Her Lone Star Cowboy. Debra Clopton
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A cowboy’s word
With his harrowing childhood behind him, cowboy Jess Holden made some promises to himself. He’ll remain a bachelor. Won’t ever get involved with a certain kind of woman. But then he rescues a lovely newcomer—and two scared calves—from a flash flood in the middle of Texas Hill Country. Not only is veterinarian’s assistant Gabi Newberry a reminder of his past, she’s the granddaughter of a Mule Hollow matchmaker! But as sweet, spunky Gabi tends the ailing cattle on his ranch, Jess begins to discover that some promises were made to be broken.
“I’m not as easy to read as you think I am, cowboy,” Gabi said.
Jess paused to look down at her. She blinked innocently and her smile widened. He had known her all of thirty minutes and he’d already figured her out. “I never said you were easy to read. Matter of fact, I have a feeling you probably work real hard at being complicated.”
Gabi chuckled behind him. “You know what?”
He was walking past her with the other calf and paused to let it loose before facing her. “What?” he asked, grinning because there was nothing else to do.
“I like you even if you are bossy. I’m going to have fun keeping you on your toes.”
If he’d had a hat, he’d have tipped it at her, but it was somewhere downstream stuck in the mud. Instead he just nodded. “Have at it. I like a woman who keeps me guessing.”
“Then you’re going to love me,” she quipped.
Her Lone Star Cowboy
Debra Clopton
Since ye have taken off your old self
with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge
in the image of its Creator.
—Colossians 3:9–10
Contents
Chapter One
Veterinary assistant Gabi Newberry pulled her light jacket tight, useless as it was against the rain. She huddled inside it and stared at the tire of the cattle trailer she’d been pulling behind the clinic’s truck. Buried axle deep in thick clay mud, the trailer was sitting at a very risky angle. Grimacing, Gabi felt embarrassment creep up her skin as she studied her handiwork. What had she been thinking?
Susan Turner, her new boss and the local vet here in Mule Hollow, had asked Gabi if she was comfortable pulling a trailer. “Sure,” Gabi had quipped with confidence. She was, but she hadn’t planned on the torrential rain blowing in and crashing her party. What a mess.
The two black calves in the back of the small trailer bawled loudly, making her feel even worse. The poor animals were struggling to keep their balance in the precariously tipped trailer. Gabi empathized with them, having felt as if she’d been trying to do the same thing with her life, up until a few weeks ago.
“I’m sorry, little fellas—” she said, just as thunder boomed and lightning struck, far too close for comfort. At the same instant, a ferocious gust of wind whipped her baseball cap from her head! Gabi squealed and made a wild grab for the hat. A lost cause, she watched in dismay as it flew up and out of her reach, then dove dramatically, straight into the rushing water of the deep ditch beside her.
Watching how quickly the swift current swept her hat away sent a shiver of alarm running through Gabi. A few more feet and she’d have been in real trouble, with the trailer very likely tipping all the way over with the poor calves inside.
“This is bad,” she muttered, her gut twisting with unease.
When she’d come back home to Mule Hollow, she hadn’t expected to get caught in a flash flood her first week here. Her grandmother, Adela, would be worried about her out in this weather. Though she’d been raised till she was twelve near the Texas Hill Country, it had been thirteen years since she’d spent more than a week during the summer here. But still, she remembered how quickly flash flooding could happen and the dangers involved.
The sky had just been threatening rain when she’d headed out to return these calves to their owner less than an hour ago. Now it was almost black as the distant thunder clouds had taken a sudden swing in her direction. The lower peaks of the ominous clouds dipped in ice-cream-cone-shaped tags. Anyone in these parts knew that clearly spelled “tornado warning.”
Without her hat Gabi’s hair was drenched in seconds and rivulets of water washed down her face. Blinking, she studied the situation. There was no way she could get the trailer out by herself. Cellphone service was awful out here too, so calling for help wasn’t an option. Bottom line—she was on her own.
Turning, she searched the horizon, squinting against the wind and rain pelting her face. Spying a rooftop in the distance, her heart jumped with a rush of hope.
It was pretty far off and the lightning was bad. Still, she knew despite the risk she needed to seek help there.
The only other choice though was to get in the truck and wait for someone to come by. With the calves bawling louder, Gabi stood there contemplating what to do. The situation was worsening by the second.
Her mouth went dry as panic crept over her.
Take action!
She could not just sit there