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I do know that it would be fucking miserable.
After my parents come back with the kids next weekend, I’ll sit down with Johnny and Holly for a serious conversation.I’m not sure yet what I’ll say, but I need to know how they feel and how they’d react to Erin integrating more into our family, not just as the nanny.
The thought makes me nervous and excited all at once, but I’m past ready to have Erin with me, in my bedroom, every night.
I’m not quite fullyawake when I make it downstairs to the coffee maker, and I’m surprised to find Erin already there, brewing herself a mug.
“You’re up early.”I move in, kiss her forehead, and wrap my arms around her.She leans in, hugging me back.
“I woke up about an hour ago and couldn’t fall back to sleep.”She yawns and steps back when her coffee is finished brewing, then grabs the flavored creamer she loves.“I might as well get started with the day.Do you have a lot going on today?”
“Just the usual amount.”I set to work getting my own coffee ready.“What time are you meeting with my mom?”
“Around noon.She’s going to text me when she gets back from her Tai Chi class.”Erin grins over the rim of her steaming mug.“I love how active your mom is.”
“She rarely stops moving,” I agree.“I think she was so used to being busy, chasing around so many kids for all those years, that it’s become a habit, and she just keeps going.And I’m glad for it.Dad’s the same.He may be retired, but there’s hardly a day that he doesn’t come out to the barn to oversee something.”
“Well, I think it’s great.I’m going to do some morning yoga and some meditation, and then I’ll get the kids off to school.”
Knowing that the kids are still in bed, I pull Erin against me and kiss her long and slow.I’m satisfied when I pull back and she’s just a bit breathless, those sleepy eyes wide awake and firing at me now.
“If I can manage it, I’ll swing by later,” I promise her.
“Sounds good to me.”Erin winks at me.“I’ll be here all morning.”
Thanks to a hayorder that went horribly wrong, and a busy morning of interviewing for summer ranch hands, the day slipped away from me, and there was no time to go to the house for some time with Erin.
“How many head do we have going to auction this fall?”I ask Lucky from across my desk.
“Eight hundred,” he replies.“Wait, that’s eight hundred and two.”
“That’s up a little from last year,” I murmur, taking notes.“Okay, and who do you think we should hire from today’s interviews?”
“If I’m being honest?None of them.”
I don’t disagree.I wasn’t particularly impressed with any of them.
“I have to hire someone, Lucky.Brady will be out on the circuit soon, and summer’s busy.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, son.I get it.I’m just saying that if I’m being truthful, not one of those four boys are cowboys.”
I toss the pen down and rub my eyes, take my hat off, and scratch my head.
“Shit, I guess it’s back to the drawing board.I’ll put out another ad.I’d like to have two more hands hired before June.”
“We’d all like that,” Lucky says with a chuckle.“But those boys today wouldn’t have fit in, and none of them had the build to do the work.They’d just be exhausted, and likely hurt, every day.That’s not what we need.”
“You’re right about that.We don’t need it.Hell, three of them admitted that they applied for the job because their dads made them.”
Lucky winces.“I’ll ask around again to see if anyone I know is looking for work.”
“I appreciate it.I’m going to go see how it’s going with my mom and Erin.Erin applied for the bookkeeping position.”
“We like her,” Lucky says as I stand.“Now,she’ssomeone who fits in.”
“Yeah.”I grin and settle the hat on my head once more.“She does.I’ll come back out here in a bit.”
Lucky nods and walks away as I climb into the Jeep and set off for my folks’ house.Erin and Mom are walking out of the house as I pull in, both of them smiling and happy.
