That caused another round of questions from Lila Mae, and Hailey gestured that she’d wait outside, and then headed that way.
Hailey could’vetoldher how things worked at Shiloh Ridge, but Lila Mae’s key takeaways had been visual examples and tons of photos. There was something about being able to see something instead of just being told about it, and Lila Mae was a very visual person. She made drawings and maps of her cat houses, and she wanted to see Trap’s architectural drawings before a single thing got started. Hailey didn’t blame her, as surely it wasn’t free to build cat houses and renovate a dilapidated ranch.
She wandered south to the chutes, where, yes, she found a multitude of activity happening. Several cowboys rode horses as they cut out cattle and pushed them toward the chutes. Once inside, three more cowboys took blood, loaded it into trays, and made notes before releasing the cattle into a large paddock.
She stepped up onto the rung and watched, then pulled out her phone to take a video. After all, the cowboys looked almost done for the day, and Hailey didn’t want Lila Mae to miss it.
No, they certainly wouldn’t be herding cats through fences, nor administering vaccines in chutes, but there was something about a well-run operation that made Hailey smile. She knewLila Mae would want to see how these cowboys worked together, and how Three Rivers had a system for examining their cattle as they came in from the range in preparation for Market Day.
“Hey, you’re not allowed to film here,” one of the cowboys called.
Hailey lowered her phone and frowned. “I’m just taking some pictures for my friend.”
She could practically hear him growl through the maze of fencing, because he didn’t actually stand that far from her.
“Yeah, and I’m telling you, you can’t take those pictures.” He handed the clipboard he held to another cowboy, both of them looking at her now, and then came her way. He climbed the fence closest to him and started bridging gaps with his long legs, taking the most direct route toward her.
Hailey glanced over her shoulder, wishing Lila Mae or Libby would show up, because both of them were more personable than her, especially when faced with a handsome cowboy who felt like he owned this corner of Texas.
Well, Hailey happened to know he didn’t, and that Libby wouldn’t mind if she took pictures of how they were rustling up the cattle and performing what she assumed was their vaccination treatment for the cattle, visual exam, and round-up count all in one. After all, she’d seen setups like this before at Shiloh Ridge.
She took one more picture of the growly bear cowboy as he approached, partly because he was extremely good looking, but mostly to annoy him.
“Yeah, I’m gonna need you to erase that,” he said, and Hailey quickly tucked her phone into her back pocket—where she knew no cowboy in his right mind would dare to try and get it from her.
27
Jake Ahlstrom could not believe the audacity of some people. He dropped down into the chute, only a fence away from the pretty blonde, and glared. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“We’re taking a tour,” she said, and those words had no meaning inside Jake’s ears.
“You can’t just cometake a tour. We’re a working cattle ranch.”
The woman smiled at him and stepped down off the rung where she’d dared to put her feet. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “Libby just had to run inside with her baby.”
Jake looked past her and frowned down the road toward the homestead. He’d grown up with Libby Ackerman, though everything about their lives had diverged. She was married and had two kids now, and Jake couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a serious girlfriend.
Fine, he could, but he wished he couldn’t.
She turned as footsteps approached, and then turned back to him, smiling. “This here’s Lila Mae,” she said, “I think he’s the vet here.”
Jake looked at the second blonde woman approaching, and then checked the road for Libby one more time. When he still didn’t see her, he focused on the women in front of him.
“What are you guys doing out here?” the second one asked.
“This is Lila Mae Dixon,” the first woman said again. “And I’m Hailey Winters.”
The first name struck a chord in Jake’s mind, but he wasn’t exactly sure where he’d heard it.
“Jake Ahlstrom,” he said. “And yes, I’m the veterinarian here.”
“Just the person I want to talk to,” Lila Mae said, and she actually whipped out a notebook, as if she’d start asking him questions right then and there. Jake’s impatience fired, and he glared at her. When she looked up after consulting her notes, she opened her mouth and something like a squeak came out before she closed it again.
He didn’t mean to be quite so grumpy, but he had a ton of work to do that day, and certainly no time to answer this woman’s questions. His glare must have said it all, because Lila Mae flipped closed her notebook and tucked it back into her bag.
“Would you mind terribly if I got your phone number?” she asked. “Then I can ask you some questions when it’s more convenient for you.”
“Questions about what?” he asked.
