My lips twitch and I swear it takes everything in me not to laugh. A battle I lose when Dee tilts her head up to me and grins “Yes, Tobes. My parents are Gaz and Shaz, the two most Aussie names ever known to man.”
“What happened with Scott and Dillon then?” I ask, earning chuckles from the brothers standing behind us.
“Scotty and Dill,” Dee replies.
“Now, c’mon. Everyone inside. I’ve made us lunch and Dee and I have alotof catchin’ up to do. Don’t we, sweetheart?” Shaz says, ushering us all inside. “Startin’ with you movin’ to Alaska.”
It may be the reason we’re here visiting, but that’s not to say my gulp isn’t loud enough to hear around the whole Daniels’ ranch.
The next day,I look up to find Gaz, Scott, and Dillon all standing by the door, waiting for us to venture out on a tour of the ranch after I asked about it yesterday.
This morning at the break of dawn, I was up with the birds, working side by side with Dee and her family to do the morning chores before breakfast. The land was beautiful then and now that the sun has shifted in the sky, casting a bright golden glow over the land, it's like looking at a painting in real life. There's still snow on the ground, but the temperature is not that much different from what we get in the middle of the day back home at Bull. I’m now starting to understand how Dee was able to fit in so seamlessly with all of us.
All the Daniels’ men are dressed in worn-out work jeans and boots, thick shirts and long-sleeved undershirts, and matching brown cowboy hats, all with the same kangaroo pin that Dee has. Gaz, with his cropped hair and permanent smile lines etched around his eyes, looks like a seasoned cowboy straight out of a classic Western. He reminds me a lot of Red but with an Australian twang that makes everything he says sound hilarious. All three of them are also just like me and my brothers, hard-working and dedicated to the land.
After an hour or so, they've shown me their barns and equipment sheds, and their newly installed pneumatic stockyards where they can control stock movement remotely if need be. It's definitely more high-tech than our ranch, but it's fascinating how the two properties are similar in a lot of ways too.
One of the most important stops was taking scraps out to Miss Piggy’s pen. The pig is bigger than any other one I’ve seen before. She’s also greedy and cheeky and reminds me a bit of Duck Norris and Nelly back home with her personality. “Dee adoptedthis one as her own. She’d come out here and just sit and talk to her whenever her brothers annoyed her,” Gaz explains.
“Hey! I take offense to that,” Dillon replies.
Scott snorts. “He’s not wrong. One of our favorite past times is teasin’ our little sister. She was just so easy to mess with.”
“Startin’ to see why our Dee liked to wander?” Gaz arches a brow my way, making me laugh.
“My brothers and I used to do the same to our sister, Tess. Now she’s usually the one in charge ofuswhenever she comes to visit.”
“NowthatI can understand. Did she have a pig to escape to, though?” Gaz asks.
“Nope. She’d go sit with a book in the barn to get some peace and quiet.” I smile at the memory.
“Smart girl.” Gaz sweeps his arm out toward the field where some horses are grazing. I give Miss Piggy one last rub on her head before she gives me a disgruntled snort and waddles away.
"Dee said you and your family worked the rodeo for a while. How was that?" Gaz asks me as we walk.
"It was good. A lot of fun and it was good that we could all travel with my oldest brother, Rhett, and support him in winnin' championships. But when it came time for him to hang up his hat, we'd already owned the ranch for two years and it was needed more time than we were givin’ it. So, when Rhett retired, we all left the circuit with him. Best decision we ever made."
"And y’all work at the ranch now?” he continues.
"Yep. And we're revegetatin' the mountain too. The last owners razed the land till there was almost nothin' left, so we've been spendin' half our time givin' back to the land so she can return to her true natural beauty."
Gaz nods approvingly. "We do a lot of plantin' here too, especially along the riverbank to help with the erosion. There's a lot to be said about givin’ back to the earth. She always finds a way to reward you in some way." My breath catches and for a moment, I wonder if he knows about the Call and the mountain spirit back home.
"There sure is. Havin' Dee come on board with all her experience and knowledge has been great. She’s more valuable than three ranch hands."
"Don't need to tell me that. My daughter is a force to be reckoned with."
"He definitely knowsthat,Dad. He only just managed to beat Dee at pool," Dillion says with a grin.
"Still can't beat her at Darts,” I chuckle. “Then again, I think everyone at the Cow has tried and failed to do that. If she played for money, she’d be rich."
"Is that Cow your local?” Scott asks.
"Yep,” I nod. “Good place to socialize and wind down. Lots of old-timers at the bar with stories they'll tell anyone and everyone. It's even decorated like an old Western saloon."
“Glad our Dee is makin’ us proud up there,” Dillon says, puffing out his chest. “Taught her everythin’ she knows.”
Scott shoulder bumps his twin. “You’re such a liar, you know that?”
