Stony Creek Cowboy [Stony Creek] (Siren Publishing Classic) (26 page)

There had been a new resident there that night as well. The mayor, Elijah Carson and his wife, Thea, were eating with the town’s new Veterinarian, Madelyne Daniels. She preferred to be called just Maddy. She was such a sweet quiet woman who was apparently very nervous to be the focus of so much attention. Lizzie commented on how pretty she was in such an understated way, very natural. Beth went over and asked her if she would like to join them for a girl’s drink, which Maddy readily accepted. Billie found her to be a soft-spoken, gentle woman with a kind heart. Maddy was particularly interested in Billie’s mastiffs, as all she figured she would get around these parts were cows and horses. Unfortunately, the conversation again disintegrated into debauchery consisting of Lizzie explaining to Maddy that she would see some cows, but it was going to be the studs that would try to occupy most of her time! The women had dissolved into hysterical giggles, which had even the new vet laughing uncontrollably, very eager to meet the men of the town.

* * * *

Billie was greeted at her front door by Madison quite enthusiastically but Zeus was nowhere to be found. Madison kept barking and trying to paw Billie in an attempt to get her attention. Billie began to search her house, becoming increasingly concerned as Zeus didn’t answer her calls. Fear started to trickle down her spine as she found her sweet, gentle giant by the back door, lying on his side, panting heavily. There was blood on the floor and on his thick pelt.

“Oh, my baby! Hold on, sweetheart,” Billie crooned to Zeus, trying to stop the tears from blinding her as they fell. What the heck could have happened? Billie tried to get ahold of herself but this was her baby, and she just couldn’t keep herself together. She checked him over and found a chest wound that looked particularly odd and deep. How could he have gotten this? He wasn’t clumsy like Madison and had never even had a fight with her. Hmm, Billie noted that there wasn’t any blood around Madison’s mouth so it couldn’t be a bite or tooth mark. Zeus let out a whine and a moan, which sent Billie back into hysterics. She grabbed her cell and dialed in a number.

“Lillian, it’s Billie! I need help! Zeus is on my floor bleeding with some sort of a wound but I cannot move him. He weighs over two hundred pounds! Are any of the men back for any reason?” she cried on her phone to Lillian. Florence as usual was with her, apparently have a nice evening hot toddy.

“Don’t cry, sweetheart. Everything is going to be okay. Lucky thing, Troy just walked in to get a bottle of ibuprofen to bring back to the men. Apparently there is a spate of headaches causing the men to be excessively grouchy as they are big babies when they are in pain. I don’t care for my husband’s comparison that they have been acting like hormonal women, though. Anyway, so rather than continue to put up with them, Bill sent Troy back to get some meds. I am sending him right over. We will stay on the phone with you until he gets there. Do you want us to come over, sweetheart? We will have to saddle up the horses as we have been, um, medicinally ‘fixing up’ our hot toddy. For sore throats, you know?” Lillian said with a smile in her voice.

Billie gave a quick laugh as the darling woman comforted her. The image alone of Florence and Lillian riding horses over in the dark with doctored toddies in their systems was enough to lighten her mood and stop her tears for the moment. She could imagine them laughing and hiccupping all the way over. She shuddered at the hope that they wouldn’t fall off of their horses! “Thank you, Lillian, but I don’t think that you both would be able to lift Zeus either!” This sent the women into soft laughter. Lillian spoke nonchalantly for a few moments longer, trying to distract Billie while Troy raced over. She mentioned about how it should just be another few days until calving season was over and how the electricity had gone out in the line shacks, so they couldn’t charge up their cell phones. Well, at least that explained why she hadn’t heard from Jackson in a week. Billie just missed him and hadn’t been worried about him straying or losing interest. Unless he suddenly found cattle attractive, she was probably safe.

She heard the roar of an engine outside as the lights from Troy’s truck swung into her yard. She told Lillian that she would keep her updated and ran to let Troy in. Just as the door swung open, Billie flung herself into his arms sobbing incoherently.

“Whoa, sweetheart! Hold on! What’s wrong, Billie? Take a deep breath. Mom and Aunt Flo babbled something about one of the dogs being sick.” Troy held her while soothingly rubbing her shoulders. “Show me where they are, Billie.”

Sniffling, Billie rushed Troy to the back door where Zeus lay panting. Troy sprung immediately into action, soothing the big beast while gently inspecting the obvious wound. Billie lay next to the dog’s big head, kissing it lightly while her tears fell on his face. As though aware of his mistress’s distress, Zeus gave a big sigh and licked her wet face lovingly. Troy made the quick summation that they should get him into town quickly to the new vet. “If only they had her number,” Troy lamented to Billie.

“I already called her and she is waiting for us, Troy,” Billie quickly said.

“Thank goodness for organized, smart women. How come you aren’t up at the line shacks helping with the calving?” He laughed. “Things would have gone a lot more smoothly and probably a heck of a lot more pleasantly for all of us. Jackson is a bear without you. I don’t know what you are doing to him but it definitely is appreciated by the rest of us!” he said with a suggestive grin. He turned his attention back to Zeus and slid his front paws and head over his one shoulder. Billie leaned her shoulder under the dog’s middle as she watched in sheer amazement as Troy heaved Zeus’s ridiculously heavy hindquarter onto his other shoulder, effectively carrying the dog in a fireman’s hold.

“I wish I had a camera,” she said in her incredulity.

Billie grabbed a towel and ran behind Troy to his truck. He gently laid the big dog into the truck and helped Billie up so she could lie next to him comfortingly.

“Just hang on, Doc, and we will get him there in just a few minutes. Okay? Everything’s gonna be all right,” he said soothingly.

Troy took off down the road and was at Dr. Madelyne Daniels’s new office in eleven minutes flat. Maddy had a large gurney waiting outside and looked rather uncomfortable with all the cowboys gathered around her. Well, she was really attractive and shy and new in town. That would be serious catnip to the horny men circling her like buzzards. Troy jumped out of the truck, calling out greetings to the men who, thankfully for Maddy, came running over to help.

Maddy rushed over and took charge, listening as Billie sobbed out how she had found him and had no idea what had happened. Billie was suddenly enveloped into the heavily perfumed embraces of Mabel Winston, Millie Braxton, and the Mayor’s wife, Thea Carson. They tried to comfort her as the men and Maddy whisked Zeus into the office. Billie noticed Gwen standing not far from the action with a weirdly smug look on her face. She looked Billie up and down confidently and then turned away. That woman was definitely some damaged goods, Billie quickly thought.

They sat with her in Maddy’s waiting room while offering silly stories of how their husbands won their hands and some of the town’s history. Billie found herself thankfully distracted from what Maddy was doing inside the exam room with Troy, Joe, and Gabe Saunders. Somehow she couldn’t picture the feed and seed’s grizzly Gus Braxton reciting poetry to Millie but she kept that thought to herself.

Just then, the door to the exam room opened and the men and Maddy came out. Maddy embraced Billie, telling her that everything would be fine and that she was going to keep Zeus here with her tonight. Billie didn’t miss the look that the men exchanged and figured that she would get some answers about it from them later.

“What happened to him, Maddy?” Billie asked calmly, now that she knew her big baby would be okay.

“Not quite sure but there is an entrance and exit wound. It looks like he got shot, Billie. Weird. Whoever did it was a really lousy shot, I have to say.” Billie gave a shudder at the thought.

“Who would want to shoot my dog and how did they do it? In my house! With an alarm on!” Billie watched Troy try to pry his eyes off the very attractive new vet as he answered her.

“Honey, I don’t know but until we do, would you consider staying with my mom and aunt up at the main house? Please, as a favor to me? If I allowed you to go back home, alone, well Jackson just might try to string me up by some of my more delicate, important parts.” She felt him gently rub her back while he was glaring at the Saunders crew as they were unabashedly trying to flirt with the woman who had also captured Troy’s attention.

“Would you guys knock it off for five minutes and help me over here!” Troy snarled out.

“Excuse us, Dr. Daniels, we need to assist that large, smelly, loud animal over there. Don’t go anywhere. We will be right back,” Preston said with a smile.

“Okay, who is next?” Joe said jokingly. “Ah, Dr. Rothman! I don’t want to seem pushy or bossy but I insist that either my brothers and I all stay at your house, with you, in very close proximity to your beautiful self, for your safety only, you understand, or you can stay with Mrs. Powell. Lovely as she is, I must suggest that you lean toward our direction in the decision making. We can keep you warm and safe.” He said that with such a wicked expression on his face that it left no doubt to all assembled that he and his brothers would not find it a chore in any way to supervise her protection, both personally and intimately. “I am sure Jackson may be put out, but under the circumstances, I know he would understand.”

Troy let out a snort at that last comment while Billie blushed with understanding.

“Thanks, guys, that was a real help,” Troy said with sarcasm.

Billie, admittedly a bit frightened by Zeus being shot by someone, decided to end the discussion. “I will graciously take up the offer to stay at the big house. Lillian and Florence are vicious fighters and I probably couldn’t be safer with anyone else.” Except Jackson, she thought. “I do thank you guys for your offer, but I would hate to have to patch you up when Jackson was done with calving and found you, um, practicing your protection.” She laughed. “Thank you for the thought, though.”

Joe gave her a naughty grin, and she received a wink from Preston. It was Gabe however, who made her toes curl. He leaned over her and whispered in her ear that if things didn’t work out with Jackson, he would personally redden her ass if she didn’t come to them first as soon as she was ready to give love another shot! Redden her ass? Really? She was going to have to talk with Jackson about that. She wasn’t sure it would be her thing. Since it was probably the only thing Jackson hadn’t done to her body yet, maybe there was a reason.

Billie thanked Maddy for taking such good care of Zeus and promised to be in tomorrow after she got to work. While she pretended to be wishing the ladies good-night and thanking them for staying with her, Billie carefully watched as Troy tried engaging Maddy in some sort of questioning. She watched as Maddy shook her head again and again while Troy smiled patiently at her. Interesting.

In his truck on the way back, Billie was silent for the better part of the drive. When she spoke, she was surprised to hear the tremble in her voice.

“I want to thank you, Troy, for coming to help me. I shouldn’t be surprised, not after all these months, but my own personal experiences have left me somewhat insecure, I suppose. You and your family have been nothing but supportive and loving neighbors since I moved in. Your brother, well, I think you know that I am crazy about him. Thank you for not leaving me alone to deal with situation. All I had up until moving out here were my puppies. This was a very unnerving night and I will never forget what you did. Never.”

Troy looked sideways at Billie and gave her a soft smile. “You do not have to thank me. We all know how you feel about my brother and how the moron feels about you, even if he is having trouble verbalizing it himself. I am basically just biding my time until I can call you sister. It will be very enjoyable having a girl in the family to finally tease,” Troy said with his eyes twinkling. “Besides, I know how you can pay me back.”

“Anything, Troy, whatever you need.” It was her only reply. She sat waiting for him to speak again as they pulled up to her house.

Troy turned on the seat to face Billie. “I know you think I am a bit of a player and all but I guess we all have personal war wounds that make us who we are. Help me get to know that pretty little vet we just left, will you? One doctor to another ought to have some influence, no?”

Billie let out a light laugh as they walked into her house. She immediately sat on the floor with a very depressed Madison and began stroking her soft head. “Not that I won’t help you but, well, you always seem to go for more ‘obvious’ women. You know? More bunny-esque. Maddy is a natural beauty who loves to work and be with animals. You can’t stand the sight of blood, for heaven’s sake. She told me that she would rather read than go out. She is like me. What gives?”

“If she turns out to be half as amazing as you, Doc, then my day is made. I like, really like, more introverted women. They won’t sell you out or make a fool out of you. I want a woman that I can trust and my instincts tell me that your lovely friend is a quiet firecracker. I want to be the one to make her go off, if you get my meaning,” he said with a blushing grin.

“Well, that gave me more information about you than I probably should ever have known, buddy! I think this is probably the only time I will ever see you blush and I am enjoying it. I may have to share with your mom and aunt later! Okay, I lied. I would never do that to you, but I am relishing your embarrassment and it is making me feel better, so, thanks. Oh, and yes. I most certainly will assist in ‘operation vet amore.’”