Page 44 of Cabins Cows Critics
Today’s session is only for the guests staying as part of the Christmas Experience, so Nial brings down a container of cookies Poppy baked with her grandmother, along with a few thermoses of hot chocolate and a basket of assorted fruit and vegetables for the minis.
“I’ll take those,” I say, grabbing the basket of treats before one of the minis bowls him over trying to get them.
“Thanks. So, how do you think it’s going?” he asks, as he starts to lay out the mugs on top of an old wine barrel we have standing in the corner.
“They all seem to be enjoying themselves.”
“Some more than most,” he replies, and I catch the smile in his voice.
“Ranch life isn’t for everyone. The sisters seem to be enjoying taking photos of everything. They were making snow angels in the field as the cows walked past earlier.”
“I saw you,” he says with a chuckle, and I spin to face him.
“What?”
“You and the guest from cabin twelve.”
“You saw what?”
He rolls his eyes, which is normally a reaction reserved for his brother, Dean.
“I saw you two kissing by the cove last night.”
“Oh…umm, yeah, we, ummm…”
“It’s good,” he interjects, and I can feel my face growing warmer. It’s not like I’m the first of us to hook up with a guest. Atlas had a guy from his community out to stay only a month ago. We had one of the smaller cabins moved up near Atlas’s trailer for his stay. Keep the nudists together, and far away from the other guests was the plan. It worked. Mostly. Except when Mrs. Habbersham from cabin three went for a late-night walk and found them buck naked in the pool. Her scream woke me out of a dead sleep that night.
“It’s something,” I reply, not really knowing what else to say.
“Well, I think it’s great. It’s been forever since you’ve had any fun. You deserve to let loose once in a while. His name is Holden, right?”
“Hayden.”
“Hayden, sorry. And he’s an author?”
“Yeah, he’s writing a book. Apparently, the ranch is good for inspiration. He’s written several chapters in the last few days alone.”
“The Beaker Brothers Ranch magic at work.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Sounds like the guests are on their way,” he says, heading over to the barn door that leads out to the cuddle cove area. He opens the top section of the door, leaving the bottom closed to help contain the minis.
“Come around to the side door,” he tells them, and a few moments later, the door slides open slightly, and Wendy sticks her head through.
“Is it safe to open?” she asks.
“Yep, come on in,” I reply, and she yanks the door open wider, and the rest of the Experience guests file in behind her. Only Hayden isn’t one of them.
Is he okay? They had horseback riding through the ranch with Atlas again before this; maybe he fell off. No. Nial would know if one of the guests was injured. Maybe he and Atlas got all chatty on their ride, and he’s told him all about his nudist ways. Fuck. Stop.
Wendy climbs over the railing to get into the section where I am with two mini Highlands.
“He’s writing,” she says as she crouches down to feed them both a carrot.
“What?”
She looks up at me with a warm, knowing smile on her lips.
