Justice For Abby (13 page)

Jerrod sat up as Abby rested against his chest.

“We did it.” She turned her head, looking up at him, slightly breathless, then gave her attention to the cow. “Oh, he’s gorgeous.” She got to her knees next to the bull as he lay in the hay, a soggy mess, blinking. “He’s so sweet.”

Jerrod smiled as she hovered over the newborn. “He’s pretty cute now, but one day he’ll be a mean bastard.” He reached for one of the towels behind him. “Here.” He tossed the old, ratty cotton her way. “Go ahead and give his nostrils a wipe and dry him off. We’ll give him a good rub to get his circulation going since it’s pretty chilly.”

He grabbed the second towel, and they both rubbed at the sleepy new calf.

“I have a hard time imagining such an adorable baby being mean.”

“He will be. Trust me on this one.” He grabbed the iodine solution. “Do you want to treat his umbilical cord?”

“Yes.”

He handed over the spray bottled. “You’ll want to tent the membrane open like this.” He pulled the remaining cord open. “Then squirt two shots in and slide it down toward his stomach.”

“Will it hurt him?”

He shook his head. “It helps keep him healthy. If we don’t do this he can get an infection.”

She did as he’d showed her, spraying the solution, sliding it down the length of the cord.

“Good.” He nodded is approval. “Now give a spray to the outside as well and he’s all set.”

She coated the membrane, setting down the bottle with a smile. “This is so cool.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“Definitely.”

He looked at Mama again still lying down. “We need to get her up.” He got to his feet, walking over to the new mother. “Ha. Ha,” he shouted, giving her a forceful shove with the side of his leg. “Come on. Ha.”

“She needs to rest.”

“Ha. Ha.” He shoved again, and Mama finally got up.

“She needed to rest, Jerrod,” Abby scolded. “She had a hard delivery.”

He shook his head. “She needs to get right up or she’ll birth her own uterus. We don’t want to mess around with that.”

She wrinkled her nose and laughed as the bull tried to gain his feet while mama licked him.

He chuckled, enjoying Abby’s pleasure at seeing something he’d witnessed countless times in a new light. “What do you say we lay down a clean bed then go in and wash up?” He grabbed the soiled gloves in one hand and held out the other for her to grab. She took it, and he pulled her up.

“What about the animals?”

“They kind of take care of things from here. Uncle Jimmy will give him his inoculations when it’s time, but otherwise Mama handles the rest.”

“Okay then.” She grabbed their jackets, put hers on, and draped his over his shoulders as he held the filthy gloves.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She picked up the towels and spray bottle, and they walked out, taking care of the trash, swapping out soiled hay for fresh. Twenty minutes later, they stepped into the cold night, their breath pluming as Jerrod closed the barn up behind them.

“I’m so glad we were there for that.”

“I’m sure Mama was too.” He smiled as they started down the short path back to the house, relieved that she seemed more relaxed around him. “How about a cup of tea after we clean up?” Now that she was finally talking to him again, he wasn’t ready for her to go upstairs and disappear for the rest of the evening.

“Sure.”

He opened the back door, letting her in before him. “Why don’t I take your coat? I’ll stick it in the wash.” He peeled his off and grabbed hers.

“Thanks. I guess I’ll go up and shower off.”

“See you in a few.” He walked to the laundry room, stripping off his clothes, making use of the small shower dad had installed years ago. He rinsed off quickly and grabbed the clean pair of jeans and t-shirt folded on the drier. The water shut off upstairs as he headed to the kitchen, flipping on the dim light above the range, turning on the back left burner on the stove.

Abby came down in yoga pants and a long-sleeved cotton top, her wet hair in a ponytail.

“Just in time.” He added boiling water to her mug and handed over her cup.

“Mmm.” She wrapped her hands around the dark red crockery. “Warm. Thanks.”

“It’s the least I can do for our resident obstetrician.”

Leaning against the counter, she grinned. “I still can’t believe we helped birth a calf.”

“You’re a regular old farmer in the dell.”

She rewarded him with another smile. “
You’re
the farmer in the dell. How did you know Mama needed help?”

He shrugged, walking to the table, taking a seat, hoping she would follow. “I’ve been birthing calves for as long as I can remember. My dad started Timmy and me in on the action when we were pretty young.”

She pulled out the chair next to his. “He taught you well.”

“Yeah, I guess he did.” He sipped his tea, not wanting to talk about his father.

“You don’t mention him much. You have his chin.”

He held her gaze in the shadowy light, subconsciously brushing at his jaw. “We didn’t see eye to eye on much of anything.”

Sympathy filled her eyes. “That must’ve been hard.”

“It wasn’t always easy.” He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. This wasn’t something he talked about—ever.

“I’m sure he’s proud of you.”

He chuckled humorlessly. “Yeah, I don’t know about that.”

She paused with her mug halfway to her mouth. “Of course he is. How could he not be?”

He crossed his ankles and leaned back in his chair. “My father stopped being proud of me a long time ago. Five generations of Quinn men were cops and farmers in this town, including him. He fully expected Tim and me to follow in his footsteps. I had every intention of doing so until I got my own ideas.”

“What changed?”

“I was thirteen and fell in love.”

She frowned. “Oh.”

“With Denver, Colorado.”

“Oh,” she said again.

He smiled. “My best friend, Nathaniel, brought me along on his family’s summer vacation, and changed my life. My parents took me to Lincoln a couple of times as a kid, but other than that I’d never left Parker. I piled into the Sturgis’s minivan, staring out at cornfields and wheat for hours—the only scenery I’d ever known, then out of nowhere we’re in Denver, surrounded by massive buildings and noise and traffic.” He chuckled, still remembering the awe of his first city experience. “I spent seven days and six nights visiting museums and fancy restaurants, sleeping in hotels, taking everything in. I can’t remember ever being more fascinated.” Until Abigail walked into his life. He looked at her, smiling again. “From then on I didn’t want the farm or this moth-eaten town. I still wanted to be a cop, but somewhere important. I told my dad that when I got home, and it pissed him off. Things went south from there.”

“Your dreams weren’t your father’s.”

He shook his head. “He assured me I would change my mind, but I didn’t. By the time I was fourteen I was more determined than ever to leave. We never had much to say after that. I did my part around here, but we rubbed each other wrong all the damn time. It got to the point where we almost came to blows on a regular basis, so I busted my ass in school, graduated a year early, and got the hell out of here.”

“Driven.” She swallowed more tea.

“Desperate, I think, to prove him wrong. He always accused me of being greedy, of wanting too much, but that wasn’t it. I just wanted—”

“Something different,” Abby finished, taking his hand.

“
Yes
.” He squeezed her fingers, relieved that she understood. Shelby never did, or Tim. Mom tried to. “Exactly.”

“So you became a cop?”

“In Omaha for a year after college, then I applied for the U.S. Marshals and got in. They shipped me off to LA where I did witness relocation for three years, then they sent me to Manhattan to work Fugitive Task Force. I met my friends Gavin, Shane, and Andy there. Andy’s ICE—Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but the different organizations team up on Task Force a lot. We all roomed together and worked on the same cases for the two years I stayed. One night we had an apprehension go wrong and Gavin got shot in the back.” He clenched his jaw. “He’s paralyzed from the waist down.”

“That’s terrible. I’m sorry.”

“It sucked pretty bad, but he’s doing all right.” He shrugged even as the memories of his friend bleeding and lying on the dingy floor flooded his mind. “Gavin was pretty touch and go for awhile, so Shane, Andy, and I took turns staying at the hospital. I was walking to the ICU a couple days after Gavin’s accident when I got a call from Tim. Dad had just died of a massive heart attack down at the station.” He blew out a long, slow breath, remembering the frantic conversation as if it happened yesterday.

She clutched his hand in both of hers, pressing his palm to her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Jerrod.”

He closed his eyes, clenching his free hand at his side, accepting the comfort she offered, which no one else had. He opened his eyes, staring into hers. “Me too. We never did patch things up. Maybe we never would have.” He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I had to try to make it right the only way I knew how. I quit the Marshalls after his funeral. I came home and picked up a badge here in Parker. I met up with Shelby again and tried to make a life.”

She removed her hands from his and sipped her tea.

He studied her as she stared at her drink, realizing that this was the perfect opportunity to make her understand. “We had a thing in high school for a while—off and on my sophomore and junior year. We picked things up when I got back, which we never should have. Shelby and I don’t work. We never did. I was raw and miserable, maybe a little self-destructive.” He shook his head. “I’m still not sure what I was thinking. Long story short, I felt trapped in this town, in a crappy relationship, so I put in for the job with Ethan, and got it. I loved LA and wanted to go back. I tried to be what dad wanted. I tried to be what Shelby wanted. In the end, it was never enough.”

“It’s a shame they didn’t want you to be who you are. You’re pretty great, Mr. Quinn.”

He gave her a small smile, soothed by the compassion in her eyes. “Has anyone ever told you you’re pretty damn amazing?”

“Mirror Abby tells me so all the time.”

He frowned. “Mirror Abby?”

“You know, that gorgeous chick who stares back at me whenever I walk by mirrors or windows.” She gave him a teasing wink.

He chuckled as she grinned, realizing they had weathered the storm. “You ready to call it a night?”

“In a minute.” She leaned in. “I have gossip.”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, goodie.”

“I haven’t been able to tell anyone.”

“Not even Timmy?”

She shook her head. “Not even Timmy.”

The idea of her confiding only in him lifted his spirits considerably. “Okay, spill it.”

She scooted her chair closer. “I think Caleb has the hots for your mother.”

His brow shot up. “Who the hell’s Caleb?”

“You know, the milk guy? The one who comes to pick up the supply?”

“Caleb Conroy?” He didn’t know how he felt about anyone having the “hots” for his mother. “He’s been friends with my family for…forever.”

“He’s very sweet. I can’t tell if Mary’s interested or not. I think they should go out on a date.” She wiggled her brows.

“I don’t know.”

“She’s wonderful, Jerrod. She should be happy.”

“I want her to be happy. My father wasn’t an easy man. They loved each other I guess, but…”

“It’s weird,” she finished.

“Yeah.”

She nodded her understanding as she swiped stray strands of hair behind her ear.

He frowned as he noticed the red marks on her upper palm. “Whoa, what’s this?” He took her hand, examining. “Those are some blisters, champ. I don’t know how I missed these before.”

“Uncle Jimmy says I need to toughen up my city hands.”

“Uncle Jimmy needs to take it easy.” He gently slid his thumb over the raw wounds. “I like your city hands. They’re soft.”

She tried to pull away as they held each other’s gaze. “I think a callous or two builds character.”

He let her go. “Looks like you’re well on your way.”

“I can take it. I’m having so much fun here—all of these new experiences.”

“How are things going in the studio?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Clay is definitely not my medium, but I’m determined to create something that doesn’t look like Olivia made it.”

He laughed. “We have a few weeks for you to master your craft.”

“Exactly.” She stood with her empty mug. “And I will.”

He got to his feet, taking their mugs to the sink, rinsing them and setting them in the dishwasher.

She moved to the counter, leaning against it. “This was fun.”

“Yeah.”

She yawned. “I guess I should head to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Tonight had turned out exactly the way he’d hoped, but he didn’t want her to go yet. “Good night.”

“Night.” She turned to walk away.

“Oh, hey, thanks for the help in the barn,” he said, stalling for more time.

She turned back. “You’re welcome.”

He walked to where she stood, shoving his hands in his pockets. “We’ll have to tell Uncle Jimmy you’ve officially been indoctrinated into the world of calf delivery.”

She chuckled. “I can’t wait to share the story. You’re a great teacher.”

“Thanks.”

The room fell silent.

Abby cleared her throat. “Well, I guess—”

“I’ve missed this,” he blurted out.

“What?”

“Spending time with you.” He rocked back on his heels, suddenly uncomfortable now that his confession was out. “You’ve been hard to track down the last few days.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

He took another step closer. “There’s nothing going on between me and Shelby, Abigail. I know she comes by a lot, but what we had has come and gone.”

She took a step back, her eyes weary. “Why are you telling me this?”

Why was he? It was better that she thought what she did, but he couldn’t stand the idea of Shelby getting in the way of what he wanted most. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want you getting the wrong impression.”

“I don’t have any impressions one way or the other. I’m going to bed.” She turned to leave.