Page 38 of Mountain Men’s Nanny

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Gideon said, but with a stern tone.

I read between the lines, and I could see that both Gunner and Tobias did too. Gideon didn’t think it was a good idea; he strongly felt it was a bad one.

“It is a good idea,” Lexi protested. “I want to go, and if Brie is going, so am I.”

Lexi crossed her arms over her chest and puffed out her cheeks angrily. It was a standoff, and we all knew it.

“Then I’ll go with you,” Gideon said, already packing away everything he had just set up for breakfast.

Gunner rolled his eyes irritably, “That’s unnecessary. I can handle it. Lexi and Brie will both be safe.” Gunner flexed his biceps, and it was Gideon’s turn to roll his eyes irritably.

“We’ll be fine,” I said, trying to pacify Gideon.

I grabbed some fruit for Lexi, Gunner, and myself and started to leave.

“Be careful,” Gideon said, gently touching my shoulder.

“We will,” I smiled.

I might have been more excited than Lexi. Even though I didn’t run for the truck, squealing as she did, my heart was pounding against my ribs, and my stomach was doing flip-flops. My first hunting trip!

Gunner fast walked ahead to strap Lexi into the back seat and open the front passenger seat for me, winking as he clicked in my seatbelt.

He climbed in next to me and started the truck. It rattled and shook, making its way off the property and into a quiet wooded area.

Gunner’s face seemed to change the deeper into the woods we drove, his eyes focused, scanning the area, finding the perfect spot before packing in a clearing.

“We’re going to walk from here,” he smiled.

I envied Gunner; he didn’t need much to make him happy. He just needed to be outside, wandering in the woods. He walked quietly, taking light steps as he scouted the area. It all came naturally to him: touching the trees, watching the ground for tracks, listening intently for something I couldn’t identify even if I knew what I was listening for.

Lexi and I followed closely, trying to step where he stepped, stay quiet, and touch the trees to figure out what he felt when he touched them.

Lexi stared at everything wide-eyed with her mouth held in a soundless gasp. She grew up here, but it was hard to imagine ever taking any of this for granted. It was beautiful. Everywhere I looked seemed like it was pulled from the pages of a fairytale. Even Gunner.

His eyes sparkled, his body moved in sync with the gentle swaying of the trees. He knew exactly where he was going, even though there were no paths or route markers; he was free. I was kind of free.

“Look here,” Gunner said, pointing to indentations in the ground.

Lexi and I leaned down close to Gunner as he pointed out deer tracks in the mud.

“The bigger ones are a stag, a big one, it must weigh about 600lbs,” he whispered.

I looked carefully at the tracks, and I watched Gunner measure their depth with his finger, nodding his head.

“How do you know how much it weighs?” Lexi whispered, poking her fingers at the tracks too.

“The heavier the animal, the deeper the tracks,” Gunner whispered. “A stag that big can’t hide for long; we’ll spot him soon enough.”

We crouched down, following Gunner’s gaze across the woods. Trying to see what he saw.

The woods were quiet, just the hushed rustle of the trees now and then. It might have been the stag, but it was most likely the wind. Gunner would know the difference, though; how he did it was a mystery to me.

“The tracks go down this way,” Lexi said seriously.

She walked ahead of us, bending down to feel the tracks every few steps, just like Gunner had done. We followed her in silence. She didn’t leave our sight, but she was too caught up in her tracking to pay us any attention.

“Is it dangerous?” I asked. “What if it sees her before she sees it?”