The Cowboy Lassos a Bride (Cowboys of Chance Creek) (26 page)

He didn’t know what to do about it, though. He knew from past experience that one didn’t reason with Holt. You either agreed with him or you didn’t. If you didn’t, he treated you like you didn’t exist, until he had need of you again. Then he’d pick right up where he left off as if nothing had ever been wrong. If Hannah could be patient it would happen sooner or later.

He wished it would happen sooner.

When Ned called, he and Hannah were going over their lists one last time before they called it a night. Hannah was pale with tension. She was worried over all the final details. Jake had begun to wish they had put the wedding off, both so she’d have more time to arrange things and so his Dad would have more time to come around.

Why did he care so much what the old man thought, he wondered as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. All Holt did was cause trouble.

“It’s Chester,” Ned said without preamble. “He’s hurt. Thought you’d want to know. We’ve got a call in to Craig Chatham, but he’s out at another ranch and he’ll be a while. You’d better get over here.”

“Be right there.” He relayed the message to Hannah. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t wait up.”

“I’m coming with you. Maybe I can help.”

One look at her face told him not to argue. He wanted to, though. If he had to put Chester down, he didn’t want her anywhere near.

He didn’t want to put Chester down, either. The horse had been with him through thick and thin. As they shut the door behind them and clattered down the porch steps to his truck, Jake kicked himself for not asking Ned what happened. He drove the short distance down the road to the Double-Bar-K as fast as he could. They bumped down the dirt lane, parked in front of the main house and got out of the truck.

“In the barn.” Ned intercepted them. He’d obviously been waiting for their arrival.

“How bad is he hurt?”

“Hard to tell. He has a pretty good gash. Looks like a nail worked loose on the wall of his stall. He must have scraped against it. He’s lost a lot of blood and needs stitches, I can tell you that much. We got him into another stall, but that’s about it.”

Jake blanched. “How soon will Craig be here?”

Luke shrugged. “As soon as he can.” He looked at Hannah. “Think we should call Bella?”

“Yes. I’ll call her.”

By the time they reached the barn, she’d phoned Bella and told her what had happened. Bella said she was on her way, but it would be fifteen minutes at least until she arrived. Inside they found Holt and Ned both doing their best to soothe Chester. The horse was sidestepping in its stall, whinnying in pain. Blood ran down its flank from an angry wound. Jake’s heart sank as the horse reared up and kicked the side of the stall. Chester was getting frantic from the pain.

“Do you have any medical supplies?” Hannah asked.

“Yes. In the storage shed.” It was Ned who spoke up. Jake had gone to Chester, murmuring to him. The horse whinnied again.

“Show me.”

Jake was dimly aware that they’d left the barn, but he was too busy trying to calm Chester to pay them much attention. “There, boy. Come on, settle down. That’s a good boy.” He kept up a stream of easy words and motioned for Holt to step back. His father did so, leaving him alone with the horse. After some long moments, Chester quieted a little. He still shuffled in his stall and whinnied now and then, but Jake kept murmuring to him, kept soothing him as best he could.

Soon Hannah was back. “I have what I need to stitch him up if you trust me. Otherwise you can wait for Bella.”

Jake glanced at Chester’s flank again. Too much blood was draining away. Chester couldn’t take much more of that.

“Do you trust me, Jake?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “Tell me what to do.”

“If you can keep him calm, I can give Chester a local anesthetic. When it kicks in I can clean the wound and stitch him up. If you think he’ll fight us, we’d better wait for Bella to sedate him.”

“I can keep him calm.” He wasn’t sure Chester could wait that long.

They worked in tandem, Jake keeping Chester as calm as possible while Hannah cleaned a patch of his hide and administered the sedative. Her movements were easy and careful, and Chester tolerated her presence well, as long as Jake kept up his monologue. Jake knew his long relationship with the animal was paying off. Chester trusted him, and Jake trusted Hannah.

Soon her lithe fingers had cleaned the wound with antiseptic from the first aid kid, threaded a needle and were suturing the gash. She worked methodically but quickly and in less time than Jake would have imagined, the work was done.

“Thank you.” His voice was gruff and he cleared his throat.

She came to touch his arm. “Of course. I know he means the world to you. I would do anything to help him.”

In that moment, Jake understood thoroughly why Hannah needed to be a vet. Caring for animals, healing them in order to heal their owners’ hearts was as much a part of her as this ranch was for him.

As this ranch had been for him. He swallowed against the raw burn in his throat, knowing that it wasn’t his ranch anymore. He had turned his back on it. He and Hannah had thrown in their lot with the Mortimers and there was no going back now.

“That’s some first-rate stitching.”

Jake was surprised to find Holt standing beside them inspecting Hannah’s work.

“Thank you.” She stepped back.

“A veterinarian would come in handy here on the ranch.”

She gave Holt a funny look. With a last glance at Chester, she gathered her medical supplies. “I’m going to put these away. Keep him as still as you can. When Bella gets here she’ll look over the wound and then cover it up.”

Jake nodded. To his surprise Holt stayed by his side. He leaned against the doorframe to the stall. “Are you really going through with this—moving to Carl’s house?”

“It’s Evan and Bella’s house now. Besides, that’s what you wanted, right? For me to leave.”

“You know damn well that’s not true.” He shook his head. “If someone had told me that every time I got one of you boys sorted out another one would go off half-cocked, I might not have been so quick to have four of you. You’re like cockroaches when the light turns on, scurrying every which way, no sense at all. Everywhere I look, there are giant boots about to step on your heads and squash the daylights out of you.” He blew out a breath. “Not a single one of you ever thinks to look up.”

“Thanks a lot. It’s a flattering analogy.”

“Maybe it ain’t flattering, but it’s true.”

“Did you ever think we have enough brains to plot our own course?” Jake struggled to keep his voice down. He didn’t want to rile Chester. “Maybe what looks to you like blind flight is actually a carefully crafted plan.”

“I doubt it.”

Why did he even try? Holt couldn’t be reasoned with. “Why don’t you go on to bed. I can handle this from here.”

“Why? So you can scurry away again as soon as my back is turned?” Holt looked him in the eye. “Are you ever coming home?”

“No.”

Holt sagged against the door frame. “Then what’s the use?” His voice thickened with emotion.

Jake felt intensely uncomfortable. “The use of what?”

“Everything. All of this. I did it for you. It was all supposed to be for you. The ranch, the herd…”

“For my brothers and me.”

“For you especially.” Holt braced his hands on his thighs as if he’d run a long race and couldn’t catch his breath. “You’re my heir. You’re supposed to take my place. Now you’ve left…” He shook his head. “I told that girl of yours you’d jump the fence.”

“You pretty much forced me to. You all right?” He had to ask the question even though he didn’t want to. Holt looked mighty gray.

“I’ll live,” Holt said, brushing his concern away. “All I wanted was my family here. My sons and their wives and their children.”

“I know,” Jake said with a sigh. The trouble was, he did know. Holt was a nightmare at inter-personal relations, but when you clawed through all his baloney there was often a good intention buried there somewhere. “But you can’t force people to do your will, Dad. You have to give them options.”

Holt looked up at him, his breathing still shallow. Jake was just about ready to call for an ambulance when he spoke. “How about this option? I give you two hundred acres, just like Rob got. You move back onto the ranch. That wife of yours can either start her own clinic when she’s done her schooling, or work with her friend up the road.”

Jake scowled. His father wanted to negotiate? Now? “Ned won’t like that.”

“Ned will still run the show. I’m just offering you a place to stay. A bit of land to do your
experiments
on.”

“Like Rob?”

“Exactly.”

“And you wouldn’t interfere?” Was he really having this conversation? Everything had already been settled. He’d left the Double-Bar-K, gotten out from under his father’s scheming ways.

“No, sir. I’ve learned my lesson. You can’t teach a cockroach anything.”

Jake rubbed a hand over his face and thought it over. Two hundred acres wasn’t enough to do all the things he wanted to do, but it was enough land for them to build a home of their own on. Definitely enough to build a clinic for Hannah. “I’ll have to ask Hannah. We’ve made plans with Bella and Evan.”

“They’re just down the road.”

“That’s true. We could still work together and take care of their place when they go away.” They could keep the bison herd at their place, too—it was a large spread. He felt wary, though. There’d been too many tricks—too many twists he hadn’t seen coming. He wavered, not knowing what to say. On the one hand he’d always thought the Double-Bar-K would be his home forever. On the other hand, he’d begun to get used to the idea of truly being his own man.

“Consider it a wedding gift.” Holt straightened up slowly and came to shake Jake’s hand. “I’d like to have you back. It’s not the same without you.”

A rush of feeling washed over Jake. His father cared whether he stayed or went. He realized now he’d never been truly sure about that. And the Double-Bar-K still meant as much to him as it ever had. It would be strange not to be in charge of the cattle herd here, but it would be a relief, too, in some ways. He wanted to concentrate on other things. He wanted to go to school. Maybe he’d even transfer to Colorado with Hannah when she went. Anything to make her journey to becoming a vet easier. If they were together, they could think about starting a family along the way. Having their own acreage on the ranch would give them so many options. “I’d like to come back. Thanks, Dad.” He clapped his father on the shoulder, the nearest any of the Matheson men came to a hug.

“I hope you’ll still help out with the main work we do here.” It was a testament to how far they’d come that Holt was asking rather than demanding.

“Of course.”

Holt nodded and turned to the door. “Ned, did you hear all that?”

Ned straightened from where he’d been leaning against the far wall of the barn, hidden in the shadows. “I sure did. Jake, don’t you think you and Hannah better get home? You’ve got a wedding tomorrow. I’ll sit up with Chester and wait for Bella. I can sleep in here tonight if need be.”

“I don’t want to leave him.” Jake hesitated. It was the night before his wedding, though. His bride needed some sleep.

“You’re leaving him in capable hands. Just like you’re leaving the ranch.”

Jake sized his brother up. Maybe Ned did deserve this chance to prove himself. “All right. I’m counting on you, though.”

“I won’t screw it up.” Ned’s voice was caustic.

As he left the barn to find Hannah, Ned called out, “You better stop in to see Mom; she’s got something to say to you.”

Jake just bet she did. He retrieved Hannah and led her inside the main house, pausing on the front porch to fill her in on his father’s offer. To his surprise, she launched herself into his arms with tears of joy. “That’s so much better. I knew it would kill you to move away from here for good. This is your home. Our home, now. Did your dad really say he’d build me a clinic?”

“You bet. I think he likes you.”

“I don’t know whether to be glad or scared.” She kissed him on the mouth. “I’m so happy. It’s all going to work out!”

“I know.” And he did. With things patched up between him and his father, he could really move forward into his new life. He led the way inside, where the smell of his mother’s roast beef overwhelmed him the moment he stepped through the door. “What’s cooking?” he asked as he entered the kitchen.

“Your wedding supper, I hope,” Lisa said. Jake gazed around him in surprise at the large aluminum tins filled with every country delicacy imaginable. “I’m nearly done,” she huffed, lifting an enormous roast out of the oven. “I just need to slice this up to store in the refrigerator overnight.”

“But, Mom… you realize we’ve got food coming to Carl’s place. Autumn’s handling it.”

“The hell you do.” Lisa stood up and put her hand on her hips. “I nearly died when I read the location of your wedding on your invitation. Which I should have been the one to send, thank you very much!”

“We did the best we could, considering the circumstances. Dad didn’t leave us much choice.”

“Circumstances have changed, haven’t they? And as for your father,” Lisa shook her head. “Let’s just say I gave him a piece of my mind after you left the other day. I can’t believe the shenanigans he gets up to. Not that he wasn’t provoked.” She gave him a hard look.

“I take responsibility for my part in it.” Jake knew he should never have made fun of his father or his brother. “Still, he went a little overboard, don’t you think?”

Lisa chuckled. “I think your father likes matchmaking.”

“Is that what he calls it?” Hannah’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

“You’re getting married tomorrow, aren’t you? I called every last person I could think of to tell them about the change of venue. You’re getting married in my house. Not Carl’s house. Mine.”

Jake rolled his eyes at her tone. “What about Hannah?” He nudged her. “She’s worked all week to get ready. What about Autumn? She’s making all the food.”

“You know what? I’m happy about the change of venue,” Hannah said. “Your mother can kidnap my wedding any time. I’d much rather have it here.”