Saving Her Cowboy (EBOOK)

After surviving a few combat fights in the military, Bart Miller is suffering from a severe case of PTSD. No matter how hard he tries, life on the ranch just isn’t the same anymore. His family thinks he’s improving, but they don’t know about the night terrors that plague him almost every night.

Ever since Missy got laid off her beloved job as a veterinary technician, she’s struggling to make ends meet. No one wants to hire her in their small town since they associate her with her Dad, who was the town drunk. Then Mrs. Miller offers her a job at the wealthy Miller Ranch—making fifteen dollars an hour!

Strangers in the night both trying to find their way, Bart and Missy end up meeting in the most unlikely of circumstances. Missy may just be the only person who can help Bart begin his journey to healing. But will Mrs. Miller see it that way? Especially since Missy is somewhat off limits as an employee at the Miller Ranch…

Author's Note:

Brothers of Miller Ranch is a series of books that are about each of the wealthy but humble brothers of Miller Ranch finding true love! Each novel is a standalone eBook that can be enjoyed without having read the other books of the series. Download and enjoy!

After purchasing, this EBOOK will be delivered instantly via Bookfunnel email.

Missy’s heart thundered in her chest as she ducked back into the stall. She could feel her cheeks burning crimson.

Oh goodness.

Oh goodness gracious with a rotten cherry on top.

She hadn’t meant to gawk at the man right out in the open, but he was about the last person she had expected to see.

And what a sight he was.

It was like an utterly bizarre change to see him in broad daylight. So strong, so assured. If she didn’t know better, she would think that he was just another strapping Miller son. He was nothing like the hurt man that she had spent most of her night guiding to safety.

Was she exaggerating things in her own head? Projecting things onto this man based on her own experience with her father? She supposed it was possible, but she didn’t really have much to go on.

Maybe it would be best if she minded her own business and didn’t start poking around in the Miller family’s affairs.

Nodding to herself, Missy forced herself to get back to work, even if her back was practically weeping about it. But even as she cleaned the stall, her mind couldn’t get away from that man. That tall, handsome man.

Sure, he was attractive, but that wasn’t it.

Okay, so he was possibly one of the hottest men she had ever laid eyes on, and that certainly helped grab her attention, but that didn’t feel like the reason why he was centered in her mind.

No… it was because for a moment when their eyes were locked, she swore that she saw someone as out of place and lost as she was.

Hah! That was silly. She really was only overtired and needed to get a good nap in. And the sooner she finished her work, the sooner she could do just that.


***

It didn’t get any better after lunch. Her muscles were fatigued, and her thoughts were starting to get that particular sort of sleep-deprived syrupiness that made little sense and mostly whined a lot.

She didn’t want to go back to the stalls, but she had to. She’d only been there a week, and she couldn’t exactly shirk off her work. She needed to show her gratitude. That it was worth it that they had taken a risk on… well…

Someone like her.

So she found herself once again mucking out a stall, her frame screaming and her eyes constantly wanting to check her cracked phone for what time it was.

She forced herself to keep going, one toss after another until a sound broke through the drudgery.

It was so whisper-quiet that she almost didn’t catch it at first. Stilling, she cocked her head, closed her eyes and listened.

There it was again. Tremulous, and almost impossible to hear. The tiniest little call for help, pleading for someone to answer the cry.

Missy followed the sound to the edge of the stall and dug through the old hay, searching and searching until she finally found the source of the plaintive cry.

It was a kitten. Tiny, dirty and bedraggled. Missy let out a coo and pulled her bandana from her neck, using it to pick up the kitten as she went to cradle it to her chest.

“Hey there, little one. Are you okay?”

It let out another mewl, barely audible. Oh, the poor thing. He’d been rejected, hadn’t he? She looked him over. He was small, quite small, and he only had one eye, the other just a blank patch of fur. She turned him this way and that. He had fleas, and probably worms, but she could move all of his joints, and he was fully formed. No wounds either.

She could save him. Not that she knew he was a him, but to her, orange kitties always seemed like boys. She could check him later, assuming he survived.

Quickly, she took a mental inventory of everything she had at home. Antibiotics, deworming medicine, kitten formula. Yeah, she could definitely help him out.

“Hey, would you like it if I take you home?”

He let out another little warble, and Missy smiled. She really had a soft heart, didn’t she?

“Hey guys,” she said, wandering into the main aisle. A few of her fellow workers leaned out, looking at her curiously. “On a scale of one to ten, how bad would it be if I took off an hour and a half early to take care of this little one?”

“Are you sure you should do that? Usually, when a mamma rejects a kitten, it’s for a good reason.”

“I know,” she said with a shrug. “But I’ve had some success with runts. I think he could be a good ol’ cat if given a chance.”

There was a collective shrug. “I mean sure. As long as you don’t make it a habit. I can’t imagine any of the bosses being mad. They’re pretty understanding.”

“Perfect,” Missy said with a smile. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Missy hurried off, kitten still held to her bosom, and she piled into her truck. “Just hang in there, okay little guy?”

She drove off, praying that he’d be all right. Maybe it was silly to get so wound up over a kitten, but she had a weak spot for helpless things.

Luckily, he made it to her home, and she concentrated on getting everything ready for him. First some water, then formula, then washing, then the medicine. By the time she was rubbing his hindquarters with a damp cloth, trying to get him to relieve himself, it was already dark.

Geez, she was tired. She felt like she could just fall into bed and sleep forever.

But she couldn’t. The kitten needed to be checked on every two to four hours. Oh boy, she was going to have a real rough week, but it would be worth it if the kitten pulled through.

Sighing, Missy set her alarm for two hours then slid into bed.


***


Missy awoke right on time with a groan, her alarm persistently howling. She rolled out of bed—an easy feat to do since her twin mattress sat on the floor. She crawled over to the little box that she had put the kitten in.

He was sleeping, but he mewled at her again when she picked him up, acknowledging that she was close. He wasn’t old enough to have his eyes open, but she figured he was awake enough to feed.

Once more, she went through all of the steps of taking care of him until, finally, he was tended to and sleeping in her hands like a little butterball.

“We’re off to a good start,” she told the kitten before returning back to bed. “I’ll drop you off at the vet’s in the morning to get checked out and take care of those fleas.”

But as she settled in, she couldn’t get comfortable. She tossed and turned; then she tried reading for a bit. Nothing worked. Every minute she could feel precious time slipping away. She needed to go to sleep. Couldn’t just one thing go right for once?

She tried to settle down, but eventually, she ended up on her back, staring up at the cracked ceiling of her studio apartment. There was something tugging at the back of her mind, whispering that there was something else that she wanted to do…needed to do.

What if the Miller brother was out in the open again? What if he got into trouble? It really wasn’t any of her business, but…

Finally, after probably not that long at all, she groaned and got out of bed. A few moments later, she was throwing a flannel over herself and then driving back to the ranch. She had three hours before having to get back to the kitten.

She was being ridiculous about Bart. And she knew that. But the same compunction that made her want to take care of the kitten also made her want to take care of the strange soldier that she knew nothing about.

She arrived just as quickly as she had the first night and parked her truck. Making her way to the same hill with a new blanket in hand. She was being crazy. This was dangerous. And yet she kept on walking until she was on top of the grassy knoll, looking up at the velvet sky.

No one was there.

She let out a breath, not knowing if she was relieved or upset. She had wasted so much time, and not to mention sleep, only for no one to be around.

Sighing, Missy set out her blanket and went to sit on it, figuring she could at least stare up at the sky and feel some peace. But then she heard shuffling behind her.

There he was, walking through the grass, reaching for something she couldn’t see.

It didn’t even take her a breath to know that she had to help him.

Somehow.