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“He’s four. Wait, how did you know I had a son?” I cast my eyes over to Kipp.
“Oh, honey, there’s one thing you need to know. Around here, I know everything before it happens. My friends let me know months ago that Kipp left town with a woman and a little boy. When I asked Kipp, he just said you had taken the cooks job and changed the subject.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. I felt like I was in an interrogation room and she was waiting for me to spill all my secrets.
“His name is Cooper, and I think he’s taken to this place like a duck to water.” I smiled and picked at my nails under the table.
“I’m glad to hear it. A ranch needs children. Horses need to have the unconditional love and joy from a child to remember that not everything is always about work. And it’s not just horses that need that message, either.” She took her eyes from me and turned them to Kipp. I did the same. He'd been so quiet since she’d arrived.
“Mom,” was all he said, and she smirked without another word.
“Mommy, did I miss it?” Cooper came running out of his room, clothes in hand, and panic-stricken. His eyes bobbled back and forth between me and Julie. “Hi.” He smiled and dropped his jeans and shirt. He didn’t look like much of a cowboy in his dinosaur pajamas, but he would transform shortly.
“You didn’t miss anything. You need to say hello to Mrs. Julie. She's Kipp’s mom.”
“Mr. Kipp has a mom? Wow! Hi, I’m Cooper. I live here now with my mom. I don’t ever want to move away. I love it here.” He beamed up at the woman. Cooper had never met a stranger. He trusted everyone but was easily hurt. I probably should have given a little more thought to coming here, but the positives had outweighed the negatives.
“Well, Cooper, it is nice to meet you and, yes, Kipp has a mom. I’m very happy you like living here. I liked living here a long time ago.” She led Cooper to the table and grabbed his clothes off the floor.
“You lived here too?” he asked in awe.
“How about let’s get you ready for the day while your mom makes your breakfast and I will tell you a little story.” She helped Cooper out of his shirt and put his new plaid shirt on that matched one of Kipp’s. “I moved in here with Kipp’s dad a long time ago. Kipp grew up in the room down that hallway.” She pointed in the direction of the rooms Cooper and I were staying in. “We loved it here. Kipp was my first child, and then I had three daughters, and we had a happy life here. This house was so big, Kipp’s dad and I moved to a smaller house and let him have it.” She had Cooper dressed before he even knew he was changing. I was glued to her story and wanted her to tell more.
“Where is Mr. Kipp’s dad?” My inquisitive young man asked as he hopped up on the chair beside her.
“He passed away a bit over five years ago. Kipp and I miss him a lot.” Her voice got quiet, and I thought, even though she was looking at Cooper, I wondered if she was picturing Kipp as a young boy.
“I miss him too,” Cooper said quietly as he nodded. Julie looked from him to me and blinked away tears. It must have been contagious because I was doing the same. “What about the girls? Are they here?”
“Nope, two of them live off in Arizona, and my other daughter is out in the world somewhere. She doesn’t call home often anymore.” Julie’s voice was filled with sorrow. Closing my eyes, I sent my thoughts into the air, hoping Cooper wouldn’t ask anymore questions.
“Well, she’ll come back,” he said like he knew it for a fact. Oh, to have the innocence of a child.
“All right, let’s gobble this up, so you can be ready when Mr. Kipp comes back,” I said, setting his plate in front of him. “Julie, can I get you anything? Pancakes, eggs?”
“No dear, I’m fine. What I had earlier with the boys will tide me over until noon. I might grab one of your rolls on the way out the door though, they look delicious.” She looked at the bags of buns on the island.
Untwisting the bag, I grabbed one out, and got a plate, butter and jam and put it in front of her. “No need to wait until later,” I prompted, grinning at her.
“I like the way you think, Nora.” She cut the roll and doctored it up the way she wanted. We all ate in comfortable silence.
After we were finished, Julie rose from the table. “Cooper, come with me. Nora, you're going to want to see this.” She took Cooper’s hand. We ran up the stairs and she swung the balcony doors open and pointed. “Watch the horizon on that hill.” She lifted Cooper up and we all stood there waiting. Like a wave, the horizon started to move and cattle ran down the hill toward the corrals. The ground felt like it was shaking and, just like on the ocean, the wave kept rolling. The sound of thundering hooves and cows bellowing for their babies sliced through the normal silence of the morning. They would all be matched back up by the evening and settled down, but right now, this was the loudest place around.
“Look, there’s Mr. Kipp!” Cooper squealed and pointed out to the pasture. Sure enough, on the blue roan, Kipp galloped alongside the herd, keeping them in a tight formation, ready to make a move if one of the animals decided to go rogue. Cooper hooted and hollered and Julie stood there proudly beaming at her son.
Kip reached down, lifted the latch, opened the large iron gate, and rode through it before it shut again. He trotted over to the house. “Well, good morning, cowboy. Are you ready for your first branding?” He smiled up at us.
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“Are you done with breakfast?” Kipp asked, looking over at me. I nodded slightly before Cooper answered.
“Yep!” Cooper exclaimed proudly.
“Well, get down here, you can help me sort. If it’s okay with your mom.” Again, he shifted his eyes back to me.
“Is it, Mom? Please?” He folded his hands and looked up at me with his big brown eyes.
“It’s fine with me. Let’s go get your boots on.” Cooper grabbed my hand and pulled me down the stairs. Getting him ready on a normal day was hard, but he had ants in his pants this morning and wouldn’t stand still.
He ran out the door and I followed him down the stairs. We’d become old pros at getting Cooper up onto the big horse. I grabbed him and swung him up as Kipp took hold of him. Our hands brushed and this time there was something different, almost electric shocks between us as our eyes locked. “Where’s your hat?” Kipp asked Cooper, tearing his eyes from me.
