Page 22 of A Triple C Ranch Christmas Wedding
He took hold of her hand then glanced across the yard as they started walking toward the steps.
Suddenly, he stopped and stood still.
She glanced up at him in confusion.Why is he stopping?
“What the hell?” he said under his breath.
Lucy followed his glance to where a calf was wandering in the parking area.
“Do cattle usually wander around out here?” she asked.
“No,” he shook his head. “That’s because they’re supposed to be out in the pasture. Not wandering through the barn.” He gestured to the open barn doors.
“Somebody didn’t close the barn doors,” she said.
“Right,” Jack said. “I’ve got to go secure that calf.” As he stepped toward the animal, he said over his shoulder, “Go inside and tell them the cattle have gotten out again.”
“Again?” she said. “They get out often?”
“Once in a while,” he said, still moving toward the barn. “Then they need help herding them back into the pasture. Go on inside and tell them. I may be a while.”
She stepped inside the front door and called out, “Jack says the cattle are loose again. He’s gone to start herding them.”
Cecelia picked up the phone. “I’ll call George. He’s our maintenance man, but he helps our foreman out sometimes. Buck is still in the hospital, recovering from that stroke. He’s not going to be around for a little while.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Lucy said. “How is he doing?”
Cecelia held up a hand and spoke into the phone. “George? Oh, Emma. The cows got out again.”
Leah White Crane came hurrying down the hall, pulling on her winter coat and gloves. “Hello, Miss Woods. I heard you call out. We appreciate you letting us know.”
“You’re welcome,” Lucy said.
“Buck is going to be okay,” Cecelia said after she relating the message for George and hung up the phone.
“They’re watching him for a few more days,” Leah said. “But they expect him to make a full recovery.”
“Oh, good,” Lucy said. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Coming?” Leah asked, as she pushed open the front door. “Takes more than a few hands to put the cattle back.”
“Sure,” Lucy said. She had no more idea how to herd cows than she’d known how to ride a horse before she’d met Jack.
Being from Texas, he knew all those things. And she kind of liked him teaching her. He wasn’t impatient, and he never made her feel stupid. He had a real knack for teaching people.
Well, I guess today, I’m learning how to herd cows, she thought, as she headed with Leah to the barn.
“We saw a little calf wandering around the parking lot,” she said to Leah, as they walked toward the open barn doors. “I guess because the barn doors were open.”
“It happens,” Leah said. “And cows will wander. Grass is always greener somewhere for them. For some people, too.”
Lucy figured they would have to find all the cows, herd them back into the pasture, and then secure the barn doors so they wouldn’t get out again. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take long and then she could check on the tree’s decorations and the flowers.
Inside the barn, the stall doors were all standing open. The stalls were empty.
Leah stopped short. “Where are the horses?” she asked, frowning. “Looks like they’re all outside.”
“I guess they all got out, too,” Lucy said. Her eyes searched for and read each wooden plaque, which had been painted with the horse’s names.
