Page 47 of Wounded Cowboy
It’s gonna to be another one of those days, Spring thought disgustedly.
It was ten o’clock, and it was already getting warm. The sun blazed overhead in a cloudless sky.
He’d just finished dealing with the nasty blocked toilet in one of the guest cottages and was helping the vet, Dr. Frederickson, administer respiratory vaccines to this year’s batch of calves when his phone buzzed. Spring looked down at the screen, expecting to see a message from Kelsey.
Instead, Rory’s name popped up.
Boss, you’re not gonna believe this. Guess who got out of the goat pen this morning?
Fuck.Spring couldn’t believe it—especially after all the work he and Nick had done last week to make the goat pen escape-proof.
Be right there,he typed.What happened?
Rory replied almost instantly.No clue. The other goats are all present and accounted for.
Spring stopped at the tool shed to grab a coil of rope, then made a beeline for the goat pen.
As he jogged, he scanning his surroundings for any sign of the escapee.Of course it’s Daisy. It’salwaysDaisy.
As Spring he neared the goat pen, he encountered the Smiths. They were a family of four who’d arrived on Saturday for a one-week stay at the ranch.
“Why, hello there, Mr. Snowberry,” Kevin Smith said, smiling. He was a beefy, balding man with thinning hair and a jovial air.“Is it time to let the goats out? My kids are crazy about Daisy.”
Spring forced a tight smile onto his face.
“Morning, folks,” he said, his voice clipped.“Speaking of Daisy, she’s currently MIA. You haven’t seen our resident Houdini goat, have you?”
The two teenaged kids exchanged wide-eyed glances.
“Can’t say we have,” Kevin’s husband, Josh, replied.“But we’ll keep an eye out for her.”
“Thanks,” Spring said curtly, struggling to maintain his polite façade.
His thoughts raced with the implications of Daisy’s latest escape, and how the little fiend had managed to disrupt his routine…again.
As Spring prepared to resume his search, he couldn’t help but reflect on the other person who consistently threw his plans out of whack.Kelsey.
He hadn’t been able to get her—or her wickedly delicious mouth—out of his thoughts all weekend.
This morning, she’d acted like nothing had happened. As if she hadn’t rocked his world on Friday night. It ate away at him. All he could think about was kissing her again.
Spring hadn’t taken more than four or five steps when the Smith family’s teenage daughter blurted,“I’m so sorry, Mr. Snowberry!”
He turned around and saw that she’d flushed tomato-red from the top of her blouse to her hairline.
Oh, shit.Forcing himself to keep smiling pleasantly, Spring asked,“Why?”
“Bethany…” Kevin said in a warning tone.“What did you do?”
Bethany looked like she was about to burst into tears.“I… I just wanted to take a selfie with Daisy while everyone else was still eating breakfast. As soon as I opened the gate, she took off running.”
Spring stared at Bethany in horror.“When was breakfast?” he demanded.
She flinched.“Uh… eight a.m.?” she whispered.
Spring groaned inwardly.
Great. Daisy’s been on the loose for two hours. She could be any-fucking-where by now!
