After lunch, Tally, the sneaky little minx, had gotten her eldest brother on side and persuaded us to take her to see Dream Maker. I knew she was desperate, seeing how much she’d missed him after two days at Thanksgiving. Cole was on my side, but just like the natural order of things at The Last Creek Ranch, the eldest brother’s opinion trumped everyone else’s.
Seeing the brilliant sunshine smile and the softness in her eyes, I was glad she’d persuaded us. It was just what she needed. Didn’t mean I was going to admit it or back down about her going back to work.
“He looks incredible, Talls,” Liam said, clearly proud of his sister as he scratched Dreamy’s ear. “Seems this ranch has been good for both of you.”
Tally’s eyes slid to mine. “Yeah, it’s not a bad place to live.” When Dreamy’s velvet nose nudged against her palm, she gave him a wondrous smile.
“Where’s Nate’s development?” Cole asked. “Or is that a sore subject?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Nate is a good guy. The development is on the South side of the ranch, about a mile from here. We can go and see it if you’d like.” My offer was tentative because there were dark circles around Tally’s eyes, and I’d noticed her stifle a couple of yawns.
“Next time if that’s okay.” Cole slapped Liam’s back. “We should go bro. We’ve got that meeting with the hotel group.”
“Is that not all sewn up?” Tally asked.
“It is but they’re talking about future developments and want to know what we can do.” Liam looked at Cole. “For some reason they want him to design it, too.”
“Told you I was good.” Cole chuckled and held out his hand to me. “Great to see you again, Wilder and thanks for taking care of Talls.”
“My absolute pleasure.” Wouldn’t have wanted to hand the responsibility over to anyone else.
“I’ll walk you back to the driveway,” I offered.
Liam shook his head. “No need. We can find our way. I think you need to take Talls to see the bull and then make her take a nap.”
My heart stuttered. “See Petey?”
“Yep. She needs to otherwise she’ll be scared the longer you leave it.”
“I am here you know.” Tally looked at me and took a deep breath. “He is right, though, I do need to.”
Gunner had moved him to the branding shed for the day. Rose the vet was finally coming to check him out after having to attend an emergency the day she’d originally planned. Gunner felt loading him into the branding alley so he was confined would be better if he did have anger problems. Itwould be a little more difficult for Rose, but at least she’d be safe.
“Okay,” I said on a swallow. “Let’s do it.”
And so, we said goodbye to Tally’s brothers and made our way over there. When we turned the corner, Rose was already giving his ears a check. Gunner was next to her, and Ray was standing by with the tranquilizer gun and it all felt too fucking scary.
“You sure you want to do this, Brownie?”
Tally stayed silent but nodded, so I took her hand and led her to the animal who just a week ago had almost killed her.
As we got closer, I heard her breath hitch, but she kept her stride steady. Kept her head held high, while my heart was hammering against my ribs like the tolling of a bell.
“Tally.” Gunner seemed surprised to see us, but he would have no idea that I was probably more petrified by the meeting than she was.
“How is he?” she asked, and I could feel the trepidation tremble through her body like a small earthquake.
“He seems okay,” Gunner replied. “But Rose thinks she knows why he charged.
Rose flicked her long dark hair over her shoulder and frowned. “I found a huge welt on his hind quarters. Looks like he was whipped hard with a branch or maybe even a belt.”
“Oh my God,” Tally gasped. “That’s awful. Poor Petey.”
Gunner and I looked at each other. He looked worried, whereas I was in damn awe of her. She was more concerned about the bull who’d nearly killed her.
“He’s going to be fine, sweetie,” Rose told her. “I’ve treated it with some ointment, but it’s no wonder he charged.” She gave Tally a soft smile, motherly and soft and I kind of envied her teenage sons having that kind of love every day.
“I knew he wasn’t bad. He let me feed him an apple just before.”
