Page 36 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late

“Yeah, you think I wasn’t nervous to come over here and tell you I have a crush on Henry Marshall?” She gave him a wry smile that broke the ice between them.

“All right,” Trevor said. “At the risk of sounding like Daddy, I’m gonna give you some advice.”

Angel nodded in tight little bursts. She loved her father, and she went to him for everything. She always wanted his advice. And the truth was, she’d always relied on Trevor too.

She listened to him when he spoke, because he said things straight from his heart. No judgment.

“You gotta stop running away from what you don’t want,” Trevor said. “And go toward what you do.” He nodded just one time, his jaw tight. “We don’t run away from problems. If there’s something that needs to change, we figure out what that thing is, and we work toward it. That’s what Daddy would do—that’s what Daddytaughtus to do.”

Angel swiped quickly at the corners of her eyes, which had started leaking tears. “You’re right,” she said. “I know you’reright.” She tipped her head back and looked up to the ceiling. “I guess I just don’t know what I should be running toward.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Trevor said. “You already know some of it.”

“Yeah,” she said, with a heavy sigh. “I guess I do.”

“You can ask God tonight,” Trevor said.

“You think I haven’t been asking Him?”

Trevor chuckled. “I bet you have, but sometimes when there are a lot of other loud things in the world, God is hard to hear.” He covered her hand again, and Angel met his eyes. “And Angel, you know I love you to death, but I think your life has been really loud lately.”

This time the tears slipped down Angel’s face, because Trevor had spoken true. Her life was loud. She had so much going on all the time. Things to do, people to talk to, orders to put in, jobs of her own, errands to run, schedules to make, men to hire. Henry had told her he’d be there for her if and when she needed to slow down, when she needed things to be a little quieter. Right now, that was exactly what Angel needed.

“All right, Trev,” she said. “You’re right. I’ll figure it out.”

“I know you will,” he said. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

“Well, you’re going to run roll call for the foreseeable future,” she said. “Even if that means you ask Shad or Flint to do it. I don’t care. You’re in charge of roll call for now.”

Trevor nodded resolutely. “I can do it, Angel.”

“‘Course you can,” she said. “I trust you, Trev.” And she realized as she said those words that she’d been severely lacking on the trust front. She didn’t truly trust Trevor until now. She needed to trust. Trust the men on her team. Trust everyone who worked at Lone Star. Trust her brother. Trust her parents. Trust herself, and most of all, trust God.

Maybe she’d fallen away from doing that. She wasn’t sure. She’d known her brother would help her iron out the things inside of her or help her see what she needed to do.

She got up and moved over the two steps to hug him. “Thank you, Trev. I love you to bits and pieces too.” Then she cleaned up the dinner he’d made while he texted, supposedly with Shad and others about roll call.

And because Angel didn’t want to go to sleep alone in her house, she helped Trevor get in bed and then she moved into his guest bedroom, pulled back the comforter that probably hadn’t ever been used, and climbed into bed.

Run toward what you want, she thought, echoing her brother’s advice. But the real question was: What did Angel White really want her life to be?

Chapter Eleven

Henry didn’t see Angel at roll call. Shad got up on the mounting stool she normally stood on to give the day’s announcements, inspirational message, training, and special assignments. He glanced around the crowd of men who’d gathered for roll call like they normally did on any given Tuesday at seven o’clock in the morning.

Angel wasn’t hard to find, because she was the only woman there. She currently stood across the crowd from him, her back leaned against the shed, her arms folded, and her eyes on Shad.

Henry should be listening too, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He wanted to edge through the crowd of men, go to Angel’s side, and ask her if she was okay. She looked okay. She wasn’t crying. She didn’t have an angry expression on her face.

But oh, Henry knew this mask and what it hid.

He did pick up the fact that Shad said they’d have four new horses coming in that day, and he would be giving special tasks for those assigned to greet them. He expected them to know the horses’ names and have their stables prepared by the time they arrived.

Henry looked away from Angel then, because if he had to lead a greeting today, he needed to be ready.

“Now we’ll hear from Trevor for our inspirational message and training,” Shad said, and he got down off the stool. Henry’s heart beat a little bit faster as Trevor shuffled forward and started to step up onto the stool.

He couldn’t believe the man could do that, though he had two men standing right there, balancing him. With his limited mobility, Trevor should not be climbing up anywhere. Not only that, but Trevor had never spoken at roll call before, and a buzz ran through the men. Everyone seemed to know this felt different, looked different, and absolutely was different.

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