Page 18 of The Hookup (Firsts and Forever #13)

Hal

My first morning on the ranch, I woke up in a warm, comfortable bed with sunlight streaming through a gap in the plaid curtains. When I rolled over and rested a hand on the body beside me, I found it was covered with fur.

I raised a lid and discovered a basset hound stretched out where Ryder should be. “Good morning, Frank,” I muttered. “How’d you manage to get up here with those stubby little legs of yours?” The dog—whose full name, inexplicably, was Sir Francis Bacon—replied by smacking his tail against the quilt.

I gave him a pat before sitting up and looking around.

There was a note on the nightstand, which said: Good morning, baby.

I wanted to let you sleep in while I went to do my chores.

There’s coffee and blueberry muffins in the kitchen, please help yourself (the muffins are inside the microwave to keep Sally from swiping them off the counter).

I’ll be back before lunch, but if you want to come find me, I’ll either be in the stables or the paddock behind them.

P.S. Tank had to head back into town bright and early this morning, so you have the house to yourself.

Careful about running around naked, though.

One of my dogs tends to lunge at any exposed dangly bits.

I murmured, “Good to know.” Then I tumbled out of bed and said good morning to three more dogs on my way to the bathroom. The only time I’d ever lived with a dog was when Embry adopted a little terrier from the animal shelter. Feeling outnumbered was another thing entirely.

All four dogs seemed fascinated by me, because I was something new in their world.

They’d probably be just as interested in a new tennis ball.

When they all tried to follow me into the bathroom, I had to turn around and pretend I wasn’t going in there after all.

After they followed me back into the bedroom, I faked to the left, rushed back to the bathroom, and shut the door behind me.

One of them started whining. That made me feel guilty, but all five of us would be a tight fit in this small space.

Besides, I really didn’t want an audience while I used the toilet.

I’d showered the night before, so I was able to hurry through a quick version of my morning routine. Then I got dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt and went in search of Ryder.

All of the dogs followed me out the front door, with Cujo, the feisty black and tan chihuahua, right on my heels.

He was so little that I was afraid I’d step on him, so I scooped him up and carried him.

He didn’t like that at all, so he showed me his teeth while a growl rumbled in his throat.

Ryder had assured me the night before that Cujo wasn’t actually a biter and just liked to act tough. I hoped he was right.

As if the dog parade wasn’t enough, we were soon joined by a donkey, two fluffy, black-and-white striped chickens, and a small goat.

I said, “Jeff, I presume,” and the donkey shook his head, as if he was trying to deny it.

“I know you’re a free-range burro, but did your friends escape from their enclosures?

If so, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do about that. ”

Since they were following me, I decided the best plan of action was to continue on and find Ryder.

I took a peek through the open doors of the long building to the left of the red barn, which proved to be a very nice stable.

Twenty stall doors, ten on each side of a wide center aisle, were open.

Most of them held a little wooden sign with a name on it.

When my entourage and I circled around behind the building, I discovered where all the horses had gone.

There was a huge, grassy, fenced off field over to the left, which contained maybe ten or twelve horses of various sizes and colors.

The area off to the right was comprised of several medium-sized, fenced enclosures, most of which held a single horse.

Between the field and the enclosures was a round paddock of some sort. It was ringed with a wooden fence and filled with some kind of light-colored sandy soil that was pitted with hoof marks. And there was Ryder, leading a huge, dark brown horse out of that paddock.

I muttered, “Holy fuckballs,” and froze in my tracks. I stopped so abruptly that Deogee—as in D-O-G, possibly because the brown mutt was too generic to name him anything else—bumped into my legs.

Ryder was always sexy, but it had been dialed up to mind-blowing levels.

His cowboy hat, form-fitting tank top, jeans, and boots suited him perfectly and showed off his muscular, powerful body.

The fact that his skin was glistening with sweat and smudged with dirt just added to his hotness, somehow.

He fastened the horse’s lead to a post beside a metal tub. As the horse started to drink some water, Ryder noticed me standing there, and his face lit up in a radiant smile.

He said something to the horse before jogging over to me. “Hi there, baby,” he called. “You look like a Disney princess with all those animals around you.”

Ryder took off his cowboy hat and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “I just got done putting Barbie through his paces,” he said, when he reached me. “He won’t let me ride him, but he has a lot of energy to burn, so I make sure he gets a good workout every day.”

I couldn’t begin to imagine how a horse worked out. Also, I had to ask, “Is that giant horse really named Barbie?”

“His previous owner called him Barbarian. Horses learn and respond to their names, so I didn’t want to completely change it. But I also didn’t want him to be stuck with a name that has a negative connotation.”

“Do you think you’ll ever be able to ride him?”

“For sure. He’s only been with me for three weeks, and he’s already learning to trust me.”

I put down the chihuahua and gestured at the chickens and goat. Cujo wasn’t growling anymore, but he was still showing me his teeth. “I’m not sure if you had some kind of prison break, but these guys started following me when I came outside.”

“Some of my animals get to roam free during the day—the ones that know not to wander off and put themselves in danger. Goatie Hawn, Hen Stefani, and Hennifer Lopez never go far. Most of the time, they hang out on the front porch.”

“Excellent names.”

“Thank you.”

“Why didn’t Jeff get a punny name?”

“His previous owner named him. I got to name the ladies, because all of them were born here on the ranch.”

“At the risk of sounding like a hopeless city slicker, I’d never seen a chicken, goat, or donkey in person before today.”

He asked, “What about horses?”

“I saw a police horse once, from a distance. The time I saw a horse up close is kind of a pathetic story.”

“Tell me.”

“When I was in the fourth grade, this weird guy named Mr. Harold brought a sad little Shetland pony to my school. This was supposed to be ‘educational’ somehow.” I made air quotes with my fingers.

“Some parents forked over five bucks, and their kids got to put on a red cowboy hat, sit on the horse, and get their picture taken. I didn’t get to do that, because my parents were way too cheap to shell out five bucks for a photo.

Also, I ended up getting called ‘Mr. Harold’ for like, the next three years, because one of my classmates remembered that was my full name. ”

“I look forward to introducing you to my horses, so you can have some new stories.”

“Are there any small horses? Maybe Sally-sized?” The greyhound wagged her tail when I reached over and patted her neck.

“No, but all of them are smaller than Barbie. Speaking of the big guy, I need to get him cleaned up. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll come find you.”

“I’ll be in the kitchen. I haven’t had any coffee yet.”

“I’m flattered that you prioritized me over caffeine.

Sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up, by the way.

I have my hands full, because my ranch hand had a family event in Tulsa this weekend.

But he’ll be back on Monday, and he agreed to work some extra hours during the week, so I’ll have more time with you. ”

“It’s totally fine. I know you have a lot to do around here.” I grinned and added, “Besides, Frank took your spot in bed this morning, so I didn’t even know you were gone at first.”

Ryder chuckled at that. “Sorry he got up there. I moved the little staircase that the shorter dogs use to get up on the bed, but one of them must have pushed it back in place.”

“That’s awfully smart.”

“It was probably Deogee’s doing. He’s usually the brains of any covert operation.” I glanced at the brown mutt, who was currently licking himself, and found that hard to believe.

I told Ryder I’d see him soon and began to make my way back to the house. Pretty soon, two extremely fluffy white chickens and a second small goat joined the parade. Cujo was right under foot again and possibly trying to trip me, but this time he dodged my hand when I tried to pick him up.

Since the chihuahua was such a distraction, I didn’t see the icky snake slithering across the ground until I was almost right on top of it.

I let loose with a scream worthy of a murder victim in a horror movie and leapt back, which caused the animals to scatter in a flurry of fur and feathers—all except the goats.

I blurted, “Oh, no,” when both of them keeled over with their little legs sticking straight out.

Ryder heard my scream and came running as he shouted, “What’s wrong?”

“I saw a snake, and both of your goats had a heart attack when I screamed. I’m so sorry, Ryder. I think they’re dead!”

He looked around, and then, unbelievably, he ran after the snake and actually picked it up with his bare hand . As I recoiled in horror, he asked, “You mean this snake?”

“Yes. Put it down before it bites you!” Ryder bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing, and I blurted, “What’s funny? You’re about to be killed by snake venom, and your goats are dead, and?—”