CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Tracy knew this bed and bedroom would never feel the same without Cash in it.
“I hear my cell phone somewhere,” she said, crawling out of bed.
Cash rolled out after her and buttoned his fly. Tracy stepped into her panties and shorts and grabbed her tank top. By the time she found her phone, it had stopped ringing. She listened to the message as Cash swaggered into the living room. He opened her front door with Dude at his side. One of the best things about this apartment was the small, concrete front porch patio which provided a fabulous view of Pikes Peak. Blue skies, white clouds, and a summer breeze made the setting perfect. Cash nodded in appreciation and stepped onto the porch. With her phone to her ear, Tracy followed him and Dude. As the message ended, the expression on her face caused Cash to tilt his head in question.
“What’s up?”
“This is up,” Tracy said and tapped her phone to replay the message. “Listen.”
“Tracy, Kirk Devereux. I’ve heard great things about you from Cash Cooper. I asked him about expanding your story to include the other two ranches and he said you also hoped to do that. His family is on board, so let’s go for it. I’ve touched base with Jacob,and he is excited to return to the Triple Cs. Gerald and Donna, however, voiced creative differences and have been reassigned. Therefore, if you have any questions, please contact me directly. Come fall or winter, I see your Triple C Ranch story on the cover and taking up most of the magazine. Congrats.”
Tracy clicked off the message and asked, “Did you do this?”
“I replied to a text Kirk sent me asking how the week went.”
“Kirk?”
“He and my dad were college roommates,” Cash replied. “I said you and Jacob were a pleasure to have on the ranch. He asked if the rest of my family would grant interviews and be available for photos. I told him yes.”
“Cash, I don’t know what to say,” Tracy admitted. “Except thank you so much. I figuredcome Monday,I would be fired.”
“I know I teased you about that, but I had a hunch you wouldn’t be.”
“He must have gotten into it with Gerald.”
“I don’t know.” Cash reached his hands above his head and stretched. “Kirk didn’t mention him or Donna and neither did I.”
Tracy nodded. “To go from thinking I was about to be fired to being told my article will appear on the cover ofRanchers and Rangesis the best news ever.”
“A reason to celebrate,” Cash said.
Dude barked as though agreeing and Tracy said, “Dude wants to go on a walk.”
“Let’s take him. Then how about I take you out to dinner before heading back to Triple C-East?”
Even though her bag was at his ranch, the way Cash had phrased that question, Tracy didn’t know if she was still included in heading back to Triple C-East. “Sounds wonderful. How about I give you a massage as my thank you?”
“You don’t owe me a thank you. But hell, yes.” Cash saidand grinned. “I’ll take you up one of your side hustles. At my ranch?”
“Yes,” Tracy whispered, her spirit soaring.
Putting Dude on his leash, they walked through the complex and out the front gate. Tracy told Cash they’d show him a beautiful view along their usual walk. When he offered to hold Dude’s leash, Tracy gave it to him. He took her hand, and she smiled up at him as they moseyed along. This joy must be how people, who had found the person for whom they’d been waiting, felt. She hadn’t known she’d been waiting for someone until Cash entered her life.
Slicing a shortcut through the empty campus of Coronado High School, they turned west again. Trekking along Mesa Road took them to the point, about a mile from the apartment, where she and Dude always lingered before heading back.
“From any angle, just like Pikes Peak, it never gets old,” Cash said at an overlook boasting an incredible view of Garden of the Gods Park. As Dude sat down, Cash looked north to south.
“Did you know the Europeans referred to Garden of the Gods as Red Rock Corral?” Tracy asked. “With all the dark red and pink sandstone, that name makes sense.”
“Yes,” Cash agreed. “I did know that. I also know that back in 1859, two men who helped survey the site, which was caused by the shifting of the Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak, decided it would be a great spot for a beer garden.” He chuckled. “Because of the formations like Balanced Rock, Three Graces, and Steamboat Rock, one of the men apparently declared it was a place fit for the gods to assemble.”
Tracie nodded and laughed. “I remember coming across that story while working for the magazine. In the April 5, 1893, issue of Colorado’s oldest newspaper,Golden Transcript, a writer, named Helen Hunt Jackson, an activist on behalf of improving the lives of Native Americans, was said to be riding past a cabin of a prospector in the area andstopped to admire his garden. The two people tending the beautiful garden told her their names were Jupiter and Juno. Helen Hunt Jackson said, ‘Then this must be the Garden of the Gods.’”
Cash turned to her and said, “Being smart is part of what makes you so sexy.”
“Thank you, Cash,” Tracy said, feeling a blush stain her cheeks.
