Page 15 of Falling For Her Cowboy
“You need a break?” Ridge asked.
“I can go get you some water—” Buck offered.
She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. It’s just the heat. I probably haven’t drunk as much as I should. I’m fine. I promise,” she assured them.
She didn’t want to come off as if she couldn’t hold her own with them. This was a momentary lapse, and she’d get through it. She inhaled and offered a small smile. She snagged the next container and walked over to the gate. Ridge’s gaze swept her again. There was something in his eyes she couldn’t read. As if satisfied with what he saw, he turned to the chute.
Trent and Ethan worked on bringing the nextcow over for its sample. They all worked together, and pretty soon they had gathered all the samples from the targets from the list and a few extra. Ridge was very thorough when it came to his job. Melah made sure that everything was properly labeled, and she even had notes from comments Ridge had spoken jotted down on the notepad.
Ridge’s job actually had her interest piqued. She hadn’t thought too much about what career she’d try to enter now she was out of the service. She’d thought about moving back home with her father and enrolling in school. It would be completely paid for by the government. She knew plenty of soldiers who’d obtained their degrees either before entering the service or while they were serving. Melah had taken a few classes online while enlisted, but she hadn’t truly found something that held her attention.
“Thanks for the help. This went much faster than I thought it would,” Ridge announced.
“Not a problem, as long as you were the one doing the shit collecting.” Trent moved toward Ethan and jerked his head at the empty troughs. “Let’s get them fed and watered before we leave.”
Melah figured she’d help the guys. She looked down at her watch. It was almost time for her to get off work. She’d been up and out on theranch before dawn. She hadn’t gotten much sleep. Not that she needed much.
“How long until you get the results back?” Buck asked.
“Should be a few days. I’ll make it an urgent request so we can know for sure. If it’s something contagious, we’ll have to alert the neighboring ranches,” Ridge said.
“I know.” Buck nodded.
“What would be the best-case scenario?” Melah got to thinking that it wasn’t uncommon to have diarrhea here and there. Everyone had it once in a while. She’d hate to think that everyone would go see a doctor with each bout. What if the cows had some bad feed? Or tainted water? Or ate each other’s shit, because she’d seen that before.
“If it had to be anything, I’m hoping not contagious, and something that could be treated with a simple round of antibiotics. If that’s the case, we’ll treat the entire herd to make sure they’re all good,” Ridge said.
“And worse-case?” she asked.
“The entire herd comes down with a deadly disease that will wipe them all out,” he replied grimly.
Silence fell between them. Melah hoped thecattle would be okay. She may not know the business side of a cattle ranch, but she could imagine an entire herd dying from a disease would be costly for Andy.
“Thanks for coming out again, Ridge. I better go. The day’s not quite over for me yet.” Buck nodded to her and Ridge then walked toward his horse.
Melah moved over to the gate and leaned her arms on it. The sounds of the cow grunts and moos filled the air. Trent and Ethan went around and ensured the water was filled to the brim and the food barrels were full.
Ridge came to stand by her without a word. The sun was still high. The warmth beat down on her. She needed a hot shower. A trail of sweat slid down the center of her back. She tried to not look over at Ridge, but her body was responding to him standing so close to her. She tried to will her heart rate to slow down. How was the man pushing instruments into a cow one moment, then able to still smell so damn good?
“How did you know you wanted to be a vet?” She peeked over at him and found his attention off in the distance. The Silver Creek Ranch was an alluring spread with ample rolling hills and flat land. She’d already explored it several times with Daisy and hadn’t found a spot that wasn’t appealing.He and his brother had been lucky growing up here.
She, on the other hand, had moved around with her father her entire childhood from base to base. Some were here in the States while others were abroad. She valued her time with her father, but it would have been nice to have a steady home when she was a kid. She had gotten used to moving and having to start over with making new friends. The only steady home she had known was her uncle and aunt’s house. It wasn’t until she was seventeen that her father had purchased his first home near his brother.
Her Uncle Billy and Aunt Sherrie were her second set of parents. When her father was deployed, she’d go and stay with them. There were times he’d been deployed for three to six months, and the longest time she could remember was around eighteen months. Billy and Sherrie were a blessing. They had opened up their home to her. Their daughter, Athena, was the best cousin and friend a girl could have.
Athena was one year older than Melah. They’d grown up like sisters. She missed Athena something fierce, and now that she’d thought of her, she made amental note to call her.
“I’ve known since I was a kid.” Ridge glanced down at his hands at first before looking over at her. “I guess I could say I’m lucky. I wanted to serve my country then I wanted to take care of animals. I’ve gotten to do both.”
“I can tell you really like what you do,” she said softly. She found herself getting lost in his piercing blue eyes. They reminded her of a clear sky. Her gaze dropped down to his mouth, and that was a dangerous move. She swallowed hard and shifted her gaze down. She didn’t even want to think about his lips on hers or placed anywhere on her body.
“I do. Animals are helpless and depend on us. When they are sick, they need someone to take care of them, or if they need help giving birth, I’m happy to help as well.”
“But when things go wrong, then what?” She brought her eyes back up to his face.
He was staring out at the cattle. She was sure his job wasn’t easy. Even she knew things went wrong with animals who were sick. As much as she had freaked out about Daisy, she was sure some other horse mom wasn’t as lucky.
“Then I want to be there for them still to ensure they pass as humanely as possible,” he said.
