When All My Dreams Come True Read Online Free PDF Page B

followed Dew out early that morning to round up more cattle. That left Bobbie at the ranch to do all the calf roping while Jace and Coop did the branding.
    Determined to make a good impression, she made certain she had a calf ready for Jace and Coop at all times. She looped her rope three times around her saddle horn and sat back to wait until they were ready.
    The sight of Annie hanging clothes out on the line made her smile. The lady was easy to like though she was as completely opposite from Bobbie as two women could get. Bobbie towered over Annie by a good five inches, and Annie was an open, kind, and giving person, while Bobbie kept to herself. Still, given time, they might become great friends.
    Coop approached and sent a disgruntled glance in her direction. He flipped her lasso from the calf’s head. “Hey, Bobbie, you trying takill us?” Coop tossed the calf on its side and then sat on its head, struggling with the legs while he waited on Jace with the branding iron.
    She dismounted in stunned silence and grabbed the calf’s hind legs, pulling them back and holding them tight while casting a questioning glance at Jace. He met her gaze for an instant before turning his attention to the calf. He pressed the hot iron against the calf’s hip. It let out a loud
baw-w-w
. Moments later the scent of burned hair and seared flesh drifted across Bobbie’s nostrils.
    Jace looked at her and squinted against the bright sunlight. “What he means by that is, you can stop working yourself into a sweat. You’re doing fine, and your job is secure. But as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m a bit shorthanded. You’re keeping us so busy, we don’t have a chance to breathe.”
    “And we ain’t getting no younger,” Coop said with a wink before spitting a stream of tobacco juice into the dirt.
    She stared in silence while Jace notched the calf’s ear. Then a smile crept across her lips. “Sorry.”
    The men nodded and went back to work. She returned to the saddle, meandered toward the calves, and returned Annie’s wave. Because of the distance she couldn’t see if Annie was smiling, but she had no doubt it was there. Besides, how could Annie not be happy? She had a thoughtful, loving husband and two cuddly children. It didn’t hurt that she lived amidst such beauty.
    Tall trees lined the creek bank that ran along the ranch. In order to enter, a person had to cross a bridge that spanned the creek. Huge oaks also grew along a small ravine that separated Jace’s house from Annie’s. Mountains rising up in the background gave the scene a finished look. This place was even prettier than the Simms ranch.
    Mack tugged at the reins. She smiled and heeled him forward. Her horse loved the job of ranching almost as much as she did.
    As the day passed, some of the larger calves struggled with the men. If one fought itself free, she’d jump from the saddle to help. She’d been kicked more than once and bore the bruises for proof.
    Another calf managed to break loose from Coop’s grasp, and Bobbie lunged from her saddle to drop onto its head. The calf dragged her several feet before knocking her loose and scampering away.
    Her battered ego now matched her injured behind. She stood and brushed the dirt from her clothes. Jace and Coop rocked with laughter. She grinned, shook her head at them, and remounted Mack to find that calf before the setting sun made any more work impossible.
    She returned before long with the calf in tow, and after dismounting, she headed across the pasture toward the two men. The long day had left her with an ache in every bone and muscle in her body. She caught Jace watching her, his mouth twitching.
    She shook her finger at them. “Stop laughing.” She had to hide her own smile. “I’m tired of calves, and I’m tired of saddles. If I have to spend another day in that saddle, I’ll have to start wearing dresses just to hide my bowed legs. And I’m so hungry that if I have to rope one more calf, I just