Pamela Britton - Cowboy Vet

“I’m sure Brandy will be happy to have your help.”

“I’m sure she will,” Jessie said.

“But our first order of business will be checking the mare and foal you helped deliver yesterday. I glanced in on them a few times last night and I’m concerned the foal isn’t nursing properly.”

She nodded. “Will do. Boss.”

Rand narrowed his eyes. It was the damnedest thing. Every time he met her gaze he felt almost itchy.

It was a feeling that followed him all the way out of the clinic. Rand scratched at the back of his neck and wondered if he’d picked up poison oak from one of the animals he’d treated.

“I can look in on them on my own,” she said, walking beside him. “You know, if you’ve got better things to do.”

She was peering up at him, and he noticed she had freckles sprinkled across her petite nose and high cheeks. But it was her lips that caught his attention. Their fullness specifically.

“No,” he said. “I want to check the foal’s motor skills this morning.”

She nodded and the two of them padded down the rubber-matted aisle. It was his favorite time of day, when all the horses were munching their food, their teeth grinding against the alfalfa a rhythmic sound accompanied by the rustling of hooves in shavings.

“You know, Rand,” she said. “You’re very lucky.”

He glanced down at her and wondered if her hair was naturally that red or if she dyed it. “What do you mean?”

“You have all this,” she said, splaying her arms. “Every morning.”

“Yeah?”

“I would give anything to surround myself with horses.”

Something about the way she said it made him stop. Some people came to horses late in life. Some people never came to them at all. Jessie had grown up in a trailer park on the outside of town—a single-wide her mom supposedly still occupied—far away from the world of tiny foals and fancy barns.

“Maybe one day you will,” he said.

Jessie smiled wistfully. “Well, in the meantime, this will do,” she said, dropping her arms. “Thank you for hiring me. Even if it’s for a day”

“You’re welcome,” Rand said, wondering why he suddenly felt like a heel.

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