“Let’s go, Naomi!” Cooper calls.
“Thank you, Dixie!” I yell as Cooper pushes me toward the door.
“Not a problem!” she calls.
Hayes Ranch is picturesque in its combination of large rolling hills, a river running through it, the mountains off in the distance, and giant trees scattered throughout.
I follow Cooper to the barn with a huge H and R connected in the center on the front. It’s all white, with a green metal roof, and the doors are a deep brown.
The sun shines on us, and I shiver a little from the wind. It might be summer, but I’m learning up here summer can still mean sweatshirt.
“Here,” Cooper says, draping his jacket over my shoulders.
“Thank you.” I tug it around me, in awe of the beauty of this place.
“It never gets old,” he says.
I look for Naomi, and she’s across the way by a pen. She’s leaning against a bar and reaching for a donkey’s head.
“I don’t know why she likes that damn donkey so much. He’s the worst. He gets into stuff all the time, kicks people, bites other animalsandpeople. I swear he does it on purpose. But he’s useful for keeping predators away.”
“Donkeys can do that?” I ask him.
“Yeah, coyotes can’t stand donkeys, though I don’t think there’s a single animal that likes Abe. We usually put him out with a herd and he’s good to go.”
“Wow,” I mumble.
Cooper leads us to Abe and watches Naomi talk to him like a puppy. He looks at her as if he’s listening, while his tail swings back and forth.
“Do you want to pet him?” Naomi asks.
“Uh, sure, how do I do that?” I ask her.
“Like this,” Naomi says, holding her hand out to him and then patting him on the nose.
“Careful, he bites,” Cooper warns.
I do as Naomi showed me, and he lets me pat his nose. As I take my hand away, he lunges for me, and it catches me by surprise, and I fall into Cooper.
“See what I mean?” he says, hands still on my back.
“Abe, that is not very nice!” Naomi chastises the donkey, but he stares at her, unphased.
“I swear she’s the only one he actually likes,” Cooper mutters. For some reason, I find that hilarious.
“Hey! There you are! We’re running behind, Coop, can you—”
We all spun around to find Fletcher walking towards us, clad in chaps and his summer cowboy hat.
“Mae,” he says, tipping his hat to me.
“Uncle Fletcher!” Naomi yells.
“Hey sweet pea,” he says and plucks her hat off her head, messes her hair and drops it back on.
“Sounds like you have work to do. I should get going,” I tell him.
Cooper grabs the back loop of my jeans and tugs me back. “Ah-ah. It hasn’t been an hour yet,” he says.
