Page 27 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late

“It’s about the same,” he said. “And you’re not going to be doing it alone. Daddy’s still going to be there, and he’s a full-time vet. And Beau is an amazing foreman, and they’ve got fantastic cowboys. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Libby smiled too, though the edges of it trembled with anxiety.

“Let’s eat.” Edith folded her arms and looked at Finn, always giving him the ability to call on somebody to pray. Since it was just the two of them right now, it was either him or her. So, not much of a choice. But now he could look at Libby or Rusty.

Before he could say anything, the door opened and Henry said, “Knock, knock. Are we too late for lunch?” He entered and stepped back out of the way and let Angel enter first.

She was a beautiful, blonde woman with hair that went down past her shoulders and bright blue eyes. Today she wore a pair of cut-off shorts that seemed a little bit too baggy around her knees and a tank top the color of violets.

Finn had known Henry his whole life, and while he was older than the other man, he’d heard plenty of stories while he was serving in the military of Henry’s dates in high school and the type of women that he liked. And oh, Angel was right uphis alley. All blonde, blue-eyed, fair-skinned, bright smile, and strong-willed.

Finn hoped he could rope her in somehow and make her his. He wasn’t sure if Henry could, though, because Henry had never been the type to want to settle down.

Maybe for the right woman, Finn thought, and he went to tell his cousin that of course he wasn’t too late for lunch.

Chapter Eight

“Just take it,” Henry said, his voice one that she might attribute to a grizzly bear. “She’s not going to take no for an answer.”

Angel looked at the huge tote of food that Henry’s mother had put together for her. “We really don’t need all this, ma’am.”

“Well, half of it is Henry’s,” Chelsea said. She flipped over to the pantry. “Oh, I forgot to get the chocolate-covered pretzels. Henryloveschocolate-covered pretzels.”

“Momma,” he said, “I can buy my own chocolate-covered pretzels.”

She whipped the bag out of the cupboard. “But do you have any at your house?”

“Not right now, Momma,” he said in total resignation.

“That’s what I thought.” She put them on top of the other containers, bags of chips, two loaves of bread, and two thermoses. Chelsea looked at the tote, then looked at her son, and then looked at Angel. “I know you don’t need this. It just makes me really happy to give you food.”

She glanced over to Henry. “Besides, Kelly made most of it, and she’s a really great cook.”

“We’ll take it,” Angel said, looking into her eyes and seeing so much of her own mother there. Momma had spent many years feeding and caring for others. It was really what she loved, what she enjoyed doing. And if Angel had brought home a friend and said even half the things Henry had said to his parents, she would load them up with a tote of food as well.

Angel gave her a soft smile and said, “Thank you, Mrs. Marshall. I’m happy to take it.”

Chelsea beamed with all the sunshine in the world, all the moonbeams, and every single particle of light that could come from a star. She stepped over to her son and grabbed him in a hug. “Oh, I love you so much,” she said, her voice pitching up to cover her emotion. “You call me when you get back to the ranch, okay?”

“Okay, Momma,” he said. “It’s paved roads all the way. We’re gonna be fine.”

“I know you’re gonna be fine. I just like to know that you’re home.”

“I’ll give you a call when we get there.” He looked at Angel for only a brief moment, turned, and picked up the tote. “All right, Angel. Let’s hit the road.”

The clock sat just past four, which meant they’d get back to Lone Star by dinnertime. Angel wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She kind of wanted to sneak back onto the ranch in the dead of night and pretend like no one knew she’d gone to Three Rivers with Henry.

At the same time, she’d have to face her momma and daddy and Trevor and all the cowboys sooner rather than later. She wondered if they would notice a change in her.

She wondered if she’d changed in just two days’ time. She sure felt better, more settled, less like she was about to burst into tears at any moment, less like she might claw someone’s face off if they asked her the wrong question.

Because of course, on the team at Lone Star, there were no wrong questions. Everybody asked what they needed to ask, and they had leaders to guide everyone with the correct attitude, the right techniques and procedures.

So Angel didn’t have to answer a lot of questions. She wasn’t sure what put her in such a terrible mood that she couldn’t even answer texts, but sometimes she felt like if she got one more text, it would cause her to implode.

Henry started for the front door, and Angel turned to go with him right when Chelsea grabbed onto her. “Oh, you get a hug too.” She pulled Angel into her chest. “You’re such a sweet woman,” Chelsea whispered into her ear. “I don’t know what-all you have going on, but I can see some weight in your eyes. And I’m going to pray that God will send you some relief and help you carry some of that burden.”

Angel didn’t know what to do other than hold her. When Angel finally stepped back, she said, “You give the best hugs in the whole world.”

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