Read A Cowboy's Touch for Free Online Page B

misshapen loop toward a calf.
    “Got it.” Maddy set her knee on a low fence rail.
    Two young muscular cowboys closed in on the calf as it came to the ground.
    “Nobody’s better at heeling a calf than Dad. That’s why he does the roping.”
    Abigail couldn’t help but feel for the animal as it was dragged across the ground.
    “That’s the branding pot, where they heat the irons.” Maddy pointed to the low machine at the feet of another cowboy. The calf was dragged to the heater, and a gloved man grabbed a long metal tool protruding from the heater. Two men held down the calf and blocked her view, but she turned her head anyway.
    When the calf squealed, she wanted to cover her ears. She glanced distastefully at her half-eaten Twizzler.
    “They vaccinate and notch her ears as another way of marking— you’re not watching.”
    “Tell me when it’s over.”
    Maddy laughed. “Be thankful it’s not a bull calf.”
    Abigail didn’t ask why.
    “You can look now,” Maddy said a moment later, wrinkling her nose at the smell—an awful stench that smelled like burning hair.
    Abigail scanned the pen until she found the branded calf trotting wild-eyed to her mother’s side. Poor thing. Abigail scanned the scores of calves. “They have to do that to all those calves?”
    Maddy shrugged. “Part of ranch work. Cowboys love this stuff.”
    “Where did all these men come from?”
    “Most of ’em are neighbors. Dad’ll help them with their branding too.”
    Abigail watched Wade trot the horse across the pen. He looked tall in the saddle. Masculine. He had fawn-colored chaps over his jeans and gloves on his hands. He and the black horse moved as one.
    It seemed like it would take forever to get all those calves done. “They do this all day?”
    “Till supper.”
    Abigail imagined Wade and the others would be beat after a day of wrestling frightened calves.
    Just then he turned in the saddle as if sensing their presence.
    “Hi, Dad!” Maddy waved.
    Wade lifted a gloved hand to his daughter, his eyes lingering. He touched the brim of his hat, and Abigail felt his gaze clear down to her dirty tennis shoes.
    “You ready to go in and unpack?” Maddy asked.
    “Sounds like a plan.”

    Abigail took a bite of roasted chicken, her gaze darting between Wade and Maddy. Was it always this quiet at dinner? The silence felt awkward, though the other two seemed at ease.
    Abigail couldn’t stand it anymore. “The branding was interesting.”
    “Abigail couldn’t watch,” Maddy said.
    She shrugged a little, embarrassed at her weak stomach. “I felt sorry for the poor little things.”
    “Keeps ’em safe in the long run,” Wade said. “No different than kids. Sometimes what’s good for them is less than pleasant. They get over it soon enough.”
    “The calves or the kids?” Abigail asked.
    “Both.”
    “Hey, I’m right here, you know.”
    Wade winked at Maddy.
    He hadn’t come in until eight thirty, and Maddy said that was normal. That didn’t give her much time with her dad during the summer, much less during the school year when she presumably had an earlier bedtime. But then, he was a single dad, and if ranch work was that time consuming, what choice did he have?
    “All settled in?” Wade asked Abigail.
    When she looked at him, his gaze flickered away. He never held eye contact long.
    “I am. And I have to say, I’m looking forward to a real mattress.”
    “Hope your aunt doesn’t think we stole you away.”
    “We’ll visit plenty, won’t we, Maddy? Plus, I promised I’d attend church with her on Sundays. Anyway, I’m still trying to assess her mental faculties. It’s kind of . . . challenging.”
    “She’s always been eccentric,” Wade said. “Least, since I’ve known her.”
    “I think she’s fun,” Maddy said. “She has a great imagination.”
    Abigail smiled. “I’ll say. She talks to her dolls like they’re her children, and she told me you were voted Sexiest Man Alive for some