Wanted (47 page)

Gunner lo
ok
ed back at
me winked
and smiled.

“We have to listen to a little music to get us in the mood!”

Gunner hit play and
“
Banjo
”
by
Rascal
Flatts
started to play.
Jeff and Gunner both gave each
other
a fist bump and said at the same time…..

“Hells yeah!”

I lo
ok
ed over at Ari and she lo
ok
ed at me.

She smiled and just sho
ok
her head.

“Men….” We both said at the same time.

G
unner……

Christ almighty…….driving for three hours and listening to Ari go on and on was enough to drive me fucking nuts! She got a call from Jason and of course she to
ok
it. The minute she said Jason’s name Jeff put
on
his headphones and didn’t take them off for another hour. Stupid fucker was just going to
give up on the girl he wanted.

I lo
ok
ed back at Ellie one time and the smile on her face lo
ok
ing out the window told me all I needed to know. She already loved being away from the city. Would
she love the ranch as much as I
did? Could she see herself living there? Being a rancher’s wife? Fuck
I
sure as shit hoped so.

I turned down the count
y road that le
d to the ranch
and my palms started to sweat and my heart rate kicked up. What the fuck? I was never nervous coming to the ranch.
Maybe it was having Ellie meet Gramps and G
rams tha
t was getting me all fucked up.

I lo
ok
ed back at Ellie and she lo
ok
ed like she was about to come out of her seat. Jeff to
ok
his head phones off a
nd turned around to face Ellie.

“You excited honey? This is your first time out t
o the country and to a working cattle ranch!
”

I’m not sure what type of sound Ellie just made but she was smiling from
ear to ear.

“Holy shit I
’m so excited I’
m shaking!”

“Jesus Ellie…
.it’s just a bunch of cows for P
ete
’
s sake. I’
m more c
oncerned with the fact that I’
ve not h
ad a cell signal for the last forty five
minutes!” Ari said as she moved her cell phone all over the back of Gunner’s truck
lo
ok
ing for a signal.

Jeff let out a laugh. “Yep you take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl. You won’t die if you can’t talk to your boyfriend
for a few days
squirt.”

“Fuck off
dick
wad
.”

“Can you two please
just knock it off for at least two
days? I really want to enjoy this time we all have together before Gunner and Jefferson have to report back to football
practice
OKAY
?
!
Will the two of you attempt to get along…
…
.for me?”

Jeff just turned around and didn’t say a word; Ari told Ellie of course they would behav
e. Right…
..
I didn’t
b
elieve that load of shit any more than Ellie probably did.

We pulled up to the gate. It was a large black iron gate and above it read:

Mathews Cattle Co

I
heard Ellie let out a gasp as I
punched in the gate
code
and we made our way down the long country road that l
ed to my dream. The driveway went on
a good three miles before we got to the ranch house. One more turn and that big white
house would be in front of us.

Fuck I
l
oved that house. The house had four
bedrooms
with
Gramps and G
rams bedroom downstairs an
d the other three bedrooms
all upstairs.
Both the first and second story of the house had wraparound porches all the way around the house.
Each
room had access to the porch and o
n cool nights G
rams would open all the windows
and doors to cool the house off.

The porch swing facing out towards the west
was
my
favorite part of the house. I remember all the
n
ights I sat on that swing with G
ramps while he told me what it to
ok
to be a
cattle rancher. I smiled at
the memory
. I turned to lo
ok
back at Ellie. She was staring at me with a goofy little smile. My heart started to beat faster as I gave her a wink.
I was fucking nervous as hell.

There it
was
…….
the ranch house…….and there was G
ramp
s and G
rams standing out front waiting for us. I thought I heard Ellie tell Ari she was nervous about meeting my grandparents. We pulled up and I threw the truck in
to park as
I jumped out
and made a beeline straight to G
rams. She was holding a bouquet of daisies in her hand. I reached down and gently lifted her up and gave her a small hug as I kissed her on the cheek.

“Oh, you big ‘ole hulk
now you put me back down Drew!”

“Yes ma
’a
m, I missed you G
rams, I mis
sed you so much.” I slowly put G
rams down as I t
urned to give G
ramps a hand shake. He pulled my hand in and gave me a b
ear hug, just like always.

“How are you doing D
rew? We missed you so much son.
Son of bitch you keep getting bigger, good for ranch work.
” G
ramps said has
he gave me a once over.

Jeff walked up
next and leaned down and ga
ve G
rams a kiss and a hug and then sho
ok G
ramps hand. Ellie and Ari were right behind him
. Jeff turned around and to
ok Ari’s hand in his and brought her up to Grams and Gramps
.

“Mr. and Mrs. Mathews this is Arianna Peterson, Ellie’s best friend.” Grams lo
ok
ed at Ari and smiled and then lo
ok
ed up at Jeff
and raised her one eyebrow. She always knew whe
n someone was hiding something.

“Humph,
just
Ellie’s
best friend huh sweetheart?” Grams said as she lo
ok
ed back at Ari. She walked up to Ari and gave her a hug and whispered something in Ari’s ear that made Ari’
s face instantly blush. Ari then let out a laugh as she lo
ok
ed back at Jeff.
Nothing got by my grandmother.

“Arianna dear, you are such a pretty thing…
..
.please call me Emma.”

“Thank you so much for hav
ing us; it is absolutely breath
taking out
here! And please, call me Ari.”

Gramps walked over and gave Ari a
small hug and welcomed her. Ari thanked him and told him about her own grandfather’s ranch where she spent almost every summer riding in the local rodeos barrel racing. Jeff lo
ok
ed shocked to say the least. Damn that girl never ceased to shock me one way or another.

Next thing I knew Gramps was lo
ok
ing straight at me. “Now where the hell is this girl who has stolen our Drew’s heart?” He had a huge smile on his face, the same smile he wore when ever Grams walked into a room.

It was time
…..my hands started to sweat again and my knees felt like they were going to buckle any moment. I wiped my hand on my jeans and gently to
ok
Ellie’
s hand in mine. I walked up to G
ramps first since he couldn’t
seem to tear his eyes from her
.

“Gramps, I would like to introduce you to Ellie Jo
hnson, Jeff’s sister
and well…um….the girl who has captured my heart and soul.” Ellie turned and lo
ok
ed at me. She slowly gave me that goddamn smile of hers that melts my heart every time. He
r
beautiful blue eyes lo
ok
ed even more beautiful ou
t here under
th
e vast Texas sky
.

God I loved her.

Ellie walk
ed up to Gramps as he bent down and
wrapped her in his arms
and
lifted h
er up. Ellie started to laugh
. “
Well
aren’t
you the prettiest thing I have ever laid eyes on next to Emma here.”

Gramps set Ellie down and her cheeks were a beautiful ros
e color. She smiled up at him and I swear he swayed a little.
I knew right then and there she had bewitched him just as much as she had me.

Ellie
turned to face me and gave me a wink. “I
see where you get it from now.”

I placed my hand on her lower back and brought her over to Grams. I thought I felt a shiver go through Ellie’s body.
As we got closer to G
rams I thought I saw tears in my grandmother’s
eyes. What was
that all about?

“Ellie this is the most important woman
in my life,
I adore her and I know you will also. Grams…
…
.
this
is
my
Ellie.” I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I lo
ok
ed around
to see if a
nyone else could hear it also
.

Grams walked up to
Ellie and handed her the dais
ies
.
Ellie’s s
miled grew bigger and she told G
rams that daisies where her favorite. Grams threw her head back and laughed
and told her she had heard that from a little fairy
. Grams placed
both her hands on Ellie’s shoulders and lo
ok
ed her over. He
r s
mile was all I needed to see to
know s
he already loved Ellie. She brought Ellie in for hug and whispered something into Ellie’s ear as well. Ellie didn’t laugh like Ari did. She pulled back and lo
ok
ed at Grams shocked and then turned to lo
ok
over
at me.

“Trust me Ellie
darlin
’
, trust me!
”
Grams said with a wink
. Ellie
smiled as G
rams linked both Ari and Ellie’s arms into hers and walked them into the house. Both girls
started laughing at something G
rams said to them
. Ellie turned back around and gave me a smile.
I
returned her smile along with a
wink as she turned her attention back to what Grams was saying.

Watching her walk into the
house for th
e first time with Grams
almost made my heart burst into two.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her retreatin
g body. Just has the door shut G
ramps slapped Jeff and
I
both on the backs.

“Well I’ll be goddamned! Holy fucking shit boys how the hell did you two luck out with those beauties?
”
Gramps said with a loud laugh.

“
You lucky sons of bitches
!
Now,
let’s head down to the barn and find Dr
ake, I think I need a beer or ten
.
I
’
ll get Dewey to bring the girls suitcases up to their room.
”

Jeff and I both lo
ok
ed at each
other
and smiled.
We walked with G
ramps to
the
barn
while he got us caught up on all the work
he
had in store for us while we were
t
here. Jeff leaned over and whispered in my ear.