Her Lone Star Cowboy - Debra Clopton

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Luke had gotten one thing totally right. And that was the fact that Jess liked having a place to call his own. This ranch filled a hole in his heart, eased an ache he’d had for as long as he could remember. Here on this ranch, he was happy and content. He wasn’t sure he’d ever risk that by getting married.

       He’d do anything for Luke, but get married…

       Couldn’t do it.

       Topping the ridge of a low hill, his attention was snagged by a group of buzzards circling in the pale blue sky.

       Something was dead. Buzzards were a common sight here in the country, but Jess always checked it out when he was looking after the cattle. Driving toward the next ridge, he scanned the pastureland stretched before him. It was dry, not much grasslands left, thus the hay and feed they were having to put out, but it was still pretty land they’d bought.

       The herd of Angus cattle grazed near a pond that was two feet low of water even after the rain they’d had two days before.

       Topping the second hill, the pasture came into view.

       Jess’s gaze zeroed in on the heifer laying halfway down the hillside. His heart sank. Dead cattle were expensive and a threat to the entire herd.

       There was no mistaking this heifer had been dead for some time. Hanging his head for a brief moment, he looked up and scanned the pasture. In the distance he was certain he spotted a second large mound that would be another heifer.

       Not good. Not good at all.

      Chapter Three

      Gabi drove the truck over the cattle guard of Jess Holden’s ranch. He’d found four dead heifers the evening before. Four at one time. They’d been dead too long for a necropsy to determine the cause of death, so her boss Susan sent her out to draw blood. For some reason, the idea of seeing the cowboy again caused a nervousness to wash over her.

       Susan had confided to her that Jess and his two brothers had worked hard to scrape together the money to buy their ranch and stock it. The potential for these deaths to be something that could affect their entire herd had to be worrying them. Maybe make or break them.

       Gabi hated to hear that. She was still thinking about it as the corral and Jess came into view. She would have been lying if she denied that she wasn’t curious about the cowboy.

       Standing beside the corral at the corner of the pasture, he watched her pull to a halt, his face a work of seriousness. The man was better looking than she remembered—if that were even possible. How in the world this guy was still walking around single in a town that had gone wild with matchmaking was a huge mystery. His hair was just the length to make a woman want to run her fingers through it, tucking it behind his ear. On some guys she might have thought it scruffy looking, but not on Jess. Nope. On him it looked great. It looked right—

      What are you doing?

       Surprised that she was thinking about Jess more intimately than she wanted to, Gabi shook her head. She’d just broken up with her fiancé a month ago. This proved what she’d realized earlier—she hadn’t truly been in love with Phillip. Still, she was shocked by how swiftly she could become attracted to someone else.

       Not just someone—Jess Holden.

       Parking the truck she hopped from the cab, all business. She’d come to do her job. She didn’t want his cattle to get all sick and die, but she didn’t want to marry the guy, either—Gabi tripped at the thought, snagging her boot toe and nearly taking a dive at his feet.

       “Watch it.” Jess caught her arm. “Are you all right?”

       “Oh yeah, I’m just a tripper.” Her voice shook as she tugged away her arm from his warm grasp.

       He chuckled. “So that’s what happened the other day.”

       She made a face at him.

       “Where’s Susan?” he asked, his gaze flitting past her to the truck.

       “She sent me on ahead to draw some blood for testing so the labs could get it started.”

       A brief hint of worry flashed across his expression. She knew he’d have rather Susan had showed up.

       “That sounds like a good plan,” he said, hiding his disappointment. “I pulled the cattle I think we should look at. They’re in the corral.”

       Gabi didn’t normally let negative reactions bother her, especially in such a stressful situation like this. After all the man was worried about his cattle. She followed him to the corral, a little stunned by how his reactions were affecting her. But she tried hard not to take it personally.

      * * *

       Jess had searched the property for any other sick or dead cattle and had found four total. He was worried. Everything they had was invested in this land, these cattle and the livestock. He owned his cattle rig outright but that was about the only thing the bank didn’t actually own.

       “Is this all of them?” Gabi asked surveying the ten cows.

       “So far. I watched them this morning, trying to pick out any that might even look slightly ill.”

       Gabi stood quietly and observed them milling around. Her gaze skimmed the animals, lingering here and there. “They do look a little distressed. Not only their nasal activity, but some of them are drawn-looking in their stomachs.”

       “Yeah, they were sluggish about eating.”

       She glanced his way, her sparkling green eyes lit with agreement. “When stock is slow to eat, they’re sick. Problem is, how sick? Let me grab my bag and we’ll get to work. The quicker my part is done, the sooner Susan can give you answers.”

       “I’ll have one in by the squeeze chute by the time you’re ready.”

       “Sounds good.” She paused after taking a couple steps and glanced at him over her shoulder. “We’re going to figure this out, Jess.”

       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

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