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“I really should come back later.”

I took a step away from her, partly to keep from pulling her into my arms. I’m not gonna lie, I was totally freaking out right now, because all it had taken was one long look into those beautiful eyes and I was done. Turns out that love at first sight actually happened in real life.

My lips quirked as I remembered my Mama’s earlier comment about the perfect woman not falling from the sky. Turns out Mama was wrong, because without knowing anything else about Abigail Southerland, I was sure of one thing: she was mine.

I just needed to keep her here until she realized it too.

“Come on.” I tilted my head towards the fields where we kept the cattle. “I’ll show you around. You’ll see we have nothing to hide here.”

She glanced back at the trees where she’d likely left her car, then came to a decision.

“Okay, fine, yes, I can look around now. But I may need a return visit later.”

I gave her a smile.

“I hope you will return, and not just for the animals.”

It was the flirtiest thing I’d ever said in my life, which was a sad statement on my flirting skills. Thank God my brother Allen wasn’t here to mock me. He’d always been much smoother with the ladies than I was, although Clara had really made him work for it. I respected the hell out of her for that.

Abigail made a weird little sound that maybe was a laugh, maybe was a ‘I hope this guy isn’t going to kill me’ sound, I couldn’t tell for sure.

“You ready to look around, Dr. Southerland?”

“Please, call me Abby.”

Abby. That suited her better than the more formal Abigail.

“Okay Abby, this way.”

We wandered around the property for a spell, checking out the pastures where we kept the cows, the pen with the goats, and the chicken coop. I could tell she was impressed with how healthy our animals were. We took great pride in our work here.

“This here’s the barn,” I said as we reached the large structure.

I felt moisture on my nose and looked up. “Wow, looks like it’s tryin’ to snow.”

“Oh yeah, I guess I should leave soon. If it does snow, the roads will be a mess.”

Yet she followed me into the barn. I hoped it meant that she didn’t want to be away from me quite yet, the same way I felt about her.

As soon as we entered the barn, Annabelle started making a ruckus.

“I’m coming, baby,” I called.

When Abby gave me a curious look I explained, “That’s my pet cow, Annabelle. She always gets excited to see me.”

She laughed. “You’re a rancher but you have a pet cow?”

I nodded. “Yes ma’am. I pulled her from her mama when the poor animal was dying. The mother bled out during labor before the vet could get here, and Annabelle was half dead herself. I nursed her with a bottle and slept in the stall with her until she was strong enough to be on her own. I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m her daddy.”

Annabelle was small, her growth probably stunted by the early labor and her struggle to stay alive when she was first born. She was a beautiful animal with huge dark eyes that looked almost human. She poked her head over the door to her pen, looking way too excited for a cow.

“There’s my baby,” I crooned, petting her head.

Abby watched like she was fascinated to see this side of me, but there was no mocking in her expression. That’s good, because my damn family thought it was ridiculous that I had a pet cow. But I’d bonded with Annabelle when she was born, and there was no way I could think of her as anything other than my pet now.

I handed Annabelle an apple I’d stuck in my jacket pocket for her. She snatched it from my hand and chewed it contentedly.

“May I?”