Her Lone Star Cowboy

She gave him a reassuring smile before continuing toward the truck for her equipment. He opened the gate and entered the pen with the cattle. It didn’t take him but a few minutes to cull one from the bunch and herd him into the alley that led to the steel squeeze chute. He’d just pulled the lever that brought the bars in close, holding the heifer in place so that Gabi could draw the blood.

“You’re quick,” she said, striding to the pen.

“I should be,” he said. “I do this every day.” As worried about his livestock as he was, he couldn’t help noticing that she looked as sunny and bright as a fresh summer day. She wore old jeans and scuffed boots that looked like they’d seen a lot of miles. Her tank top was bright pink and fresh looking and showed off her sun-kissed arms. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail with a bright yellow ribbon that fluttered in the warm breeze. He watched as she pulled out the syringe and prepared to take the first sample with speedy efficiency. “You look pretty quick yourself.”

“I should be. I do this every day,” she copied him and smiled through the steel bars before inserting the needle in the heifer’s neck.

The animal hardly reacted to her expert touch. For some reason he’d had visions of Gabi making the animals nervous.

“You know, I’m mad at you.” She didn’t look up as she spoke.

“About what?”

She met his curious stare with frank eyes. “You bragged in the diner about rescuing me from that rushing water.”

“I wasn’t bragging. Sam asked why I was dripping water on his wood floors so I told him. There was no bragging involved. Concern? Yeah. Bragging? No way.”

“You worried my grandmother for no reason.”

He hadn’t thought of that. “I told them you were safe.” The cute quirk of her left eyebrow told him she was mad at him. Not to mention the green flash of fire in her eyes.

“You didn’t have to tell them the details. You should have known it would cause Adela to worry.” She pushed hard on the steel lever, releasing the heifer.

Jess let the next one into the chute. “She seemed fine to me. You’re getting all bent out of shape for nothing.”

“You think? My gram was worried and there was no need in it.”

He thought about it for a minute. He hadn’t called Colt or Luke and told them about the dead heifers or about the cattle that were looking ill. Why hadn’t he? Because he didn’t want to worry them. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t think.”

She met his gaze through the bars. “It’s just that I’ve worried her enough in my lifetime. I’d rather not do that anymore.”

There was a long silence as they worked together. He wondered what she’d done to make Adela worry. If she was prone to traipsing across pastures during electrical storms, then he could understand why. “I’m sure you didn’t worry her too much,” he said, unable to let her comment linger in the air.

Pulling more blood into the syringe, she frowned. “Sadly, I did. Anyway, I guess in some way all kids worry their parents and grandparents. Still, I don’t want to cause Adela any more worry.”

Jess could have told her that that wasn’t necessarily true. Parents had to care before they could be worried. “You are lucky to have Adela in your life.”

She yanked the lever again, releasing another heifer. “I’m not lucky. I’m blessed. God did right by me when He gave me my mother and my grandmother.”

Growing up, Jess had watched other kids with parents who cared. He’d wondered what that would feel like.

“I know Miss Adela is a good woman, I’m sure your mother is too,” he said, as they continued working through the cattle. She smiled, just enough to show a bit of the dimple that he’d seen during the storm.

“You know what my goal is now?” Light seemed drawn to her, making her blond ponytail sparkle and her suntanned skin glow.

“What?”

“I want to be a blessing to my Gram and anyone else who I meet. I’m not sure I can do it, but I’m trying.” She finished pulling the blood. “You know what I mean?” Sincerity vibrated in her voice as she pulled the lever and let the last animal run free.

Jess hadn’t ever thought about being a blessing to anyone. Looking at her, he almost wished he could say he knew exactly what she meant. But that wasn’t true. “No. I don’t know what you mean,” he said, his brows crunching slightly as he spoke. “But, I can tell you that if that blood work comes back clear, you’ll have been a big blessing to me.”

She smiled a dazzler of a smile that blew his boots off.

“I hope so.” She picked up the case full of blood samples and headed toward her truck. He closed the gate behind him and followed her, watching as she set them in the seat.

“Let’s pray that this report comes back and it’s an easy fix, or better yet that nothing is wrong with these heifers,” she said turning back to him and holding her hand out toward him.

“That’d be great,” he said, not sure what she was doing.

She cocked her head slightly then wiggled her fingers. “Hold my hand.”

Jess was by no means a fool. He wasn’t about to forego holding the hand of a beautiful woman. When he took her hand, his pulse kicked up a notch… .

“Let’s pray.” She bowed her head.

Pray? Now?

“Oh, Father,” she prayed, squeezing his hand in hers. “Please watch over Jess’s cattle and let them stay healthy and strong. If they are ill, we pray You’ll lead us to the answer quickly and that You’ll help us to know what to do for them so that they return to health quickly. We ask in Your name that Your will be done. Amen.”

Jess wasn’t surprised by much, but this was twice that Gabi Newberry had done it. First asking about his salvation and now taking his hand and praying out loud—he wasn’t sure which had him most startled. He was staring at the top of her head as she finished and raised happy eyes to his. She took his breath away.

“There that should do it.” She grinned, squeezing his hand before letting go and stepping away from him. “I’m heading back so I can get these samples to Susan. We should know something soon.”

“Great,” Jess said, still reeling from her prayer and the touch of her hand. He’d felt a wave of awareness the instant her hand had touched his.

Gabi Newberry had the ability to catch him off guard when most didn’t. He liked that, but she also had a close relationship with the Lord. He wasn’t used to that. Even Luke, who had a strong faith, didn’t pray out loud unless it was before a meal. Jess didn’t pray. He’d stopped a long time ago.

And he was fine with that.

Luke and several of his friends never gave up though. They asked him to come to church all the time. And every once in a while he went so they would feel better. But it didn’t feel right to him, knowing how much resentment about his past he had buried inside of him. He didn’t let his past affect him in many ways, but church was a hard fit.

Attractive to him as she was, Gabi’s front-and-center faith had him backtracking.

Besides, he had a gut feeling that once she found out he wasn’t sold on Jesus like she was, two things could happen. One, she’d want nothing to do with him even if she was attracted to him. Or two, she would make him her project, deciding she needed to “fix” him.

He was fine the way he was and didn’t need, or want to be, fixed! Nope, that idea didn’t sit well at all. Matter of fact, Jess figured the best course of action would be to steer clear of Gabi altogether, which was one more good reason to hope his cattle hadn’t contracted anything that would require a lot of interaction with the vet clinic—or Gabi.

He needed favorable test results. He did not need Gabi out here testing cattle, drawing blood or trying to help him in any way.

Watching her drive off, he felt a pang of regret…she was like a ray of sunshine. Even mad at him. That made him smile.

Yup. He needed healthy cattle.

And he needed to steer clear of Gabi Newberry.

* * *

“I think it’s a plant.”