“Don’t let me down now, King. You play nice. Being in the corral’s better than being in the stall.”
Linc walked into the corral, leading King. The horse continued to be calm. Unhooking the reins and leaving the halter on, he set King loose. He walked out, closed the gate, and waited. King was doing better every day but this was the next big step, being in with other horses. Linc didn’t take his eyes off the horse. He let out the breath he’d been holding when he saw that they were all getting along all right. It was getting late in the day. He still had some stalls to clean out. He always gave his ranch hands the weekends off, which meant he did all the work on those days. They’d be back tomorrow though, Monday morning.
His cell phone rang and he answered it. It was King’s owner. Linc assured him that things were going well and he could probably pick him up in another week or so. The man seemed happy about the news. The only thing left to do now was get King used to carrying a rider. Linc planned to work on that this coming week.
After the call ended, he ran his hand over his face. He needed a shave, shower, and something to eat, and not necessarily in that order. He was hopeful that he’d worked hard enough today that when his head hit the pillow, he’d be out like a light and not lay there for hours thinking of Roni and her fiancé. He hated him…didn’t even know the man and didn’t care to, but he hated him. The man had a claim on her heart. Something Linc had always wanted. Damn it!
He walked inside the house and fixed himself a sandwich. He was just about to take a bite when he heard the horses in the corral, whinnying and it didn’t sound good. He put the sandwich down and ran out the door. Two of his horses had King cornered and the stallion didn’t like it at all. Linc ran into the corral and got his horses away from him. King settled down once they backed away from him, which pleased Linc. He had no idea about which horse started it but it didn’t matter. He grabbed King by the halter and led him from the corral. He had no choice but to put him in a separate one, alone. The other two horses were still neighing at him.
Linc had a feeling his two started it. All the same, King might be a stallion but trying to take on two horses hadn’t made sense, then again who knew what went on in the minds of animals. He returned to the house, ate his sandwich then took a shower, and shaved. He’d put the horses away before dark. It was warm out, but not so hot to where they needed to be inside, or where they needed shade.
Summer was fading fast and it would soon be fall. After shaving, Linc walked down to the office in the barn. He needed to catch up on some paperwork. When he took a seat at the desk, he noticed writing on the desk calendar.
Damn it! His dogs, Brutus and Pitch, had an appointment on Monday with the vet.
Great, just fuckin’ great. He knew he couldn’t cancel it. It was time for the dogs to get their check-ups and if he canceled, he was sure Roni would think it was because of her. It would be, damn it. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He’d go just to get it over with, he supposed, but then again maybe one of the vet techs could check out the dogs, instead of Roni.
Chapter Three
MONDAY MORNING WAS so busy that Veronica felt like she hadn’t had a chance to take a breath. She’d assigned one of the techs to the front desk until she could hire someone. Dottie had always been there to handle the phones and appointment requests. The tech wasn’t happy about being assigned desk duty, but someone had to answer the phones and check in patients. It sure as hell wasn’t going to be Veronica and if the tech didn’t like it, she could find another job, which Veronica made very clear to her. She wasn’t about to suffer insubordination.
She supposed some might have thought her too genteel and well mannered, and perhaps not tough enough to handle the job as Dry River’s main vet, but she was feistier than anyone might have first thought. Jeremiah Rodrick watched her reach her hand into his pregnant cow and pull out a calf with no problem whatsoever. Eve Michaels watched her stitch up her cat after a dog had gotten a hold of it. Veronica was fast achieving a reputation of being a great replacement for Doc Gleason.
Things had finally slowed down, and there seemed to be only one more patient waiting when Veronica walked into the waiting room looking at a file. She glanced up when the door opened. She almost dropped the file when she saw Lincoln enter with two dogs. He nodded to her, signed in, and took a seat in the waiting area. Veronica couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was clean-shaven, but his hair was a little damp on the ends from a shower. He had his usual jeans on with a red T-shirt tucked into them. On his feet were his usual cowboy boots. He removed his cowboy hat, set it on the seat next to him, and reached for a magazine. He glanced up at her and raised an eyebrow. Her face flamed having been caught looking at him. She called the next patient’s name and turned around to head for one of the examining rooms.
Jesus! It was hot in this place today.
After entering the room, she had the client put the patient on the examining table. Tom, the cat, was just in for a regular vaccine so it wasn’t going to take long at all. Veronica dreaded leading Lincoln back to a room knowing she’d have to be alone with him. She talked quietly to the cat, gave him the shot, and then handed him to his owner before following them out to the waiting area. There was no one else there other than Lincoln and his two dogs. She sighed, knowing she had no choice but to do this.
“Ready?” she asked him. He stood and followed her into the exam room leading the dogs. She could feel his eyes boring into her back as they walked.
LINC WALKED BEHIND her and couldn’t keep his eyes off her ass in her tight jeans. Why didn’t she have on a long white doctor coat or something, scrubs maybe.
Christ! Was her body always this amazing?
His damn dick was noticing too. She was put together better than any other woman he knew. On her feet were running shoes and she had a green T-shirt on with Dry River Animal Hospital stitched on it. It just happened to be above her right breast…he rolled his eyes realizing he’d noticed that before she turned away from him. She led him into the room, and then looked over the dogs’ charts.
“So, Pitch and Brutus are just here for check-ups?” She looked up from the file at him with a raised brow.
Linc cleared his throat and nodded. He pulled his gaze from hers. She asked him to lift Pitch onto the exam table first. When he did, Pitch, a big mixed breed of who knew what, licked her nose. She laughed and rubbed his ears. Linc watched as she examined him and found him to be in good health. Teeth were good, and eyes were clear, she told him. Linc put him on the floor and lifted Brutus, a blue merle Australian Shepherd onto the table.
“Brutus has beautiful blue eyes,” Veronica told him as she glanced up at him and their eyes met, and held. She cleared her throat and quickly looked away from him. “He seems to be in good health too. You take very good care of your animals.”
“I try,” Linc said in a low tone.
“How’s the stallion doing?” she asked him as she rubbed Brutus’s ears before setting him on the floor.
“He’s getting there. I finally got him to let me put a halter on him. I’m going to try to get him used to a rider this week.”
He leaned back against the sink counter and folded his arms across his chest. He crossed his booted feet at the ankles. “So, where’s your fiancé while you’re working?”
Linc could’ve bitten his tongue. Why in the hell did you ask that?
“Cameron’s back in Phoenix. He has a dental practice to run.” She stood at the other side of the exam table. Linc still stood in front of the sink. “Um, I need to wash my hands.”
He scooted over, maybe six inches. He watched as she chewed her lower lip, and then moved to the sink. She washed her hands, but she wouldn’t look at him. When she was finished drying them, she headed toward the door and opened it.
“Are you afraid of me for some reason, Roni?” He didn’t move from his spot.
She closed the door and looked at him. “No, I’m not, Lincoln. Why? Should I be?”
He pushed away from the counter and moved toward her. He smirked when she backed up, coming up against the exam table. He leaned down close to her, watched her dip her chin towards her chest, and close her eyes. He put his lips close to her ear. “No. I’d never deliberately hurt you, Roni.”
Her eyes flew open. “That was a long time ago, Lincoln. I was young and back then I was afraid of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have paperwork waiting.” She squeezed out away from his body, threw open the door and walked out the door, leaving him standing there. He grinned and gathered his dogs. He honestly had no idea why he’d said that but it had felt rather good. It was true that he never would deliberately hurt her but giving her a little payback had felt good.
THE NEXT DAY, VERONICA met Emily and Isabella for lunch at Zellene’s. She chuckled as she listened to how Emily had asked Lucas to marry her, but then sobered when she learned why.
“Adam was in prison?”
“Yes. The bank caught him embezzling. He swore he’d never let me go so when I found out he was getting out of prison, I asked Lucas to marry me so I’d have protection. He agreed and we fell in love. He’s such a fantastic man. I love him so much.”
“I can see you do.” Veronica looked at Isabella. “And you and Mont?”
Isabella laughed. “Well, I was kidnapped by Jonas Barkley when he couldn’t get to my father. My dad is the governor of Wyoming. Montgomery appeared to be working with Barkley but actually, he was undercover. He was an FBI agent.”
“Montgomery Bradford was an FBI agent? Oh my God, that’s wild! I can’t believe it, from bad boy to FBI agent.” Veronica shook her head amazed at how these bad boys really had changed.
“Yes. I think I fell in love with him the minute I looked up at him. Then he got shot and was in a coma for eight months, and I was told he was dead. It about killed me, but I found out I was pregnant. Knowing I had a part of him with me helped in my grief. After he came out of the coma, he got his strength back enough to come here to find me.”
“Wow. What a love story. Both of you.”
“I actually told Lucas to leave after I shot Adam…”
“Wait. You shot Adam?”
Emily laughed. “I did. He came to the ranch and shot out all the windows. He also shot one of Nathan’s deputies. Lucas was on the porch with the deputy when Adam came into the house. He found me in the hallway and wanted me to go with him. I told him no, and shot him…twice.”
“Wow.” Roni shook her head in amazement. “But why did you tell Lucas to leave?”
“I jumped to conclusions. I heard him tell Tinker, my ranch manager, he was getting restless. I thought he meant he wanted to move on. I later found out, he meant he wanted to have children.”
Veronica laughed. “Wait, did he leave when you told him to?”
“He did. When Tinker told me what the conversation had actually been about, I called Mont and he was not very nice to me at all.” Emily glanced at Isabella who laughed. “He was mad that I made Lucas leave but gave me a chance, and told Lucas I wanted him to come to the ranch to get his horse…which I never said, by the way.” Emily grinned. “Once he got there though, I explained how I was wrong and apologized. Lucas moved back home immediately.”
“And you fell in love. What a fantastic story.”
“Well, we’d already confessed our love to each other, but I was an idiot. I’m so glad Mont helped me get him home.”
“I wish I’d been a part of that,” Isabella said laughing. “But I didn’t know Montgomery then.”
“How do you like being back here, Roni?” Emily asked as she slipped a straw into her soda.
“I love it, which surprises me since I never planned to come back here.” She took a sip of her drink. “I’m thinking of hiring another vet though. I can’t believe how busy I am and if I’m called out for an emergency, I’d hate to have to cancel appointments.”
“I have a friend who’s a vet. She hasn’t been one for long, but she did start out as a tech, so she’s pretty good at her job. The hospital she’s working at now is closing. I can give you her name and number if you’re interested,” Isabella said.
“I’d love it. That would be great because she could go on emergencies too, if I have surgery or something. I’ll definitely call her.”
Isabella smiled at her. “Great. Let me write it down for you. Her name is Patsy Murphy. She’s my best friend.” After writing down the information, she slid a piece of paper over to her.
Veronica picked it up. “I’ll call her today.”
Chloe stepped up beside the table. “How is everyone?”
“Starving,” Veronica announced with a laugh and the others nodded in agreement.
“Great. Have you all decided what you want?” Chloe asked them.
The women gave their orders and continued to chat as they waited for their food. After they finished their lunch, the women parted ways with a promise to get together again soon. Veronica returned to the hospital and smiled at Carrie, the new receptionist, who just moved to Dry River from Texas.
“It’s quiet today,” Carrie said.
“Shhhh, don’t jinx it.” Veronica laughed.
Carrie laughed with her. “You’re free for about another hour.”
“Great. I have some…” The ringing of the office phone stopped her mid-sentence. Veronica listened as Carrie talked to the caller, and had a sudden sinking feeling her free hour had just expired. She raised an eyebrow when Carrie hung up the phone and looked at her.
“Lincoln Cole’s dog is hurt and he’s afraid to move him.”
Veronica suppressed the nervous jitter that raced over her when she thought of seeing Lincoln again. Stop this!
She gave Carrie a nod followed by some instructions in case she wasn’t back for the next appointment, grabbed her medical bag, and walked swiftly out of the hospital to her van. After placing her bag on the passenger seat, she climbed in behind the wheel and began the drive to Lincoln’s ranch. The thought of seeing him again after the incident in the exam room had her on pins and needles. The man just oozed sex, and she was very aware that she shouldn’t be thinking of him at all. She was an engaged woman, after all, but when Lincoln put his lips close to her ear, she’d wanted to turn her head and capture his lips with hers. She’d never wanted anything so badly in her life than to feel his lips on hers.
Damn it! Remember Cameron. You know…your fiancé.
Taking a deep breath, she drove up the driveway past the main house, and stopped by the barn. Her breath whooshed out of her when Lincoln appeared. He hurried to meet her as she stepped out of the van. “He’s in the barn. Come on, I’ll show you.”
When Veronica got to Pitch, she knelt down alongside him. Veronica looked up at Lincoln and she could tell he was worried. “Do you happen to have a leash or muzzle? He may snap at us since he’s in pain. I’d rather not take any chances.”
She watched as Lincoln walked into the tack room and came out with a leash for the dog. He handed it to her. “Hold his head, Lincoln. He’s in a lot of pain, so be careful.”
As Lincoln held Pitch’s head, and crooned to him, Veronica wrapped the leash around the dog’s snout. Pitch was whining. He was definitely hurting. She ran her hands all over him, and felt an obviously broken back leg.
“Did he get hit by a car, Lincoln? Any ideas?” She never lifted her head as she spoke.
“No. Neither one of them leave the ranch. Why?”
“I’m pretty sure his back leg is broken. Most breaks like this occur from a car impact.” She glanced around. “Then again, one of your horses could’ve kicked him too.” She gave the dog a shot for the pain. “I want to get him to the office to take x-rays.”
Without her asking, Lincoln scooped Pitch up as if he weighed no more than a feather. Veronica smiled her thanks but Lincoln simply turned, and walked to his truck. She followed.
“You can put him in the back of the van. I have a crate in there, which would be better for him.” She saw Lincoln si
gh, and then he turned and headed back toward the van. After laying Pitch in the crate, he turned to face her again.
“I’m following you, Roni. No arguments.” He put his hands on his hips.
“That’s fine,” she told him, she wouldn’t have expected anything less. She was relieved when he nodded and walked back to his truck.
After parking the van at the back entrance of the hospital, she climbed out, bag in hand, and waited as Lincoln parked his truck then met her at the back of the van. He reached inside the crate and gently carried Pitch while following her into the hospital.
Veronica had him take a seat in the waiting area while she took x-rays of his dog.
When she entered the waiting room a few minutes later, Lincoln was sitting in one of the black plastic chairs with his head back against the wall, his eyes closed, his long legs stretched out in front of him, and his hands clasped across his flat stomach. Her eyes lingered on the fly of his jeans. She quickly jerked her eyes away and quietly spoke his name. He opened his eyes immediately, and looked up at her then stood.
“His leg is broken in two places. I’m going to do my best to set it. It’s important he stay immobile until it’s healed. Can you keep him in a crate?” When he nodded, she went on. “It’ll take six to eight weeks to heal and even then, it could take months for him to get back to his normal activities. Only take him out when he needs to relieve himself and if you can, keep Brutus away from him. I don’t want Pitch moving any more than needed.”
“When are you going to do the surgery?” Lincoln stretched. Veronica averted her eyes.
“I’ll operate in the morning. I’ve medicated him for pain so he should rest easy tonight. Hey, he’ll be fine. I’ll call you to let you know when you can pick him up. All right?”
Lincoln Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Book 4 Page 4