Page 14 of Falling For Her Cowboy
Melah swallowed hard and took him in. She blinked when silence fell around her. She glanced around at the men who were all staring at her.
“I’m sorry. Did you say something?” Her cheeks grew warm. This had never happened to her before. Even out in the desert, when stressed with life-or-death situations, she was always focused on the mission at hand. She’d never blanked out before, lost in a daydream.
“We were asking who would feel the most comfortable assisting Ridge,” Buck said.
Melah relaxed slightly. At least she hadn’t missed anything too important.
“I could. What would you need me to do?” she asked.
Ridge began to instruct them on what was needed. He read off a short list of numbers which were the cows he’d start with. Trent and Ethan would corral the cows into the chutes that would hold the cow and keep them from hurting themselves and them. She’d be the one helping put the samples in the appropriate containers and making sure the labels matched the cows.
Simple enough.
Only there was nothing simple about obtaining samples from cattle who didn’t understand what was going on. Trent and Ethan had to work hard to capture the correct cattle and force them into the chute.
Melah was extremely curious about the process. She watched how Ridge was with the animals. He had a plastic sleeve placed on his arm while he pushed instruments into the cow and collected the stool samples. Never in a million years would she have thought she’d be assisting a doctor taking shit out of an animal.
“Here you go.” Ridge turned from the cow with the sample.
She wrinkled up her nose and held open the container. She’d already labeled it with the cow’s corresponding number and the date.
“God, that stinks,” she muttered.
“Well, it is cow shit.” Ridge laughed.
She rolled her eyes and closed the container. She set it on the ground near his bag. She had tried to get a system together so it would be easier on them. She was all about working smarter and not harder.
“Don’t tell me this is your first time smelling it up close.”
“Of course not.” She stood to her full height.
She was on the outside of the gate nearest Ridge. He was right inside with the cattle. Trent and Ethan were off trying to gather the next cow, while Buck had come in to help as well. He and Ridge worked together to free the first cow who ran free.
“That one I’m definitely a little worried about. She looks too thin.” Ridge turned to Melah. “Can you write underweight next to 129. I want to make sure I remember which ones looks a bit sickly.”
“Yes, sir.” She turned back and grabbed the notepad she had found in his bag and decided to redo the list on the larger paper. Hopefully this would help him out to determine what was going on with the animals. She hoped it was nothing serious. She’d hate if anything happened to them. Melah wasn’t too ashamed to admit she had a big heart when it came to animals.
Sometimes she preferred them to people.
At least these cows didn’t understand what was happening to them and reacted off of fear and trying to protect themselves.
Humans, on the other hand—some could be downright cruel.
Images of Staff Sergeant Theo English came to mind. Tremors racked her hands as memories rushed to the forefront of her mind. His snarling face. Hiswarm breath sliding along her cheek when she’d turned her face from him. His strong grip pinning her arms downs. The helplessness that filled her. The anger that she wasn’t strong enough to get him off her. Even with all of her training, she’d still become a victim.
It should have never happened.
He had been her superior. Someone she’d taken orders from. Someone she was supposed to trust. He was an ass to not only her, but all the females of the unit. But for some strange reason he’d singled her out.
She inhaled sharply and tried to not relive that night. She’d completely be embarrassed if she lost her shit right here in front of the men. She was thankful she was kneeling and they couldn’t see her face. The world swam before her. She blew out a deep breath and tried to utilize what she’d learned in therapy. Breathing exercises helped keep the panic attacks away. For the longest, she hadn’t known what was wrong with her. She’d thought she was having a heart attack once and had even taken herself to a local emergency room. All of her testing came out negative. Her heart was in perfect shape. It wasn’t until later that she was diagnosed with anxiety and panic attacks.
“You good, Battle?” Trent called out.
She jerked her head in a nod. Trent may not know what exactly had led her to start attending the therapy sessions, but she remembered his offer.
“Want to take a minute?”
“No. I’m good. I just got a little dizzy,” she lied. She opened her eyes and pushed up off the ground. Her water canteen was in the saddlebags on Thunder, her borrowed horse. Thunder and the other horses were off grazing underneath a large, shaded tree. She turned and found Trent watching her with a knowing expression.
