Page 8 of Roots of Redemption (Hicks Creek #4)

There was a time when my mother and Sutton’s were best friends. We were always hanging out at each other’s houses growing up. I’m six years older than her and thought of her as an annoying little sister most of the time. I was always so impressed with her tenacity and confidence, though.

She’d outwork any and every teenager and grown man when we would be out bailing hay. She may be small, but she was mighty for sure.

I honestly was never really attracted to her until I pulled up to her house to give her that acceptance letter. She had just turned eighteen, and maybe my brain realized she was an adult now.

Seeing her in that bar is a different story. I don’t know if our interaction would have been the same had we both told the truth about who we were from the start. Like I said, she’s just as stubborn as her old man.

There was something so special about her back then.

My pants tighten as the memory of her looking back at me through hooded eyes as I was buried deep inside of her flashes into my brain.

I shift slightly and shake my head.

Can’t be having those thoughts about her, especially not in the middle of the damn pasture when she’s trying to save my herd.

Sutton and Caleb are near the fence to go into the pasture, and I watch her put a hand up, telling him to stay outside the fence. She stops and digs into her bag, pulling out medical booties, pants, and a gown-like top as if she’s going in to perform surgery.

“What is she doing?” I snap.

“Taking precautions, it would seem,” Doc Lucy sighs.

“You don’t do that.”

“No, but I probably should have. It could have stopped the spread more than me washing down between calls,” she murmurs.

My eyes flit to her quickly, and I can see the look of regret on her face. We continue walking toward the pasture as Sutton grabs some things out of her bag and carries them with her.

“She can’t be going in there. I don’t care what hazmat gear she’s wearing, she’s going to—” I hiss as I start toward them.

“She knows what she’s doing, Wade. You have to let her do it,” Doc Lucy says as she grabs my arm.

“Any of these big guys out here have symptoms?” she asks Caleb.

“The red and white there, tag thirty-two. She started this morning.”

She did? Why didn’t he tell me that? I’d been out here since four this morning and hadn’t caught her symptoms. How did Caleb know and I didn’t?

“Okay, where does the feed come from? Was it put out fresh this morning? Are the feeders cleaned out regularly?

“Feed comes from Marley’s feed store in town. It’s fresh, and they’re cleaned regularly,” I reply.

She walks into the pasture, and I start to follow her. She whips around and puts a hand up, placing it on my chest.

Electricity shoots through me like I touched the fence. I pull back a little.

“I don’t think so, cowboy,” she says haughtily. “You’re not coming in the pasture with me.”

Cowboy.

Damn it, that made my cock twitch toward her.

I shift uncomfortably as I narrow my eyes.

“It’s my herd, I’m not going to…”

“This could be as simple as something in that ground,” she snaps as she points at the dirt. “Or any ground those dirty ass boots have walked on, containing something that’s making the cattle sick. I am not going to risk contamination or an uncontrolled area.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?”

“Do you have a degree in vet medicine? Have you been studying bovine illnesses in a lab for the last two years?”

“No, Miss High and Mighty, I haven’t, but I know my herd and this land. I’m not going to let you out here by yourself, especially not with those two bulls loose in the pasture. It’s on me if you get hurt.”

“I’m not going to get hurt. I know my way around a pasture. If you’ll remember, we had the meanest bull this side of the Mississippi when I was growing up. Yours don’t scare me.”

“You been out to anyone else’s ranch today?”

“Yes…”

“These two have been raised in this pasture with each other, but the second they get wind of another bull or the scent of a heifer in heat from your clothes.”

“I was wearing a hazmat suit.”

“You know that’s not enough. You need someone in there to keep an eye on them.”

She narrows her eyes and glares at me. “I’m not discounting your experience, Mr .

Callahan. I know better than anyone that a rancher knows his animals and his land better than any doctor ever could.

In this situation, I need to narrow the possibilities down tremendously.

No one walks into this pasture or handles the cattle without wearing surgical scrubs and gloves. You want in here, suit up.”

“Well, Your Highness, I ordered all the hazmat stuff when this first started. Because of the outbreak, though, it’s all on back-order. I don’t have anything.”

“She’s right, Dad,” Caleb interjects. “I’ve been reading studies and—”

“You’ve been reading studies?”

“Yes, sir,” he replies, raising his chin defiantly.

I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s an incredibly smart kid, but these cattle and all the animals on the ranch are like his pets in a way. He’s been helping to take care of them since the day he got here.

“If you would have let me finish, you can get them out of my bag,” she says as she gives me a cocky little smirk before I turn around to suit up as she demanded.

I hear Benny chuckle behind me, and I shoot him a dirty look.

If she’s here to help, I’ll put up with her attitude.

For now.