“Something you’ll learn about me is I love cheese. But, on the subject of the video films, then yes they’ll be perfect.”
Gunner paused his grating, looking thoughtful. “You know what’s funny? Three years of fighting, and it turns out we make a pretty incredible team.”
“I was just thinking the same thing earlier today,” I admitted, leaning against the counter. “Why did we waste so much time arguing when we could have been doing this?”
“Stubborn, I guess. Both of us.” He smiled, the kind that made his eyes crinkle at the corners. “Though I have to say, making up has been worth the wait.”
I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. Even after everything we’d done together, a simple comment from him could still make me blush.
“You know Cal’s dad is still alive,” Gunner continued, returning to grating. “He’s in his late eighties and it was his ranch before it was Cal’s.” He cut a piece of cheese from the block and fed it to me. “I bet he’d be happy to come and do a talk. I’m sure he has a couple of his old ranch hands still alive, too.Mitch, one of our old ranch hands, I bet he’d be happy to provide some insight for the last thirty years. He runs the post office now with his wife and I think he’s a little bored.”
“That would be brilliant,” I said excitedly as I took the milk from the refrigerator. “But I have an idea, how about we record them and show that as a film or just play the audio to save them coming over to the ranch all the time.”
Gunner nodded enthusiastically. “I love that idea. Like you get in a museum.”
“Exactly that. We could set up little listening stations where the kids could hear about what branding was like back then, or how they managed cattle drives without modern equipment.”
“Nash mentioned once that Grandpa kept journals about ranch life. I bet there are descriptions in there we could use too.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “How great a team do we make, hey, sweetheart?”
“Brilliant.” I pursed my lips, begging for more.
“Nuh uh,” he said, shaking his head. “Food first and then kisses, well maybe sex but kisses will be involved.”
You couldn’t argue with that, and I didn’t want to. Food, kisses and sex, all with Gunner. What a perfect evening.
Chapter 35
Death by a Thousand Cuts – Taylor Swift
Cassidy
It had been a busy week, what with school, planning for the camp and sex with Gunner. The latter being my total favorite part. Nate Jenkins had messaged Nash to say he’d been delayed on his trip, which gave us a little more time to consider the stipulations to agreeing to not objecting to the development. If we got the rest of the town onside. Which was why there was another town meeting about to start.
Cal, Mayor Taylor, was running it, but Nash, Gunner and I were on the stage ready to put forward our suggestions. Lily was home with the kids while Wilder had gone to Bozeman for a couple of days to see another bull, because according to him, since the herd had grown poor old Gideon Pontipee’s huge balls were running on fumes. Gunner had also told me that the bull was coming up for seven and so his fertility would soon start to decline.
“What will happen to him then?” I’d asked, a little alarmed.
He smirked at me and asked, “Do you really think Bertie would let us sell him for meat or euthanize him?” When I shook my head with a sigh of relief, he’d kissed my forehead. “He’ll be put out to pasture, just like we did with Digby, our last bull. He died fat and happy about eight years ago.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” I replied.
Gunner chuckled and said, “Sweetheart, if you’re going to spend more time on the ranch you’ll need to get used to the idea that we are a beef herd and we sell our cattle for meat. In the future that may include some of those calves you currently think are so cute.”
The thing that struck me about that comment was ‘in the future’ and butterflies swarmed my stomach at the idea that he was thinking of me in that way.
“There’s a good crowd,” Nash said, bringing me back to the present.
And there was. Maybe not quite as many as the first town meeting we’d had, but probably because we were without those in favor of the development.
“Let’s get going then,” Cal said, looking at each of us in turn. “You all ready?”
We each nodded and our mayor started everything off.
Everyone seemed to be happy with the stipulations we’d suggested that we put forward to Nate Jenkins. They particularly liked Lily’s idea of a nature trail, especially if it meant that they could use it, too. Nash was a little nervous about that because of people wandering onto ranch land and the dangers it would present if they came across the herd and spooked them. He said he’d consider ways to make it secure so it could happen, though. As for the state environmental review, everyone was behind it, so Cal said he’d start the process first thing in the morning.
“And you’re sure that if he agrees to regular environmental reports he’ll keep to it?” Willem Price, a local farmer, asked.
“We have to take him at his word,” Nash replied. “But it will be a legally binding document that we have drawn up.”
