by Barb Shuler
“Once a day, sometimes twice. All depends on Ma. Sometimes she needs eggs, so we come out more than once.” He hadn’t slowed down since we came in and we were to the last boxes before I knew it. I smiled as I moved to the next to last box. The hen wasn’t having my hand violating her space. She cawed and pecked at the back of my hand and I pulled back.
“Listen Kentucky Fried, no need to get pissy. I just want your eggs. Kay?” I said as I shoved my hand back under her. She fluttered her wings and cawed again, but it was done. I had her three eggs. And then she flew at my head. I shrieked and swatted at her. She landed on the ground clucking and telling them all about how mean I was to her. I snorted and looked over at Danny who was laughing at me.
“Shut it, little boy,” I said, playfully swatting his arm. It wasn’t long before we were inside, rinsing off the eggs and putting them into another basket that sat on the counter. I was having fun with this. Maybe I could do this… only time would tell. But for Tate, I’d try as much as possible to do it.
“Okay, now… let’s go meet Bessie.” I raised a brow at Danny and let him lead me back out to the barn. I was kinda worried about what Bessie was….
10
In the Swing of Things
Georgie
No one said ranchin’ was easy. Lord knows I have had a crash course in the whole thing over the last few weeks… I am loving it, but dear Lord, my body hates it and me. Nothing beats a hot soak at night in my big tub. Tate has tried to get me to come to stay in the main house, but I’m not ready for that. I like my space and seriously... I do not want an audience when he is in bed with me. Ugh, just the thought of the man touching me makes my body burn with want and need. He’s turned me into a whore.. But I’m secretly okay with that.
Walking up to the main house I yawned and gave myself another big stretch. Tango ran up the steps to the back porch and scratched at it. He was ready for the bacon and eggs Abigail would have in his bowl for him. Damn dog was spoiled already. Not that he wasn’t before, but now he was just a brat about it. When Joe opened the door, I gave him a big smile and a kiss on the cheek.
“Morning Joe.”
“Mornin’ Georgie. Come on in, everyone is about to sit down to breakfast.”
My stomach growled when we stepped into the kitchen. God, it was like a food heaven in here. A chorus of good mornings filled the air as I moved over to get a glass of OJ. As I took a sip, my eyes closed. It wasn’t the drink itself, no it was the warm body that pressed up behind me. The tickle of his lips dancing across the spot below my ear sent a tingle through me.
“Mornin’, Darlin.”
“Morning,” I said softly before I turned in his arms so I could press a soft kiss to his lips. No other man would get me out of bed at five o’clock in the morning. Nope, only this man. Today it looked like they had already been out for a while. Both Jon and Tate had dirt stains on their jeans and were in socks, which meant their boots were out back and dirty. Abigail would not allow dirty shoes in her house. Not a chance. She made sure we all remembered that before each meal.
I stole a piece of bacon from the plate on the table and before I could sit I heard Abbie crying through her monitor, which was always in close range to the family. Tango went running towards the stairs to greet his new buddy. I kissed Tate’s lips and pushed him to his chair.
“I’ll get her. Y’all eat. We’ll be right down,” I said.
“You sit honey, I’ll get her,” Abigail said.
“No Ma, you and Georgie sit. I’ll go get her,” Tate said and I held my hand up.
“Sit,” I said, pointing to the table. “I’ve got her. You two have been up for a while, it’s the least I can do. Plus, I don’t mind.” I didn’t give either of them time to argue with me as I turned and moved to the stairs. When I got to her nursery I grinned at her. She was leaned up against the crib’s bumper so she could see Tango. He was licking her fingers as she gripped the bars.
“Good Morning, Princess,” I said, scooping her up. I planted a big kiss on her cheek. “Someone has a wet hiney, huh?” I moved to lay her on the changing table and got her pj’s undone and her stripped down. My cast was a pain in the ass when it came to dressing her, but I was figuring it all out. By the time I got it the damn cast would be coming off but, eh. She babbled her nonsense as I got her cleaned up and into her t-shirt and overalls. I talked back to her. I mean, how could you not. She was so damn cute. You couldn’t help but smile seeing that cute little face.
I moved her back to her crib so I could go wash my hand and then I scooped her up again. I blew a big raspberry on her cheek causing her to giggle and grab at my face. Precious. I swear, she was an angel baby.
“Tango, come.” Abbie was looking for him as we made our way back down the stairs and into the kitchen. When we hit the bottom of the stairs the house was silent. I moved into the kitchen where everyone was and came to a stop when I saw them all looking at me. Or were they looking at Abbie? I looked down at us and raised a brow.
“Uh, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” Abigail said as she came over and hugged me tight. I was confused. What in the hell had I just missed?
“All righty, then. Eat people, stop staring or I might turn to salt,” I said, laughing nervously as I moved to sit by Tate. Abbie grabbed for my plate and I shook my head as I handed her a small piece of the toast’s crust to gum at. Abigail brought me over a jar of applesauce and some banana breakfast stuff. It smelled okay and after the first bite Abbie was all for it. I laughed as she made fish faces. She was a stinker.
“Abbie Grace,” Tate said as he tapped her nose with his finger. “You like that? Nana said you would. I wasn’t so sure.” He was still smiling when I caught his gaze.
“She loves it, don’tcha. She loved banana’s so.. It’s a given Tater.” I spoke my words with a smile. His eye twitched and I knew I would pay for calling him Tater. But come on, it was cute in a “I want to tease you” kind of way. Again, everyone was staring at me. I frowned. “Stop staring at me. What has gotten into you people?” I huffed.
“Sorry, it’s just- Georgie pardon me for speaking out of my place but you fit here. You spend as much time with Abbie as we do. You do for her and for us as if we are your own family-” Abigail’s voice cracked and I watched as she pulled a tissue from her pocket to dab at her eyes. I blushed and looked down at the baby in my arms, then looked at Tate. I swallowed hard before I looked back up at Abigail.
“I like your family. I like being here… I never really had a family. I had my PaPa and when he died, I was left alone. Tango is all I have left of that life.” My voice dropped as I shifted Abbie. My words hit me harder than I thought they would have. Phoebe and Tate both wrapped an arm around me and I broke down in tears. It felt good to have a family around me. Even if they weren’t really mine. It made the broken parts of me feel whole again.
“Well, you have family now, darlin’. Cannon’s take care of their own. You’re kind of stuck now,” Tate whispered in my ear and I looked up when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Danny gave me a big grin.
“I’m okay with this,” I said as I wiped my face. Abbie let out a squawk and unhappily babbled as she reached for the jars by my plate. “Sorry, princess. Here ya go.”
We all laughed at her antics and went back to eating. Tate and I gave Abbie bites in between our own. It made my heart soar to be here, content with this new path in life.
“Abbie and I will be in the garden if y’all need us. That is, until nap time. Joe, don’t forget you have to go get the lumber for the new barn. Daniel, you going out with Jon and Abe to the the Henderson’s?”
“Yes ma’am, unless you need me here?”
“Joe?” I watched the exchange around the table. Every morning was the same. Well, every morning I had been a part of this, that was. I smiled as Abbie finished her jars of food. I kissed her cheek and bounced her gently making sure there was no gas building up in that little tummy.
“I’d rather have yo
u to help with the lumber. But if not, Tate can help me.”
“I can go too,” I said.
“Phoebe, you’re going out to check the fence line, right? Maybe Georgie could go with you? No offense, honey, but I need someone who can do heavy lifting and I can’t risk you hurting your arm,” Joe said, pointing at my cast. I smiled with a nod. Duh, I hadn’t thought that through.
“Oh, no worries there. I can go with Phoebe if she doesn’t mind,” I said, smiling.
“That would be great. It’s boring out there all alone.” Her eye roll made me laugh and I shook my head.
“Well, now that’s settled, everyone eat up. We have a ranch to run,” Abigail said as she stood from the table and went to carrying empty plates to the kitchen. I smiled over at Tate who had taken Abbie from me. They were cute together. He was such a teddy bear around her. As it should be. She was his little princess.
“So, you really like my brother?” Phoebe’s question came out of nowhere. I was struck speechless for a moment but nodded. I did like her brother, a lot. More than I probably should for not knowing him long. I don’t think any of that mattered though. He was a great man, a passionate lover and he had stolen a piece of my heart, a piece of my soul. I chewed on my bottom lip and tried to fight back the heat from my cheeks. The mere thought of him made my body flush.
“I really do. He’s just… I don’t know. He’s stolen my heart and all that mushy shit,” I said, laughing nervously. She eyed me and I was worried something was wrong. Finally she nodded and gave me a big smile.
“Good, ‘cause he’s never been so dang happy. Seeing you with Abbie makes him happy too. You do fit into this family. Ma wasn’t just saying that, Georgie. We want you to stay. We want things with you and Tate to work out. He deserves to be happy and with a woman that loves him and his child.”
“I know, I want him to be happy too…”
“You deserve to be happy too. I know we don’t know everything about you, yet, but I know you are a great lady. And you are perfect for my bubba.”
Her words wrapped around my heart and made my eyes start to tear up. I had to fight to control myself. My smile grew wider as we crested a hill. The fence line seemed to go on forever. The beauty of the property made me wish I had a camera with me. This was heaven on earth.
We rode a little further out, looking around for anything - as Phoebe said - that was out of place. Making sure there were no holes in the fencing was a must. There were multiple herds of cattle and they didn't want them mixed up. It was a little - okay, a lot - over my head but I was trying to learn it all. I wanted to learn it. This was going to be my home for as long as Tate and I could do this relationship thing. Hopefully that was forever.
When Phoebe stopped and pulled out a pair of binoculars I moved a little past her. My eyes roamed the area around us. The trees off to the north made a breathtaking view. The more time I spent out here the more I fell in love with it. The sharpness of Phoebe’s voice when she cursed had me reeling around. Both horses started to dance around and I started to panic. What was going on?
“Phoebe?” I calmed my horse, whose name was Rustic, and moved closer to where she was headed. She’d leaned down and opened the gate. I managed to get it shut and latched after I was through it. “What is it?”
“About fifty yards out, you see that mass out there?” She asked, her eyes never leaving where she was looking. “We could have a heifer down.”
I nodded as I squinted a little more. When she handed me the binoculars and pulled out her rifle I swallowed hard. Peering through the binoculars I took in a sharp breath.
“Holy shit! Is that… is that a bear? He’s big…”
“Yes.”
I peered around again when I heard a strange growl and that's when I saw it…
“Phoebe! There's another one!”
“Oh shit, she has a cub. Move back now!”
11
Shots Fired
Tate
It had been a long morning in town. The hardware store and the Mill were packed, which wasn’t too weird since it was the first of the month, but damn. Dad and I were finally able to load up the truck and trailer with the feed and lumber we needed, got the next supply of hay ordered and headed back to the ranch. It was a quiet trip, all things considered.
Once back at the ranch I backed the trailer up beside the big barn and unhitched it. We started unloading the bags of feed when everyone came to a halt. We listened closer and I knew what we had been hearing. Danny came out of the barn and I raised a brow.
“Thought you went with Jon and Abe?”
“I did. We just got back. Henderson’s only had two horses to look at.”
My head came back up at the ringing in the air. “That’s rifle fire. Who’s out in the pasture?” I asked as I tossed the bag of dried corn down.
“Pheebes and Georgie went out earlier, they haven’t made it back in yet. I dunno if the boys are still out in the back pad or not,” Cody said. He too put the bag in his grip down.
“Sissy took her rifle...” Danny said, the color draining from his face.
He and Cody both looked out towards the sounds. I shook my head and ran around to grab my rifle from the back of the truck. I checked to make sure it was ready to fire and ran to the barn. I hurried to saddle Tornado and slid the rifle into the slot. Cody was right behind me with Magic.
“Be careful, call if you need help,” Dad said as we moved out towards the back of the property. That meant to use gun fire as a signal. Three quick shots followed by a single shot then three rapid fire shots. Was it a waste of bullets? Not if your ass was in trouble, no. It was our version of SOS. Danny was at the gate and flung it open before jumping on his ATV and speeding down the grassy plains. We pushed both horses as fast as we could following along the main fence line. That was where they were supposed to be. God, I hope they hadn’t gone off and gotten hurt. The gun fire hadn’t sounded like a signal but still. Someone was shooting at something.
By the time we got to the big hill my heart was hammering so hard my chest hurt. The images that filled my head sent me heart into overdrive and I swear if I hadn’t been on the horse I would have toppled over. Danny went zooming past us and I snapped out of my fog. I put my heels into Tornado’s side and bolted for the next gate. I didn’t stop. I let him jump it and run full out to where Georgie stood, rifle in hand. A dark mound lay on the ground less than twenty feet from her. My heart stopped when I got closer. Bear. Holy. Fucking Shit.
I hopped off the horse and ran to her, grabbing the gun. She had tears rolling down her cheeks as she curled into me. Cody was by Phoebe’s side when I looked up. Danny gave her the once over. I saw the rivulet of blood coming from under her bangs. I took a deep breath before I could speak.
“Phoebe, you okay? Your head’s bleeding?” Danny was a blur of motion as he ran to the ATV and back with a first aid kit.
“I’m okay, I’m okay. Chill, little man. It’s only a scratch. I hit the fence but caught myself. Honest. The fucking horse tossed me like a sack of taters,” she said, snarling each word. “If not for Georgie we’d have been dog meat.”
I swallowed, tightening my arm around Georgie, who was still sobbing against my chest. “Shh, hey, you’re okay. Let me see you.” I said, pushing her back slightly. She had a gnarly bruise forming on her right cheek. I raised a brow. “What happened to your face?”
“Gun. Jumped. I-I…” Her words came out in shuttered breaths. I moved to sit her on the ATV and cupped her face gently, trying to see if she was focusing on me or not. I was guessing we would need to go visit Doc with both girls. Just in case.
“What happened?” I asked her. I wanted her to focus on me and not that carcass out in the field. That was when I saw the movement right behind it. I moved to grab the rifle but Cody beat me to it. He had it up and ready to fire.
“DON’T! Please-” Georgie sobbed harder and I looked between her and Phoebe.
“Don’t, it’s just a cub. We need to call
the wildlife peeps,” Phoebe said sternly. “It was a mama and her cub.. I didn’t see it in time.”
I nodded at Phoebe and sighed. I was guessing this was a lot for them to wrap their heads around. It’s bad enough to have a bear charge but if you’ve never killed something before - and I was sure Georgie hadn’t - it can send you into a tail spin. I kissed Georgie’s head and hugged her tight. She was starting to calm down but the tears were still falling. Something wasn’t right, though. I looked around and then back to Georgie.
“Where’s Tango? Did he stay at the house?”
“Oh God, Tango.” She jumped up, stumbling as Phoebe and she moved passed the horses.
They both took off running so we followed them. Georgie fell to her knees and that was when I saw him. He had a bloody face and a set of claw marks down his side. His belly had been missed. Thank fuck. There was a good chance Abe could fix him up. Georgie’s crying doubled and I felt so helpless. She was begging Tango to not leave her. He was all she had left from before. The last bit of her PaPa.
“Baby. Georgie, look at me darlin’. Can you hold him while Danny drives you back to the barn? Abe can fix him…” I hoped. If not my girl was going to take it hard. I wasn’t sure what her past was like. She was closed off still. I got that. Everyone needed space when trying to sort their shit out and I was not one to push… but I didn’t want to see her broken.
“Yes,” she whispered. I gently picked Tango up and we moved to the ATV. Danny climbed on and as soon as Georgie was seated I handed Tango to her. I made sure she had a good grip on him.
“Danny, ride hard, bub. Get him to Abe,” I said, stepping back.
“Yep,” he said before he took off. He had that ATV wide open. I only hoped they made it back to the ranch house in one piece. I ran over and scooped up the bear cub. He or she wasn’t very big. Heavy, but not very big. I knew Fish and Wildlife would be pissy but what else did they want me to do, just leave it out here? Yeah, no. Cody held the cub while I mounted Tornado. As soon as the cub was laid against me I took off. Cody and Phoebe would be right behind me. I had to get to the house and get to Georgie.
