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e holding pen into a long narrow chute that led to the head gate A cowboy on the ground swung the pen gate shut, trapping the cow in the chute Outside the pen, a calf bawled a lusty protest over the temporary separation frory bellow of her own

Ignoring both, Jessy reined her horse away fro In past years, she would have been taking her turn on the ground, down there in the thick of the action But there was too e-wild cow The decision wasn’t prompted by any fear of personal injury to herself, but rather by a concern for the safety of her unborn twins

As she walked her horse to the ate, Jessy was joined by the second rider who had worked the penned cattle with her “That’s the last of this bunch,” Dick Ballard announced, -on of information

The sandy-haired cowboy liked to talk to anyone about anything Tall and strong he y in his voice It had a lazy, conversational pitch to it, and a distinctly cowboy cadence that arm and friendly

It was rather like his face, which was otherwise ordinary in its features Over the years, his sand-colored hair had thinned until he was almost bald on top, but few people noticed that, and not because he wore a hat most of the ti feature They were kind eyes, the dark blue color of new deni somewhere in their depths

Jessy caught a glimpse of it when she started to reply to his idle re her words

“Don’t say it I already know We’ve got three o”

The line of her mouth softened into a near smile “This is a cow-calf operation,” she reminded him

“That’s why I like my job”

As the pair approached the pen’s gate, it was apparent to both that Jessy was in a better position to maneuver her horse around to open it And it never occurred to Ballard to do the gentle before Jessy had married Ty Calder, she had worked as a cowhand No deference had ever been shown to her, and none was expected Drawing a ender

Jessy unlatched the gate, swung it open and walked her horse through, then gave the gate a push for Ballard to catch He caught it, gave it another push, and trotted his horse through

“I worked one long winter at a feedlot,” Ballard ree of benefits But when spring thaw hit, the mud was so deep in that lot it was halfway up to a horse’s belly It was nothin’ to wear out three horses doing one ood for a guy with a wife and family, but I couldn’t call it cowboyin’”

“Isn’t it about tielding come to a stop by the pen’s fence rails

“Me? Get ned surprise and flashed her a wry grin “That’s not likely to happen”

“Why not? I heard you’ve been seeing Debby Si cowboys about their love lives, or lack thereof, to quit now just because she was the boss’s wife