Elijah nods, and I grab two shovels off the wall. We start at the first stall, and it isn’t long before we’re both dripping in sweat and have already made great progress. It only takes a second to explain what to do, and Elijah works quietly and steadfastly.

There’s a shadow that falls over us, and I look up to see one of the ranch hands looking at me nervously. “Sir, what are you doing? I was getting to it...”

“It’s fine, Alan. I’m teaching Elijah how to muck a stall. We’ll be out of your way when we’re done with this one.”

Alan looks as if he’s going to argue, but I give him a nod that it’s okay. When he walks away, I tell Elijah, “So now would you like to see the ranch?”

His face lights up, but then he shakes his head. “I’ve never been on a horse before.”

I take his shovel and walk out of the stall. When he comes out, I point to the door. “On a ranch, one of the most important things is to always close gates and doors. You can lose one cow or hundreds of cows if you don’t follow that instruction.”

Elijah turns back and closes the gate and locks it. “Okay, sir, it won’t happen again.”

I almost feel guilty as if I’d just gotten on to him or something. I’m very plainspoken and usually tell it like it is. “You’re not in trouble.”

He shakes his head. “Oh, I know I’m not, sir. You just wanted to make sure I knew. And I understand now how important it is.”

With each passing minute, I’m more and more impressed with Elijah. I feel like he’s hanging on every word I say, committing it all to memory. “So you know there’s other ways to see a ranch than by horseback?”

He’s shaking his head side to side, but he follows me through the barn, and I stop next to the side-by-side recreational vehicle. “There’s ol’ Bessy here too. She’s pretty good for getting around.”

Elijah points at it. “Wait, I get to ride in that?”

“You’ll have to wear a seatbelt.”

“Okay!” he says as he starts to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet.

I get into the driver’s seat. “Well, let’s go. We need to be back by lunchtime.”

I don’t have to say it twice because he’s in the seat next to me in an instant. As soon as he puts his seatbelt on, I take off down the dirt path. Along the way, I point out the pasture, a creek that runs along the ranch, and the bulls that are grazing, and he’s looking side to side, taking it all in until he looks at me. “This is the best day of my whole, entire life.”

And as I watch the pure, innocent excitement on his face, I have to agree with him. This is definitely one of my bests too. I needed this. I needed to see the ranch with fresh eyes. And seeing the wonder on Elijah’s face brings back to me how important this land is to me and my family. No matter what else is going on in the world, out here in the open, there are no worries.

Chapter 3

Natalie

Elijah is on cloud nine. He came back riding shotgun on a side-by-side with King Bryant. It was hard for me to just let him go with the strange man, but the way Elijah was looking at me when Miss Olivia asked, there was no way I could say no. My stomach was in knots the whole time they were gone, and I kept my eye on the horizon the whole time. I was finally able to take a normal breath when I saw them returning down the same dirt path they’d left on.

They made it back just in time for lunch, and as soon as Elijah got off the recreational vehicle, he ran for me, thanked me as I handed him his sack lunch, and took off to sit with his friends. From the looks of it, he’s more interested in talking than he is eating, but I don’t even care. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him so happy. Satisfied that he’s back in my sight, I start to look around at all the others while I eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

I’m still amazed at all the moms that are here today. I just sat back and enjoyed the show. I mean, how could I not find humor in it? When Elijah and Mr. Bryant went out on the ranch, the other brothers took over showing the class around. And funnily enough, they fielded more questions from moms than they did students. When Jacqueline, the head of the PTO, started openly flirting with one of them, all I could do was cringe. I’m pretty sure that she’s married, and it was painful to watch her daughter hide her face during the whole interaction.

Tags: Hope Ford Romance
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