Page 25 of Wildest Forever (Lovelock Bay #3)

CHAPTER TWELVE

MORGAN

T he fresh air hits my face and I didn't know how much I needed to feel that. I look back at the house and then let my eyes hover towards the bedroom where my pops lays.

Nerves settle in my chest.

I wish I could stop the thoughts, but I can't. Always sitting there thinking is this the day he is going to die.

I know it's coming.

But it's the thought of not knowing.

Inhaling heavily, I feel my lungs expand as I move towards the stable and get my horse ready. Placing a kiss on her nuzzle, my fingers find her cheek as I scratch softly before letting my hand glide down to her neck.

Placing my head against her nose, I stand for a moment and try and let my heart slow slightly.

I felt anxious.

“Morning love,” I whisper to her as I step back and her ears prick forward when the sound of boots fill the small stable block.

I spin and see Dusty walking towards me, and I smile.

“Morning boss,” he tilts his head then strokes down Barley’s neck, his eyes bouncing between mine.

“Morning,” I smile.

“What’s the plan for today?” he steps aside, hands in his front pockets.

“I've got to go and get Pacey's horse at some point; we need to move the heifers down the front field and tag the calves.”

“Busy day then,” he chuckles.

“You could say that.”

“Marsha is sorting us lunch today, she said she'll bring it up the house for one.”

“Oh,” I stammer and look past Dusty when I see Pacey walk towards his truck.“One second,” I say to Dusty as I run out of the stable and towards where Pacey is.“Pacey!” I call out, my boots gliding across the gravel.

His eyes find mine and I see the moment of panic that glazes his face.

“What's wrong?” he stops and turns fully to face me.

“Don't worry about lunch,” I pant, a soft smile tugging at my lips.

“No?” his brows furrow.

“Marsha is making food, bringing it up the house for one. You're welcome of course to eat with us unless you wanted to grab something else.”

“I'll be home for one,” he gives me a wink and turns his back on me as he climbs into his truck, closing the door behind him.

I watch as the engine of his truck kicks in and with one last smile, he drives out of the ranch. I find myself waiting until he is on the main road before I move back towards where I have left Dusty.

“Sorry,” I half laugh when I am back in front of him.

“What was that about?” he asks, looking behind me then letting his eyes settle on mine.

“Pacey was going to bring lunch in for us, but then you mentioned Marsha so I told him that she is cooking and bringing lunch up for one.”

“Fair,” he nods then turns his attention to my horse.

“So, we know the plan yeah?” I ask as I reach for the saddle off the stand.

“Yup,” he nods and gives Barley one final stroke.

“Cool, let's start moving the heifers, then just before lunch I'll go grab Pacey's horse, then we can have lunch before tagging the calves.”

“Okay boss,” he salutes me off the tip of his cowboy hat before he walks down the stables to his own horse.

A bay American Quarterback called Soldier.

We rescued him a few years back. I wanted him for myself at first, but he and Dusty bonded and I didn't want to take him away from him, so, he became his horse.

Tightening the saddle, I reach for her bridle and slip it on, making sure her mane is out and over the brow strap.

“You're so pretty,” I beam, lowering my lips and giving her nose another kiss.

Footing her stirrups, I pull myself up and settle myself into the saddle.Kicking her on, I move her forward and wait for Dusty to join me.

Whilst I am waiting, I look over the land that is ours, and pride blooms in my chest.

Me and my pops built this.Changed so much to make it work.But doubt settles and I am unsure if cow farming is the right path for us now.

We're a small ranch compared to Rivera Ranch who do most of the work around here, they're always first choice.

Sure, having Pacey here would help but I think we need to move back to what we did before or go into something completely different.

Once pops goes, I have no idea if I would be able to keep doing what I do without him.

Shaking my head softly, I try and push my thoughts away.

I couldn't think about that now.

I had to focus on just working towards the end goal which is to keep the ranch turning over money so we're not at a loss and to stop the suits from bullying us out.

Without Pacey I would have fought them off for a while, but I would have crumbled and given in.

I knew I would have.

Then I would have beat myself up for the rest of my life that I rolled over and gave in.

Would have let them take everything from me, from my pops.

It's our legacy.

Sighing, I watch as the sun rises a little higher in the clear morning sky when I hear the sound of Soldier's hooves crunching.

“You ready ma'am,” he asks, the reins loose in his hands.

I give a heavy nod and kick on as we move into the paddock. Dusty closes the gate behind us and we walk slowly up towards the top field.

“Do you think we need another cowboy?” I ask, glancing over at him and he shrugs a shoulder up.

“I mean, it wouldn't hurt. It's long days for just the two of us. But if we're going to move some of the heifers off....” he turns his head to look at me and I know where he is going with this conversation.

We have both aired our concerns, both spoken about what we think should happen once pops passes on... and now we're here and neither of us want to let go.

“I know,” I say quietly as I swallow down the lump that is in my throat.

“We will work something out, there is so much we can do here,” I can hear the optimism in his voice.

“I know,” I repeat my words.

Our chatter falls quiet as I glance over at our neighboring ranch and my brows lift.

“We have new neighbors,” I say quietly to Dusty as I halt my horse.

“Oh yeah, so we do,” he pauses.

“Shall we go and say hi?” I ask, nosiness getting the better of me.

“I mean...” he pauses as he glances at his watch. “It's eight a.m. I'm not sure they would be happy to have some strangers knocking on the door and waking them up.”

“How do you know they'll be asleep?” I furrow my brows.

“Morgan...” he laughs, shaking his head from side to side. “How about we go and move the heifers and then we can go and introduce ourselves before lunch.”

I roll my eyes in an over-exaggerated manner which gets a low chuckle from my friend.

“Fine, let's go,” and just as the words slip past my lips, I am kicking my horse into a gallop as we move down the fields and towards where the cows are happily grazing.

The move takes longer than we planned and I feel mentally and physically worn out. Dusty closes the gate and he dusts his hands.

“Please tell me it wasn't just me that struggled with that?” he sighs, climbing back onto his horse and turning him around.

“Nope, not just you,” I wipe the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. “I felt like they were feeling rebellious today,” I smirk as I turn my own horse.

“They were,” he smirks back at me and he begins to walk away.

“Where are you going?” I call out then begin to move forward.

“To meet the new neighbors!” and I kick my horse on to catch up with him.

“Wonder what they're going to be like...” I trail off as we approach their driveway.

“We'll find out soon enough,” he gives me a wink as we approach.

A few horses are grazing in the fields. The house is cute, tucked away with the mountains behind.

I wait for a moment to see what Dusty is doing but he is already off his horse, so I follow his lead, swinging my leg off Barley and holding onto her reins as we walk forward.

“Let me knock,” I whisper as I climb the steps and hover my hand over the door, inhaling heavily I knock.

I side eye Dusty and within seconds it swings open and a young, pretty red head opens the door, her eyes volleying between mine.

“Hey,” I tuck my spare, sweaty palm into the back of my jeans.

“I'm Morgan, this is Dusty,” I nod my head towards him.

“I own Cottonwheel Ranch, next door,” I continue, “we were riding up the field to the cows and saw we had new neighbours.” I pause for a moment, and she smiles wider.

“Well, we just wanted to welcome you to Blossom Cove.”

“Hey back,” she says and she has a New York accent, “I'm James...” and before she can carry on, a little blond haired boy runs up behind her, his arms wrapping around her leg and she glances down at him, her hand on the top of his head.

“This is Tanner,” she smiles, “we have moved here from New York, my grandparents used to live here, but then I moved to the city as a teen and well, I decided I wanted to come back,”a warm laughter surrounds her and the sound of footsteps have me lifting my eyes from hers and over her shoulder.

Dirty blond hair, black rimmed glasses and dressed in a loose tee and jeans, he wraps his arm around her waist and nuzzles his chin into her shoulder.

“These are our neighbors,” James says softly, looking at him then her eyes are back on me as he stands a little taller and swoops the blond haired boy into his arms. “Morgan and Dusty...” she trails off and I give her a nod.

“They live up at Cottonwheel Ranch,” and he extends his arm for Dusty to shake, then moves it to me.

“I'm Nate, nice to meet you,” he says with a smile.

“We have friends who have moved over to Lovelock Bay, followed us from New York,” she pauses. “So even though we're far away from home, we have some friends here, but it would be nice to make some new ones,” she gives me a lopsided smile.

“Sure, we can sort out a coffee or a lunch...” I trail off for a moment.

“Cool, I'll get your number?” she pats herself down for her phone and I nibble on my bottom lip.

“I actually don't have a phone,” I shrug a shoulder up and she blinks at me.

“How do you communicate?” she laughs softly.

“I just head to where I need to go, if the person I need to speak to is there, great... if not, well, I’ll go back. I've never been out of this town; everyone I need is here.”