“Fuck, I almost wish it were a damn cougar. I hate putting any of them down.”
“We can tranq them and have wildlife officials move them to one of the nature reservations,” I offer as an option.
“Maybe. Let’s see how fast we can get these fences up, and then we’ll deal with the wolves. We’re taking the calves to the arena tomorrow. Did you get them registered yet?”
“I’m taking the paperwork over there this afternoon,” I confirm.
“Good. Then we’re done here.”
I snort out a laugh. “Yeah, we’re done.”
"You know I can do more than hand you tools," Delaney remarks, making me grin as she hands me a set of wire cutters. It’s clear the lack of her position has her more than a little annoyed and bored.
"But you're good at handing me what I need. You actually know the difference between the tools I ask for." It's the truth. I also don't want her doing any of the strenuous work we’re handling. No matter how many times she’s offered to dig post holes, it’s not happening. That’s what Grant and Beau are doing, while Jude and I set the steel fences into the holes, only to havethem come back behind us, pouring the quick-setting concrete around the posts.With the rain we’re expecting tonight, it'll help set it faster.
The guys had already gotten quite a bit done so far, and hopefully by the end of the week, we’ll have it finished.
Delaney scoffs and rolls her eyes while toying with a pair of pliers. "I could do more than just hand you tools. I'm pregnant, not helpless."
"I know you're not helpless, Laney." I grin at her, using the shortened version of her name, and finish up with my portion of the fence.
Throughout the whole morning, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the conversation with Delaney and how she was suspended. It’s not right, nor is it fair to reprimand her for something that wasn’t in her control. The fact that they dared bring up her relationship with me is another story altogether. Our lives weren’t any of their business.
Because of the school’s actions, I'm tempted to look into homeschooling for Dash. Maybe if I do that, he'll learn more than what they teach in the classroom setting. He could learn about working the land along with his academics. It's definitely something I'm going to research and talk to Delaney about.I’m sure I’ll need to put him in a sport of some sort for him to have social interactions away from the house and ranch, but it'd be worth it, I think. For all I know, I could possibly talk to her about being his teacher if everything with the school board doesn’t work out.
"Is this what you mostly do?" she asks, stretching her arms to indicate the fence itself.
"No, it's only a small portion. My position as manager deals with a lot more than just fixing the fence and doing grunt work, but I do my share of the crap jobs alongside the rest of the guys. It’s only fair to everyone who works here. Unless you are a newhire, then you get all the shit jobs until you prove yourself to the rest of us,” I tell her.
“What exactly would you classify as grunt work? Isn’t it all?”
“Not everything we do is grunt work.” I move closer to her and explain. “We take care of the land, the animals on it, anything that we do here is damn hard work, but it’s also rewarding. At the end of the day, what we do matters because those animals depend on what we do. They need us as much as we need them. It’s a cycle. As for the grunt jobs around here, let’s just say it’s jobs you don’t want any part of. Like Beau over there, he has to clean out the septic tank soon.”
“Eew,” she says, scrunching up her nose. “That’s going to be horrible.”
“You’re telling me.” I laugh and toss the drill she’d given me earlier back into the tool bag. We weren’t just putting up the steel fencing. We were threading the wire through so no animals could get through it that shouldn’t.
We were doing everything we could to ensure the bison were protected.
“Now, we do need to run to town. Gotta go by the feed and tack store for some things, then I need to go by the arena. It's important that the cattle we’re going to have in the stock show auction are registered for this weekend.”
I hate that we're down four calves to take. It means less money for the ranch. Maddox decided to keep the ones who were hurt. It’s not a bad call. Especially since one of the two had been a bull and we could always use another one for when we retire our prized stud. By the time he’s old enough to do his diligence, Maddox can let the stud loose in the field to graze to his heart's content.
"Am I coming with you there?"
I cock a brow in her direction. "I did say we, didn't I?"
"Well, ‘We’ could mean you and Maddox or someone else?" She smirks, that sass in her voice going straight to my dick.
"Smartass." Moving directly between her legs, I take the wire cutters from her hands, toss them into the bag, and reach up into her hair, tugging her to me, capturing her mouth with mine. She tastes like the tea she's been nursing all morning. There’s also sweetness beneath it, something that's just her. My fingers tighten in her hair, and she makes that soft sound against my lips that I feel everywhere.
The taste of her is quickly becoming my drug of choice. Everything about her is. My cock aches to get inside her, but I’ve been taking things slow. Giving her time to get to know me just as I need the time to do the same.
I break away from her mouth at the sound of whistling. Glancing behind me, I zero in on the culprit. Of course, it’s Grant whistling while Beau laughs. Jude just shakes his head.
Ignoring them, I turn back to Delaney, leaning back in, pressing another chaste kiss to her lips and touching my forehead to hers.
"We," I say against her lips, "means you and me."
