CHAPTER 30

jackson

W orking the stables was a nice change of pace from moving cows around the fields, lawn maintenance, perimeter inspections, and every other mundane task I was used to doing. I still wasn’t a fan of the horses, but I was gaining a newfound appreciation for them. And while I trusted Mickey to make sure everything out there went off how it was supposed to, this meant I didn’t have to deal with him face to face nearly as much—a fact I liked.

The only one upset with this new arrangement was Daisy. Usually, my girl followed me around the fields every day in the off-season, but I wasn’t there. That didn’t stop her from an eventual jailbreak to find where I was at. Which was exactly how I ended up manhandling a moody cow while trying to fix corral fencing.

“I know you’re there,” I said once more when she headbutted me in the hip hard enough to knock me off balance. I grabbed the fence to keep from toppling. “You’re making this shit hard, little lady.”

Daisy mooed. I wasn’t winning this goddamn fight with her. Shoving the hammer into my tool belt, I faced her, my hands dropping to my hips .

“You have no shame,” I told her. When she pushed her head against my chest, I gave in and gave her the pets she demanded.

I wanted to be mad—I really fucking did—but it was real hard to be grumpy with a twelve hundred pound grass puppy. Especially one that liked as much attention as she did.

Typically, I had a no-attachment rule with the cows. Sure, they were cute, but I sold cows for slaughter. It’d be bad for business to get attached. Daisy, though… she’d been something different from the start. I was fairly certain she gained all her behavior traits as a calf from watching Tess and me. So, now I had myself a dog and a grass puppy. Thankfully, only one came inside.

The longer I gave her affection, the harder she leaned into me until I could barely stand. Guiding her to the ground wasn’t hard, but it did mean that I’d be stuck cuddling a cow for a while, which didn’t seem so bad with her big body wrapped around mine and her head in my lap. When was the last time I’d slowed down to just enjoy sitting with my cow? Or anything for that matter. I couldn’t remember.

As I sat there stroking the wide space between her eyes—her favorite spot—I glanced across the corral to where West was working with Thunder Jack. I had to admit, he was doing good work with that horse. Little by little, the horse was warming up to West. Granted, they were still in the barely lukewarm phase of getting used to each other, but West was able to get Thunder Jack to eat out of his hand in small amounts.

Watching West with the horses was slowly becoming a favorite pastime of mine. I’d steal glances where I could or just cave and stare at him. He was different with the horses—calm and focused. That same intensity of his came out, but he streamlined it all into their care. The herd never looked better than it did under West’s care.

But if I was being honest, it wasn’t just his way with horses that held my attention. I found myself caught up on the way he always ended up shirtless, even with the cool weather. My gaze snagged on the stark lines of his tattoos. The way they curved and outlined his strong arms drove me fucking nuts. I’d never been a tattoo guy, but I liked them on him.

Did I belong staring at him like that? Probably not. But I just couldn’t help it .

Under my hand, Daisy let out a long moo as if echoing the thoughts in my head.

“Yeah, I get that,” I muttered, glancing down at her. “I probably shouldn’t be looking at him that way, should I?”

Did Daisy care? Absolutely not. But I found talking to animals about this kind of shit—or any hard shit—sure as hell beat talking to humans.

When I looked up again, West was on his way over. Still shirtless. And as I watched him, I realized I wanted to ask him why the hell he pierced his nipples of all things. I didn’t see the appeal.

Okay, maybe on him I could see the appeal, but again, there were things I shouldn’t focus on.

“I…” West faltered as he stopped on the other side of the fence. He stood there awkwardly, his gaze dropping to the rag he wiped his hands on. I waited. Sometimes just waiting him out seemed to be the best way to get him to say anything. I was slowly figuring him the fuck out—at least I felt like I was. That didn’t stop him from throwing me a curveball every few hours. “Do you always cuddle a fucking cow?”

“You treat Daisy with respect,” I retorted and gave her an affectionate rub between the eyes.

“You named her?” he asked. “Isn’t she going to be someone’s dinner someday?”

“I will personally fucking kill anyone who tries to eat my damn cow,” I snapped. His lips quirked at the corner, but he said nothing. That tiny as fuck smile was all the reassurance I needed. “What do you need, West?”

“What’s the policy on adjusting my work hours?” That wasn’t the question I was expecting.

“I don’t have one,” I said. “Typically, I just deal with shit as it comes up for everyone. Why?”

He nodded slowly, lips pressed together tightly.

“Tuesdays and Thursdays I need to be in Merrillville at six,” West continued. It clicked immediately. Merrillville had AA meetings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. There was no way in hell I wouldn’t do my damnedest to make sure he could get to his meetings. “But I know that’s right in the middle of the evening wrap-up. I wouldn’t be here to take care of the horses until after, but I don’t know if that’s okay. And I don’t exactly know when I’d be back. ”

As much as I was ready to let West skip all of his duties in order to go to his meetings, I was also aware of his need to pull his own weight. The man wouldn’t accept help from anyone over anything.

“Okay,” I replied after pretending to think about it. “I’ll unsaddle and get them situated with feed after the day wraps up. Just make sure their stalls are clean before you leave if you can and brush them down when you get back.”

“I can do that.” The weight lifting off him was visible. Resting his forearms on the wood, he leaned against the fence. He still fussed with the rag, but at least he seemed calmer. “Thank you.”

“Any time.”

“It’s a meeting,” he told me quietly. Holy hell, he was sharing something with me. “Two… two of them. That’s why I need to leave.”

“I’ll make sure it works,” I promised. “You just worry about taking care of you. That’s all that matters.”

He just nodded, that expression on his face telling me he wasn’t convinced. I knew there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to make sure he knew it. That was just something he had to figure out for himself.