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Dax shook his head. “I’m too busy to have to worry about someone else on top of everything at the ranch. There’s this new girl—”
“Sarah?”
He shot another look at Ben. “You’ve met her?”
Ben shook his head. “No, but I’ve spoken to the sheriff about her. She’s his niece, right?”
Dax nodded even as his head hollered that was incorrect. There was no way she was the sheriff’s niece.
Ben smiled. “How’s she doing? I hear she’s in need of some guidance too.”
This was news to him. No one else had mentioned anything like that before. Why would Sarah need guidance? She was a grown woman. Dax lifted a shoulder. “She seems nice enough, if a little rough around the edges.” His lips quirked up at the corners as that morning’s memories flooded his subconscious. “The chickens sure don’t like her… that’s for sure.”
Ben offered a smile in return. “Well, you be sure to keep an eye on her. I’m sure the sheriff had his reasons for asking Zeke to take her in.” He gave Dax a pointed look. “And you know better than anyone how a second chance can mean the world to someone who needs it.” He clapped Dax on the shoulder and wandered over to another small group.
Dang it. The pastor was right. Sarah might be a stranger. She might even be hiding something from the people at Slate Rock Ranch. But she was still trying. Sarah got up every morning and completed her tasks—even though she wasn’t that good at it. He could cut her some slack. But that didn’t mean he’d be doing her chores for her ever again. If she was going to succeed at life in the country, she needed to solve her problems on her own.
* * *
From the secondDax returned to the ranch, he was behind. He’d completely forgotten about the load of new horses, yearlings, that were being delivered to the ranch. That meant he had to oversee them getting situated and put on a schedule for training. But that wasn’t all. There was a fence that had been broken out between the Callahan’s property and the new owners to the west. He’d have to take a few men out there to get it sorted before they could move some cattle into the grazing pastures. All that along with several other chores were to be completed before the end of the week.
As much as he berated himself for attending that meeting, he knew he’d done the right thing. Skipping a meeting was the worst thing he could have done. Now he was in the right mindset to get his work done efficiently.
Dax sat in his saddle, overseeing the new yearlings that were being led toward the barn. They were a good group of horses—strong and spirited. It’d be some work to break them, but once they were trained, they’d make fine additions to the herd they had.
He touched the brim of his hat with his pointer finger, adjusting it on his head. Sarah darted from the barn just as a skittish yearling yanked and pulled away from the kid who was supposed to keep the animal restrained. She yelped and backed away from the horse as it charged forward.
She was going to be trampled. Sarah wasn’t running nearly fast enough.
Dax wasted no time. He dug his heels into the sides of his horse and darted toward them. It didn’t matter that the animal wasn’t quite fully grown. There was still a lot of strength behind those legs. Not to mention, it had at least five hundred pounds of force behind it. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she would get seriously hurt if he didn’t intervene.
Sarah ran right to an area where the animal would corner her. It continued straight at her. Man, this woman had a knack for attracting the animals who wanted trouble. Dax charged forward, putting himself between the young horse and the fearful woman.
The yearling rose up on hind legs and retreated a few steps until the kid who’d let it get away finally caught up to them.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, pulling on the lead rope.
Dax glowered at the kid. He should have known better. There was no excuse to let an untrained animal go like that. Someone could have been seriously hurt. Speaking of which, he turned and stared down at Sarah. Her wide eyes followed the yearling, and her chest rose and fell with such speed he was certain she would hyperventilate.
He let out a curse as he slipped from his saddle. “You need to slow your breathing. You’re going to make yourself faint.”
She stared at him with wide eyes and nodded, but her breathing only worsened.
Dax grasped her upper arms and peered into her face. “You need to slow your breathing. Hold your breath or make your lips small and blow out through that hole.” The two of them were mere inches apart. “Can you do that?Slow. Fill your stomach, not your chest.”
Something finally clicked and she got her breathing under control. Her skin was pale, and she reached out to grasp onto his forearms as she closed her eyes briefly.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded again but didn’t say anything, nor did she open her eyes. Her knees buckled slightly, and her fingers dug into his skin.
“No, you’re not.” He scooped her up into his arms and headed for the house. His gaze searched for someone who could take his horse and tie her up. “Connie, put Chip away for me, will you?”
Constance Callahan had seemed to materialize out of nowhere. She must have been in the barn with Sarah. She hurried toward him. “Is she okay?”
“She’ll be fine.”
Sarah buried her face into his neck, but she still trembled. She must have been more terrified than he’d thought.
