss Marshall when I popped in too."
"Marsh is a big teddy bear. Well, he is with his wife, anyway. They moved here with their kids a few years ago. Before that, he lived part-time in a trailer on-site and commuted to and from the big city. Now they've got a big cabin in the middle of the woods just out of town, and another cabin halfway up Deer Mountain." I find myself losing myself in the sound of her voice, hanging on every word as we drive through town. She talks a lot and if it was anyone else, it would annoy me. But with Birdie, I just want her to keep telling me anything and everything.
Maybe I am smitten. Then again, there are far worse things I could be…
"Deer Mountain is the one that connects with Cooper's Ridge. Know that one too," I say, winking at her. "There's a family who live there too, right?"
"Now who's been doin' their homework," she muses. "Do you even need a tour, or was this all just a ruse to get me alone, City Boy?"
I shrug my shoulders, my lips twitching. "I'm havin' fun and if anyone's goin' to be a good tour guide for Timber Falls, it's you." Birdie's suspicious eyes soften, and I know I have her convinced. "Honestly, I only know about Deer Mountain because Gramps told us about it as kids. The family who owns the other half of the mountain aren't close with us Coopers. Haven't been for a good long time."
She frowns. "What do you mean? If there was a feud or anythin', there ain't no way me or Dad wouldn't know about it"
"Don't know what to say, honey. I just remember Gramps tellin' us as kids that 'the Coopers don't mix with those Wilsons'."
"Hmm. They're kind of reclusive themselves."
"Maybe there's somethin' in the water up there on the mountain since Gramps was the same way," I muse.
She snorts. "You might be right about that. Seriously though, I wasn't aware of any rivalry but that's not to say there ain't one. The Wilsons like to keep to themselves. It's not that they're religious or anythin', they just like keepin' to themselves. Except for Old Man Wilson. He's a sweetheart, to me at least. At least once a week he'll come down to the Lair, order a whisky on the rocks, and sit at the bar so I can chat his ear off."
"You? Nooo," I tease, loving the way she snarls playfully before laughing along with me.
"Dad has said they weren't always like that–stayin' up on the mountain and keepin' to themselves–but somethin' happened a long time ago and now they just look after themselves, I guess."
"I remember bein' disappointed that we couldn't hike up Deer Mountain because Cooper's Ridge is good, but it's not called a mountain, and us four boys wanted to be able to go back home at the end of Summer and tell people we'd conquered a mountain like we were legends."
"Bet you were a cute little legend in trainin' though."
"Nope. I was tall and gangly. I had more legs than I should and didn't start fillin' out and growin' into my feet till I was fifteen and a half. By then, Case and Sutt were startin' to gain on me, and in my teenager mind, that just was not goin' to cut it."
"And here I was bein' called Big Boobed Birdie was bad. It wasn't my fault puberty hit early and I was years ahead of my entire middle school class," she says, grinning.
"So just like I grew into my feet, you–"
"Will Cooper, if you say I grew into my boobs I might have to pretend to be offended just for the sake of all womankind," she warns, pointing a finger my way.
I chuckle and hold my hand up in surrender. "I promise not to say anythin' about your boobs."
"Good," she says, trying and failing to keep a straight face.
"Anyway, at the end of the day, I swear Gramps would make us hike up Cooper Ridge to wear us out and get some peace at night."
Birdie snorts, her smile unmissable. "Maybe he wanted y'all to bond up on the mountain. I also wouldn't put it past Ridley to have done anythin' needed for a good night's sleep. Especially with the four of you ."
"And our sister," I grin.
"Damn, a sister too. I must meet her and shake her hand. She survived childhood with you four handfuls. She must be superwoman."
"Please don't tell her that. She already bosses all of us around even though she's the baby."
"As it should be," I reply.
I narrow my eyes. "Wait! Are you implyin' that we would've been a handful?"
"Have you seen you and your brothers together?" she shoots back, not missing a beat.
There's no point even trying to argue that one. "OK. You're probably not wrong there," I laugh. "How about you? Any embarrassin' childhood secrets you want to divulge?"
She squares her shoulders and puffs out her chest. "Would you believe that I was a Girl Scout?"
"Good to know. But unless you're plannin' on us takin' this tour off-road and out of the truck, I think we're safe barrin' any disasters."
"Touch wood," she murmurs, those perfect pink lips of hers twitching as she does it. "That wasn't on the itinerary for today. Landmarks and points of interest, yes. Courtin' trouble, nope."
"Sometimes courtin' trouble can be fun. Maybe not on our first date though," I tease. "Took us long enough to get here and I'm supposed to be makin' a good impression."
That gets a cute smile playing on her face. "Maybe our third then. I'll make a note of that."
"You do that," I say, my face starting to hurt from grinning. But I can't help it, this is already the best date I've ever had and all we've done so far is drink water, eat peanuts, and drive around town. How crazy is that ?
"But it doesn't surprise me that you were a girl scout. I bet you've squeezed a lot of things into your thirty years so far."
"Mmm, maybe," she hums. "Never left the state though. Been around Alaska, never left it." She points to the turn up ahead. "Take a left there. I'll take you past the animal rescue. I go there to lend a hand when they're short-handed and overwhelmed."
"It makes sense that you volunteer around town. Hope you weren't tryin' to lure me here so I'll adopt more animals. I'm already housin' a stray donkey, and our barn needs a hell of a lot more work before it's fit for any livin' creature stayin' there. Not sure I've got it in me to look after anythin' else right now."
"Besides, you've got Case, Sutton, and Jude to take care of," she smirks.
"Exactly!"
She tilts her head, looking at me with curiosity in her gaze. "Why does it make sense?
"That's an easy one. It's because the more I get to know you, the more I get to see that givin' heart of yours." I turn the truck down where Birdie told me to go. It's on the outskirts of town and there's a sign so big pointin' to the rescue that there's no chance you could ever miss it. "Did you want to stop here?"
"Do you want to?"
I pull the truck to the side of the road opposite the rescue. "I ain't against gettin' more animals, I think a ranch needs 'em and I used to love it when we'd come to stay with Gramps and we were old enough to chip in and look after them. But I think that it will just tempt me too much. I've got a bit of a bleedin' heart, you see. It wouldn't take much for an old dog or goat or–
"A stray donkey?"
"Yes, that too. It wouldn't take much for me to give in. Then that would mean havin' to drive back up to the ranch and I'm havin' a good time spendin' the afternoon with this woman I'm on a first date with. You know?"
"The ranch definitely needs animals. And yes, you are on a date and it's not the time to be adoptin' animals when you're on said date. Lucky for you, the woman you're datin' has an in with the rescue and can bring you back anytime when you are ready to fill your ranch up with animals. Maybe a cute dog, or a goat. Just not a–"
"Stray donkey?" I muse.
"Well, you've already got one of those. I bet he's more than enough." She lifts her leg onto the seat and turns to face me. "If you want to head back into town, we can swing by the Grill so I can quickly run inside and pick somethin' up."
"Is this another surprise?"
She rolls her eyes. "Well duh . Somethin' to know about me, my love language is acts of service. I'm a giver and I love doin' it."
"Good to know, honey. Guess that means I'll have to up my game for our second date."
"Oh really ?" My lips twitch. "We haven't even gotten through the first one and you're already plannin' the next?"
"I've got a good feelin'," I say, shooting her a devilish grin. "Besides, not five minutes ago, you were talkin' about our third date. Somethin' tells me we're both doin' OK with this datin' thing so far."
"Hmm," she hums as she looks me over. "You're lucky you're handsome and intriguin' otherwise that cocky attitude you're servin' would get you shot down." She somehow says it with a straight face and for a moment I swear she's serious. Thankfully , she cracks and starts cackling, her whole body shaking with amusement.
"Damn, honey. Maybe I've misjudged you. Just when I think I've got you figured out, you pull another rabbit out of your hat."
She winks, her grin so big it's blinding. "Don't worry, Will Cooper. There's plenty of tricks where that one came from."