Debra Clopton - Her Lone Star Cowboy

A cowboy’s word

With his harrowing childhood behind him, cowboy Jess Holden made some promises to himself. He’ll remain a bachelor. Won’t ever get involved with a certain kind of woman. But then he rescues a lovely newcomer—and two scared calves—from a flash flood in the middle of Texas Hill Country. Not only is veterinarian’s assistant Gabi Newberry a reminder of his past, she’s the granddaughter of a Mule Hollow matchmaker! But as sweet, spunky Gabi tends the ailing cattle on his ranch, Jess begins to discover that some promises were made to be broken.

“I’m not as easy to read as you think I am, cowboy,” Gabi said.

Jess paused to look down at her. She blinked innocently and her smile widened. He had known her all of thirty minutes and he’d already figured her out. “I never said you were easy to read. Matter of fact, I have a feeling you probably work real hard at being complicated.”

Gabi chuckled behind him. “You know what?”

He was walking past her with the other calf and paused to let it loose before facing her. “What?” he asked, grinning because there was nothing else to do.

“I like you even if you are bossy. I’m going to have fun keeping you on your toes.”

If he’d had a hat, he’d have tipped it at her, but it was somewhere downstream stuck in the mud. Instead he just nodded. “Have at it. I like a woman who keeps me guessing.”

“Then you’re going to love me,” she quipped.

Her Lone Star Cowboy

Debra Clopton

Since ye have taken off your old self

with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge

in the image of its Creator.

—Colossians 3:9–10

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

Veterinary assistant Gabi Newberry pulled her light jacket tight, useless as it was against the rain. She huddled inside it and stared at the tire of the cattle trailer she’d been pulling behind the clinic’s truck. Buried axle deep in thick clay mud, the trailer was sitting at a very risky angle. Grimacing, Gabi felt embarrassment creep up her skin as she studied her handiwork. What had she been thinking?

Susan Turner, her new boss and the local vet here in Mule Hollow, had asked Gabi if she was comfortable pulling a trailer. “Sure,” Gabi had quipped with confidence. She was, but she hadn’t planned on the torrential rain blowing in and crashing her party. What a mess.

The two black calves in the back of the small trailer bawled loudly, making her feel even worse. The poor animals were struggling to keep their balance in the precariously tipped trailer. Gabi empathized with them, having felt as if she’d been trying to do the same thing with her life, up until a few weeks ago.

“I’m sorry, little fellas—” she said, just as thunder boomed and lightning struck, far too close for comfort. At the same instant, a ferocious gust of wind whipped her baseball cap from her head! Gabi squealed and made a wild grab for the hat. A lost cause, she watched in dismay as it flew up and out of her reach, then dove dramatically, straight into the rushing water of the deep ditch beside her.

Watching how quickly the swift current swept her hat away sent a shiver of alarm running through Gabi. A few more feet and she’d have been in real trouble, with the trailer very likely tipping all the way over with the poor calves inside.

“This is bad,” she muttered, her gut twisting with unease.

When she’d come back home to Mule Hollow, she hadn’t expected to get caught in a flash flood her first week here. Her grandmother, Adela, would be worried about her out in this weather. Though she’d been raised till she was twelve near the Texas Hill Country, it had been thirteen years since she’d spent more than a week during the summer here. But still, she remembered how quickly flash flooding could happen and the dangers involved.

The sky had just been threatening rain when she’d headed out to return these calves to their owner less than an hour ago. Now it was almost black as the distant thunder clouds had taken a sudden swing in her direction. The lower peaks of the ominous clouds dipped in ice-cream-cone-shaped tags. Anyone in these parts knew that clearly spelled “tornado warning.”

Without her hat Gabi’s hair was drenched in seconds and rivulets of water washed down her face. Blinking, she studied the situation. There was no way she could get the trailer out by herself. Cellphone service was awful out here too, so calling for help wasn’t an option. Bottom line—she was on her own.

Turning, she searched the horizon, squinting against the wind and rain pelting her face. Spying a rooftop in the distance, her heart jumped with a rush of hope.

It was pretty far off and the lightning was bad. Still, she knew despite the risk she needed to seek help there.

The only other choice though was to get in the truck and wait for someone to come by. With the calves bawling louder, Gabi stood there contemplating what to do. The situation was worsening by the second.

Her mouth went dry as panic crept over her.

Take action!

She could not just sit there and wait for someone to come rescue her. Gabi pushed her hair out of her eyes and decided cutting cross-country to the house was her best chance.

Drenched from head to toe, she started toward the water. Then she hesitated. Should she let the calves out of the trailer? She decided getting back here with help was still her best possibility, and so she continued down to the edge of the rushing water.

Sticking her foot into the water, she braced herself then trudged forward. The water was higher than she’d realized, the ditch much deeper. Struggling against the rushing water, she managed to make it across without taking a plunge. Lightning exploded across the sky and thunder boomed just as she started up the incline—

The fierceness of it was startling and took Gabi’s breath. She slipped and fell to her knees. Gasping, unable to catch her balance, she plunged straight toward the rushing water!

* * *

Jess Holden couldn’t believe what he was seeing! The trailer was in a dangerous position, but it was the woman careening toward the rushing water that had him slamming on his brakes.

Bursting from his truck at a dead run, he slipped on the wet clay mud but held his balance as he went down on bent knee and skated the incline like a runner sliding feet first into home plate. She’d just started trying to regain her balance after hitting the water, but the current and the slick mud weren’t cooperating. She lost her footing again and the water carried her swiftly downstream. Her head went under and her hands flailed above water. Jess staggered through the water after her, grabbed for her but missed. Diving for her again, he snagged the first thing he could reach—the collar of her shirt! Dragging her up out of the water, she coughed and sputtered, twisting around as her feet scrambled to find purchase in the muddy water.

“It’s okay,” he yelled over the wind. “I’ve got you.” Holding his ground in the rising water, he seized her around the waist and hauled her up and out. Her feet came free of her boots as he slung her over his shoulder.