Once and for All (10 page)

“What color?”

“A red one and a dusty brown.” Lucas had told her the brown one would turn black, which was what her father was breeding the cows for. “The red one had a twin, but it was stillborn.”

There was a slight pause, and then Joe said, “It happens. What sex are the calves?”

“Two girls.”

Joe grunted with satisfaction. “Is Mike around? I’d like to talk to him.”

“No,” Jodie said with a clear conscience. “He’s not available now.” Nor would he be. “Everything is going fine.” Nothing had died, except for the stillborn calf, and Bronson, the horse, was healing up better than Sam had hoped.

“Four more weeks,” Joe said in a way that made Jodie think he was counting the days.

“Lu—” She almost said, “Lucas doesn’t expect many early calves,” but managed to change it to, “Lucky you, spending four more weeks in Europe.”

“Yeah.”

“Dad…aren’t you getting anything out of this trip?”

There were a few seconds of silence and then he said, “I am enjoying spending time with your mother.”

Jodie stilled at the unexpected response. That was perhaps the softest sentiment she’d ever heard her father express, and she needed to tread lightly so as not to ruin the moment.

“Well, you’ll be back soon enough.”

“Right.”

“Keep in touch by e-mail, Dad. We agreed before you left.”

“All right. Don’t rat me out to your mom.”

“I won’t if you hang up now.”

Jodie’s shoulders sank with relief when he did as she asked. She hated lying, but right now the truth wasn’t going to do Joe a diddly damn worth of good. She could see him hopping a plane home tomorrow if he knew that Mike was gone and she’d hired two people he never wanted on the ranch again to replace him. Tough. She was in charge at the moment. She’d fess up later, face-to-face. Hopefully that meeting wouldn’t undo the good the vacation had done.

Although Jodie thought it was much too cold to turn a baby out, Lucas had let the new mothers and their calves back into the pasture. Daisy seemed to delight in the new freedom, galloping around her mama, peeking at Jodie from the safe side of the cow. And as Lucas had promised, she seemed oblivious to the cold even though there was a coating of ice on her long reddish-brown hair.

Jodie turned up her collar and went back to the house. She liked having Lucas there, liked not having to feed the animals in the below-zero temperatures. She’d already decided that come hell or high water, Joe was going to keep Lucas on. He’d been a bona fide godsend, as had Sam.

There was always the possibility, though, that Lucas wouldn’t want to stay. Perhaps like Sam, he would refuse to work for Joe.

Jodie’s gut told her he’d stay as long as Margarite was there. It hadn’t been too difficult to figure out that Lucas had come back primarily because he was sweet on her and looking for a second chance after completing rehab. So far it seemed to be working. The housekeeper and the cowboy were spending more and more time together, and there was a lot less complaining about mud and slush on the floor. And that, Jodie decided, could be a trump card. Lose Lucas, lose Margarite. She didn’t think Joe wanted to see his housekeeper go. The little woman might hate blood and snow, but she was more than capable of dealing with whatever emergency came up. Plus she was one heck of a cook.

His nephews figured they were grown-up, now that they were driving, but Sam thought otherwise. They’d turned sixteen two months ago. That was not grown-up in his book.

Tyler’s face was getting red with unexpressed anger. “There isn’t going to be a party,” he said. “You can come by and check. Even if there was a party, we don’t drink.”

Sam was exhausted after an eighteen-hour day, and this was the last thing he needed. But he didn’t trust Chad Bellows and he didn’t particularly like Chad’s parents, either. They’d let their two boys run wild, and the older one had suffered some legal consequences because of it.

“Have Chad come over here.”

Where were these well-worn parental phrases coming from? The exact same words that had driven him and Dave so crazy as kids were now spilling out of Sam’s mouth.

“No!” Tyler said, the anger finally boiling over. “Either you trust us or you don’t.” Beau nodded, his expression taut.

“It’s not you guys. It’s Chad. His brother—”

“Made mistakes, but he’s not there and he’s not Chad.”

That was it. Sam was too exhausted to argue any longer. “Stay home tonight,” he said. Problem solved. He needed to crash and he didn’t want to have to worry about the boys. And if they stayed home, maybe they’d learn not to question his decisions—which were made entirely for their own benefit. One of these days they’d understand that.

Sam shook his head as he walked down the hall to his room, leaving two angry teenagers staring after him.

He’d just pulled his boots off when the phone rang. A second later Beau called out sullenly, “You have an emergency.”

Sam’s chin dropped to his chest. If he could just get enough clients to pay up, he’d take on a partner. This was killing him. He went to the door in his stocking feet and opened it. Beau was standing at the end of the hall, his jacket still on, holding the cordless phone.

“Lawrences?” Sam asked. He’d sewn up a dog earlier that day, and Mrs. Lawrence had refused to let him put on a funnel collar to keep the animal from tearing at the stitches. If he had to go back and restitch that dog, he was charging double.

“Margarite.”

His gut tightened for no particular reason as he walked down the hall. Beau handed him the phone, then slunk off through the kitchen to his own bedroom, radiating resentment.

Tough.
Sam brought the receiver up to his ear. “Margarite?”

“They promised me if they both left there would be no problems,” the woman said without a hello. No trouble figuring out who “they” were, since there were only two other people on the ranch.

“What’s the problem?”

“What d’you think? I’ve got a heifer bred to a bull that was way too big, but the right color,” Margarite said in disgust. “Can you come out here? Lucas had to go to Elko and Jodie’s there, too, shopping. I can’t pull this calf alone.”

“I’ll be right out,” Sam said. He just hoped he didn’t fall asleep driving to the ranch. He put the phone back in the charger, then called to the boys.

“Yeah?” Tyler replied from the living room, the TV now on.

“I’m going to the Barton ranch,” Sam said wearily. He almost added, “Stay home while I’m gone,” but stopped himself. The boys knew he wanted them at home that night. Hopefully, they’d do as he asked. They’d
better
do as he asked.

“Yep, the incompetent vet is here, saving the day.” Sam rolled up the tube as he spoke.

Jodie approached the pen and Sam looked at her through the rails. “Lucas said none of the heifers were ready.”

“Cows are contrary creatures.”

She eyed the tube, but didn’t ask questions.

“Just a precaution,” Sam said. He climbed the rails and dropped onto the other side, the tube and an empty bag in hand. “I’ve got to check this other cow.”

Jodie started for the door. She had groceries to bring into the house, and since there was no emergency, she had no reason to hang around. She’d gone only a few feet when Sam let out a shout and the corral panels rattled. She whirled around, expecting to see him lying on the ground and the cow stomping him, but instead he had both hands pressed to his side, cursing and grimacing in pain. The cow was a few feet away, switching her tail, her eyes fixed on him in a belligerent bovine glare. Jodie had no idea what had just happened.

“Are you all right?” she asked, thinking even as she spoke that that was one stupid question. No, he wasn’t all right.

“Ever heard of a cow kick?” he said through clenched teeth. “Get Lucas, okay? I need some help with this heifer.”

“Get out of the pen, Sam. She doesn’t look friendly.”

The cow was eyeing him in a way that was not at all pleasant. Sam exhaled heavily, then, keeping one eye on the animal, whose tail swung back and forth rhythmically, he painfully climbed over the panels. Jodie automatically went to help him down off the rails, her hands dropping away from his solid back when he regained his footing and once again put pressure on his side.

Jodie’s pulse was racing and she took a deep, steadying breath. Everything had happened so fast. She had never thought about how quickly the doctor could become the patient when a nasty cow was involved. The heifer snorted from her stall as if to emphasize the point.

“You’re not going back in there,” Jodie said.

Sam nodded in agreement, his hand still pressed firmly to his injury. “We’ll put her in the squeeze chute.”

“How badly did she get you? Let me see.”

“I thought you didn’t like blood.” Her eyes flashed to his face. She must have looked like she was going to either pass out or render first aid, because Sam’s expression changed. “No external bleeding,” he said. “Just one hell of a hematoma.”

“She didn’t hit anything…vital.”

He stared at Jodie for a moment, then a pained smile twisted his lips. “I think I’d know.”

“I didn’t mean… I meant an organ or something, not your…”

Sam met her eyes and the faint flicker of awareness between them was no longer so faint. Jodie felt a tumbling sensation deep inside. It had been
so
long since she’d found a man attractive—really attractive—and even longer since she’d slept with a guy.

“I’m fine,” he said. “I just need Lucas to help me get this cow into the squeeze.”

“Let me see what she did,” Jodie insisted, “for legal reasons. I can’t have you suing me later for injuries received on my property.”

“That’s your modus operandi, not mine.” But he gamely lifted his jacket and pulled his shirttails up out of his overalls, exposing his side.

She swallowed hard when she saw the ugly purplish swelling where blood was gathering under the skin. “You need to get some ice on this.” She swore the bruise was growing larger as she watched.

“It’ll be all right.” He spoke irritably.

“But—”

“I know a little about this stuff, okay?” He allowed the bunched up fabric in his hand to fall back over his exposed skin. “Besides, I can’t go running for ice every time I get beat up a little. I’d have to install an ice-maker in my truck.”

“Do you ever think about getting a new line of work?” Jodie muttered.

“Every now and then.” His gaze connected with hers and once again Jodie felt a strong jolt.
Mercy.
“But you’d be in trouble if I’d done that.”

“Deep trouble,” she agreed, allowing her eyes to drift down to his lips, his very firm, gorgeously shaped lips, then back up to his eyes.

Oh, yes. He was feeling it, too, the strong sexual vibe between them. So…what to do about it? What was ethical? If he kept looking at her that way, what did she care? She leaned closer, could feel the warmth from his body. But when he put his free hand on her shoulder, he didn’t pull her to him…he kept her from moving closer. Jodie instantly stepped backward, feeling an unexpected flash of embarrassment. Rejection sucked.

“Why?” she asked bluntly.

“Because it’s not a good idea.”

“Is it me?”

He said nothing. He didn’t need to speak. She could read the answer in his expression.

“It is me.” This was a first. She’d never encountered a guy who’d refused an invitation to explore an obviously mutual attraction—which made this doubly embarrassing. “How about a few specifics?”

“How about we just forget about this?”

She drew in a surprisingly shaky breath, which irritated her.

“Yeah. Maybe we’ll do that.” Jodie forced a humorless smile. “All right. Well…I’ll just go find Lucas. Try not to bleed to death internally.”

She started for the house. Part of her hoped he would call her back, that they could talk this through, but he didn’t say a word and Jodie kept walking. She had her pride.

Which was about all she had right now.

Dollars to doughnuts four or five cows would have medical emergencies in the next couple of days and she’d have to swallow it and face him. Not that she couldn’t do that quite well. It was just that…she didn’t want to.

Sam Hyatt had done what no other casual acquaintance had ever managed to do. He’d hurt her feelings.