All I ever said was that I was seeing someone, and that someone had a son.
“Nice to meet you too, Louise,” Wells said, then he held out his hand to my dad. “Devon,” he said, and Wells nodded. “Nice to meet you. This is Ira.”
Ira was a little unsure at first, but more because my dad was a little scary looking.
He had that full-beard going on, covering half of his face, but once he smiled, Ira waved at them and said hi.
“I see you got your boots on already! All you need is a cowboy hat and you’re ready to ride!” Dad told Ira, making him smile and giggle.
“You’re funny,” he said, making us all laugh.
“Come inside! I prepared you guys two bedrooms. Don’t care who sleeps in which room, but you have the whole second floor to yourselves for the weekend.”
I nodded, letting Ira take my hand while Wells and Dad took our bags out of the car.
“I saw horses!” Ira told mom, and I smiled, knowing her heart already melted for the sweetest little boy ever.
“Have you ever been close to one before? If you want, we can go ride on one later,” she suggested.
“Yes, please!”
Ira’s excitement grew with every minute that passed, and once we were inside the house, his eyes widened as he saw all the western decorations my parents had.
It was as if you walked into a saloon, with wood and leather everywhere.
“This place is amazing, huh, bud?” Wells asked.
“It’s a cow on the wall!” he called out, pointing at the stuffed head above the fireplace.
“That’s a bison,” Mom explained. “We have a few of those too, and they are very, very big!”
“Bigger than a cow?” Ira asked, amazed by his surroundings.
“Much bigger! Wanna touch this one?”
Ira nodded and Wells picked Ira up to let him caress the soft coat of the bison.
“It’s a little scary,” Ira said, but he bravely kept touching and admiring the animal.
“They’re very sweet, you know? You can even feed one if you want to,” Mom said.
This weekend was definitely for Ira, but I loved seeing the love and same excitement in Wells’s eyes as his son explored new things.
“Rooney, your father and I have to drive into town to get a few things, but Alexis and Kira are outside with a group of visitors giving them a tour of the ranch, so why don’t you guys tag along and we’ll have dinner later on?”
“Yeah, sounds good.” I looked at Wells who nodded.
“Sounds great. Thank you for having us this weekend,” he added.
“Oh, of course! We’re happy to have you. We’ll see you later.”
Ira couldn’t take his eyes off the bisons grazing on the big field behind the shed, and while Kira and Alexis took the group over to the horses, we stopped and kept looking at them from afar.
“We didn’t see bisons at the zoo,” Ira pointed out ad Wells picked him up so he could sit on the wooden fence.
“Right, we didn’t see them at the zoo,” Wells said.
I smiled at them and let Wells pull me closer to him with his arm around my shoulders and the other around Ira to make sure he wouldn’t fall.
“I think they’re coming over to say hi,” I said, pointing at two of the bisons coming closer.
“Should I be worried?” Wells asked closer to my ear, and I quickly shook my head.
“They’re very calm and gentle.” I’ve been around these animals when I was younger, and I’ve learnt a lot about their behavior.
As long as you stayed calm and fed them, they would stand there and let you pet them.
“Here, I brought some apples. They mostly eat grass, but they love apples,” I told them, taking the apples out of the bucket I filled with veggies and fruits before heading out and handing each an apple. “Just hold your hand out flat like this and put the apple on it so they can easily grab it,” I told Ira, helping him hold his hand out as one bison stopped in front of him.
He was a little hesitant at first, but once the bison ate the apple, he clapped his hands and giggled happily. “I did it!”
“Good job, buddy!” Wells said proudly.
“You can give him a little pet while he’s eating,” I told him, reaching out my hand to touch the bison’s head.
Ira did the same, petting him and then pulling both hands tightly against his chest to show his happiness.