Megan's Hero (The Callahans of Texas Book #3): A Novel by Sharon Gillenwater

other. Jenna trailed along behind with the suitcase. Will’s mom said hello to someone they met but kept walking. “Buster and Ollie—they’re the ranch hands—found five cows and five calves that had been injured. Thankfully, none of them were badly hurt. They’d gathered in a grove of oak trees, which blocked some of the hail. I think the cows instinctively protected the calves as much as they could.”
    “Should Chance and Nate have been out looking for injured animals instead of gathering up my stuff?” Megan had worried about that half the night.
    “We had only a small herd in the section that was hit with hail, so Buster and Ollie could handle it. Most of the livestock are in other areas of the ranch. I don’t know how the wild animals fared, but I expect most of them did all right. Animals have a sixth sense about storms and often take shelter before humans realize what’s coming. More than once Dub has hightailed it home before a storm hits because of how the birds or cattle are acting. They know the difference between a little rain and something bad.”
    “Was this area under a tornado watch yesterday? The radio in the van went out yesterday morning, so I never heard a forecast.”
    “It was a severe thunderstorm watch until about an hour before the storm actually hit. Then they changed it to a tornado watch. They issued a tornado warning about two seconds before Dub spotted it. I had just enough time to unplug the television before he ordered us to go to the storm cellar.”
    Emily shuddered lightly. “I still think we should wait until we know the tornado is headed right for us before going down there.” She gave Sue a sheepish smile, then met Megan’s curious gaze. “I love my father-in-law dearly, but he has as big a phobia about tornados as I do being in cellars.”
    “I’m not particularly fond of cellars,” Megan said. “But after my close encounter yesterday, I’ll gladly go underground the next time a tornado is anywhere in the area.”
    The automatic doors opened as they moved toward the entrance. “You and Dub both,” Sue said. “He’s mellowed some over the years. When the kids were little, any night there was a tornado watch posted, we slept in the cellar.”
    “Correction, tried to sleep.” Jenna pulled the suitcase to the back of the Lincoln, and Sue unlocked the trunk. “Will and Chance always thought it was a big adventure. If they didn’t come up with some game or weren’t playing with toys all night, they’d make up stories.”
    “Ghost stories, no doubt.” Emily opened the front door for Megan then walked around to the back of the car.
    “Usually.” Jenna hoisted the heavy suitcase into the trunk without any problem. She might be petite, as Will said, but Megan suspected she did her fair share of work around the ranch. Emily laid the plastic bag in the trunk and returned to the side of the car.
    Megan stood up from the wheelchair and thanked the woman who’d pushed it outside.
    “You’re welcome, dear. I hope I’m here the day you have that baby.” With a smile, she turned and pushed the wheelchair back inside, leaving it near the entrance.
    Megan got in the car, smiling to herself when Emily waited and shut the door. People around here sure believed in taking care of pregnant women. Or at least one who’d spent the night in the hospital. She fastened her seat belt and looked up to find Sue watching her. “Will told me to let the folks in the hospital pamper me, which they did. But I think his expectations were influenced by the way his family treats people.”
    Sue laughed and started the car as Emily and Jenna slid into the backseat. “Just passing on God’s blessings.”
    “That’s what he said.”
    His mother’s smile widened. “Good. I must have raised that boy right after all.”
    “Well, other than being a little bossy, he seems like a very nice man.”
    “Boy, do you have him pegged,” Jenna said with a chuckle. “He even volunteered to