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“Oh, no I forgot it.” Cooper slapped himself on the forehead.
“I have it,” Julie said as she ran down the porch steps and handed it up to Cooper.
“What do you say, Coop?” Kipp asked, his voice lower than ever.
He took hold of the brim of his hat and tipped his head. “Thank you ma’am.” He smiled before turning to Kipp. “Did I do it right?” Cooper loudly whispered.
“Perfect.” Kipp nodded. My heart hadn’t ever been so full. My little boy was turning into a cowboy and had the most incredible teacher. They looked like they could have been father and son, sitting atop that horse together. Unfortunately, they weren’t and the man that was Cooper’s father was a mystery. “All right, we need to get moving,” Kipp announced as he grabbed his reins.
“Ladies,” they said in unison, tipping their hats as Kipp gently nudged his horse and turned it to head back to work.
Julie put her arm gently around my shoulder, and we turned back to the house. “So, you and my son. How’s that going?”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
KIPP
“Come on cow, hup, hup, move it.” Cooper was talking to the cows as we sorted off the last of them into the pen. He was a smart kid and took in everything around him. Trucks rolled in, pulling stock trailers of all sizes. Women walked in and out of the house and the men meandered over to the pen, talking with neighbors and friends rarely seen during the year. Branding wasn’t just work, it was socializing, catching up, and being a community. A community that, over the last number of years, had been attacked on all sides of the coin because of the way we live. But for a few months, our solitary lives become very full, helping one another.
“Hey Kipp, heard you’d gotten a kid. Looks good on you, man.” Lee laughed as he rode by, his two boys following behind. One of my oldest friends wouldn’t miss an opportunity to rib me. I didn’t mind. If Cooper had been mine, I would be a proud father. I’m already something of a proud father, I suppose. He was my shadow, my new partner in crime, and suddenly my life didn’t seem so empty.
“Well, I suppose we should get this show on the road,” Nash said, riding up beside me and stopping this horse. Leaning on the pommel, he tipped his hat back and looked around. “I’m getting too old for this shit.” He looked over at Cooper, who giggled and slapped his hand over his mouth. “Swearing doesn’t count on branding day, Coop. What happens in the corral, stays in the corral, deal?” Nash arched his brow and Cooper shook his head. Nash groaned and stood straight legged in his stirrups and dug around in his pocket. Pulling out a quarter, he reached over to Cooper, who held out his hand and beamed when the quarter was dropped into it. “Kids,” Nash grumbled as he nudged his horse to walk.
“Keep ‘em honest, Coop Good job.” I held out my hand and he gave me five. Tucking the quarter in his pocket, he leaned ahead and rested his arms on the horn of the saddle like Nash had. I wished I’d had a camera.
Cooper and I worked as a team. It was a little bit of a learning curve figuring out how to rope with a passenger, but I didn’t bop him in the head too often. He’d listened well about keeping hands out of the way and he cheered every time I roped the calves' legs. He might be a little too good for the ego. I had a hard time not letting my mind wander to the house, hoping everything was going all right for Nora. As if I willed it, she stepped out onto the porch and rang the bell for lunch. I rode over to the gate and swung it open. All the people in the corral started filing out. I caught my mom’s eyes, and she smiled up at Cooper and I. She reached up and grabbed Cooper, helping him down. She held tight to his hand and waited for me. Looping my reins over the panel, I took Cooper's other hand, together walking to the house.
A long line of tables spanned the porch, and there was an entrance sign pointing left to direct people to where they needed to be. The main stairs were roped off, so people couldn’t go up them and create confusion. The refreshment table was out of the way, so as to not hold up the line, and there was Nora, laughing with the other ladies that were helping her put out the last minute dishes. One of the women leaned in and whispered something in her ear. She turned around and froze as she looked right at me. There was already a smile on her face, but it was growing by the second. Another woman walked up and said something, and the three of them laughed together as Nora’s cheeks grew to a lovely shade of pink. She turned her back to me, shaking her head.
The line filtered through, people found groups to eat in, and the chatter and laughter filled the house yard. Grabbing a plate, I walked through the line and as I got to the door, Nora popped out of the house. “Hi,” she said as she walked into me.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you like walking into me, ma’am,” I teased, watching her blush again.
“I’ve told you before, you’re always in the way. That’s why it happens.” She set a bowl on the table and put her hands on her hips. “How’s the day so far?” she asked, walking alongside me as I filled my plate with the delicious food she’d worked so hard on.
“Things are good. We haven’t had a turn out like this for a few years. I’m wondering how many people came to see you since you’ve been missing from town.” I arched my brow and looked down at her.
“They came because you’re all good guys. It has nothing to do with me.”
We walked down the stairs together and I held out the plate to her. “Hold this.” I popped the tailgate down on my pickup and sat on it. “You joining me?”
“I could take a break.” She nodded and hopped up beside me. No doubt this would get the tongues wagging, but I didn’t care. “How’s Cooper been? Is he in the way? He can stay in the house this afternoon. A nap would probably do him good.”
“No, don't worry, he’s been great. I could see him needing a nap, but he’s been my right-hand man.” I stabbed my fork into the food on my plate.
“Kipp.” Nash’s voice called out over the crowd. Turning, I looked to where he was pointing, and saw a calf push through the panels and was heading straight for where Cooper and the other kids were playing. A five hundred pound calf could seriously hurt a kid. Nora and I both jumped off the tailgate, and she grabbed a rope off the back of the side-by-side. Effortlessly, she swung the rope above her head as she ran. Letting the rope fly, the lasso hooked the calf's head, and she pulled it tight, and braced herself against its pulling. The calf turned and narrowly missed the kids.
“You standing there gawking or are you going to help me?” she shouted as the calf was pulling against the rope. Running to her, I took the rope from her, and pulled the calf back to the corral as Nora opened the gate. Getting the rope off the calf's head, I walked back to the woman who had worked her way into my life, but I still knew nothing about. A person doesn’t know how to swing a rope like that without practice.
“Are you going to tell me how you knew how to do that?” I asked as I walked past her.
“No,” she replied and pulled the gate closed, latching it and walking past me. She walked right to the house and straight up the stairs without another word. I didn’t hesitate to follow her. Reaching for the door handle, I closed it, hoping everyone would take the hint and stay out. I was hot on her heels and followed her into the bathroom.
“What are you doing?”
“Kipp, can you just give me a minute please?” She turned on the tap and continued to not look at me.
“What are you doing, Nora?” I grabbed her shoulder and turned her toward me. I looked down at her hands, which she had been holding up in front of her, and realized they were covered in rope burns, manure, and whatever else was on the rope she’d grabbed. “Let me help you.” Turning her back around, I pushed her hands under the warm water. She tried to pull her hands away, but I held them tighter and watched the grime wash down the sink. Pressed up against her, focused on her hands, I almost missed her leaning back into me.
