Page 2 of A Cowboy Holiday

I know…silly. I’d been told I had an odd habit of anthropomorphizing my favorite animals. So what? Maybe thesecows didn’t speak English, but you couldn’t convince me that they didn’t communicate. All that mooing meant something, right?

I grinned as I moved closer, petting the nearest cow’s neck. “Hey, there, beautiful. How are you?—”

“Out! She’s got benzimidazole and macrocyclic lactones on her, and you’re not wearing gloves. Either suit up or step the hell away,” someone barked.

I obeyed, unthinking, and glanced in the general direction of the voice.

Dennis gave a sheepish half laugh. “That’s Axel.”

A moment later, a beast of a man appeared out of nowhere.

A beast.

No kidding. Axel was…huge.

Enormous.

He was a good three inches taller than my six foot two, and he was built like a refrigerator—broad shoulders, a thick torso, and thighs like ham hocks. He wasn’t heavy, necessarily, but there was a lot of him. His cowboy hat hid part of his face, however, I could tell he had brown hair, a neat beard, a strong nose, and a faded scar on the left side of his cheek.

Axel the vet wasn’t a handsome man, but I left a margin for error since I couldn’t see his eyes. Hot or not, there was something compelling about him. He wasn’t someone who could be easily ignored. He filled a damn barnyard with his intimidating size and obvious strength. I couldn’t imagine being in a small room with him.

My studying glance was quick but thorough. He wore a protective apron over a blue plaid shirt, dark jeans, muddy work boots, and a battered cowboy hat. Yeah, I had to admit that Dennis’s description fit. Axel could have been a lumberjack, a contractor, or…a cowboy.

I sensed Axel was checking me out too, probably wondering if I had a problem taking a hint. He wanted me gone, ASAP. He had shit to do and no time for pleasantries with nosy visitors.

There was only one way to deal with this type of customer: kill ’em with kindness, and sprinkle in some Spade charm.

“I’m Tanner Spade. I hear you’re new in town. Welcome.” My megawatt smile didn’t garner even a hint of a response, but I barreled on, undeterred. “I was just talking to Dennis about purchasing his herd.” Not a twitch. “Beautiful animals. We had Jerseys for a while, but I’ve always been partial to the Holstein breed. We’ve got a few dozen at Oak Ridge now, and I’m lookin’ forward to adding to our bunch.” Nothing. “Dennis says you’ve been caring for them?”

“Hmph.”

His grunt felt like progress…and a challenge to see what else I could get out of him. However, winning over a grumpy vet wasn’t my priority. I didn’t have time to linger here. They needed me at the ranch.

“They seem to be in good shape and Dennis agrees, but I’m gonna need a bill of health for each animal, including vaccinations, deworming history, diseases, or concerns with disposition or injuries. You know…the basics.”

More staring.

Dennis pulled his hat off and scratched his balding head. “Axel, can you get that paper work to Tanner by tomorrow?”

“I can do that.” Axel’s deep timbre echoed in the yard.

I should have walked away. I’d obviously caught Axel while he was in the middle of something, and he didn’t give “ray of sunshine” vibes. But I’d never been good at leaving well enough alone.

“Great. How about these three?” I hooked a thumb at the mooing trio. “The one at the end is a little skinny.”

Axel glanced over his shoulder on cue. “Alma’s been suffering with ketosis. That’s a metabolic disease. An imbalance between energy intake and output that leads to excess ketone bodies in the blood and a?—”

“I know what it is.” I moved toward the cow.

“Jesus, Axel. She’s on the mend,” Dennis grumbled. “You said so yourself.”

“She is,” Axel agreed. “She calved six months ago. I wasn’t here for that, but it didn’t take a degree to notice she didn’t have enough meat on her bones. She’s doing better now. As for the others…Mitsy’s right front hoof has been giving her problems, and Janet is recovering from a bout of milk fever.”

“Milk fever,” I repeated, alarmed.

Dennis’s mouth tightened. “She’s all better, isn’t she?”

Axel inclined his chin. “Doing pretty well. I put her on an IV treatment initially, and now I’m giving her calcium orally.”