Page 29 of Rough Stock
Jensen gripped the back of her neck and she turned to look into his face. “You have no idea how proud I am of you right now.” When her eyes went wide and her mouth opened slightly, he asked, “Have you ever had anybody tell you they were proud of you before?”
Her expression never changed as she shook her head and whispered, “Nope.”
“Get used to it. I was proud of you before, but I’m damn proud of you now. You’ve got what it takes to ride rough stock, little girl. I see that now. Two more days with the bulls, and Roger wants you to start on saddle broncs. Tomorrow evening after practice, we’re going to the western store to get you some rough stock boots, some spurs, things like that. You’re going to need your own riggin’, so might as well get it all now.” She was quiet and, as he was speaking, she’d dropped her head. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she whispered back, then looked up at him with a pained expression on her face. “Why? Why are you helping me like this? Why do you even care?”
“Why do you think? When I touch you, when I kiss you, can’t you feel it?” She dropped her head and stared at her lap, but that didn’t even slow him down. “Look at me, Shy.” When she didn’t lift her head to face him, he put a finger under her chin and, with his thumb gripping it, turned her face to his. Those big eyes finally rotated upward and stared up at him from under her thick lashes. “When I look at you, I feel things I haven’t felt in years, things I never thought I’d feel again. Yeah, you’re hard-headed and smart-alecky, and sometimes I don’t know whether to kiss you or spank your ass, but you’re also one of the toughest, most determined people I think I’ve ever met, and I have a ton of respect for that. You can be funny too when you try,” he saidand waited for her to at least grin, but she didn’t. “Listen to me and listen good. You want to know why I care? I care because I…” Jensen stopped, afraid to say what was in his heart, but if he didn’t, he knew they’d never move forward because it was for damn sure that she’d never speak the words. “I’ve fallen for you, Shy. I’m not going to smoke screen it anymore. I’m crazy about you, and I’m not going anywhere. If you don’t want me, you should get a move-on right now in the other direction, because I’m standing my ground, filly. And if you don’t feel the same way about me, take off. Run. Go.” He waited a few seconds, then added, “Well?”
Without flinching, she stared into his eyes and said in that snarky tone he’d grown to love, “I don’t run from nothin’. Never have, never will, and I ain’t runnin’ this time. If you don’t want me, you’ll be the one doin’ the runnin’.”
“Then I think we’re stuck with each other.” The minute the words came from his lips, he saw a crooked little smile pull up one corner of her mouth. “Now, tomorrow night we’re going to the western store, and before you start fussing with me, I’m paying for your stuff. I’m?” She started to open her mouth, but he threw up a finger to silence her. “I’m doing this because I believe in you, ShyannaOwens. I’m committed to you and to your career, but you need to know this: I’m committed to you with or without your career. You’re it for me, girl. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, and you need to know that now.” He waited for just a second, then said, “So tell me you don’t feel the same way. Go ahead. Say it.”
He watched as she glanced down at her lap, then back up to him. “I can’t because it would be a lie.” Then something he’d never seen before happened?her cheeks pinked up until she looked positively flushed.
Jensen took a deep breath and turned sideways in the seat, then took her hands in his. “Shy?” Their eyes met and he took a deep breath. “I love you, Shy.”
She batted those long lashes once and smiled. “I… you too, Jensen.”
“Good. But we’d better get going,” he said with a grin. “If we’re late for dinner, Mama will kick us out and we’ll have to sleep in the truck tonight.”
Shyanna wantedto take his truck and go to the barn to check on the horses, so he handed her the keys and his blessing. The days were long, with plenty of sunlight, so after dinner, Jensen and Roland walked side by side toward the barn. Roland kept the four-wheelers there, and he’d asked Jensen to go with him out to one of the pastures and look at a couple of calves who didn’t seem to be doing very well. It only took a few seconds to get the vehicles started and away they went down the dusty farm roads of Jensen’s childhood.
Across the pastures, Jensen could see dozens of cattle. Leo had done an exceptional job of keeping everything going while Roland was off his feet, and after watching his old man a bit, Jensen knew Leo was right?their dad still needed to take it easy. The doctors had told them it would take a long time for everything to heal properly, and he needed to give that a fighting chance.
Parking near a gate to a large pasture, Jensen and Roland climbed off the four-wheelers and made their way into the large, grassy plain. The pasture was full of cows with calves, and he wondered which two his dad was concerned with. It didn’ttake long for him to spot them?they were spindly and small compared to the rest of the calves. “What does the vet say?”
Roland held one of the little ones still while Jensen ran his hands all over the animal. “He doesn’t know. Checked them for all kinds of parasites, all kinds of viruses, all kinds of injuries, and we can’t figure it out. Our biggest concern is that it’s something that would spread.”
“Doesn’t appear to be anything like blackleg,” Jensen said, still running his hands over the calf.
“Nope. Nothing like that.”
“Are they eating well?”
Roland nodded. “Yep. They nurse fine.”
Jensen thought for a minute. “Have you tested the cow’s milk?”
“Yep.”
“For what?”
Roland shrugged. “All the usual things. Anything the cow could pass to the calf. Didn’t find anything.”
Jensen stood and looked at the calf for a bit. Something was bothering him, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Finally, it clicked. “Isn’t this pasture right next to the watershed?”
“Yeah,” Roland answered.
“And you’ve got a couple of ponds that are fed from the watershed, right?” Roland nodded. “And the hurricane… I know we’re a long way inland, but it dumped a lot of water here, right?”
“Yeah. ’Bout drown us all,” Roland said with a slight grin.
“Well, hurricanes move sea water, and sea water has bacteria and parasites in it that can be dangerous to certain kinds of animals. Could some of that water have made its way into the watershed and then into the ponds?”
“Well, yeah, but I don’t see how that could?”
Jensen was on a roll. “Don’t you remember that summer when I was twelve? That hurricane came through earlier in the year, and they had some calves come down with a sickness over at the Reeses’ farm. Turned out to be?”
