Page 16 of A Sweet Deal for the Cowboy

“It’s been a long, long time. There aren’t a lot of baby farm animals on tour with indie bands.” She scrunched up her face, which was adorable. “And yeah, I’ve been aroundcows, but they’re all big and stinky. These aregoats.”

He laughed. “Did you know that you loved goats, or is this something you found out today?”

She gave his question more thought than it deserved. “I think I have always known that goats are cool,” she said slowly, thoughtfully, “but this is the first opportunity I’ve had to actually immerse myself in goats, and ...” She looked at him, and her gaze made him feel a little weak. “Gunner, you have built something really amazing here.”

Now is the time, now is the time, there will never be a better time.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “But I ...”

She waited patiently. He had made up his mind, but he couldn’t make his mouth say the words.Don’t be such a wuss, he told himself. And then he looked at her, and the obvious concern in her eyes jolted him out of his stupor. His desire to alleviate her concern overcame his paralysis.

“Nova ...”

“Yeah?”

“I have a really crazy idea.”

“Yeah?”

“No pressure or anything, it’s just an idea, but I think it might solve your—” He stopped talking when a phone rang.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Let me just check if it’s one of the kids.” She pulled a phone out of pocket. “It’s Gabby.” She answered, her voice laced with concern.

Gunner could hear the younger girl’s voice, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying. Whatever it was, it brought tears to Nova’s eyes.

“Okay, honey ... the first thing we’re going to do ... Gabby! Listen to me, please.” The girl fell quiet. “Thank you. Listen, I need you to do everything you can to stop panicking.”

The girl started talking again.

“Gabby! Let’s pray really quick ... You ready? ... You have to stop talking if I’m going to pray. Thank you. Okay, here goes. God, we know that you are Gabby’s father,” she said without closing her eyes. She was still looking at the baby goats. “And we know that you know every hair on Gabby’s precious little head. Please take away all her fear right now. Take it all away. Don’t let her be afraid tonight. Tell her that you are working everything out. Thank you, God. Amen.” Gunner had no idea what was going on, and still a lump formed in his throat.

“Okay, Gabby. I really don’t think they’re going to move you tonight. So just don’t say anything else for the rest of the night. Try to get some sleep, and if you get scared, pray.” There was a long pause. “I love you, Gabby. I’m trying to figure this out.” She said goodbye, ended the call, and leaned her head forward.

He waited, but she didn’t explain. He wasn’t used to feeling so curious about someone else’s life, and it was an unpleasant feeling—like an unscratchable itch. Finally, Nova looked up, and there were tears in her eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to infect your ranch with my drama.”

“You didn’t,” he said quickly. “What happened?”

“I guess someone was picking on Conley, and so Gabby tried to stick up for him and well ...” Nova smiled through her tears. “Apparently Gabby can be a little scary when she’s defending an underdog.”

“Good for her,” Gunner said.

“I know, but she got in trouble, and then there was talk of moving her to a different house. I don’t even know if it’s true, but she heard it, and she got scared so ...”

“Move her or move all of them?”

“I don’t know, but she’s obviously fearing the worst. So am I.”

It was as if he’d asked for a sign. “So about that crazy idea.”

“Yeah?” She’d obviously lost interest.

“Again, no pressure and you don’t even have to answer me tonight. If you think it’s a possibility, you can take some time to think about it.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. Now she almost sounded suspicious. Maybe she had a reason to be.

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