Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1)

by Laura Browning

  “Wh—what’s that for?”

  They all stared at Jake. “Sam called the state guys right after I talked to him. When they went to the ski resort looking for Dilby, they were told he was at the hospital.”

  “The hospital!” Seely gasped. “What happened?”

  “Apparently after he passed you, he rounded the next bend, missed the curve, fell, and slammed into a tree. The ski patrol found him lying there with a compound fracture of the left femur, still drunk as a skunk, and madder than hell at someone he kept calling ‘Seely.’ Would that by any chance be you, Celia?”

  Seely smiled, her gaze going to Buck. “It used to be, but lately the name Celia is really beginning to grow on me.”

  “At any rate,” Jake continued. “He’s under police guard at the hospital now where he’s been read his rights until they can get him in to book him.”

  After staying for sandwiches, cookies, and coffee, Celia and Buck excused themselves. “I’m sure we’ll all see each other again,” Buck said, “but I think it’s time Celia and I left you alone. You need time to talk and get reacquainted with your daughter, and I think Celia and I need some time to talk too.” He handed Jake a card. “Give this to the sheriff. It’s my contact information. Celia will be staying with me for a while.”

  Holly smiled when she saw the look the young doctor gave the statuesque blonde. It held an unmistakable promise, or as Tyler would say, Buck Harris was getting the gooey look. For that matter, so was Celia.

  Evan and Jenny were next, their eyes on each other as they said they too had something to discuss. Evan looked at Holly and Jake, his gray eyes no longer icy but as warm as molten silver. The cynic was gone, or at least buried for a time, beneath the golden glow of the woman staring at him. The woman who had loved him for more than half her life.

  “We’ll catch you all tomorrow afternoon. Why don’t you come on over for an early supper?” Evan stopped, his eyes twinkling. “We can throw some burgers on the grill.”

  Jake chuckled. “Sounds great. I’ll bring the beer.”

  When just the four of them remained, Tyler crossed the room to where Jake was and wrapped his arms around his waist. “I’m glad I found you for Holly. We needed you. I’m glad you’re going to be my brother.”

  Jake’s eyes met Holly’s for an instant over Tyler’s head. As he hugged the boy back, Holly watched his adam’s apple bob as though he needed to swallow a lump in his throat.

  “Go to bed, sport,” he muttered gruffly. Tyler hugged Holly, kissed Noelle, and took off upstairs. Jake extended his hand to Holly. “Let’s put our daughter back in her crib where she belongs.”

  He glowed with love. Holly knew no other way to describe it. His features appeared softened in the rosy glow of the nursery lamp. Never would she have thought when he arrived on her porch, cap in hand, that in less than a month they would be standing together like this. She touched his sleeve, loving the way his hazel eyes warmed as he stared at her, the way a dimple creased one cheek as he smiled, and how dainty he made her feel when he bent and scooped her in his arms.

  “Are you taking me to bed, Jake Allred?”

  The dimple deepened. “Indeed I am Holly Morgan.”

  As he slowly undressed her, pausing to kiss and caress each part as he bared it, the clock in the downstairs hallway struck midnight. His lips found her mouth, teasing and tasting while the chimes continued. When it stopped, he rested his forehead against hers.

  “Merry Christmas. You are the best present I have ever been blessed with, and I can’t wait to marry you next week.”

  Her heart pounded, not only with anticipation of their marriage, but with the excitement of what would happen in the next few minutes.

  Holly feathered his cheek with her fingertips. “Show me, Jake.”

  Epilogue

  The town of Mountain Meadow talked about the Christmas Holly Morgan came to town for years to come, but perhaps the highlight of the whole tale occurred Christmas Day. Everyone who found a flyer tucked in their door arrived at the courthouse square at noon. There, in the middle of the square was a very special Nativity scene made up of a combination of figures from both the Presbyterian church and the Baptist church. In front, a sign read, “Merry Christmas to our own Christmas angels—Holly and Noelle—from a town that now understands the meaning of peace and unity.”

  Pastor Joe stepped from behind the Baptist shepherd along with one of his flock…Jim Tarpley. And from behind the Presbyterian shepherd, the very Reverend Thomas Calloway stepped along with one of his flock…Chief Ernie Jones. Ernie lumbered forward.

  “Jake, we’re your thieves. It started out as a way to bring the two churches together, but it got so much bigger with everything else that happened. We’d just all like to tell you and Holly how overjoyed we are to have you here. You’ve brought about a lot of Christmas miracles.”

  “You were right,” Jake and Evan said in unison to Holly. It was an ecumenical Nativity with only the purest of motives.

  She cradled Noelle and smiled at them. “I love Christmas and I love this town, but most of all, I love you Jake Allred.”

  And the whole town clapped…even Betty Gatewood.

  Meet the Author

  After a long career in journalism, I changed gears and began teaching English. The change in pace allowed me to ramp up my own love of writing fiction. After a push from my hubby, my hobby morphed into a book contract. When I’m not teaching or writing, you can find me on our farm or in the woods with camera in hand.

  I would love to hear from you. Visit my contact page to send comments. You can also keep up with me through my blog: Wake Me Up If I Fell Asleep At The Computer, where you'll sometimes get in on contests or additional excerpts, interviews and free reads!

  You'll also find me on Facebook at Laura Browning Author.

  Turn the page for a special excerpt of Laura Browning’s

  Bittersweet

  Can love survive a night he can’t remember but one she’ll never forget?

  Anna Barlow is giving herself a fresh start, leaving everything about her old life behind. With a new name, a new career and a new look, everything about her has changed since the night her daughter Becca was conceived. Anna finds out just how different she looks when an emergency farm call brings her face to face with her baby’s father…and he has no idea who she is.

  Chris Stevenson is on hiatus from the world of competitive show-jumping. He’s returned to the family farm to get his life back in order. Nothing’s been right for the past year… not since the night that has remained a blank in his memory. When he meets the area’s newest veterinarian, Chris feels two things—instant lust and that he’s met her somewhere before.

  As they struggle to reconcile the night he can’t remember, both Chris and Anna must learn to trust each other and the idea of what family really means.

  On sale now!

  Chapter 1

  The cellphone on Anna’s hip buzzed. She had turned off the ring in the hope that Becca, nestled in her carseat in the backseat of the pickup, would stay asleep at least for a short while. Days and nights of colic had drained them both. The programmable swing at home wasn’t a luxury but a necessity. Miles of uninterrupted driving making farm calls also seemed to soothe her daughter. Saturday night dinnertime had already come and gone, both hers and Becca’s, and Anna felt the pressure to nurse. She had been about to pull over to feed her when the phone had vibrated against her hip. Not now. Just this once.

  “Dr. Barlow,” she murmured into the phone as she slowed the truck and pulled to one side of the secondary road. The clinic answering service secretary was on the line with an emergency farm call. Anna jotted the address and the directions the operator gave her. Still somewhat new to the area, she was learning her way around, so directions were a must. Getting lost on her way to an emergency was not an option. And at this hour on a Saturday evening, no one called a veterinarian for anything routine, but the nature of the
emergency wasn’t what made this call different. The owner’s name made her stomach jump with nerves.

  “Please let Mr. Stevenson know I’ll be there in five minutes.” Anna hung up, checked there was no traffic and pulled onto the road. She found the first available driveway to turn around and head back the way she had come. She glanced at the address again. Main barn, Fincastle Farm. Of course she had heard of it. Who hadn’t? The farm had been the signature of the Stevenson family for several generations.

  She had held hope that Fincastle would never appear on her client list. Naive of her to think she wouldn’t see him. Some sort of veterinary call had been bound to happen sooner or later. Later would have been much better. Never even more so. Maybe she’d luck out and the Mr. Stevenson in this instance would be father rather than son.

  Anna swallowed as she turned down the long driveway bordered on each side by tall, white-paneled fences. In the paddocks left and right, high-dollar horses grazed in the glow of the spring moon. Ahead lay a long, pristine white barn. A darker color trimmed the doors and windows. It would be green, she recalled. Forest green, like the curtains around the Fincastle tack stalls at shows. Light blazed from one barn, which must be her destination. Most barns would already be settled for the night.

  Okay. She was headed into the lion’s den. Chris Stevenson, the man she so did not want to meet. Anna hoped he wouldn’t be there. Sure, she’d known the possibility of meeting existed when she took the job in Redfield. Let him not be there. Not tonight, when she was tired and needed to nurse Becca to the point that her breasts ached. The show season had started, after all, so he should already be on the road at some of the smaller warm-up shows.

  She took a deep breath and let it out. It didn’t matter. She could do this.

  After she parked in front of the barn, Anna shoved two more nursing pads inside her bra and muttered a quick prayer she and Becca could wait a while longer. One glance over her shoulder showed her infant daughter still slumbered in the carseat. She rolled down the windows before she got out and checked on the baby one more time. A gentle tug brought Becca’s blanket back to where it belonged. After releasing a soft sigh, Anna straightened away from the truck. She pulled the zipper higher on her cotton coveralls and threw her stethoscope around her neck.

  “Dr. Barlow?” someone inquired in a deep, masculine voice.

  For an instant, she swayed. That voice. So much for being on the show circuit. Anna stepped around the back of the pickup into the view of the man who had emerged from the lighted doorway of the barn. Even as one part of her brain told her it was him, she shook her head in denial. Not with his reputation, and not on a Saturday night. There must be some horse show groupie somewhere who was willing to jump his bones, and that would take precedence over actual work.

  “You’re not Dr. Barlow? Where is he?” the silhouetted figure asked. Anna could not see his face, or much else, since the light behind him cast his front in shadow. As much as she might have tried, she would never forget his voice. She didn’t need to see his face to know the speaker was Chris Stevenson.

  Now, though, irritation kicked in. Where was he? She sighed. In this day and age, women veterinarians were more the norm than the exception. Of course, her height, or lack thereof, also played a role. She had encountered similar questions before, so she shouldn’t have been surprised when it came from a man like Stevenson.

  “Sorry, my mind was on something else. I am Dr. Barlow. I understand you have a horse in need of stitches.” Anna’s jaw hardened as she sensed his reluctance as well as his outright hostility. “If it will make you feel better, I would be happy to show you my credentials, Mr.…” That was a nice touch. She’d make him think she had no idea who he was.

  “Stevenson. Chris Stevenson.”

  “The man himself.” As soon as Anna voiced it, she wanted to kick herself. She hadn’t meant to say that aloud. He had half-turned, and in the glow from the barn, she saw his frown at her tone, but she was not going to back down now. Stevenson was nothing to her. Not anymore. Not ever. Once he’d been her hero, the object of teenage fantasies. But that was in the past. There was an injured animal to treat, she had a hungry daughter to feed and a painful need to feed her that only increased as time passed. She’d do her job, get the hell out of there and be done with it.

  “May I take a look at the injury, or would you like me to call the answering service to see if someone else is available to take the call?” At the moment, she couldn’t care less that Fincastle was one of the clinic’s biggest clients. She was tired and wanted to go home, so if he wanted a different vet, that was fine with her.

  She braced herself as they walked into the light of the barn. As the fluorescent lights illuminated his lean features and fair hair, she realized he looked different. He was harder, but also healthier. The dissoluteness that had begun to leave its mark last summer was gone.

  “You’ll do,” he grunted in response. “Follow me.”

  Anna cocked one eyebrow at Stevenson’s retreating back. At least he was polite enough not to sigh as he said it. Still, what an arrogant jerk! Thank God she need have nothing to do with him outside of professional calls, and thank God he appeared to draw a total blank when he looked at her.

  She supposed she should be used to people questioning her abilities because of her petite size. She had received odd looks through veterinary school, and even had to answer some pretty pointed questions when she talked to people about joining their large animal practices. Just over five feet tall, she was slender to boot, and at the time, she had been very pregnant. At least the vets at Redfield were able to overlook her appearance in favor of the credentials she’d set in front of them.

  Her biggest relief was Chris seemed not to recognize her. She shouldn’t be surprised. She knew she looked a lot different than when he’d seen her, but part of her hardened with hurt and anger. What was she hoping, that he would remember the night they met? He would fall at her feet like the prince with Cinderella? There was no reason for it to stand out in his memory, not like it forever would in hers. He spent plenty of nights bedding besotted bimbos. She’d been another in a long line.

  Stevenson stopped so abruptly in front of the stall midway down the aisle that Anna almost walked into his backside. Quivering at the rear of the stall was one of the biggest Thoroughbreds she had ever seen. The horse snorted and rolled his eyes. On his right hip, she saw a jagged tear about eight inches long, a messy wound that would require careful stitching.

  Stevenson turned to look at her, his eyes challenging. “Still ready to take this on?” he asked with a sardonic twist to his lips.

  Anna gazed at him without batting an eyelash. “I’ll get my supplies. Would you prefer to bring him in the aisle or would you like me to do that when I return, since he seems a bit rattled?” Her tone dripped ice.

  Stevenson looked her up and down. “I’ll bring him. He’s a stud, and I give you fair warning, he’s always had more than his share of attitude.”

  Anna bit back the retort on the tip of her tongue about him having something in common with the horse besides their hind ends and nodded before spinning on her heel. She had dealt with bigger horses’ asses than this one, and she wasn’t referring to the horse.

  She sighed with relief when she reached her truck and saw Becca still slept. “Bless you, sweetheart,” Anna whispered to the baby.

  She checked to make sure her daughter was still dry and stroked a finger over her soft cheek. With one last sigh, Anna opened the tailgate. She always kept a plastic caddy ready to grab, which she stocked with the supplies most often needed. After picking it up, along with a few other items she’d need, she hurried along the aisle. Chris was snapping crossties on the stallion as she approached. The big horse stomped his front foot before kicking out with his right rear leg as if trying to dislodge whatever it was causing him pain. Anna set her supplies several feet away and slipped the syringe of sedative inside the front pocket of her coveralls. />
  As she approached the horse, she murmured to him, watching his ears flick backward and forward as she continued talking.

  “You can release him, Mr. Stevenson,” Anna directed in the same even tone she used with the horse. Once he turned the halter loose, the horse quit stomping and stretched his nose toward her.

  Anna stopped in front of him. Her face was scarcely higher than the horse’s flared nostrils. He puffed at her and she blew back. The horse’s head relaxed and both ears came forward.

  “That’s it, big man. Why be scared of something as tiny as me?”

  Anna touched him on the cheek before stepping to his side and stroking his neck. Before either the horse or the man was aware of it, she slipped the hypodermic with the sedative into the horse’s vein and delivered the drug. She continued to talk to the stallion as the horse’s eyes drooped.

  Anna bent to look at Chris from under the tall Thoroughbred’s neck. “Do you have a step stool close by, Mr. Stevenson? If not, I can get the one I carry in the truck.”

  Stevenson’s pale gray eyes had lost their sardonic expression, but not the hostility.

  “Sure,” he responded in a clipped voice. He stepped away, returning in a couple of minutes with a lightweight mounting block. “Will this work?”

  Anna smiled. “Perfect. Thank you.”

  She sensed Chris’s critical gaze on her but dismissed it. He’d have to deal with his own hang-ups without her help. Right now she had a job to do. Anna worked with careful efficiency, first cleaning the wound before checking for any underlying tissue damage. She was relieved to see it was only a tear to the hide and did not involve any muscle.