STARLIGHT RESCUE – Excerpt
“I’m a collector of animals,” Kimberly Dorn explained to her would-be renter, Gabe Trent. “Horses. Llamas. My horse came to me by accident. A farmer in the area had neglected her so badly that she almost died.”She winced at the memory. “Starlight could have been auctioned off to a glue factory. There was another older mare that I wasn’t able to rescue. Her ribs stuck out like a barrel. She had to be put down.”
His features held concern. “I don’t have much patience with people who mistreat animals.”
“I don’t either. Mostly it was because of dementia. The old man let me take her off his hands for half a dozen bales of hay and a huckleberry pie.”
“Sounds like a fair trade to me.” In the afternoon sunlight, Gabe’s collar-length hair shone a rich black. The kind of hair a woman would love to run her fingers through.
Her heart rate rising, Kimberly abruptly strode out of the yard. “The rental building is down the road,” she called over her shoulder. With long strides, he caught up with her and she slowed her pace. Okay, so this Gabe Trent was a free-spirited animal lover. But if she rented the place to him, she needed to find out more about his background. “Where are you from, Gabe?”
“Originally Montana. Been traveling around for a few years. I’m a wildlife photographer and filmmaker, and I need sort of a home office. My uncle Ty owns the Reliable Hardware Store in town. He told me he thought you had a room.”
“You’re Ty Trent’s nephew?” She sent him a sidelong glance. “You look kind of familiar. Do you visit much?”
“Not since my college days. Last time I remember, I helped around the store the summer after graduation.”
Her memory leaped back to one summer after her senior year. “Hmm, I remember a lanky guy who worked at the store and drove a flashy red pickup.”
“Yeah. That was my graduation gift from my dad.”
“A few of my friends bet on who would get you to ask them out first.” Kimberly nearly bit her tongue. “Of course, I never did.” Not much you didn’t...you little fibber.
Gabe let out a spontaneous chuckle. “That was a long time ago.”
“We were just kids.” One thing was sure, he wasn’t a lanky kid anymore. He’d muscled up in all the right places. Changing the subject, she said, “Your work must be fascinating. You film the beauty of an animal and I try to heal them.”
His eyes shimmered with interest. “Are you a vet?”
Proud of her profession, she smiled. “I earned my degree last fall from Colorado State. Now I’ve got to build up my large animal practice—to keep the ranch going.”
He nodded and looked beyond the cottonwood trees, their newly bursting leaves rustling against a blue Wyoming sky. “That’s a tall order for one gal.”
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