Chapter Eight – Ensley #2
My brother smiled. “I’ll get ’em ready and meet you out front.”
“Sounds good.” He turned to walk away, and I called out, “Gatlin?”
Turning, he walked backward. “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Winking, he said, “Anything for my favorite sister.”
I laughed, watching as he walked into the tack room.
After getting cleaned up, I walked to where Gatlin was waiting with the horses. He was talking to Emeline, who was holding Jackson.
“Hey, how’s the little man today?”
She grinned down at her son, then at me. “He’s doing amazing. I swear he’s the perfect baby.”
Kissing him on the cheek, I replied, “That’s because he’s a Wilde.”
“Listen, I was going to ask you if you’re feeling up for an adventure.”
My eyes lifted to meet hers. “Guess it depends on what type of adventure you’re talking about.”
“Well, with the benefit charity dinner being moved to the first weekend in November, which is next weekend, Mom needs my help with the final details. I was wondering if you could watch Jack for me. It would be for most of Sunday. And it’s just him, since I’ll have the older kids with me.
Mom’s going to put them to work decorating. ”
“Are there not any other events that week?” Gatlin asked.
Emeline shook her head. “No, Mom and Dad rented the event center for the whole week so we could make sure we have everything ready to go. This is the biggest charity dinner to date, and Will gave it to them for next to nothing.”
Will Owens was the owner of our one and only event center in River Falls. He was also Jacob’s cousin.
“I’d be happy to watch this little chubby angel.”
“You’re sure?”
I gave my sister a look. “Of course I’m sure!”
She smiled. “Thank you so much. I’ll drop him off around nine, so we can get there for an early start. Levi is helping, as well, or else he’d stay home with Jackson.”
It crossed my mind to ask why Mom hadn’t asked me to help, but I suspected I’d be put to work plenty closer to the charity dinner the next weekend.
“You coming or what?” Gatlin asked, clearly tired of waiting.
“Yep,” I said, as I took hold of Ceres and swung up into the saddle.
“Thanks for exercising them. With two of our guys on vacation and me not able to find time to ride lately, these guys are in desperate need of exercise.”
“I never need an excuse to ride,” I assured her.
“Thanks, guys!” Emeline called out again, as she turned and headed back into the barn.
“Ready?”
Smiling back at my younger brother, I replied, “Let’s go.”
Ceres followed Luna as Gatlin headed to a trail that was normally used when Emeline held her summer camps. I knew it was one of his favorites, leading up to a large pasture where we always held the chuckwagon dinner the last night of camp.
Once the trail widened, I moved up alongside him. “Do you remember when we used to come up here as kids to play?”
He gave me a grin. Lord, my baby brother was handsome.
So was my older brother, Caden, but Gatlin had a certain spark about him.
He lived life as if every day were his last. Everyone adored him, and women especially fell all over themselves just to talk to him—and he was absolutely clueless about it all.
“Remember the time you tied me up and left me for hours up here?”
A sudden laugh burst from me. “I forgot all about that!”
He glanced at me and tried to frown. “I didn’t.”
“Mom and Dad were so worried when they couldn’t find you. I was afraid to tell them where you were, and I couldn’t get back out to ride up and cut you loose.”
“How’d they find out?” he asked.
“Mom was about to call the police, so I confessed. I was grounded for three weeks. No horses, no playing…pretty much stuck in my room and only allowed out to eat.”
It was his turn to laugh. “Why did you leave me up there for so long?”
“When I got back to the barn, Caden made me help him with chores, and by the time I was finished, it was dinnertime. I tried to saddle up a horse first, but Uncle Mike told me I couldn’t go by myself that late in the day.”
“And you didn’t think to tell him you left me up there?”
“At least I put you in the shade.”
His head dropped back with another round of laughter. He shook his head. “I was so hungry, and my throat killed me from yelling for help.”
I chuckled. “Dad said halfway up the trail they could hear you screaming. He said you sounded like a mountain lion.”
Gatlin rolled his eyes. “I was going through puberty.”
We rode in silence until we got to the pasture. Gatlin slid off, tossed the reins over the saddle and let his horse graze. I did the same.
“Where’s your favorite spot on the ranch?” he asked, as we walked.
“Granddad took me to a spot on top of a hill, on the west side of the ranch. There’s a beautiful view of the river below. I go there a lot when I need to think, or just to try and reconnect with myself.” Glancing at him, I asked, “What about you?”
“There’s a trail that leads to the BLM lands that goes up and over that one small mountain. From the top, you can see the entire river valley. It faces west, and man, the sunsets up there are unreal.”
“It’s a good spot to watch the storms roll in, too. Dad told me that was where our great-great-grandfather Lawrence used to go to gauge the storms coming in.”
He let out a sigh and shook his head. “It sucks we lost all that land down there.”
My eyes traveled toward the BLM land that had once belonged to our family. Our grandfather had sold it to the state with the promise it would be Bureau of Land Management property, and that we could still graze our cattle there. It was peppered with cattle even now.
“Yeah, I agree.” Turning to look at my brother, I asked, “Have you ever been in love?”
His head snapped in my direction. “Me?”