I took the baby carrier hooked on her arm, helping to carry it over to her car. As frazzled as she sounded, she still managed to look put-together, with her fancy clothes and auburn hair perfectly styled. “Don’t mention it, Lottie. We’re family. It’s what we do. Where is she?”
“In the barn. She won’t eat. Doesn’t even seem interested.”
“You call Dr. Hamilton?” I asked as I passed her back the carrier and she locked it into place in the backseat of her car.
“Yes. His office said he’d be stuck in surgery with the Winkelmans’ boxer most of the day, but he’d stop by as soon as he could. If I had anyone else to cover the store today, I’d stay with her and wait.”
“Dolly will be fine. I’ll keep an eye on her until he shows up. You focus on taking care of business.”
I bent down, giving Colton a smile and a baby handshake. “Hey there, little man. Tell your mama, Uncle Wes has it under control and not to worry.” He babbled at me with a cute fucking smile and I winked, grinning back at him before standing upright and closing the door. Normally, I’d spend a lot more time playing with the little guy, but it was obvious she was in a rush to drop him at Grams’ so she could get to work.
She hugged me, lifting to her toes to kiss me on the cheek. “You’re a saint. I don’t care what Tuck says about you,” she teased as I opened the driver’s door of her car.
She slid into the leather seat and I shut her door. After starting the car, she rolled down her window. I bent down so we were eye level.
“You’ll call me if things change, if she gets worse?”
Worry was written all over her face. Dolly had been her mom’s horse. After losing her mom, I knew she’d held onto Dolly as a way to hold onto a piece of her mother. If Dolly didn’t pull through whatever this was, it would devastate my sister-in-law, and my niece, who’d also grown attached to the old mare.
“I promise.”
She nodded, a weak smile on her face.
“Go on, now. Grams is waiting on you two.”
She didn’t waste another second before taking off down the dirt road of her family farm. I headed straight to the barn to check on Dolly and wait for Dr. Hamilton to show. Unfortunately, that meant I’d have nothing but time on my hands. And in the last thirty-eight hours, whenever I had time on my hands, that led to me trying to figure out who the woman from the bar was Saturday night.
It shouldn’t be that hard, with the way this town gossiped. But for some reason, I hadn’t heard a damn thing about any new girl in town. I’d even asked Grams last night at Sunday dinner. She’d said she didn’t know…but something told me she did and just wasn’t telling me. Maybe it was the smirk on her face she was trying to hide, or the mischievous twinkle in her eye that usually meant she was up to something.
It didn’t matter. I’d find out soon enough. A girl like that wouldn’t go unnoticed for long in this town.
3
DEVIN
The Monroes. When my Uncle Robert said he needed me to make a house call earlier this morning to visit my first patient, I was thrilled. Especially when I found out it was a horse. My favorite animal on this earth. Then he’d said the owners’ name. The Monroes.
I may not be from Billingsley, but I knew enough to know just who the Monroes were, and what sort of influence they had in this town. How they owned most of the land surrounding its city limits. How they were a beloved family in these parts, all of them charming and good-looking. How one of them had been my cousin’s closest childhood friend until the day she’d married. And based on my reaction to the news—eyes wide, mouth slightly agape—my uncle realized I had some idea too.
“Not that Monroe.” Uncle Robert had grinned, knowingly.
What he didn’t know was, I’d already had a run-in with that Monroe the other night. The oldest of the two brothers. The heir to more than half of the Monroe estate, only because the younger brother had chosen a different career path for his life. Word on the street was Tucker Monroe now owned a very successful construction company.
“You’ll need to drive out to the Davis farm. Tina has the address for you at the front desk,” he’d told me before heading into another surgery on the Winkelmans’ boxer. Apparently, this was the third time the dog had swallowed one of their kids’ Nerf balls this year.
I turned off the main road that led from town to Monroe territory onto a long, dirt drive lined with large live oaks forming a canopy overhead. They were the only trees for miles, the rest of the land covered in crops. The tunnel of trees ended, and the sky opened up to a quaint little farmhouse and old, red barn.
I slowed my car to a stop, glad I had the forethought to stop at my place on the way and change from my skirt and heels to jeans. I reached into my backseat, grabbing my medical kit before stepping out of the car. Gravel crunched under my boots as I took a few steps and glanced around, wondering if I should knock on the front door or head straight to the barn.
When I saw movement from the corner of my eye near the barn-door opening, I turned that direction with a smile on my face, ready to introduce myself to Lottie Monroe. Only, it wasn’t a woman standing in the barn with eyes glued to my body, doing a thorough sweep. It was a man. My smile fell as I cursed under my breath.
“Well, hey there, brown eyes,” Wes Monroe drawled, crossing his arms over his broad chest with a sly smile on his face. “I knew you’d realize you couldn’t resist me sooner or later.”
Immediately, I wondered if this was nothing but a trick. I wouldn’t put it past him after the other night. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
My head tilted to the side as I glared at him, planting one hand on my hip while my other tightened around the handle of my bag. I wasn’t sure what kind of game he was playing, but interfering with my job, wasting my time, was not gonna fly.
“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
He started to speak with that annoying smile on his face, but I cut him off.
“First, you called the sheriff on me the other night—”
“Technically, I didn’t—"
“And now this. This isn’t a game. This is my job. You can’t just pretend to have a sick horse to prank me into coming all the way out here.” I ended my tirade, turning away and stomping back toward my car.
“Whoa, now. Calm down, sweetheart.” His hand was suddenly gripping my elbow, spinning me to face him. “I think you’re getting the wrong idea. I didn’t call you here. Lottie did.”
“Lottie? Right,” I snapped. “You sure don’t look like a Lottie.”
“And you sure as hell don’t look like Dr. Hamilton,” he pointed out.
My mouth opened and closed—twice—understanding hitting me smack in the face. I wiggled my arm from his grasp, embarrassment replacing my previous anger, knowing I’d overreacted.
“I’m sorry,” I said, taking a step back, needing some space as I got control of my angry breathing. He was crowding me, and the addictive scent he was wearing was making me irrational. At least, that was my excuse. Logical or not.
“Don’t worry about it.” He grinned with adorable eyes, rubbing at the back of his neck. He glanced at the field over my head before refocusing his eyes on me. “How about we start over?”
“How about you show me the horse?” I countered. As badly as I felt about my outburst, my decision to keep him at a distance hadn’t changed.
His grin turned into a knowing smile. “Sure. Right this way.” He held out his arm, allowing me to lead the way back to the barn.
I could feel his eyes on me as I walked. I kept my shoulders back and head high, refusing to let it affect me. As we walked inside, his fingers landed on the curve of my back, causing me to jolt a little at the unexpected contact.
He leaned in, brushing his lips dangerously close to the sensitive spot near my ear, intensifying the warm tingles that radiated from where his hand still lingered. “This way,” the low gravel of his voice demanded.
I forced myself not to react any more than I already had. The man was cocky enough. His hand fell from my body as he walked ahead of me to open the stall door, and I hated to admit I kind of wished he was still touching me.
“My name is Wes, by the way,” he called over his shoulder, glancing back at me as he wiggled the latch. When I didn’t respond, he shook his head with a light chuckle at my intentional silence. “I’m not sure where you come from, brown eyes, but here, it’s customary to tell someone your name when they introduce themselves to you.” He pulled the door open.
I ignored him, again. Partly, because I knew it was driving him crazy that I hadn’t told him my name, but also because all my focus was suddenly drawn to the horse he’d brought me to see.
“She’s beautiful. What’s her name?” I asked, stepping inside the stall. I set my bag on the ground, but kept my distance from her for the moment.
“Dolly.”
“Is she yours?”
He shook his head. “No. My sister-in-law’s… She originally belonged to Lottie’s mom, but she passed away a few years back. Now, she belongs to Lottie. My niece, Lily, is the one who rides her mostly, though.”
I listened to him talk as I watched Dolly slam her front left hoof in the dirt, repeatedly pawing at the ground, grunting with irritable movements. “Has she been acting this restless for long?”
He nodded. “A day or so. It started about the same time she stopped eating. We thought maybe it was just a mild case of colic, but Lottie didn’t want to take any chances.”
“Any changes in her diet?” I asked, reaching out for her now, letting her get a whiff of my palm before running my hand down over the white spot on her forehead. “Good girl, Dolly,” I whispered to her as I continued to brush my hand along the short hairs of her brown coat. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you feeling better in no time.”
I looked over my shoulder at Wes when he didn’t immediately answer. He shook his head, as if in a daze, before finally responding.
“No. She’s been eating the same food we’ve been giving her for years. Same as all the other horses. None of them seem to be having any issues.”
“What about her water intake?”
He rubbed at his neck. “I don’t think she’s drinking much now.”
“How often does she get turned out?”
“At least twice a day. Some days, depending on the weather, we let them stay out there all day.”
I nodded, turning my attention back to Dolly, giving her a few more pats before I walked over to my bag. Opening it, I pulled out my stethoscope and a pair of gloves. Wes stood quietly off to the side, his hands in his front pockets, as I took her pulse rate.
After checking her pulse, I placed my hand over her muzzle to feel the air flow and check her respiratory rate. He continued to watch me closely as I took her temperature, checked her gums, and gave her an overall look, physically. Every time I tried to discreetly peek at him, our eyes would catch. He’d grin, and I’d quickly turn my attention back to Dolly, clearing my throat to ask more questions as my belly fluttered.
Feeling nervous was ridiculous. It was a routine check. One an intern could do. I was an experienced vet. And a good one. When it came to my career, I didn’t lack any confidence in my capabilities. But I refused to acknowledge the other reason I might feel nervous as I worked. Why he might make me feel nervous.
Wes Monroe being anything more than an acquaintance was out of the question. I’d been burned enough by men like him. And then there was the whole Jenna factor.
“Well, what do you think?” he asked, stepping closer to me, running his hand over Dolly’s neck and down, where it brushed against mine.
The light touch had my tummy doing another flip. A slow smile built on his face as I quickly pulled my hand away from Dolly, putting some space back between us. “It could be colic...”
“But you don’t think it is?” His face switched to concern.
“I think there’s more to it. You said there were no changes in her diet, right? She hasn’t gotten into anything out of the norm?”
“No. At least, not that I know of.” He lifted his cap, methodically scratching at the back of his head.
I sighed, my brows pulling inward as I processed everything. All signs and symptoms pointed to colic…except her gums were a darker shade of red than I typically liked to see… “Are those oak trees lining the road as I drove in?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Any chance she’d have been over by them? Maybe eaten a couple acorns?”
“Shit”—he replaced his cap, running a hand over the scruff on his jaw—“Lily likes to ride her up and down the road. She must have let her eat them, not knowing. We never told her not to.”
“Well, I’d still like to run a few lab tests, just to be safe. I’ll get a few swab samples to take back. In the meantime, could you ask your niece if she did? That would help narrow down the possibilities. I’m also worried Dolly may already be getting dehydrated. I’m going to administer IV fluid therapy and some active charcoal over the next few hours. I don’t want to take any chances, since that seems the most probable cause. Between the red gums, colic, and dehydration, they all point to some kind of poisoning. I can give her some painkillers for the colic, also.”
“Will she be okay?”
“As long as there’s no severe kidney damage, yes. She should be able to recover in the next sixty days. I suggest you remove any acorn or oak debris as soon as possible. Even though they are poisonous to them, horses can still develop a taste for them, and it will be a dangerous on-going problem for her if that’s the case.”
“Of course, I’ll make sure Billy takes care of it today. And I’ll talk to Lily about keeping her away from there.”
“What’s that?” Another male voice I didn’t recognize asked from behind me.
I turned to look at the very-good-looking man who’d appeared just inside the barn. He walked the rest of the distance to us, stopping and shaking Wes’s hand.
“Hey, what are you doing here? I thought Hannah had an appointment.”
“Yep. Already went and took her home to rest. Just stopped by to see how Dolly was doing before I got to work. Lottie said she still wasn’t acting right.”
“Yeah. We’re thinking acorn poisoning. We need to get the road cleaned up today.”
“Shit. Of course.” The man nodded, turning to look at me. “I’m Billy Miller”—he smiled, offering his hand—“I work for the Monroes, helping out on both farms. So, I guess that makes Wes here my boss.”
“And his wife’s BFF. He forgot that part,” Wes chimed in, leaning over my shoulder.
Billy rolled his eyes. “He’s not.”
“I am,” Wes insisted with a grin. “He just can’t stand that I am.”
We both ignored Wes.
“Nice to meet you, Billy. Dr. Devin Chaplin.” I returned his smile, taking off a glove and shaking his hand. “And that’s unfortunate you have to deal with him daily.” I jutted my thumb in Wes’ direction.
Billy chuckled, dropping my hand.
“What the hell?” Wes huffed from behind me. “You’ll tell Miller your name but not me?”
“You’re standing there with two capable ears, aren’t you?” I retorted, glancing over my shoulder at him.
“Wait. You’re the new vet, then,” Billy said, his smile widening. “I heard in town this morning Dr. Hamilton had brought on a new vet. His niece, right?”
“Yep. That would be me,” I said, mildly.
“His niece? As in, Jen’s cousin?” Wes asked, his face paling as he looked at me as if he was seeing me for the first time. I had no doubt he was connecting all the dots, realizing our shared connection the way I had the other night.
“That’s normally how the family tree works,” I grumbled as I stepped back toward Dolly, petting the side of her neck.
“Wow. Jenna. I haven’t seen her in years. How is she?” Billy inquired, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’m gonna head out,” Wes snapped before I could respond. His whole demeanor had changed, his playful smile from earlier gone and replaced with a hard glare as he looked at me. He turned away, directing all his attention to Billy. “I need to get back to the farm to help Dad. Can you finish things up here with Dr. Chaplin?”
“Uh…yeah, sure,” Billy agreed, his face twisting in confusion.
Wes didn’t bother saying good-bye to either of us. He walked straight out of the barn without so much as a wave, a smile, or even one of his damn winks.
Billy looked from Wes’ retreating backside to me and shrugged, as if the sudden change in his boss was of no concern.
I took off my other glove, laying the pair on my bag as I struggled with the now-awkward silence. “Umm…I just need to grab some supplies from my car. I’ll be right back,” I announced, rushing out of the barn.
I was surprised to see Wes hadn’t peeled out of there yet. He stood silently at his truck, fists gripping the edge of the tailgate, his head lowered between his muscular arms as he stared at the ground.
I hesitated to continue the trek to my car, unsure if I should just turn around and hide until he was gone. But my chance to flee vanished when his head lifted to look at me.
He stood upright, his tall frame tense and intimidating. “You knew who I was the other night when we met at the bar,” he accused.
I nodded, knowing there was no sense in denying the truth. “Not at first, but soon after you sat down. I recognized you from some old pictures…and, well, that one summer when we were all about seven years old. We’d met briefly.”
“I see…” He nodded his head, walking away. He gripped the handle of the driver’s door. “So, who’s the one playing games now, Doc?”
My whole body tensed with regret. He didn’t give me a chance to respond or defend myself. He climbed in his truck, slamming the door and peeling out on the dirt road, just as I’d expected.
* * *
I spent the rest of my afternoon with Dolly, administering her fluids and meds over the course of a few hours. I prayed I wasn’t too late in giving her the medical attention she needed. I’d called into the office, letting them know where I’d be. Uncle Robert sent our technician to retrieve the swab samples from me, so he could start running the labs.
Taming Wes: BOOK THREE|BILLINGSLEY SERIES Page 3