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“Well, I think you’re pretty selfless, Kipp Miller. And that thing pressed against me feels a little dangerous.” She giggled and I grinned, holding her tightly. “Go sit. You’re going to have another long day.” She moved away from me and I did as I was told, grabbing my coffee and watching her move easily around the room.
“Kipp, we need to talk,” Linc announced as the guys all walked into the kitchen together. We all got along, but wandering around as a posse wasn’t something we did often.
“Sure, over coffee?” I asked, holding up my cup. They all nodded and sat down at the table.
“Good morning everyone. I hope you all had restful nights?” Nora greeted as she filled each cup. “I’m going to get out of here because this sounds a little too businessy for me to stay for.” She set the coffee pot back on the burner and smiled at me as she left the room, pulling the door closed behind her. To be honest, I wouldn’t have cared if she’d stayed.
“What’s up?”
“The fence in the south pasture was cut, all four wires the full length,” Linc answered, leaning back in his chair and tucking one thumb into his pocket.
“We just replaced that three weeks ago. Could it have been bad wire?” I raised my cup. I wasn’t the one to over react, the other guys could be hot heads, but I was the calm that managed to keep everyone’s storm at bay.
“Kipp, every section was cut and the corners were sawed off. I think we’ve got trouble again.” Griff leaned over, resting his arms on the table. “It ended too easy last time. We should have been prepared for this.” Griff’s face was pinched tightly and he clenched his jaw. His tell for being ready to run off half cocked and do something stupid.
“We’re going to need to change the grazing plan until we can get back out there. That won’t be until next week, though.” I looked to Nash, he would know what we could do.
“North was grazed pretty hard, but we can probably manage a few days on it. We will just have to rotate quickly.” We all went silent. It had been a quiet six months and we thought the problems were over. I guess whoever started it was just biding their time and formulating new plans. “I think we need to set the trail cam’s up, get some surveillance going again. The security cameras around the yard are easy. It’s just a button on the computer.” Nash lifted his cup and took a swig of his coffee. He was right about all of it. If we had any hope of catching this person, we needed to be monitoring everything.
“I will ride tonight and keep an eye on things.” Linc finished his coffee. “No matter what, we’re going to have to keep the cattle close. Maybe even start staying at the winter shack when we have to move them out further,” he said, leaning back in his chair. This meant all hands on deck. Linc wouldn’t be going back to Texas for a while. How we ended up in this mess was still beyond me, but if we wanted this ranch to survive, we had to figure it out.
A soft knock on the door made us all turn, and Nora poked her head through. “If you don’t mind, I need to start breakfast.”
“We’re done,” Griff said, sounding like he’d just rolled out of bed. Nora walked back in and she’d changed her clothes, curled her hair, and put some makeup on. I didn’t think we’d been talking that long. “What’s for breakfast today, Chef Nora?” She smiled and shook her head.
“Well Griff, how about potato pancakes, bacon, and eggs?” she said as she stuck her head into the fridge and started pulling out bowls and egg cartons.
“I think I could be convinced to eat that.” He nodded. “Need help?” he asked, standing and moving to her. A pang of jealousy flowed through me and I wanted to bolt from my chair and shove him away from her.
“I’m good, thanks though, Griff.” She put her hand on his arm and I clenched my jaw, reaching for my coffee. I was shocked I didn’t snap the handle off the cup. Looking across the table, I saw Nash raise his eyebrow at me. I knew we’d be discussing this later.
Bacon popped and sizzled on the stove. Nora had cracked an entire carton of eggs and scrambled them as the potato pancakes fried on another burner. Watching her move was what I imagined music sound waves looked like. Everything she did was with purpose and precision. I was enchanted. “All right boys, fill your plates, eat, and get out of my kitchen.” She set everything on the island and moved out of the way. It was like a stampede to see who could get there first. I couldn’t blame them. It smelled delicious, but I was looking at her, not the food.
Less than six hours ago, I was kissing her in the other room. She’d fallen asleep in my arms and I’d ached to have her back in my arms. Cutlery scraped along plates, slurps of coffee were being taken and nobody said a word. “Nora, I don’t know where you came from but damn I’m glad you’re here,” Linc gushed, leaning back in his chair, patting his stomach.
“Well thanks, Lincoln. I appreciate it.” I knew what Linc was doing. He was digging for information but Nora was locked up tighter than Fort Knox. He stood, took his plate to the sink, and left the kitchen.
“Nora, you’re an angel.” Ryder followed Linc’s lead. Griff and Nash did the same.
“Any chance you want to come rope a few claves later?” I asked, taking my plate and setting it in the sink, trying to hide my smile?
“Not a chance, cowboy. I’m leaving that shit to you.”
“Obviously money isn’t enough to curb your potty mouth. I'm going to have to think of another payment for you.” I reached for her, wrapping my hand around her back and pulling her to me. Leaning down, I planted a kiss on her lips. Her mouth was tender and my hold on her sure. She dropped the cloth she was holding back into the dish water and wrapped her wet hands around my neck. Breaking the kiss, her puffy lips and red face made me smile. “Now I can go to work.”
“Okay, there’s people in the house now. Stop kissing my best friend, Kipp Miller.” Kristin’s voice called from the porch and I shook my head.
“You could have found a less nosy best friend,” I mumbled, and Nora laughed. “See you at lunch.” Letting her go just as Kristin walked into the kitchen, I watched Nora’s cheeks turn flaming red. “Kristin.”
“Kipp,” she answered, looking from me to Nora. “You better treat my friend like gold,” she threatened, putting her hand on my chest and making me stop walking.
“I intend to.” I glanced back at Nora and winked before leaving the kitchen. Grabbing my boots and hat, I moseyed out to the porch swing where Linc was waiting for me.
“What are you doing, Kipp?”
“Putting my boots on, I thought that would be obvious?” I said, sitting next to him, slamming my hat on my head. I didn’t need him questioning me.
“If this goes bad, what happens? She stays. Every meal is awkward or we’re stuck with you cooking again?”
