Page 94 of Roping Her In

If Hailey had time to count, she was sure she’d find a message from every single cousin as well. She saw Glory Rose and Conrad, and surprise cut through her when she even found a message from Jake with those four messy letters of his name underneath it.

“We had the littles do fingerprints on the back,” Nellie said, and she flipped the card before Hailey could read any of the messages.

“We only have a few minutes to get inside,” Momma said.

Nellie pointed to one smudged print in bright blue. “This one’s Denim. We had their mommas and daddies write their names.”

Tears filled Hailey’s eyes, and she looked up into Nellie’s face. She wore such hope there, and Hailey loved her so. “Thank you,” she said. “It must have taken forever to get out to everyone on the ranch.”

Nellie laughed, her eyes widening as she nodded. “You have no idea,” she said.

Hailey hugged her again, and then she stepped back to Jake’s side and took his hand in hers. “You guys remember Jake, right?” She sniffled and turned her head away as she wiped her eyes.

“Oh yeah, we know Jake. We gave him the card so he could take it to the small ranch owners’ meeting last week,” Nellie smiled, and she stepped in and hugged him too. “Thanks for doing that, by the way.”

Hailey looked at him, wonder cascading through her. “You took the card to the small ranch owners’ meeting?”

“I sure did,” he said, grinning as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Everyone’s terribly excited for you.”

Hailey didn’t know what to say, and Nellie took the card back from her.

“I’ll hang on to this until after.” She glanced at their momma. “I think Momma is about to lose her mind, so we better go in.”

“It’s just that she’s speaking,” Momma said. “We shouldn’t be late.”

“Well, they’re not going to start without her, dear.” Daddy put his arm around Momma, and they started further into the building.

A sign with balloons had been put in the center of the foyer and directed them where to go. Only three doors down the left hallway, Hailey entered the room after her family, and with Jake at her side. They’d come in at the top of a small auditorium with dark blue plush seats that seemed to be about half full.

A stage waited down at the bottom of the rows. As Momma fussed about how they should’ve gotten there earlier so that they could’ve gotten a better seat, Hailey simply took in the banner hanging from side to side that read, Congratulations, Vet Techs! with colorful depictions of horses, cows, goats, chickens, donkeys, and bulls.

“I have to sit on the stage,” she said at the end of the fourth row, where Daddy had managed to find enough seats for all of them.

“Here’s your folder, babe.” Jake handed her the folder, and she quickly swept a kiss across his cheek.

“Thank you.” She continued all the way down and then up the steps to the stage, where she hugged her favorite professor and shook hands with the other people participating in the program. Dr. Hearne indicated a seat four in from the end, and he turned to Professor Millard and said, “We’re all here now.”

“We’ve got a few minutes still,” she said, and she smiled at Hailey as she took the seat next to her. “There are still people coming in.”

Another teacher sat next to Dr. Millard, and Dr. Hearne sat on the end, clearly anxious to begin. Hailey looked out and up into the crowd as people continued to enter the auditorium and find seats.

Finally, the doors at the top of the auditorium got closed. Dr. Hearne cleared his throat and moved to stand behind the podium.

Hailey gripped the folder with her speech inside, her knuckles so tight they ached. The lights had been left on in the auditorium, and her eyes landed on Jake. He lifted both hands up to indicate she should take a deep breath, and then he spread them out as he exhaled.

Hailey breathed in, held it, and exhaled to release all the tension in her body.

She was brilliant.

She was an excellent veterinary technician.

She was number one in her class.

She smiled at her brothers and sister and her parents, knowing she had their full love and support. She looked at Jake again and nodded, and he smiled as he reached up and adjusted his cowboy hat.

He believed in her, and because of that, Hailey was going to rock this speech.

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