Page 8 of Falling For Her Cowboy (Silver Creek Ranch #9)

Chapter Five

“ I wouldn’t want to be the doc right now.” Trent chuckled.

Melah inhaled sharply at the mention of ‘the doc’. She tried to keep her face free of emotions. She glanced over at the other hand and raised an eyebrow.

“Why?” She held reins of the horse she’d borrowed.

Daisy was a working horse, but since she had the wound, Melah felt it was best to let her girl rest. She had found the material and medicated ointment Ridge had left for Daisy this morning when she’d checked on her.

She’d change the dressing after work. It didn’t appear to be hard to do, so she’d try her hand at it .

“He’s going to need a stool sample.” Ethan snorted.

They all sat on their horses, waiting around while Buck spoke with Ridge.

Melah glanced back over at them. The moment Ridge threw his head back and laughed, that fluttering in her stomach returned.

She didn’t know what it was about a man who enjoyed life the way he did.

She didn’t know his story, only that he had been in the Navy, then had come home, went to school, and now he was the local veterinarian.

Oh, and he was single.

That is not important , she reminded herself.

Okay, how about he was extremely handsome. Fit. Had a good job.

Nope. Stop thinking of him like that, she scolded herself.

He was a nice guy who’d come out and treated her horse and wouldn’t take payment.

She swallowed hard, remembering that he’d take a meal as payment for treating Daisy.

Why did her nerves act up at the thought of being alone with him at a restaurant?

Maybe she could pick him up something to eat and drop it off at his house.

That would still be her providing a meal for him.

It wasn’t like she had a kitchen she could cook in. She wasn’t the best cook, but she had certain dishes she’d perfected. Pierce had loved when she’d cooked, because that man could not even boil water.

We are not thinking of Pierce right now either!

She sighed. It was official—she was going crazy.

Who spoke to themselves and responded? She was sure that was the definition of deranged.

“So should we go out and collect some of the poop that dropped from the cattle?” The moment the words fell from her lips, she knew it sounded dumb.

“That would only be too easy.” Trent lifted his baseball cap and combed his fingers through his hair. He replaced the hat and motioned to Ridge walking toward his terrain vehicle. “He’s going to want a fresh sample. Straight from the sources.”

Melah’s eyes widened. Well, she shouldn’t be too surprised.

“I’m not sticking nothing in no cow’s ass.” Ethan snickered.

“I ain’t either,” Trent said.

Their gazes fell to her. She glanced at both of them.

Ethan was new to the ranch, like her. He’d been there about two months and already fit in.

When she’d first met him, she’d figured he’d been there much longer.

Ethan was former Navy. He hadn’t said much about this time in the service, but then again, neither had she.

So far, he appeared to be a good guy. He’d helped her out a few times since she’d started.

“What y’all looking at me for? I’m not the doctor. He can collect his own samples,” she scoffed.

The guys chuckled then assured her the doctor would be obtaining the samples but may need help. Melah relaxed slightly. She eyed the herd and wondered if he’d need samples from all of the cattle. There had to be about thirty to forty in this group.

“Howdy, y’all,” Ridge called out as he approached with Buck strolling next to him. He carried his medical bag just like he had when he’d come to see Daisy.

Melah tried to keep her face neutral, but her damn heart was thinking otherwise.

Her pulse spiked as he grew closer. Last night, she’d thought he’d been handsome.

That had been in the low light of the barn, but now in the middle of the day with the sun providing ample light, her breath stalled in her chest.

His dark hair looked as if it had been recently raked with his fingers, and his blue eyes were bright and clear. His jeans and Silver Creek t-shirt had no business molding to him the way they did. What was it with a man in tight Wranglers?

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. His warm 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.

“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.