Her Forever Cowboy (10 page)

Seth lifted a shoulder. “I'm talking to you now.”

Cole knew Seth like a book. His brother wouldn't say anything unless he meant it. “So what exactly are you saying?”

“I'm saying it's time for you to come home. It's time for you to put your past behind you.”

Cole was caught off guard. “What if I don't want to?”

Seth locked eyes with him. “It's time.”

There was more in those two words than business. This was about more than ranching and Cole knew it. “You'd force me to come home?”

Seth laughed a harsh laugh. “You know me better than that. All I have to do is hire a manager from yours and Wyatt's profits and that'd solve the problem right there…which was Wyatt's second suggestion.”

“But I was his first suggestion?”

“Bingo. I didn't think you were ready, but I went along with him getting you back here. Now I believe it is time. Wyatt is right.”

“Wait…you went along with it?” That got Cole's attention. “Do you know how he got me back here?”

“Some crazy story about me and Melody thinking you were upset about us getting married and being happy.”

“I should have known,” Cole said, feeling like a fool. His big brother was always pulling stunts like this. “I didn't believe a word of it when he first started in on his tall tale. But you know how good he is at spinning tales.” Wyatt was true-blue Turner. He'd inherited their great-great-great-great-grandpa Oakley's knack for spinning a tall tale. Oakley had been known to make people believe anything he said. Wyatt had the knack.

“I honestly couldn't believe you fell for it. Wyatt must have pulled out all the stops to make you believe that I would ever think you weren't happy for me.”

Cole frowned. “Not as much as you think, Seth. I didn't want you to be unhappy but I'll confess it messed with my head. I left early because it just opened up old wounds. I was in a bad spot for a little while.”

“Wyatt is as good at picking up on unspoken things as he is spinning tales,” Seth mused. “I'm sorry you went through that and I hate that we deceived you, but honestly I agree now—it's time you came home. I need you. Forgive me. How's it going? Being here I mean?”

He knew how restless Cole got. “Strangely.”

“In a good way?”

Cole set his nail gun down and scratched his jaw as he thought about how to put into words what was happening in his head. “I'm not sure. And I'm also not sure about pitching in here full-time. I hate to tell you, but as it stands you better start looking for a ranch foreman.”

T
he sun had gone down by the time the women of Mule Hollow packed up and called it a day. Susan still couldn't believe that every room in the small house had been painted. Her kitchen had also been scrubbed and the cabinets lined so that she was ready to unpack her things the minute she brought boxes over…of course she had yet to pack those boxes and everyone had volunteered to help with that, too.

Feeling restless, she glanced toward the clinic and saw Cole's truck was still parked outside. Taking a deep breath, she walked over. It had been an odd Saturday. For starters, she'd not scheduled any appointments so she could work on her house. Then, she'd arranged for the new vet buying her clinic in Ranger to start taking emergency calls over the next three weeks and she'd just be available for consultation during the change-over time. She'd been pleased when the vet had agreed and startled that she'd come up with the idea.

But it was the right move. Her clients there were going to have to get used to her being gone and she was going to have to let them go. She was at peace with it, though. Today she'd never thought twice about it—except to acknowledge a hopeful sense of things to come.

Cole had the large rolling bay door open leading into what had been the oil supply storage area. The door would now act as easy access for large animals and access to the holding pens that would be brought in and set up over the next couple of weeks. “Hello,” she called as she entered.

“Hello, down there.” Cole's head popped up over the edge of a rafter.

She laughed nervously, looking up at him.

What was she doing? “What are you doing up there?”

“Running electrical wire to the new plugs. Want to come up?”

“Sure.” Susan walked to the ladder propped against an exposed steel beam. When she reached the plywood Cole met her.

“It's secured, so it's safe,” he said, taking her elbow.

She stepped onto the board. “Thanks.”

“Don't want anything happening to the boss.” He let go of her arm instantly and went back to the coil of electrical wire he'd begun rolling across the ceiling.

“So it's looking good,” she said, trying to ignore the boss comment—after all, she'd been the one to get it started.

“Thanks. It's coming along. I'll have the new paneling up on all the walls next week, and then I'll build
the counters and that front area will be good to go. It'll take me the last week to get this area finished out—”

“Do you want to go to dinner?” She forced the words out before she could back out of it.

He cocked his head to the side to look up at her from his kneeling position. “Well, Doc, I'm not too sure my boss would let me off for something like that.”

“Would you
stop
with the boss stuff and answer my question.” She was crazy. Slap crazy!

“Since you put it that way, I guess I'd better say yes or my boss might fire me. When?”

“How about tomorrow after church?”

He stood up. “You sure about this?”

“I asked you, didn't I?”

He laughed. “Well, yeah, you did. I'll be there.”

“Good.” Susan's knees were knocking and her stomach was lurching side to side so drastically she felt seasick. She'd just asked Cole on a date…“I better go,” she blurted, not because she wanted to but because it was the only thing that her frazzled brain thought to say.

“How'd you manage to get off for your little shindig today?”

The question had her hesitating. He went back to work rolling out the wire. She relaxed a touch—maybe he'd just interpreted her invitation as just dinner.

“I made a deal with the new owner. He's taking over weekend emergencies in that area up until the sale date. So I took today off.”

He paused and stared at her, clearly astounded.
“That's good, Doc. Real good. How'd it feel having some freedom?”

His praise washed over her like warm water and in that instant her knees stopped knocking and her stomach calmed down. She smiled—she couldn't have hidden it if she tried. “It felt great. Of course, I'm on call here in Mule Hollow.”

“And amazed you didn't get any calls?”

She leaned against a steel support pole that ran from the slab below to the roof. “I am, actually. I had a couple of calls since I last saw you but other than that it's been quiet.”

He'd reached a connection box. “Not my fault if that's what you're thinking.”

She laughed. It had been days since she thought about how mad he'd been at Seth for getting her out to save that baby calf. “Oh, I'm glad to know you're not wasting your hard-earned cash to pay my clients not to call me.”

“Don't think it didn't cross my mind the other night. You were so tired you needed someone to step in and change something.”

Someone else might have thought that was a sweet thought. She didn't. “Cole, I didn't need anyone to step in and change my life. I'm quite capable of doing that myself. When
I
deemed it necessary.” Here they went…right back to square one.

Her pager went off just as Cole was about to say something she was certain she wasn't going to like. This right here was the reason asking him to dinner was a ridiculous thing to do. They'd argue most of the night away.

The smug man just thought he was right about everything. It would be nice to be so perfect!

“I have to take this.”

“Duty calls.”

Even that irritated her. “Catch you later,” she snapped and headed toward the ladder.

“Holler if you need any help,” he called as she started down.

“Yeah, um, thanks.” Yeah, right—like that was going to happen. Not, was more like it. Nope, she shouldn't have asked him out. He just simply took too much for granted. Her accepting help from him obviously gave him the impression that he had a right to voice his disagreement with her life. It was weird. And not something she was going to tolerate.

 

Cole hung his head, exasperated at himself. Why couldn't he keep his big mouth shut? He crossed to the ladder—fully intent on catching up with Susan. They'd been having a decent conversation and it had taken his mind off the things he'd been dwelling on ever since Seth dropped his bombshell that morning.

She'd thrown up the do-not-trespass sign the instant he'd said something about her lack of responsibility where her safety and well-being were concerned. Knowing her as he was beginning to think he did, she'd taken what he said as a complete slap in the face about her entire life.

The woman was hard to talk to. Skimming down the ladder, he followed her voice toward the waiting area.
They'd had a phone line installed in the office on Tuesday for just such a thing as this. She was just hanging up when he walked through the door.

“Something wrong?”

“Yes. Lilly and Cort Wells—a local horse trainer—are out of town and one of their mares looks like she may be going into labor early. The young guy who is feeding for them called it in. I'm going out to make sure everything is okay.”

She'd been walking toward the door while talking and Cole followed her. “You want some help?”

No way
, the look she shot him over her shoulder said. “No. I'm fine.”

“I might be able to help.” He followed her into the night air.

She didn't give him another glance, but kept right on walking across the drive, heading toward her truck at a quick clip. He felt at loose ends as he watched her go. None of his business, though—what had he expected after what he'd said?

He'd just pulled down the large rolling door and locked up the building when she drove past. She didn't give him even a glance.

He stalked to his truck, watching her pull out of the parking lot. He should let it go. She didn't want or need his help.

As he drove onto the road, he could see her taillights in the distance. When she turned onto the main road into Mule Hollow, she went left. Cole turned right and headed the opposite direction.

He would do as she said. Mind his business and grab a chicken-fried steak at Sam's diner. Susan would be fine. She was just checking on a horse. She could do that in her sleep and there was no need to worry that she would get into any trouble out there by herself. She knew what she was doing.

Still, accidents happened.

“H
ey, Samantha, what's up?” Susan called to the mischievous donkey. Samantha ruled the roost out here at Cort and Lilly's place. They let the little donkey roam at will and had just tried to Samantha-proof the place as much as possible. “You're behaving, I hope.”

Samantha batted her big brown eyes and grinned, curling her lips back, exposing a wide row of teeth. Her sidekick, Lucky, a hairy little beast with scraggly hair and whiskers, came barreling around the corner at the sound of her arrival.

Toenails scrambling for traction, he went crazy barking an enthusiastic greeting.

“How are my two favorite patients?” she asked, scratching first Samantha between the eyes, then Lucky before she headed inside to look for the mare.

Behind her she could hear Samantha's hooves prancing on the concrete as the donkey followed her. Lucky
raced ahead of them barking, as if announcing her arrival to the entire barn of horses. Susan half expected all the horses to be running around free since Samantha had a habit of opening their stalls and letting them loose so she could eat their feed. Lilly had told her that she'd gotten better about that little problem since Cort had installed harder-to-open latches.

“How's our mommy-to-be?” Susan spoke soothingly as she unlatched the last stall's gate where Sweet Pea was pacing restlessly. The horse nickered and threw her head from side to side looking very unhappy. Moving inside, Susan approached her cautiously. Despite her name, Sweet Pea was pretty high-strung and Susan knew to take care.

Jake had made a good call. She was definitely in distress. She gently rubbed the mare's soft nose then ran a hand along her belly. “Not feeling so great, are you, girl? Hang in there, it's going to be okay.”

Sweet Pea nudged her hard with her nose and grunted, as if to say “easy for you to say.” “Believe me, I've brought plenty of colts into the world. I promise you'll be fine,” she said as she examined her. When she finished she was glad to see that everything looked fine and the birth should go smoothly. Still, Susan knew to expect the unexpected.

She'd removed her rubber gloves and was tossing them through the stall gate into the trash bin Samantha was sitting beside. The donkey was on her haunches watching what was going on. Just as if she were sitting at the movies. Susan rubbed her nose before turning
back when Lucky started barking—and just like that the unexpected happened….

Sweet Pea jumped, swung her hips around and slammed into Susan. Knocked off balance, Susan went down—just as Sweet Pea began to buck like a rodeo bronc.

 

Cole couldn't help it. He didn't like the idea of Susan being out there by herself.
Forget about it.

Right. She didn't want him out there. Against his better judgment, he parked in front of Sam's and got out. On Saturday nights, the little town had metamorphosed into a happening place. The new theater that had opened up on the outskirts of town was partly to blame for the phenomenon. People drove into town to attend the live show and stayed around to dine at Sam's. Even during the day, the town had come alive with tourists…tourists—the very notion that his hometown now had tourists was just so weird to him. He was having to adjust to the idea. Thankfully nothing had really changed the atmosphere of Mule Hollow.

Sure, the town's clapboard buildings were now painted every color of the rainbow, but the base of the town, the good people—the roots of the place—were still the same. It was as if the town had simply spruced up a bit and become what it had dreamed of becoming. And it was drawing people to it.

When he entered the old diner, the hum of people talking and laughing almost drowned out Faith Hill singing “Mississippi Girl” on the jukebox in the corner.

There was a cute college-age gal taking an order from a large group in the far corner and through the swinging café doors leading into the kitchen he could see someone working the grill. Sam grinned at him from behind the counter.

“How goes, Cole? Coffee?”

Cole nodded. “Got you some help, I see,” he said, sliding onto a stool. As long as he could remember Sam had worked the diner alone. It was a sure sign the town had grown.

“Yup. Since I'm married to Adela, I enjoy a little time off.”

Cole should have guessed it. The conversation he'd had with Seth that morning shifted from the back burner of his mind to the front burner at full boil. Seth wanted more time off, too.

He wanted Cole home. Wanted him to pitch in and take responsibility beside him for the legacy they were trying hard to preserve with the ranch. Cole understood where he was coming from but it had come from left field.

“How's it goin' out thar at Susan's?” Sam said, grinning.

“It's coming along. I'm on schedule.”

“That ain't what I meant and you know it. How y'all gettin' along?”

“How do you think?”

Sam chuckled. “That good, huh?”

There was a cowboy in his early twenties sitting at the counter and he tuned in to the conversation. “I just
called Susan about thirty minutes ago about one of the mares out at the Wells place.”

“Cole. Jake. Jake. Cole,” Sam said, introducing them. “Jake here has been looking after the place.”

“Nice ta meet you,” Cole said, shaking hands. “She was in the office when you called.”

“So did she head out there?”

“Almost before hanging up.” He still wasn't happy about her being out there alone.

“That gal works too much by herself,” Sam said, frowning at Cole. “Why'd you let her go out thar alone?”

“Now Sam, hold on. I offered and she shut me down.”

Jake looked worried. “That mare's pretty skittish and in trouble. I'm thinkin' that foal is gonna need some help being born.”

“I'll go,” Cole said. “Sam, how about two of those barbecue plates to go?”

Sam's wrinkled face crinkled upward. “Sounds like a plan ta me. I'll even toss in a couple of peach cobblers.”

What am I doing?
“Wait. Scratch that,” Cole said, thinking about how adamant Susan was. The woman was right—she was an adult who'd been on countless late-night calls. He was here only to get her building up and running. Not overtake her life.

“Scratch it?” Sam asked in disbelief.

“That's what I said. Susan'll be fine. She'll be hotter than a poker stick if I go out there. Y'all told me that from the very beginning.”

“Yeah, but—” Sam scratched his head. “You sure?”

No
, he wasn't sure. But what was he supposed to do? Ignore her wishes and force himself into her life whether she wanted him to or not?

 

Susan rolled, trying to escape Sweet Pea's hooves. She winced when one grazed her hip. Pain shot through her and she covered her head with her hands as she rolled toward the stall gate. Totally agitated out of her mind, Sweet Pea came down again. This time the blow grazed Susan's shoulder—thankfully it wasn't a full impact. Still, pain ricocheted through Susan. She cried out.

Trapped and feeling fear for the first time, Susan braced herself for the worst. Suddenly Samantha let out a loud hee-haw, the stall gate flew open and Lucky and Samantha came charging to her rescue.

 

Something was wrong.

The incessant barking of a dog had Cole barreling from his truck the minute he pulled up beside Susan's truck. Tearing into the barn, he came face-to-face with the most unexpected thing he could have imagined: Samantha the donkey dragging Susan from a horse stall.

Samantha, more roll-poly than he remembered her from years ago, had a tight grip on Susan's collar and was backing out of the stall. The dog had planted its feet between Susan and the pregnant mare and was holding the frantic horse back with its yapping.

It was a circus. Racing forward, he pushed the
donkey away, grabbed Susan under the arms and hauled her clear of the stall.

She was awake. Her startled eyes looked up into his as he halted in the center of the barn. She winced as he dropped to his knees and leaned her against him. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“I got knocked over and caught under Sweet Pea's hooves. Samantha and Lucky charged to my rescue.”

He touched her shoulder and the ripped shirtsleeve. “You're hurt. Where? Is this the only place?”

“It's nothing.”

“Where?” he demanded.

“Just a bruised hip, shoulder and ego. That's the worst.”

His temper flared. “This was just the kind of thing I was worried about happening to you.” His hands tightened about her arms and he had the overwhelming urge to slide one around her and hug her tightly. “You know how fortunate you just were, don't you?” He heard the clipped edge in his voice as the strain of losing it warred within him. She could have been killed.

“Are you okay?” Cole said. His hands shook as he looked down at her. Emotions he'd locked away threatened to cave him in but he held on as Susan nodded. Their faces were close and his lips moved to her temple in a kiss before he caught himself. She stiffened in his arms and sanity flooded his mind…He swallowed and yanked back. “Good.” She hadn't moved, but blinked, studying him. What was he thinking? He shot to his feet.

“Let's see if you can stand. Careful,” he said, trying hard to get his focus back on being angry with her and
not on the fact that he'd just kissed her temple. Barely stopping himself from giving her a real kiss.

He could have lost her.

The idea slammed into him so hard his knees went weak. She sucked in a painful breath as she leaned on his arm and rose to her feet. Immediately, she took a couple of steps away from him. He didn't move.
She's not yours to lose
, he reminded himself.

Not that way, anyway. She was not Lori.

“I'm fine,” Susan said. “Nothing broken. I'll probably limp for a few days, and this arm is going to let me know it's there every time I move it, but I'm good.”

Cole blinked hard. “What if you'd gotten
trampled?
What if you'd lain out here all night with no one around?” What if he hadn't listened to Sam and he'd gone on home…. His stomach twisted and he felt like throwing up. She was staring at him, stunned.

“You have no business making large-animal calls by yourself,” he said, yanking the stall gate closed. Needing something, anything, to do other than to look at her.

“Don't start with me, Cole.”

“Why, because you don't want to hear the truth?” He told himself to back off. Told himself this was none of his business, but this was twice he'd been there—it wasn't a coincidence. He had to get through to her. He had to make her take better care of herself. “Why are you so stubborn?”

“Because I am. Because I need to be. It's my business and my practice. I know how to handle large animals. I'm not incompetent.”

They were standing toe-to-toe, both breathing hard from emotion—anger on her part. Fear and…desperation on his part. He needed to make her understand that she was precious and had a great life ahead of her. He yanked his thoughts to a stop.

What was he doing? He raked his hands through his hair, his fingers trembled against his scalp and he quickly tucked them into his pockets to hide the emotion they exposed.

He had so much he wanted to say, but it wasn't his place so he tried hard to hold back. “Is the mare okay?” he asked instead, masking the anger and worry raging inside of him.

“Yes, she's just anxious.” Her fingers went to her temple and she rubbed.

Cole wondered if she realized she was touching the place he'd kissed. He realized it. His fingers curled and he dug them deeper into his pockets.

“She didn't mean to harm me. Lucky just started barking while she was hurting and it simply got too crazy for a minute.”

It
was
crazy out here. “So what's the plan?”

“The plan?”

“Yeah, are you going home or what?” He wasn't surprised when her brows dipped ominously.

“I'll be staying here, watching her. I may need to help her along from the look of things.” She walked to the stall, studying the mare.

Her limp wasn't bad, but it could have been. And that was what mattered. He had a choice here. He could
explode and get nowhere with her. Or…he strode toward the end of the stable.

“That's what I thought,” he said. “Good thing I brought dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah,” he tossed over his shoulder. “Someone has to make you take care of yourself.”

Her growl of frustration followed him to the end of the barn.

“I don't need you taking care of me, Cole Turner. Just because for some unknown reason I've had accidents when you were around does not mean I need you.”