by Kate Pearce
“They’re settled in London for a few days. Dad said not to worry about calling him because they’re super busy.”
Faith had an inkling as to why her father might not want to talk to her, but she wasn’t going to discuss it in front of Dr. Tio. Her dad hated being questioned and asking for information about the adoption was never going to sit well with him. In fact, with the Callie and Brandon stuff, and the scours outbreak, she was more than willing to give him a break right now.
After a surprisingly great meal from Dave and good dinner table conversation with Dr. Tio where they all got to dish in a most unprofessional manner on their favorite and not so favorite Morgan Valley patients, both human and animal, Faith went to catch up on her paperwork. She was pretty sure that her assumption about Dave and Tio being a couple was correct, but she’d wait for her brother to let her know if and when he was ready.
She sat behind her father’s oak desk and enjoyed the silence around her before opening up her laptop. Brandon had sent her an e-mail as well.... With a soft curse she got out her phone and reluctantly read through his texts, which were a jumble of apologies and pleas for her to still talk to Callie. She checked Callie’s text, which only said “call me” and realized she had no intention of doing that either.
One of the reasons she’d decided to take up her parents’ offer to move home had been an increasing sense that she needed to get away from her ex. Nothing that had happened since had caused her to doubt that decision. She shuddered imagining what it would be like if she was still at the old clinic while Brandon and Callie were going through a divorce....
Luckily, because she’d been stuck at the Brysons’ all day, she didn’t have too much paperwork to turn in. She reviewed some blood tests, wrote some follow-up notes for the staff, and was done by ten. She also had a text from Red Ramirez to say his calves were doing great and he owed her a drink.
Her gaze dropped to the file of pictures her father had concealed from her in his desk for years. She took them out, her smile deepening as she looked at the incredibly happy expression on her son’s face. Whatever had happened before his birth or just after it, knowing Marcus was loved made sense of everything.
She sorted out the photos into several piles and put half of them away in the folder again. It wasn’t that late, and a full moon meant driving over to the Brysons’ would be a piece of cake. She went back into the kitchen where the lights had been dimmed and made a flask full of hot chocolate, nabbed some brownies she’d bought at Yvonne’s, and left a note for Dave on the countertop.
Gone back to the Brysons’. Will check in if any problems.
She gathered up a new set of supplies in the mudroom, stepped into clean coveralls and socks, and carried her second-best pair of recently disinfected rubber boots over to her truck. Dr. Tio’s car had gone and Dave had parked in the open garage giving her plenty of space to turn. The fact that she wanted to get back to Danny no longer surprised her, but the why eluded her. Was Dave right? Was Danny doing this for her? And, if so, what did that mean?
She concentrated on keeping her truck within the narrow lane of the unlit county road and turned into the Brysons’. There was a single light in the kitchen of the ranch house, but the barn was well lit. She assumed Danny had no more desire to spend time in the Brysons’ sad kitchen than she did and headed for the barn. She found him propped up against the wall in a homemade bed of hay bales, his pillow behind his head and his sleeping bag over the prickly straw. He was frowning down at his phone as he played some kind of game.
“Hey,” she called out softly. “I’m back.”
“I heard your truck.”
“Cool.” She went toward him. “Room for one more?”
“Sure, climb on board.” He patted the space next to him, his attention still on the screen. “Just let me kill this boss and I’ll give you an update.”
There wasn’t much space, which meant she had to get real close.
“Did you eat already?” Danny asked. “Because Rae brought enough to feed a family of six.”
“Dave cooked dinner for me and Dr. Tio.”
“Dave did?” Danny grinned. “He must have been pleased to see you.”
“I don’t think that was it,” Faith said diplomatically. “Dr. Tio said that the Brysons aren’t planning on coming back anytime soon if at all. Doug’s thinking of giving up.”
“Wow, that’s a huge decision. His family have been there for at least three generations. I hope he sleeps on it for a few weeks.”
“Dr. Tio told him the same thing.” Faith sighed. “Apparently Doug’s embarrassed about what people might think of him.”
“Well, he’s right about that,” Danny said. “He couldn’t have handled things more badly if he’d tried.”
Faith reminded herself that there was a little bit of Jeff Miller in all his children, even the sweetest ones, and that loyalty to the land, the ranch, and the family was bred into their bones. Doug’s decision to give up would not sit well with any of the Millers, including Danny.
“He’ll need to sort that out with Sue Ellen. I can’t see her up and leaving the valley anytime soon,” Faith said. “She loves this place.”
“But it would be hard for her to run it on her own. Even with Doug on board it was a struggle.”
“Maybe you could run it with her?” Faith suggested.
“Right.” Danny rolled his eyes as he stood up. “She’ll never forgive me for seeing her at her worst, you know that.”
“Where are you going?” Faith asked.
“To check the calves. Do you want to come?” He turned to look at her. “Isn’t that why you came back?”
“Of course.” Faith scrambled to join him. “How are things?”
“Stable. Which considering what we found today is as good as it’s going to get right now.” He handed her a large flashlight. “Let’s start with the mild cases.”
By the time they returned to the barn, Faith was feeling a lot better about the state of the remaining calves. Danny had kept all the survivors alive. The longer they stuck around the better their chances of recovery. They washed up in the tack room and Faith returned to her truck to bag up her coveralls and boots and change into her backup clothes. She also took the opportunity to put the envelope of photos on Danny’s passenger seat.
Danny was waiting for her at the barn door, the soft lamplight illuminating his frame. With a resolute breath she picked up the box of brownies and travel mug and marched toward him.
“You up for brownies and hot chocolate?”
He took a moment to answer her. “Sure, if you don’t have to get back.”
“Nothing to get back for. Dave doesn’t need tucking in every night anymore—just when there’s a thunderstorm, or when he finds a spider in his bed.”
Danny chuckled and stepped aside and into the barn. “Then come on in.”
She followed him back to his makeshift bed and paused. “I’ve got my sleeping bag in the back of the truck. I’ll go and get it.”
“No pillow?”
Faith went and got her sleeping bag and an old blanket she folded up to put behind her head. “That’s better.” She arranged the bag next to Danny’s.
“I could add a few more bales if you like.”
“No, I think we’re good.” She slipped off her shoes and got in beside him. “This is cozy.”
He dropped an arm over her shoulders. “I was going to say just like old times, but I don’t think we ever slept together in a real bed, did we?”
Faith smiled. “Plenty of barns and the back seat of your truck, but no beds. The fear of being discovered by our parents meant we did a lot of skulking around.”
His work-roughened fingers caressed her upper arm. “I’m not sure I could make out in the back of a car these days without having to call the fire department to cut me out.”
She poked him in the ribs. “You’re not that old.”
“Sometimes I feel like I’m a hundred years old, and other days like
I haven’t changed from when I was a kid.”
“You’ve changed.”
“Ya think?” he sighed. “Evan keeps telling me I’m stuck seventeen years ago.”
“Evan should keep his opinions to himself,” Faith said tartly.
“Like he’d ever do that. He’s always putting his foot in his mouth.” He paused. “And, I have changed because I know that the Danny I am now would never have allowed what happened back when you had the baby. I would’ve fought harder, stood my ground, and found out everything I needed to know before stating my case.”
“We were both blindsided by what happened,” Faith said. “And there is an argument to be made that what happened to us then, helped make us the people we are now.”
“I can’t disagree with that.”
Silence fell between them for the first time and Faith hurried to fill it.
“Can you open the brownies and get us some hot chocolate while I quickly write up a few notes about the calves?” She reached over to her bag. “I have my laptop right here.”
“I can do that.”
The sweet scent of chocolate soon overrode the smell of dried hay as Danny set out their supper. Faith typed as quickly as she could, stopping occasionally for mouthfuls of hot chocolate and brownie.
“I think that’s done.” She sent the e-mail to the clinic and directly to Dave just to make sure. “While I’ve got my laptop open would you like to know about adoptions in California?”
“Wow, you have been busy,” Danny said as he set his mug on the floor beside the stacked bales.
“I thought it was important to know the basics,” Faith said. “The good news is that if Marcus was adopted in California, he can’t look for us until he’s twenty-one. Even if he does look, he can’t access much information about us unless we specifically agreed that he could before the adoption.”
“I don’t remember being asked my opinion on that.” Danny frowned.
“Neither do I, so for the moment, let’s assume that no permission was given, which means that the most he can get if he applies is non-identifying background information.”
“Which means what exactly?”
Faith fired up her notes. “Our ages and education, medical history if known and circumstances of the adoption.” She looked over at him. “I guess the caseworker who originally deals with the adoption takes notes and that’s what is handed over to the adoptee with some details obscured. Obviously, I have no idea what any of those original notes said.”
“I assume your parents dealt with it?” Danny asked.
“I guess so. I’ve been trying to talk to my dad about it, but he’s not playing ball.”
“It would be nice to know what it said, although as we were seventeen-year-old ranch kids there probably wasn’t much information.” He half smiled. “I can’t decide if I’m glad he can’t find out about us or sad.”
“He could still try,” Faith added. “As an adult he could petition a court and show,” she read from her notes, “a good and compelling cause to disclose his original birth certificate, which shows our names and where he was born.”
“Like what would that be?”
“I’m not sure—emergency medical reasons maybe?” She wrinkled her nose. “I still think we’re pretty safe.”
He leaned back against the wall and looked out into the darkness. “What about us?”
“What do you mean?”
“If we wanted to find out about him. Could we do that?”
“I’m . . . not sure.” Faith hesitated. “Why would we want to do that?”
Danny shrugged. “To make sure he was doing okay? That he was happy?” He turned to her. “Haven’t you ever wondered about that?”
“Of course I have, but I decided that if I wanted to remain sane, I’d have to assume the best things in the world for him and stop obsessing over something I couldn’t control.”
“That’s so you.”
Faith paused. “Why does that sound like a criticism?”
He held up a hand. “It wasn’t meant to be. I just . . . admire your ability to compartmentalize. It’s a skill I’ve never mastered.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “Great, but it still sounds like a criticism.”
He leaned in and gently elbowed her in the ribs. “You’re puffing up like my dad’s best cockerel.”
She poked him back and thirty seconds later found herself flat on her back with him straddling her hips.
“I always forget how strong you are,” she said breathlessly.
“Your mistake.” His smile was hard to resist. “Although you’re no weakling yourself.”
“I have to say that right now, I’m feeling a bit helpless.” She slowly bit down on her lip. “Like I can’t move or anything.”
He transferred his two-handed grip on her wrists into one and drew them over her head. “I know this is a barn, and we’ve kind of agreed that we’re too old for barns, but seeing as our own beds aren’t available right now, would you still be interested?”
“In what?” Faith asked.
“This.” He bent his head and kissed along the line of her jawbone to her mouth, feathering his tongue along the seam of her lips.
She responded to him so naturally that she didn’t even have to think about it.
“Wait.” Danny raised his head. “We shouldn’t be doing this again.”
“You started it,” Faith reminded him.
“Yeah, so let’s talk this through.” He took a deep breath. “What are we doing here, Faith?”
“I would’ve thought it was obvious.”
“Okay, so let me put it another way. Should we be doing this?”
“I don’t have a problem with it,” Faith said. “Do you?” The struggle between his desire to continue and his attempt to rationalize the unexplainable was clear on his face. “We’re both adults, we’re single, and we want each other. What’s wrong with that?”
“Because it’s not that simple, is it?” Danny said. “We have a history together. Last night . . . we could kind of agree that we were swept away in the moment, but here and now?” He looked right into her eyes. “We’re making a conscious decision.”
“To have sex?”
He nodded.
“What do you want me to say, Danny?”
His smile was crooked. “I suppose I’m asking what you want from me. Is this just about sex? Like we hook up when we get horny and that’s the end of it? Or is this something more?”
Faith sighed. “I don’t know. Thinking like that? About all of it right now? It frightens me. I guess I just want us to have the here and now because we can.”
He considered her for so long that she almost forgot how to breathe.
“Like take it day by day and see how it goes?”
“Yes.” Faith made herself look at him. “But I totally understand if that doesn’t work for you. We can still be friends.”
“I’m not sure about that.” Danny ran his fingers along her jawline making her shiver. “I still want you.”
“And I want you.”
His smile was back. “Is it really that simple?”
“Maybe,” Faith said. “There are so many complications in my life right now that having this—with you—seems like the best thing ever.”
“Then how about we just go with that for now?” He lowered his head and kissed her slowly, his fingers sliding into her hair holding her just where he wanted her. “Having time with you, being with you seems right to me, too.”
Danny continued to kiss his way down Faith’s neck until he reached her shoulders where he gently grazed his teeth against her skin. She arched against him, the hard tips of her breasts rubbing against his chest, driving him wild. But he was determined to take his time tonight and prove that he’d learned some new stuff since his teen years.
“May I?” he murmured as his fingers brushed the hem of her long-sleeved T-shirt.
“Please.” She lifted her arms to help him take the garment over h
er head. His brain almost exploded when he realized she had no bra on under the shirt.
“Nice.” He cupped her breast and lowered his head to caress her nipple with his tongue. “I love a woman who smells like lemon disinfectant.”
Her chuckle made him smile against her skin and allow his hand to drop to the curve of her hip where he spread his fingers wide.
“How about taking these sweatpants off?” Danny kissed her belly button. “They’re just getting in my way.”
“What about you taking some clothes off first?” Faith asked.
“After you.” He waited as she undid the drawstring of the pants and scooted out of them. “I have plans.”
“Really?”
He enjoyed the catch in her breath as he kissed her hipbone.
“Oh, yeah.” He settled himself more comfortably between her legs and twirled his tongue over the tiny bow at the front of her panties. Her hips lifted toward his mouth and he wanted to cheer. He eased a finger under the cotton and breathed in hard. “You’re wet for me.”
“Well, duh.” Her fingers flicked his hair and then settled on his scalp.
“I was thinking I’d have to spend a long, long time and a lot of my attention getting you like that,” he murmured.
“You can always improve on perfection.”
He paused to look up at her. “Yeah, I guess I can.” He took off her panties and pressed a lavish kiss to her mound. “Let’s see if I can stop you talking and start screaming, but not too loud because we don’t want to scare the calves.”
Chapter Seventeen
Faith woke up to the birds singing and the sun shining in her eyes, her cheek pressed against Danny’s shirt as he lay on his back beside her. After he’d taken his damned time making her beg, he’d finally relented, stripped off, and made slow sweet love to her. Eventually, they’d ventured into the Brysons’ mudroom to share the old shower and made more coffee and hydrating solution in the kitchen. They’d gotten up every two hours to check the calves and fallen asleep fully dressed inside their zipped-together sleeping bags.
Despite the prickly nature of their bed and her awareness that she definitely had a crick in her neck, Faith had never felt more content. Being here—in this moment with Danny—was somehow everything she needed right now. She firmly squashed down any desire to think further than that, which really wasn’t like her. But they’d agreed to take things as they came and for the first time in her life she was going to try and do just that. Didn’t they deserve some time together after everything that had been stolen from them?