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But life wasn’t all about work for Kipp and Dale.
Far from it.
It was a sunny Friday afternoon and the two of them had a few spare hours on their hands. Of course, there was always work to be done on the ranch, but Kipp knew when to listen to his body. He might have been a powerful man, but even he needed hisdown time. And with Dale having a day off ahead of a weekend at the diner, the scene was perfectly set for the two of them to spend some quality time with one another…
‘Wowzers, I didn’t think you had a forest too,’ Dale exclaimed, looking up at the tall trees as they surrounded him for as far as his eyes could see.
‘Yup, we sure do,’ Kipp chuckled. ‘Uncle Joe started off with just the ranch house and a few fields. But over the years he invested in land. The way he saw it was that if he could keep green spaces out of the hands of property developers, then all the better. And for an older guy, Uncle Joe was keen to protect the environment too. Hell, he’d put most youngsters to shame with his knowledge of carbon emissions.’
‘I bet he would,’ Dale replied, smiling sweetly as he walked up to a tall oak tree and rested his face up against it.
‘The thing with my uncle was that he never stopped learning,’ Kipp said, happy to reminisce for a moment. ‘He always had his face in a book come evening time. Or as he got older, his iPad. As long as he was learning something new, he felt like he was keeping himself young. I think we could all learn a lot from him.’
‘I think so too,’ Dale said. ‘Sometimes I wish I listened more to my mom and pop when I was growing up. I guess it’s never too late to start though, right?’
‘You got it. And that was another of Uncle Joe’s mottos,’ Kipp chuckled. ‘There’s always time to learn, to change, and to make things right.’
Kipp suddenly felt a wave of emotion come over him.
The truth was that as happy as he was to be renovating the ranch, he still missed his uncle. But the reality was that Uncle Joe was gone and wouldn’t be coming back. It hurt, and it reminded Kipp of the pain he still felt for his brother, Kaden. Except the difference between the two was that Uncle Joe had lived and long and productive life, whereas Kaden’s life had been cut tragically short.
‘Hey, how about a Little hug?’ Dale said, clearly seeing that Kipp was in his feelings.
‘I won’t say no,’ Kipp said, a wry smile on his face as he welcomed Dale into his embrace.
The two of them stood in the woodland and hugged.
For Kipp, it felt magical. Suddenly, all his worries and bad memories were gone. The feeling of Dale’s slender body up against his took him somewhere else altogether.
Had anyone been watching, Kipp and Dale would have looked like a Daddy and his darling boy in perfect harmony and in love with one another. And the more time he spent with Dale, the more Kipp felt like this was what he wanted in reality too.
He’s got it all.
The looks, the attitude…
And the sweetest heart too.
Kipp pulled away from Dale and took his hand. Together they began to walk deeper into the forest, taking in the sights and sounds. As they walked, the pair of them spotted rabbits, birds, and plenty of bugs and miniature wildlife.
Dale clearly had a good knowledge of the wildlife, and probably knew more than Kipp did when it came to names, habitats, and behaviors. Kipp was impressed. So much so that he even began to consider what it might be like if Dale was to take a more prominent role in the future of Eagle Ridge Ranch.
But before Kipp could broach the subject, Dale stopped walking– and it looked like it was his turn to get something off his chest…
‘You know I had that horrible ex back in the city,’ Dale said, looking up at Kipp with his wonderful green eyes. ‘He really dented my confidence. Benson was mean and controlling and made me feel like crap, especially toward the end. And he always made fun of me for being a Little. It was like he said he was fine with it just so he could get me into bed. I felt awful.’
‘Asshole,’ Kipp replied, feeling a surge of adrenalin coming over him. ‘If I could get my hands on him, I’d…’
‘But with you, it’s so different,’ Dale said, taking Kipp by the hand. ‘You make me feel like I can be myself. Not just as a Little, but all the time. I know that we might not have forever together, but I want you to know that I want us to take things further. It feels right to me. And I can’t remember ever feeling so convinced about anything before…’
Kipp could see that Dale meant every word he said.
And he knew that to deny them their connection for any longer just wasn’t right for either of them.
It was time to take things further. And with the sun creeping in through the branches of the grand old oaks above them, Kipp saw no reason to wait a single second longer.
‘Daddy, I…’ Dale said, gasping as Kipp brought him in close.
But Kipp didn’t respond. Instead, he let his actions speak for him.
