“It’s okay, Melissa,” Barrie said. “Dr. Berton is a very nice man.”
“But I don’t want to go with Dr. Berton,” Melissa said with a shake of her head. “I like Dr. Jones. She’s a girl. And she’d know stuff about being a female vet, Mom.”
“I said no!” Jennifer cast Barrie a pointed glare. “Could you just leave my daughter alone?”
Jennifer’s expression wasn’t angry, it was scared, and Barrie understood exactly why. Melissa was her only child...that most people knew about. And this was a delicate situation.
“Why?” Curtis’s deep voice reverberated through the room. They both turned to find Curtis standing there, arms crossed over his broad chest, steely gaze trained on Jennifer.
“Excuse me?” Jennifer slammed a hand on her hip and shot him an icy look.
“Why is Barrie such a bad choice?” Curtis asked. “As your daughter pointed out, she’s a female vet. She’s incredibly good at what she does.”
“If you must know, she isn’t the kind of influence I want for Melissa. As if that’s any of your business.”
Melissa blushed pink in embarrassment and Jennifer looked between her vehicle, visible out the window, and Cody, who was starting to wake up a little on the wheeled table. Barrie put a hand on Cody’s head and gave him a reassuring stroke.
“Curtis, leave it,” Barrie said quietly. He glanced at her, then shook his head.
“She’s probably the most moral person in this town,” Curtis went on. “So your husband is the mayor, and you think you’re better than the rest of us? Sometimes babies happen.”
“Curtis—” Barrie repeated, trying to keep her voice moderated. “Shut up!”
Curtis shot her an incredulous look, then shook his head. His expression was one of disgust—but she’d been used to that.
“You’re going to accept that?” he retorted. “I’ve been married to you, and I know firsthand what a Girl Scout you are. You’re just going to roll over and accept the scarlet letter with a smile?”
“Mrs. Hartfield is my customer,” Barrie retorted, her anger rising. “And as my customer, she is owed a certain level of respect! I don’t need you to butt into this, Curtis, so kindly leave it to me!”
Jennifer and Melissa were both watching Barrie and Curtis, and Barrie felt heat rise in her cheeks. She’d been in control until Curtis had decided to get all protective of her reputation around here. About fifteen years too late for that! And now she wasn’t the smooth-faced professional that she wanted to portray—she was red-faced and fighting with her ex. Nice. This was a delicate situation as it was without Curtis’s bumbling attempts to defend her.
“If you could just get the door, Melissa, your mom and I will carry Cody out to your vehicle,” Barrie said, forcing a smile.
The girl did as Barrie bid, and Barrie and Jennifer lifted the dog carefully, doing their best not to jostle the leg. He had enough pain killers in him that he should be okay, but still...
As Barrie eased past Curtis, she caught him eyeing her irritably. As if he had any reason to be annoyed!
“Back off, Curtis,” she murmured icily. “This is my life.”
* * *
CURTIS WATCHED AS Barrie loaded the dog into the back of the SUV. She moved with confidence and tenderness as she adjusted everything to make sure the animal would be comfortable. That had always softened him—watching her with animals. Something calm and almost angelic radiated from her when she was helping a wounded animal. Everything around her seemed to hush, leaving just her and the creature in her hands. When she turned all her attention on him, it had been like that, too. It was like being in a pool of sunlight when she smiled into his eyes.
But that was long ago, and he’d had to let his fantasies about her go when he was faced with the reality of married life. Being her husband didn’t mean that he could bask in that sunlight, because every time he disappointed her, it would turn off, and he’d be more alone than he’d ever been in his life—right next to her.
He’d come by to make peace with her today. He didn’t want to leave things like they were after her last visit to the ranch—testy and tense. He’d promised his aunt that he’d be kind, and he was trying to make good on that. Obviously he hadn’t done much to repair things, though.
Once the Hartfields’ SUV pulled out, Barrie stomped back into the clinic and fixed him with an angry stare.
“What?” he said.
“Did I ask you to jump in and defend my honor?” she snapped. “I had everything well in hand! You’re here for, what...a few days...and you think you have any idea of all the tensions around here?”
“Apparently you’re one of them,” he quipped. “And I’m sorry if I couldn’t stand by and have some prissy woman slut-shame you.”
“What do you know about my virtue?” she asked, raising one eyebrow. “And how is whoever I sleep with your business?”
So now she was turning this around on him. Curtis barked out a bitter laugh. “I’m in no mood to fight with you. I came by to make peace, but if you’re not interested—”
“If I’m not interested, you’ll just leave.” She shrugged. “Seems like your MO.”
“That’s not fair.” Curtis turned back to her. “I was defending you.”
“You were making a tense situation even worse,” she countered. “Jennifer isn’t indignant about me being pregnant out of wedlock. She’s scared for her daughter. Jennifer got pregnant in the eighth grade, and her parents pulled her out of school to go have the baby. She gave it up for adoption, and she hadn’t even turned fifteen yet. Well, her daughter just turned thirteen, and misguided as her techniques may be, she’s trying to make sure that her daughter doesn’t end up in the same position.”
Curtis blinked. “Jennifer Hartfield?”
“Sunday school teacher, advocate for chastity and purity county-wide...and yes, teenage mother. She wouldn’t talk about that baby. She wouldn’t say if it was even a boy or a girl, but I knew Jen back then, and giving up her child would have torn her heart out.”
He’d never realized that Jen had that kind of tragedy in her past, and he eyed Barrie skeptically as a question rose in his mind.
“How come you never told me that?” he asked.
“I told Jen I’d never breathe a word,” Barrie replied.
“I was your husband,” Curtis retorted. “And I had more than one run-in with Jen and her high-and-mighty attitude, and you never filled me in...”
What else had she hidden back then? But it had always been like that. Barrie’s loyalty was first and foremost to that blasted town!
“What does it matter now?” Barrie shook her head. “I’m trying to keep my clinic together here. So get off your soapbox and butt out of my business. Hope is my home, and you’ll drive on out of here in a week or so, but I’m staying. My life is here...my practice is here! So the next time you have the urge to pipe up and put someone in their place—don’t!”
Curtis closed his eyes. She didn’t need his help. She never had—this town had been her stomping grounds, and she’d always had a better handle on all those conflicting relationships than he ever did. Now he felt stupid standing here...stupid for having thought any of this would change.
“My intentions were sound,” he said quietly.
“Just...” She sighed, and didn’t finish.
“They always were,” he went on. She’d had the last word—always! But not this time. “You thought I was selfish and egotistical, but everything I did was for you.”
“Not anymore,” she said.
“Of course not!” He shook his head in exasperation. “We’re divorced! I’m putting my own plans first, as I should. What would you have me do, take a hit to make your life easier?”
“I didn’t ask you for anything,” she snapped.
And standi
ng there, her blue eyes flashing into his, her lips parted as if she were about to come out with another cutting remark, he was reminded so vividly of the old days that he had to hold himself back from shutting her up by kissing her. He knew what those kisses felt like—the softness of her lips, the way her eyes would widen in surprise as he pulled her hard against him...
But this wasn’t fifteen years ago, and he wasn’t about to do something so stupid as to kiss his ex-wife into silence. Those days were long gone.
“And why do you care if I resent you or not?” she added, turning her back on him as she picked up the cloth that the dog had been lying on.
“I promised my aunt I’d be kind,” he said.
“So you’re trying to smooth things over for Betty.”
“I’m doing it for you!” He was sick of this—the bantering, the constant attempt to get the upper hand. “You might not believe me, Barrie, but I still care about you. I want you to be happy. I want—”
He didn’t know how to finish that. He wanted to leave her with a better memory of him than she’d been carrying around for the last fifteen years. He wasn’t the same immature kid he used to be, and dumb as it was, he cared how she remembered him.
Barrie slowly turned and eyed him uncertainly. “You care.”
“Yeah.”
“And you show this by selling my office out from under me.”
There it was—she always did have the last word, didn’t she?
“I’m heading out,” he said, turning for the door. This was why they’d never lasted. She was better in a fight, and she knew how to back him into corners. More than that, he’d stupidly hoped he could be her knight in shining armor. But she had no need for a knight. She took care of her own business—always had. He was the idiot standing off to the side.
Barrie didn’t answer him, and he pulled open the door and marched out into the watery winter sunlight.
She’d chosen this town over him back when they were married. She could have come with him on the circuit. It didn’t have to be forever. Would a few months have killed her? But this town—and visions of her future inside it—had mattered more to her than an adventure with him. She’d counted on this blasted town to catch her, not him.
He glanced over his shoulder as he headed toward his truck, and he saw Barrie through the window, staring after him. She wasn’t angry anymore. She looked like she wanted to cry.
And maybe that was hardest of all, because she didn’t need his comfort and he couldn’t make things easier on her. Loving Barrie had turned out to be the most painful experience of a lifetime, and he’d be wise to shake those feelings off for good.
Chapter Five
That evening, Curtis came back inside from the last of his chores. His body ached in that pleasurable way that meant he’d put in a hard day’s work. He stomped the snow off his boots and shook off his coat.
He’d been thinking about Barrie all day as he worked, and he’d come to a few conclusions—namely, that he was better off taking care of his own affairs and letting her do the same. She was perfectly capable, and if he lost this opportunity to better himself, what solace would it be that his ex-wife had been spared some inconvenience? She’d made herself abundantly clear that morning at her clinic, and he was still stinging from it.
He hung his coat on a peg next to his hat, then paused, standing in the quiet of the house. It was still so much the same—the smells, the one creaky floorboard... This ranch had been a place for transitions in his life: back when he was a teen starting fresh in the country, and now again, starting fresh away from the circuit.
He was still wrapping his mind around his current life changes. Bull riding was the one thing he’d been really good at, and as a bull rider, he knew who he was. As a joint owner of a stud farm, he’d be nailed down to one piece of land, and if he worked hard enough, he’d have some financial success to lean on. He still didn’t know what that would make him, though. Who was he now that he was too old to work the circuit?
Curtis pulled his boots off one by one. The warmth felt good, and the house was scented with freshly baked bread. He clipped his gloves to the clothesline hung above the heat register so they’d dry out before morning.
“Curtis, I was waiting for you to do the honors.” Aunt Betty’s voice filtered out from the living room.
Curtis headed out of the mudroom and into the kitchen. The leftovers from supper had been put away, but there were still some dinner rolls in a bowl on the counter. He grabbed one and bit into it on his way through to the living room.
The room was softly lit by a couple of lamps and the lights on the Christmas tree. Betty stood next to the window, the curtains drawn.
“Do the honors for what?” Curtis asked as he came in.
“The outside lights. I finished them up this afternoon.”
“With your cast?” he asked incredulously. He’d broken an ankle, too—twice, actually—and he knew just how painful that recovery was. He’d wanted his aunt to rest and put that cast up for a couple of weeks. That was why he was here to help her out, after all. The women in this town were notoriously stubborn.
“I didn’t push it,” she said with a bat of her hand. “But go ahead—flick the switch.”
Curtis did as she asked and flicked the switch on the wall next to the front door. Tiny lights wrapped around the top rail of the fence that encircled the yard blazed to life. They were plentiful, like a cloud of fireflies out of season.
“Now it feels like Christmas,” Betty said quietly.
“Yeah...it does.”
Except this Christmas wasn’t just a little break from the ordinary with his aunt. It was a complete break from everything he’d built up to this point in his adult life. He’d always thrived on adventure and change, but this new step, while a change, would give him a completely different lifestyle...something closer to the nailed-down home that Barrie had tried to give him fifteen years ago. And seeing Barrie again had unsettled him, too... She was just as stubborn as she’d always been, so why wasn’t he keeping clear of her? He should know better. He had a chance at some success of his own, and he should be enjoying this.
Curtis headed back to the couch and sank into it. From his position, he could see the lights outside glowing in the darkness.
“What’s the matter?” Betty asked.
“Hmm?” He roused himself from his thoughts. “Oh, just thinking about the stud farm.”
“So why the frown? I thought you wanted this,” she said.
He hadn’t realized he’d been frowning, and he shrugged. “I do want this. I hate giving up bull riding, is all. But I recognize that I need to sort out something more stable, and this is a great opportunity.”
“But it’s no eight seconds,” Betty concluded.
He chuckled. “It’s no eight seconds,” he agreed.
“Not everything worthwhile risks your hide,” Betty said.
“I know,” he said with a quick grin. “Like making some good money. If I can’t ride bulls, I’ll settle for a lucrative income. This stud farm is already performing well.”
“What does your mom think of all this?” Betty asked. “Have you talked to her lately?”
“I texted with her last night,” he admitted.
“And?” Betty’s tone seemed a little too carefully indifferent. The sisters were as different as night and day. Both women cared about each other, even if they didn’t understand each other. And when it came to Curtis, they both were protective of him in their own ways. It was like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, except the rock and the hard place were slightly judgmental of each other.
“You know Mom,” he said. “She can appreciate a fresh start.”
His mother had thrown her life into a struggling singing career, so she was the one person who could fully understand his
adrenaline junkie ways.
“What’s she doing for Christmas?” Betty asked.
“She has a singing gig at a local country club.”
“At her age.” Betty shook her head.
“She’s fifty-four,” he countered.
Betty raised her eyebrows as if nothing else needed to be said, and Curtis shook his head. His mom had aged well, so while she was in her fifties, she could pass for her midforties, and she could sing a country ballad that could break a heart in two. Sure, she hadn’t gotten her big break, and maybe never would, but there were plenty of singers who made some money on the side doing what they loved, and Noreen Porter was one of them.
The fact that his mother had sent him to Betty’s ranch in the first place spoke of just how desperate Noreen had been, because going to Betty for help would have given her pride a hit.
“She’s not alone, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Curtis added with a short laugh.
“What’s his name?” Betty asked.
“Scott. He seems to be a nice guy.”
Betty raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. “I shouldn’t judge. As long as she’s happy.”
Betty didn’t mean that, and Curtis knew it, but he appreciated her saying it anyway. His mom had worked through a fair number of men in her life, and Betty...hadn’t.
“But what about you, Aunty?” Curtis asked, moving the conversation away from his mother. “Any guys in your life?”
“Just the bovine variety.” Betty’s gaze turned toward the window and the twinkling lights along the fence.
“You obviously know a few human males,” he pressed.
“Several.” Betty shot him a smart-alecky look, and he laughed.
“Any of them remotely your age and single?”
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