#kaleb rush

best boi kleb! 💙✨

Forbidden Fruit

POV: Kaleb Rush

“Kaleb.”

Kaleb turned to the sound of his name and lifted his hand to shield the oncoming sun from his eyes, his hat doing him no justice.

Squinting, his mom came into view, her hand waving at him as she called out. “Hergekommen sohn!”

Sighing and dropping his hand, Kaleb obeyed her command and walked the couple yards to where his mother stood waiting. “Vat are you doink?” She asked, a little impatiently.

Kaleb managed to stifle the eye roll and help up his hands, showing the fishing gear contained in both. “Goin’ fishing mom.”

His mother peered at him with suspicious eyes and placed her hands on her hips, as if not believing the hard evidence in front of her. “Alone?”

Kaleb nodded, biting his bottom lip.

“Viz two poles?”

Kaleb shrugged his shoulders and broke the gaze between him and his mother. “Never know when you’ll need a spare.”

“Are you okay, Kaleb? You’ve been actink veird lately.”

Kaleb furrowed his brows at her, thankful that his accent wasn’t nearly as bad as his elders, and asked, “What do you mean mom? I’m fine.”

“Goink ovv on your ovn, sendink everyone avay to do chores by yourselv. Vats goink on?”

Kaleb bit his lip, unsure how to proceed. He didn’t want to lie to his mom, but he wasn’t entirely ready to admit to himself where the hippidy-hop in his walk came from, let alone to anyone else.

“Is it Fiona?” His mother asked, not giving him a chance to reply.

Kaleb glanced back at her and frowned. “Uh, no, mom. I actually haven’t heard from her in a week or two.” Actually, he’d lost count of when she’d last contacted him. He furrowed his brows as he realized he’d forgotten to reach out his girlfriend these last couple days. Shaking his head, he smiled. “But it’s alright. I’ll talk to her when she answers.” Eventually. “I’m okay, no need to worry. I’ll be back for dinner.” He then bent and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek before quickly hurrying off to his pickup, hoping to avoid anymore questions.

•

Kaleb pulled up to his favorite fishing hole and chuckled as he spotted the little red mustang already parked. He shook his head in wonder at how Rosalyn managed to get the thing out here and vaguely thought he’d probably have to tow her back out.

Grabbing his fishing gear, he made his way around the bend of the creek to see Rosalyn squatting over the snow, beer in hand and a pole already in the frigid, running water.

“Well,” he said, announcing his arrival. “I guess we won’t be needing this.” He held up the second pole he’d brought, shaking his head as he reprimanded himself. He should’ve known the girl would have her own gear.

Rosalyn turned and smiled as she caught sight of him, the smile sending warm trendles through his veins. “Oh, no, it’s good you brought that, you know, for when I catch my huge fish and my pole snaps. I’ll need it.”

Kaleb couldn’t help but laugh as he followed her to the edge of the water. “Oh, really?”

“And you’re late, so I got the headstart on catching the biggest fish, not that I needed one.”

Kaleb bent down to ready his pole, finding amusement in her contradicting comment about being late, considering she was the one who never seemed to make it to anything on time. The smile never leaving his face, Kaleb continued to tease her as he worked. “I don’t see any fish. Doesn’t look like that headstart did you much good. I could leave for another hour if you need me too.”

“Oh you just stay put. You’ll see.”

“I don’t think you could catch a fly.” He mused, earning a glare from Rosalyn. He had grown used to that glare and considered it a sign of affection, as the smile always gave away her annoyance without her permission. He often found himself always working for that glare and he never failed to receive it.

In truth he didn’t believe either one of them was going to catch any fish. The river may still be flowing at this time of winter, but it was far to cold and once the snow hit the fish usually stopped biting. But Rosalyn insisted and as her excitement grew contagious Kaleb complied without much of a fight.

A couple hours of endless banter and throwing sunflower seeds at one another passed with no bites. Kaleb was about to throw the “I told you so” comment, sure that it would earn him another glare, when Rosalyn jumped up with a squeal, tugging on her pole. He stared in bewilderment for a moment. Well, I’ll be damned, he thought before shaking himself and dropping his pole to offer his help should she need it.

By the time Kaleb reached her side Rosalyn had the pole out of the water and he could see the fish dancing at the end of it. It was a two-inch catfish. Tiny. Trying not to laugh, he frowned and met Rosalyn’s gaze, expecting to find disappointment and was surprised when she beamed with joy. She held her tiny fish in her hand and brought it up to Kaleb’s eye level. She glowed with warmth, her beautiful sea blue eyes sparkling brightly. They reminded Kaleb of a perfect sunny day on the ocean. Her blonde curls blew in her face despite her efforts to keep them tied back.

Rosalyn often reminded Kaleb of a windstorm. She never looked quite put together, winded from always rushing to make it on time, a missing erring or mismatched socks, chipped nail polish because she always forgot to repaint them, pants half tucked into her boots, never having time to do anything but slip them on as she made her way out the door. She was beautiful chaos in his mind and he couldn’t imagine anything more perfect.

Her soft smile tugged at his heart as she practically jumped up and down at her perceived victory.

“Look!” She exclaimed, as if he hadn’t already seen the little fish. “I told you there’d be a catch!”

Kaleb raised a brow and chuckled. “Caught a big one alright.” He teased. Rosalyn threw him is favorite glare and Kaleb could feel his stomach flip inside out, unable to contain the pleased smile that tugged at his lips.

“I don’t see any fish on your pole Mr. Bigshot.” She said with one hand on her hip.

He rolled his eyes and held out his hand, gesturing for her pole. “Okay, you win. Now let me get that 50 pounder off your hook before the poor thing dies.”

Kaleb dodged the punch headed for his arm and laughed when her angry facade was ruined with the grin she couldn’t hold back.

Forbidden Fruit

Rosalyn hunched over, placing her hands on her knees and giving a breathless laugh. For once the frigid winter air felt nice on her face and she welcomed it as she attempted to catch her breath.

A white truck pulled up beside her, the driver side window down and a half concerned, half amused face looking out of it. “You good?” Kaleb asked, the beginning of a smile tugging his lips.

Rosalyn looked at him and rolled her eyes but she couldn’t help but smile back. Straightening up, she stretched her back and nodded. “Yeah, lets go.”

It was nearing 1:00AM and her and Kaleb had been chasing a cow for nearly 45 minutes. It was calving season for most ranchers, or in this case Hutterites, and they required shiftly checkups. When it was clear one of the heifers was about to give birth they had to be herded to the barn. Not only did they generally require assistance with the birthing but the Montana winter was far to cold for the newborns.

Rosalyn believed this process would be easier with more than two people, but unfortunately for them Kaleb had sent George home for the night, leaving them in this predicament. Although Rosalyn’s feet felt like ice cubes and she was wheezing from running, she didn’t mind the task at hand. She was actually enjoying herself.

Watching a group of cows ahead and spotting the one they were just chasing she pointed, “There.”

Kalebs gaze followed her arm and assessed the situation before turning back to her. “Are you sure you don’t want to trade?”

Rosalyn looked at him and chuckled. She placed a hand on the door and leaned in the window. “As much as I’d love to sit on my ass and watch you do the running, i’d probably run you over, by accident, of course. Or hit a cow.”

Kaleb stared at her for a moment in bewilderment and shook his head, amusement clear on his face. She winked at him and could hear his laugh as she jogged off to once again separate the cow from the herd.

•

Rosalyn leaned against the cold bars of the corral and sighed in relief. Without the adrenaline pumping through her, her body began to ache and her head started to pound. It was now close to two in the morning and they’d finally gotten the mother cow to the barn, something she’d begun to fear was never going to happen.

Kaleb dipped through the gap of the enclosed pen and motioned for Rosalyn to follow him. They entered the barn through a side door and stepped into a small, stinky room where the cow was now tied between two bars. She watched as Kaleb tugged on gloves that reached his shoulders and patted the animal affectionately. “Alright ol’ gurl, you ready for this?”

Rosalyn smiled at the slight Canadian accent that mixed with the German and english, the unique voice now so familiar to her.

The cow let out a loud bellow as Kaleb’s hand reached in and slowly began to work. Soon, small legs began to protrude. Rosalyn frowned and furrowed her brows, something was off. “Wait, isn’t it supposed to be head first?”

Kaleb didn’t look at her, concentrating as he felt around the uterus and for a moment Rosalyn thought he wasn’t going to answer her. “She’s breached. It’s a common complication and often a fatal one.”

The comment made Rosalyn bite her lip, the curiosity that was building inside now mixed with anxiety.

Kaleb swore and began to work fast. He managed to get the calf out and dragged the little body away from his working station. He then inserted his hand back into the cow and met Rosalyn’s eyes. “She’s not breathing and there’s not a huge chance she’s going to survive, but I need you to rub her chest, massage it gently and make your way up the neck. I have to pull out her sibling.”

Rosalyn moved quickly, bending next to the tiny brown calf and placed her hands on the slimy body. The baby radiated heat, instantly warming her cold hands as she began to work. She massaged in a slow, steady pace, contradicting the desperation she felt inside.

Keeping her pace she looked up to see Kaleb doing the same motion to another, identical small calf. She watched as his hands stopped and a wide grin spread across his face. “This ones okay.” Standing, he carefully stepped over the newborn and kneeled across from Rosalyn, beginning to move his hands along side hers.

After a few tense minutes, fear snaking up her spine, Rosalyn felt movement under her hands and realized the calf was now breathing. Her head whipped up, wide eyes meeting Kalebs and a large smile taking over her face.

Kaleb gave a loud whoop and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s rare for both twins to survive, good job.”

Rosalyn looked down and touched the innocent face of the exhausted calf. “No, good job to Willow.”

“‘Willow’, eh?”

Rosalyn glanced up with narrowed eyes, “Yes, what’s wrong with ‘Willow’?”

Kaleb smirked and shook his head, “Oh, nothing. Just that Willow is a bull.”

Rosalyn gaped at him for a moment before looking down and seeing that the calf was in fact, a male. She lifted her gaze back to Kaleb and rolled off her heels and onto her but, then she began to laugh.