Page 13 of In a Cowboy's Arms

“It was an amazing sight. Looks like they’ve been congregating down in the lowlands by the river but there were so many of them that when they jumped the fencing they were wrecking it. That’s not the worst of it, though.”

“Oh, no. Dad. Is he okay? If he was hurt, why didn’t you tell me that first?”

“No, Lacey. It’s not your dad, he’s fine. It’s one of the horses. He got himself wrapped in some of the loose barbed wire and he’s on the ground. Your dad has all the tools he needs, but we needed a little help to get close to him. Your dad sent me to find you.”

“Me? What can I do?”

* * *

Lacey seemedworried as Jordon pulled up close to where her father, Leo, was keeping an eye on the downed horse.

“Are you going to get out of the truck?” He could tell she was awestruck at the site before her.

“That poor horse.” In slow motion she pushed open the passenger door and left it ajar as she walked around the front of the truck, pulling a pair of leather work gloves from the back pocket of her blue jeans. She quietly greeted her dad with a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.

“What can I do, Dad?”

“I was hoping you could do that horse whispering thing you seem to have going on. You know…talk to him, keep him calm so we can get close and get the wire cut and free him without getting the crap kicked out of us.”

“This is a wild horse, Dad. That’s a little different than working with one of ours.”

“I know, but I have faith in you. We have to do something Lac, he can’t stay here thrashing. He’ll bleed to death.” Leo placed a couple worn old rags over her shoulder and kissed her on the forehead.

“Okay…just give me a few minutes. You both stay back out of his line of sight.”

Jordon couldn’t explain it as anything other than amazing as he watched Lacey slowly creep toward the head of the massive creature, whispering something he couldn’t quite make out. He worried for her safety, though. As she got closer, she removed a glove and lowered herself to reach a hand down toward the horse’s nostril. He’d never seen anything like it before. The horse was breathing heavy and neighing loud but the more he huffed, the more Lacey whispered. She kept very steady until the horse’s breathing visibly calmed a bit and she could lay a hand across the bridge of his nose.

As Jordon watched Lacey gently pull the scrap of material from her shoulder and place it over the horse’s eyes, he understood a little bit more. She rubbed his forehead softly, continued with the whispering and humming, but motioned for her dad to come closer. With metal snips, Leo started carefully cutting the wire wrapped around the front legs of the mustang.

“Dad, we need to wrap those cuts.” Her voice was barely audible so as not to spook him. Leo shook his head. Jordon assumed that would be too difficult once the horse was free.

Leo finished moving the cut wire from the mustang’s legs and both men backed far away. Lacey left the rag over its eyes and backed away herself. She then made a clicking sound and the horse lifted himself upright, shook his whole body, and bolted off over the next hill. The cuts seemed to not bother him at all.

“Great job, sweetheart.” Lacey’s father hugged his daughter. “Come on, Jordon. Let’s go get something to eat.”

Chapter Twelve

Lacey stood at the screen door listening to Jordon and her father talking shop on the front porch over a few beers. Evidently her dad knew of a farm—the Circle K, not far away—that might be able to do something about the injured stallion they’d rescued earlier. Leo had asked Jordon to check it out with the owner.

Never in a million years would she have thought it possible to fall for a cowboy. She’d pounded it into her own head since the very first cowboy she’d been screwed over by and swore they weren’t for her. If that hadn’t been enough, she’d learned the rest from her brothers about how she didn’t want to be treated. Apparently, she’d just never met a cowboy like Jordon. He wasn’t by any means typical. The more time she spent around him, the more he reminded her of her dad, actually.

This city slicker-turned-cowboy had apparently wielded his invisible magic and broke the seal around her heart. Who would have thought it possible? And she still wasn’t sure she liked the idea, but she couldn’t deny it, either. How long had she known him? A whole two or three days? How was that possible? And he already had her mother wrapped around his little finger too. As far as Lacey was concerned, that was an impossible task—Lynn Connelley was a force to be reckoned with. She’d been fighting with her for twenty-plus years but Jordon walks into the kitchen, starts helping her set the table, and the gates of heaven miraculously open for him. Maybe he could teach her a thing or two.

“Alright, enough talk you two. Chores come early in the morning. I need to get my beauty sleep.” Her dad wrapped Lacey in a hug and told her he’d see her bright and early, shook Jordon’s hand and thanked him again for all the help and apparently they were meeting for breakfast over the weekend to talk cattle. Leo Connelley then disappeared into the house.

“Guess it’s just the two of us. What are you smiling about?”

Lacey wasn’t sure she was ready to talk about her feelings with Jordon. They were still pretty new and she wanted to get used to them herself, first. She couldn’t help but notice how really handsome he was and it made her smile.

“Oh, I don’t know. Just wondering where you came from.”

“Is that a trick question?”

“No. Well, maybe. I don’t know. We’ve only known each other a few days but just now it seems like we’ve known each other forever even though I hardly know anything about you. That didn’t even make any sense.”

“Actually, it did and I get it.” He came closer to her.

“I felt it that night—the night in your apartment with our friends—when you got woke up. It was like a stab right into the center of my chest. Can’t say another girl has ever given me that kind of a pain while I was getting yelled at but it’s like you cracked me open and crawled right in. Now, I’d kind of like you to stay there.”

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