Falling for the Rancher

by Roxanne Rustand

  It was true. Her husband had died years ago, and her only child—a retired teacher—had passed back in December. Without her little companion, by now the crushing loneliness and grief might have taken Mrs. Peabody, as well.

  There was a long pause. Darcy held her breath.

  “He’s a beautiful dog, ma’am. And don’t you worry. His heart and lungs sound fine. There’s one thing he needs to do, though.”

  “I suppose you want him to lose weight,” she said on a long sigh. “Dr. Leighton says that, too. But he gets exactly the right amount of dog food.”

  “The weight loss formula?”

  She nodded. “What Dr. Leighton prescribed. I buy it here.”

  “Then it’s the extra little treats that have to go. Being overweight is very hard on his heart, so he needs less food and more walking.”

  Darcy continued on to the lab, the voices following her down the hall.

  “But he loves his treats and looks at me so sadly if he doesn’t get just a tiny bit off my plate,” she said sorrowfully. “How can I refuse? What is life without small pleasures?”

  Darcy smiled to herself, waiting for his response. Good luck, Dr. Logan.

  Footsteps came down the hall, and Logan appeared at the door of the lab. “Do we have any sample-size bags of light dog treats?”

  “Top shelf, on your left. But—”

  He grabbed a couple of bags and left before she could warn him about billing Mrs. Peabody.

  His voice filtered down the hall as he explained the low-calorie treats and a proper diet.

  Darcy once again held her breath when she heard him wrapping up his advice and saying farewell.

  Then warmth washed over her like a gentle hug as she heard his next words.

  “No—of course not.” His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper that Darcy could barely hear. “No charge for today. We weren’t that busy, and I didn’t really do anything. Anyway, we all love to see you and your beautiful little dog.”

  * * *

  After dialing the front desk and telling Marilyn there’d be no charge for the elderly lady toddling slowly down the hall with her dog, Logan left the exam room to head to back to his office.

  As he passed the lab, Darcy stepped out the door and they nearly collided. He grasped both of her upper arms when she staggered, but quickly released her.

  Her eyes widened. “Sorry.”

  He said it at the same moment she did, and they both laughed self-consciously as they stepped back. The air between them seemed to quiver with emotion and unspoken possibilities.

  She readjusted the stethoscope draped around her neck. “How was Mrs. Peabody’s dog?”

  “Obese.”

  “She worries about him all the time, you know. He’s the only friend she has. Her family is gone, and I hear all of her human friends have passed on, as well. Um... I couldn’t help overhearing...” She angled an amused smile at him. “If you talk loud enough for her to hear, you might as well be using a loudspeaker. Sounds like you charged her as much as I do.”

  He felt himself flush a little. “This can’t be run as a free clinic, but...”

  “I know. You don’t have to say it. She’s just such a sweet old lady.” Her eyes twinkled with silent laughter as her soft gaze locked on his and a faint blush stained her cheekbones. “I’m just relieved to find you have the same soft side for her that I do. And about those light treats? Tried already. The next time she came in, she told me he didn’t like them—unless she slathered them with gravy. But I’m sure she didn’t want to admit that to you.”

  “A losing battle?”

  “Definitely a losing battle. She loves him up with food, and after seeing that dog for a year, I can tell you that it isn’t going to change.”

  The equine practice back in Montana had been highly professional. Successful. Busy. A well-run business—at least, until Cathy showed up. But from his first day in Aspen Creek, this town, these people and this practice had been proving to be so much more. Quirky. Warm. Populated with people who really seemed to care about each other.

  “Does she truly understand how serious this is?” he asked. “Her little buddy isn’t going to have a very long life if he doesn’t lose weight.”

  “I figure it’s like water dripping on a stone. If we talk to her every time she comes in, we may finally wear her down. I just hope it isn’t too late.” Darcy eyed him thoughtfully. “I’m guessing that this sort of thing wasn’t an issue at your last practice.”

  He had to laugh at that. “Not often. But then, we weren’t dealing with doting small-animal owners like Mrs. Peabody. Our clients included most of the large breeding farms in the county. A lot of training facilities and many of the smaller show stables. Anyone who wasn’t concerned about optimal feeding and health care wouldn’t stay in business very long.”

  “Do you miss it?”

  “The practice?” He considered that for a moment. “I miss...what it was. The state-of-the-art, high-tech equipment that made it easier to provide the very best of care. Much of it is beyond the financial reach of a one-or two-vet practice. I miss the large staff.”

  “But things changed.”

  “Yeah. Some things changed.” He lifted his uninjured shoulder dismissively. “So now I’m glad to be where I am. Where ideally I have more control if issues arise.”

  “Except with the Mrs. Peabodys of the world?” she teased.

  “I have to believe that she’ll eventually listen to reason. I’m not giving up on her.”

  “Good luck with that.” Darcy patted his arm. “You keep trying, and I’ll start praying. And sooner or later, it’s gonna happen. He cares for the least of his creatures, you know.”

  He watched her head down the hall to an exam room, where another client was waiting.

  Praying.

  She’d said the word with such simple, straightforward faith. No hint of doubt, no hesitance about the power of prayer.

  He knew the exact date when he’d last hoped prayer could alter the course of his life, and God hadn’t been listening that time, either. Logan hadn’t sent any more desperate pleas heavenward after that. But now he began to wonder. Was it ever possible to regain a childlike faith after so many things had gone wrong?

  Chapter Ten

  Kaycee peered out of the kennel room in back and motioned to Darcy. “Could I talk to you for a minute?”

  She closed the door after Darcy stepped inside. “I’ve been thinking about what you said.”

  “About...”

  “About what might show up on a background check. Or surface because of some old...um...gossip.”

  “I see.”

  “Dr. Boyd knew everything and he was so nice about it. But now I wonder whether or not I should go ahead and tell Dr. Maxwell. Before he gets that background check done, I mean.”

  “And what did you decide?”

  “I guess...well, maybe you’re right. If I don’t say anything and he finds out, maybe he’ll think I was trying to hide all the bad stuff. Or that I can’t be trusted. But I can’t just go up to him out of the blue. That would be so weird, you know?”

  “So...what do you want me to do?”

  “I...um...wonder if you could come in with me. You know, like having someone in my corner?”

  “Moral support.”

  Her mouth twisted. “It still makes me mad, having to do this. If you live in a glass house you shouldn’t throw stones, right?”

  “What?”

  Kaycee shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

  “Kaycee?”

  “Just something I found out about him on Google. It doesn’t matter. I’m just really afraid I’ll mess this up. And if I do and he fires me, what am I gonna do?”

  “Do you want to catch him ri
ght now before he leaves for home?”

  “No.” Kaycee’s eyes rounded. “Well...maybe. Yes. If I think about this too much longer, I’m going to be sick.”

  Logan looked up from his computer screen in obvious surprise when Kaycee and Darcy walked in his office door. “Is something wrong?”

  Kaycee plopped into one of the chairs in front of the desk and mutely looked down at her hands, suddenly looking far younger than her twenty-three years.

  Darcy took the other chair and waited for the girl to speak. After a long, awkward moment of silence, she turned to Logan. “Kaycee needs her job very much. But she’s concerned about some things in her past and wants to be up front with you.”

  Logan’s gaze softened with understanding as he shifted his focus to Kaycee. “If this is about the background checks, I got that information today, and they were perfectly fine for all three of you. I fully expected they would be, by the way. I hope you weren’t too upset about having it done, but...well, I’ve been in situations in which more care would’ve saved people a lot of grief.”

  Kaycee lifted her gaze to meet his, her eyes hard and narrowed. Then she looked away. “I can imagine.”

  Logan tilted his head and frowned as he studied her for a moment, then he leaned back, his elbows on the arms of his chair and his fingertips steepled. “Is there anything you wanted to discuss?”

  Mystified by the uneasy currents of emotion in the room, Darcy glanced between them. “Kaycee?”

  The girl closed her eyes as she drew in a deep breath. “Okay. Just in case you were to hear gossip around town, I wanted you to hear everything from me first. My parents abused and dealt drugs for years, so I pretty much raised my brother and sister ever since I was in middle school. I...um...got caught shoplifting at the grocery store a couple times. But I had to try, ’cause there wasn’t any money and sometimes we had nothing to eat.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Logan said gently.

  “It’s better now.” Kaycee’s voice took on a belligerent edge. “The kids live with me, they’re on Badger Care state insurance, and the state helps out now that Mom and Dad are in prison. We’re doing just fine.” She launched to her feet as if ready to flee. “I promise that I’m trustworthy and I’ll work hard. I need this job more than you could know.”

  An easy smile on his face, Logan stood and offered his hand to her across the desk. “Then it sounds like we have a perfect deal, because I need you, too. I’m glad to have you on board.”

  “That took some courage,” Darcy said quietly after Kaycee left. “She’s one of the strongest kids I’ve ever met. What a relief to hear that her background check was clear.”

  “It wasn’t, actually.”

  “What?” Darcy leaned back in her chair, aghast. “But you told her it was.”

  “I told her it was fine, and I meant it. When I asked the sheriff to run criminal background checks, he said he couldn’t help me much because Kaycee’s juvenile records were sealed. But Marilyn stopped me after work one day, and said she wanted me to know the truth in case someone gossiped about Kaycee later on.”

  “Oh.”

  “That poor kid has had a real struggle raising her siblings, but even as a teen she fought to keep them out of foster care and together. How many kids her age would’ve taken on that responsibility?”

  “Not many could have handled it. That’s for sure.”

  “From all accounts, she’s done a fine job ever since. She keeps them clean and well fed, they never miss school or activities, and she helps with homework. There are many parents who don’t do half as well. I’m impressed, and I need employees like her.”

  Warmth and relief settled around Darcy’s heart. “That’s just about the kindest thing I’ve heard in a very long time. A lot of people would take one look at her past, assume she could be a risk and just let her go.”

  “Then they would be wrong. Her parents aren’t going to be out on the street for thirty years, and before being incarcerated, they were guilty of abuse and neglect. So how could I not give her every chance to succeed?”

  Darcy wanted to reach across the desk and kiss him in heartfelt thanks for his quiet compassion. And then kiss him again for his kindness in helping Kaycee hang onto her pride during what had to have been a terrifying confession.

  “That’s exactly how I feel.” Her gaze locked on his. She felt her pulse escalate as she rose and took a careful step back lest she find herself impulsively giving in to that temptation. “I realize I’ve misjudged you, Logan. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

  * * *

  Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, with the promise of clear skies and seventy degrees throughout the day.

  It was a perfect day for opening all the windows in the little house and tackling the floor in Emma’s room. But it was also perfect for making good on her promise, and that promise had to be kept.

  So after the clinic closed at noon, she picked up Emma at the babysitter’s house, took her home for lunch, then got ready to leave again.

  “Are you ready to go?” Darcy helped Emma into a pink sweater with kittens and puppies embroidered on the front. “Hannah is waiting for us.”

  Emma fidgeted while Darcy fastened her buttons. “I want to go now. Please? What if there aren’t any puppies left?”

  “There will be, I promise. Remember all the photos we looked at last night on the rescue website?”

  “They were every color. Puppies and big dogs, too.”

  Darcy smiled and gave her a hug. “Have you decided which ones are your favorites?”

  The little girl frowned. “I can’t remember.”

  “Well, we’ll take lots of time. If you can’t decide, we can always go back again.”

  They walked out to the car and Darcy buckled her into the booster seat, then got behind the wheel and turned the key in the ignition. At the click-click-click sound she dropped her head against the headrest and groaned.

  “What’s wrong, Mommy?”

  “It won’t start.”

  “But what about the puppies?” Her voice rose to a wail. “You promised!”

  “Well, we might—”

  At the distinctive sound of Logan’s diesel pickup pulling into the driveway, Darcy glanced in the rearview mirror. Good timing, buddy.

  She climbed out of her car and met him halfway. He held out his hand, and she blinked in surprise at her cell phone. “Oh, my—I thought it was in my purse.”

  “Marilyn noticed it at the clinic, but she was heading for Minneapolis for the weekend, so I said I could drop it by.”

  “Many, many thanks. We don’t have a landline, so I wouldn’t have missed it until I tried calling AAA road service.”

  He looked over her shoulder. “What’s wrong with the car?”

  “Won’t start. It’s doing a clickety-click thing when I turn the key in the ignition, and Emma is pretty upset.” She turned to help the child out of her booster seat. “I bought a new battery two months ago, so I’m guessing it’s the starter.”

  “Mommy said we could get a puppy today, and now we can’t,” Emma said sadly. Her face brightened when her gaze veered past Logan to his truck. “Maybe you could come! Will your car go?”

  “That’s a pickup, honey. And no, we don’t need to bother Dr. Maxwell. I’m sure he’s very busy.”

  “Actually, I’d like a good excuse to not go home.” He sauntered to her car and tried the ignition. “I’d guess the starter, as well. Do you have a good mechanic?”

  “Red’s seems to be good. So, why don’t you want to go home?”

  “This is the weekend I’m finally dealing with all of the unpacked moving boxes still stacked in the house. I can’t stand looking at them any longer, and I might have company coming next weekend.”

  Comp
any?

  Maybe a girlfriend from Montana?

  Of course he would still have relationships with people back there. Maybe really close ones. It shouldn’t have been any surprise, but she still felt a little pang in her heart.

  “Should you be doing that lifting?” she asked. “What about your arm?”

  He cautiously rolled his shoulder, then grinned. “It’s actually pretty good. Another week and it should be fine.”

  Emma tugged the sleeve of Darcy’s sweater and looked up at her with a pleading expression. “He wants to go see the puppies. Maybe he’ll want one, too. Please?”

  “Even if you call the road service now, there’ll be no mechanics to check your car until Monday—or later. I’ll get her booster seat, and we can be on our way.” Logan reached into the car to grab it and put it into the backseat of his truck.

  “If you do this for us, then we have to return the favor. How about we come out tomorrow afternoon to help you after church? We can even bring a picnic basket with lunch.”

  “You don’t need to.” He thought for a moment and gave her a lopsided smile. “Then again, lunch sounds mighty nice. Deal.”

  Her eyes twinkled. “Oops. I just remembered that I won’t have a car. But I have a wonderful idea—you could come with us to church this time!”

  “Uh...”

  “Pastor Mark is wonderful, I promise. Every Sunday, I feel so...so renewed by his sermons. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like a better person. More able to deal with everything in my life, because my faith has been uplifted. Growing up, my parents made me attend their church, and I didn’t want to go. Now I really hate to miss.”

  She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be pushing something at you that you don’t want. I should have my car fixed in a couple days, and then Emma and I can come help. We’ll still owe you a return favor, after all.”

  He stared out into the backyard for a long moment as if sorting through his thoughts.

  “I had the same upbringing you did, but...bad things happened. God and I reached an impasse when I learned that my faith really didn’t help. But I’ll pick you two up tomorrow and take you to church if that’s what you want.”