“Okay,” she says quietly. “Thank you. That would be nice.”
I nod. I turn back to the cow.
We work for another twenty minutes. The sun gets higher, burning off the morning chill. I sweat through my shirt.
Jasper finishes his row and comes over. “They look good, Dr. Archer. All clear.”
“Thanks, Jasper,” she says. “Good work.”
The kid beams, looking relieved to be done. He probably wants to go edit his photos or whatever he does when he’s not lurking around the barn.
“You can head back,” Sedona tells him. “I’ll finish up the last few.”
Jasper scampers off, leaving us alone.
The silence stretches.
It’s just me and her and the cows.
I watch her check the last animal. She moves efficiently, her eyes scanning for any sign of trouble.
She is so pretty.
It’s a simple thought, but it hits me hard. It’s not just the way she looks, though that’s enough to make a man crazy. It’s the way she is. The intelligence in her eyes. The way she cares for things that can’t speak for themselves.
She’s smart. She’s tough. She’s funny.
I’m beginning to think I might not want anyone other than her.
It’s a terrifying thought. It means giving up on the idea of the rodeo groupie, the easy fling, the life without strings. It means wanting something real.
And real things break.
She finishes the check. She wipes her hands on a rag and turns to me.
“All done,” she says.
“Good.”
She leans against the fence, pushes her ponytail off her shoulder. “Are Billy and Seth still thinking of trying out for the roping event?”
I snort. “I’m not sure.”
“Why? They’d be good.”
“Billy’s shoulder,” I say. “It’s still not well healed after his fall. He messed it up bad a while back. That, coupled with all the fence mending… it’s been acting up.”
“Oh,” she says. Her brow furrows. “I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“And the two of them haven’t practiced enough,” I add. “Billy’s been distracted. Seth’s been buried in paperwork. Then the quarantine. They haven’t had time to sync up.”
She nods slowly. “That’s a shame.”
“Yeah.”
“I bet they would at least get third place,” she says, and she smiles. It’s a genuine smile, full of affection. “Billy has a natural swing. And Seth… Seth is well, he looks like he’d be good at it.”
She looks out at the pasture.
