When we go back into the living room, Quinn is asleep on the couch and Earl is curled up in a tiny space between her belly and thighs. A large cat, some breed Leighton called a Maine coon, there’s no way he can be comfortable with his back half hanging off the couch, but he’s purring away regardless.
“I’m goin’ to let y’all rest and head home,” I tell Leigh, feeling my heart skip a beat at the idea of home being the ranch. “I promised Clayton today I’d finally let him teach me how to ride.”
I give her a hug, promising to call later, and walk out to my car. It’d be quicker if I knew the four-wheeler trails, but I don’t mind the short drive. It’s hard not to love it when every turn gives me the most beautiful views of Pine Oak’s backcountry. Miles and miles of green pastures.
Every stretch of the road on the Davis property is lined with a stark white fence. Clayton explained that when his father had been running things, they had cattle roaming their lands. The Davises raised some of the best, but it was a business Clayton never saw for the future of the ranch. Since they no longer use the majority of their land for cattle, they farm out unused parts of those pastures for hay so that they can gain that resource for the horses.
Clayton tells me he owns pastures that have some of the best views in all of Texas, but since you have to travel by horse to get there, I haven’t seen those yet. He’s been working so hard to get me comfortable around the big beasts, but there’s just something about those huge black eyes watching your every move that makes me uneasy.
I honk at Drew, the ranch foreman, when I see him working on one of the fence rails near the turnoff from Maverick and Leigh’s road to ours. He pulls his hat off and waves it in the air before wiping his brow and bending back over to continue his work. Not far after that, I see two other hands do the same, and I give them a honk of my horn as well.
Right before the turn into the ranch house, I see a few cows in the distance, smack-dab in the middle of the road. The rancher who owns the land on the other side of the road has so many head of cattle, they’re always dotting the landscape, but this is the first time I’ve seen wayward cattle making a break for it.
I continue down our drive, reaching for my phone in my purse. I pull up Clayton’s number and give him a call, climbing out of the car while it rings.
“Linney,” he answers in that deep way of his that’s almost breathy but too manly to be called such. The sound goes straight through me, bathing my whole body in warmth.
“Hey, honey.” I smile into the bright sun, walking up the porch steps and into the house. “I know you’re busy, but I wanted to let you know some of the Larkins’ cows are makin’ a break for it. I saw them when I was turnin’ in farther down the road.”
“I’ll give Todd a call.”
“I figured you would. Are you goin’ to be home for supper tonight?”
I can only imagine how tired he is, seeing that he left before sunup this morning to deliver some horses to a buyer out in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He made it sound like no big deal, but I can’t imagine making a five-plus-hour drive one way and not being wiped by the time I got home.
“I should be at the ranch in about an hour, darlin’. Why don’t we head into town for something?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to just have a relaxin’ night at home? You’ve been on the road all day.”
He laughs. “No, I want to take my girlfriend out. Might not be as fancy as what we’d get if we drive into Dallas, but I don’t take you out enough as it is.”
“Clayton,” I say with a smile, “you know I don’t need all that.” And I don’t. I know he’s busy with things at the ranch and his hours are long and taxing. I don’t want him working his tail off all day only to get home and think I need him to take me out in order to show me a good time. All I want is to be near him. There’re no distractions when you’re getting undivided one-on-one time.
“I know, darlin’, but I’m still feelin’ the itch to show you off.”
I roll my eyes, walking through the house toward the stairs so I can go get ready now that it looks like we’re not going to be staying in.
“I was just visitin’ over at Maverick and Leighton’s. I know Quinn is on bed rest, but why don’t you give Tate a call and see if he’ll okay a trip to town for dinner? I’ll ring Leigh and see if she and Maverick want to join. They don’t have much time left before the babies are here. As much as I love our time with just the two of us, I think we should have a family dinner before the little ones come.”