“Nope. I wanted to be sure we could do it. That you were all in because I gotta be honest with you, Cassidy, this is bigger than I can create on my own.” I hesitated. “And because I wasstubborn and didn’t want to admit you might be right about some things.”
She stepped closer, her expression unreadable. “And now?”
“Now we need to save the land so we can build this place. Together.” I reached for her hand. “About last night?—”
The door burst open, and Cassidy and I pulled apart as Nash appeared. “Sorry to interrupt, but Wilder just radioed in from the storm barn. Those bulldozers are getting closer to our property line. Further down now, by the south pasture. Close to where Wilder thought about building his cabin.”
“Shit. We’re coming,” I said, not taking my eyes off Cassidy. “We’ve got work to do.”
She nodded, a determined look replacing the vulnerability from moments ago. “Let’s go protect your ranch and our camp.”
As we headed out, I knew two things with absolute certainty: we were going to fight for this land with everything we had, and whatever was happening between Cassidy and me was far from over.
Chapter 20
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
Cassidy
Gunner drove us to the property line on an ATV while Nash and Wilder followed on horseback. I wasn’t expecting him to ask me to go, but when he told Nash, ‘we’re coming’, air rushed from my lungs. Trepidation was mixed with excitement at the idea of sitting behind him, wrapping my arms around him to hold on. I’d started off holding the seat bar behind me but then he’d barked out his command.
“Arms around my waist, sweetheart.”
My adrenaline spiked, as heat spread through my body. He’d spent three years being salty with me and one snap of an order and I was turned to mush.
As we approached the boundary line, the ATV started to slow to a stop, and Gunner stood up in his seat.
“Fuckers.” He got off the vehicle and walked closer to the fence. The machinery looked to be less than fifty feet away on the other side, with diggers poised to start work.
Nash and Wilder rode up alongside, urging their horses to a halt, dismounting and joining their brother. From my seat on the ATV, I watched the three of them. All three had the same stance, hands on hips and legs wide apart. They all wore Roper style boots as opposed to Western style, each of them filled their Wranglers and their shearling lined denim jackets to perfection and the Stetsons that Gunner and Wilder wore were the icing on the cake. Nash always preferred a ball cap, often backwards which was another level of sexy. The Miller brothers were definitely a sight to behold.
“Cassidy, you got a minute?”
Nash calling over to me woke me from my daydreams and took my attention away from one of the brothers in particular. Because Gunner’s ass was just that little more perfect than the others.
“Yeah, what is it?” I jumped down and clapped my gloved hands together. It was still cold, even more so racing across the land on the back of an ATV.
“You told me once you grew up on a farm, right?” Nash asked. “Didn’t you sell produce from it?”
I glanced at Gunner, who was looking down at his boots. “I did and yes, we sold eggs and vegetables.”
“So, you must have encountered all sorts of regulations.”
“Some,” I replied. “Why, what are you thinking?”
Nash stared ahead; his brow furrowed. “I’m thinking that whatever they do might just affect the grass in this pasture and this is the grass we use for winter hay. Without it the cattle will either starve or we will because we have to pay over the odds for it from someone else.” He looked at me. “And then there’s the effect on the ranch and your camp.”
Gunner pointed at the perimeter wire fence. “That fence is there because a long time ago, when our Grandpa ran the ranch,the County told him we couldn’t be an open range ranch. For years no one understood why, well it looks like now we know.”
“Took the assholes forty years to do something with it, though,” Wilder grumbled, taking his hat off and running a hand through his hair. “Never thought they’d bring it this close, though.”
“Well, they have,” Nash replied, sounding defeated.
“Where do I come into it?” I asked. “I mean, I’m more than ready to help with the fight, but I’m not sure what I can do.”
Nash held up a finger. “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong. You see, as a farmer you’ll know about the boundaries between cultivated areas and wild spaces. You and your mom must have known the importance of transitional ecosystems and if you look closely at that disturbed soil you can see that these shit heads are going to be destroying it.”
I shrugged. “We weren’t a huge farm, Nash. I mean we had regulations we had to adhere to, and we knew about crop rotation and had seasonal growing knowledge but I’m not sure how that helps.”
