17. ATLAS
Chapter seventeen
ATLAS
DANCING INTO MY HEART
“Up a little on the left,” Connor says, and I move the string of the birthday banner to a higher branch and tie it off.
The projector screen is set up between the two large trees beside the cuddle cove, and we’ve brought out the hay bales for seating like we do when we run ranch movie nights.
It’s one of Dean’s favorite things we do on Beaker Brothers for the guests and the town.
Mine too, at least when it’s something I haven’t seen.
We put on a movie every weekend through the summer and most of the spring.
Winter, we cut back. The wet and cold make it hard to get people out here; it’s why we did the whole winter Christmas experience last year, to try to get more guests out on the ranch during a time that is frankly pretty rough for everyone.
We had a good turnout, and one of the guests, Hayden, who came to write about the experience, ended up kicking it off with Connor, and now they’re living together in his tiny cabin behind the cuddle cove.
Technically, they have a second cabin too; it’s one of the smaller rentals that was almost never booked, so Connor booked it out for the year and turned it into a writing space for Hayden.
How he can think trapped in that tiny space for a whole day, I will never understand. Sure, my trailer is technically about the same size, but I basically only sleep in there, and I cut a giant skylight in the roof so I’d at least feel like I was outside when I was in there.
“It’s looking great,” Matthew says, coming over and immediately holding the ladder I’m on, like I haven’t been up one of these a million times and been perfectly safe.
“When are they due back?” I ask.
“At least a few hours. Gramps somehow convinced Dean and Preston to take him around to the old farms to see who’s left from his day,” Matthew replies, and I start making my way down the ladder. He doesn’t move, just stands at the bottom, hands gripping either side as I lower myself into the gap.
“Are you done with all your work?” I ask, stepping onto the dry soil and turning in place.
He doesn’t lower his arms; instead, he steps in closer, closing the cage he’s created around me.
My cock twitches like it’s remembering the last time we were this close.
Inside my trailer, less than a week ago, I was lying naked under a skylight while the biggest storm in a month crossed over the ranch.
“Not yet. I just thought I’d see if you needed any help before I head over to help Connor.”
“I’m good. Perry leveled the last of the new trail this morning, so I need to check for any branches we need to trim down and then help lay the rest of the gravel.”
“It’s come together so quickly.”
We decided not to run the trail all the way around the ranch because it would force the horses onto the roadside at the end.
Instead, we continued past the valley Matthew sprinted down, until we found a perfect place to set up a break spot.
A few trees had come down in the last few storms over the back left corner of the ranch, and after clearing the long grass and trimming a few branches from the trees still standing, we found the perfect place.
It’s on the higher side of the property, and on the left.
From there, you can see the mountains, but the best part is what you get a clear view of to the right.
The newly formed waterfall that’s feeding the stream Matthew found.
“I’ll be runnin’ the last of the gravel up with Perry later today, then it’s just cuttin’ into those fallen trees to make some seats and it’s done.”
“What about the troughs for the horses’ water and stuff?” he asks, and I love the way his mind goes to them and what they need.
“Already up there. I dropped off a large old laundry tub we had sitting under the house. It’s cement, so it won’t go blowing away if the weather gets a bit wild up there.
Sally-May reckons we could get a few apple trees and a wild carrot patch growing too, so the horses can have freshly picked treats, you know, once they start fruiting.
Until then, I’ll just be sure to take a bag of goodies with me for them.
“And Gramps loves it?” he asks, and I shrug.
“He hasn’t seen it yet. We were going to take him out tomorrow if you wanted to come?”
“You want me to come show Gramps the trail?” His cheeks blush a warm, rosy glow.
I lean in close, and my hands find his waist.
“You helped make it, so it seems only fitting.”
“If we’re on horseback, can I have Whiskey again? I think we’re starting to understand each other.”
“You mean when he isn’t throwing you over fences,” I chuckle, and he glances side to side then pushes up on his toes, gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, and steps back.
“So, I’ll see you later, then?” he asks, digging one toe into the dirt as he waits for my reply.
“Absolutely.”
“Good,” he says, and then he turns and jogs off toward the old stables.
I watch him go, and when he pauses at the main doors, I know he’s found it before he bends over.
I was helping Perry spread the gravel yesterday and spotted it in the crushed rock.
I decided to leave it half sticking out of the dirt at the corner of the old barn doors, hoping Matthew would find it and add it to his lucky penny collection.
He pulls out his phone, clicks a pic to send off to his mom, and shoves his phone and the penny into his pocket before continuing inside.
I finish helping set everything up for the party and then meet Perry by the start of the new trail. We had truckloads of gravel dumped in giant piles by the entrance, and I’d like to say that the piles are reducing down quickly, but I’d be lying. It looks like we’ve barely made a dent in them.
“Nial said you guys could use another set of hands,” Denver Royal, the oldest of the neighboring farm’s kids, calls as he pulls up on a mini digger.
“Is your father good with you borrowing his equipment?” I ask.
“It was his idea. Apparently, showing up with a rake and shovel isn’t being helpful,” Denver replies.
I hold up my heavy-duty rake, and he laughs.
“I guess you better keep helpin’ Perry run it up and I’ll keep spreading it out,” I reply, and then I hear Nial behind me.
“We’re here to help too,” he calls, jogging over with another rake. Behind him are Alan and Ryan, both holding rakes.
“Us too,” Ryan says, a wide smile taking up half his face.
“You two are supposed to be on vacation, not working,” I say, looking at Alan and Ryan, but Alan shakes his head.
“If we’re on the ranch, we’re working. You know how Gramps is,” Alan replies.
“Please tell me you’ll at least make sure Gramps does something relaxing,” I say, and he laughs.
“He’s been spendin’ most of his time in the cuddle cove with Connor, visiting with Miss Milky and Miss Moo,” Alan replies.
“Ahh. I figured he’d find a way to be with the cows. I’m actually surprised he hasn’t been helping with the milking,” I reply.
“He was in there earlier today,” Nial says. “He couldn’t figure out the scanner, so he mumbled something about technology taking over the world and decided to go check on the cove.”
The low rumble of the mini digger draws my attention and grows louder with every second. Finally, it and Perry come into view up the trail.
“With this many hands, we’ll have the trail done in no time,” I say, and we get to work.
***
I was wrong. So very, very wrong, I think, as I limp along the now completed trail back to the ranch.
Connor and Matthew came looking for us about an hour ago with a floodlight and a couple of shovels to help out.
Good thing they did too, or we wouldn’t be finishing up until tomorrow.
I completely underestimated how much gravel we’d need to spread to create a sure enough footing up the slope and then to cover the rest area at the end of the trail.
Matthew somehow didn’t, though; he ordered pretty much exactly what we needed, maybe a little more, the once monstrous piles now a scattering of loose rocks and scratched earth.
My stomach growls, and Matthew chuckles beside me.
“Good thing Sally-May said she’d have dinner waiting for us when we got back,” he says, nudging my side.
Denver laughs. “I hope my parents saved me something. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”
He turns back, smiling, then turning it into an apologetic frown.
“Not that I would actually eat a horse,” he tells me.
I shrug.
“If push came to shove, I’m sure we’d all eat a horse. You know, if we had to,” I say.
“Not Preston,” Nial laughs.
“Okay, everyone except the vegetarian vet,” I reply, and when we finally make our way back to the start of the trail, the lights of the main house on Beaker Brothers are like a beacon through the tree line, calling us home.
“Wow,” Matthew says, and my attention turns to what’s giving him awe.
Fairy lights have been wrapped around the top railing of the cow paddocks all the way down to the cuddle cove, illuminating the driveway and making the crushed quartz glisten.
Down where I helped set up the projector and birthday banner earlier, more string lights zigzag between the trees over the hay bales and popcorn stand, and running the length behind it all is a long table with what looks like every chair in the place set around it.
Covered dishes glisten under the lights as steam creeps up from under their lids, creating a sort of dreamlike softness to the whole thing.
“Hope you lot are hungry,” Perry calls as he makes his way toward the setup, carrying another covered dish.
After the last of the gravel was dropped off at the rest area, Perry headed back to the house.
He’s the oldest guy out here, and yet he works harder than anyone I’ve ever met.
Dean and Nial keep telling him he can retire whenever he likes, but he’s determined to take his last breath on this earth working it.
We give him his pick of jobs as our way to try to cut him a break, and sometimes, when he’s being particularly stubborn, we get Skye to pretend to forget how to do something less strenuous so that he’ll step in and help him figure it out.
Perry is the type of guy who just can’t help but help.
“Hungry enough to eat a horse,” Nial calls back, and Denver glances his way with a small smile on his lips. Those two have been like two peas in a pod since the Royals moved in next door a while back. Denver is closer to Skye’s age, but he and Nial just clicked.
Sally-May steps out onto the porch to greet us.
“Get yourselves cleaned up, and we can get to celebrating,” she says, and I notice the basket slung over her arm, the delicious scent of fresh-baked bread wafting up from the red and white checkered cover, and my mouth waters.
“Where is the man of the hour?” I ask as my stomach grumbles.
“Preston’s keeping him busy checking on the Fletcher sheep.”
“Oh no. Is everything okay?”
She smiles, settling the uncomfortable tightness that had instantly crept into my chest. Last year, the Fletchers lost a chunk of their herd when they couldn’t afford their regular feed, so they’d let them graze on land that hadn’t been checked properly, and a bunch of them got really sick and died.
Dean let them use some of their land until they got back on their feet.
It was one of their sheep that gave Matthew a big kiss the other day.
“Just a small distraction to keep him off the ranch a little longer, so we could finish setting up our dinner outside,” Sally-May replies.
“It’s a good thing you did too. No way would we have all fit in the dining room tonight,” I say, and Nial shoves past me and runs into the house, calling dibs on the downstairs half-bath as he goes.
“He’d suggested we set up a second table in the living room, of all things,” she replies with a chuckle.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I say, and her brows pinch together.
“You’ve eaten dinner in the living room before?” she asks, and I bite my lower lip, trying to hide my smile.
“No. I just assumed, you know, when they were kids, they probably ate in there. Maybe. I don’t know what I’m saying, it’s late, I’m hungry. I should get washed up,” I tell her and rush into the house before she sees right through me.