Annie was a master at getting people to do the right thing. Emily felt the tension in her shoulders relax a little. “Thank you, Annie. I’m really glad you’re willing to step in here.”
“You have enough on your plate, honey, between your practice and your work at the wildlife center.”
“Annie, can I ask you something?” Emily didn’t usually make time for personal conversations during her workday, but her subconscious must have had other ideas.
“Of course.”
“Did the ranchers around here ever give you a hard time because you’re a woman?”
Annie burst into peals of laughter on the other end of the phone. “All the time. Until my sheep outproduced theirs, my wool won prizes at every state fair and I took charge of the Ranchers’ Guild. Then they started to watch their words a little more.”
Emily nodded, forgetting her friend couldn’t see her.
“Is old Fred giving you a hard time?”
“I’ve got a guy with me today. Another veterinarian, who’s sort of auditioning to work with me. All the ranchers accept him so easily. Fred was over the moon to finally have a male vet around.”
Annie sighed audibly. “I’m sorry, Em. It should be different in this day and age. Remember, you’re a fantastic veterinarian. I don’t trust just anyone with my prize sheep.”
It helped to talk to someone who worked in the same world she did. Who’d been dealing with it for a lot longer. “Thanks, Annie.”
“Anytime. Now you get back out there and don’t let Fred get to you. He’s lucky to have you looking out for him and getting him the help he needs. I’ll be there soon, along with a crew of folks to start cleaning up.”
Emily hung up the phone and headed for the pen where the heifers were. If only Annie could solve all of her problems. Especially what to do about the way she felt right now. Because no matter how grumpy she felt with Wes, she was still looking forward to working with him for the rest of the day.
CHAPTER SEVEN
WES GLANCED AT Emily’s profile as they drove back to Shelter Creek. Her jaw was set firmly, as if she might be clenching her teeth. Her thick sandy hair was pulled back in a ponytail but the strands in front had escaped. They were lighter than the rest of her hair, bleached by the sun. There was a faint spray of freckles on her cheeks and he remembered trying to count them, way back in high school.
And on top of all her beauty, she was a great veterinarian. He’d been impressed all morning, but especially in the last couple of hours, working with Fred Corrigan. Emily had been tough, not letting grumpy old Fred push her around, and miraculously, getting him to accept some help with his ranch. Wes wanted to tell her how much he admired her, but Emily had been silent ever since they got into the car. It wasn’t a tired silence, or a peaceful silence. He was pretty sure it was the grumpy kind.
Finally he couldn’t stand it anymore. “What’s wrong?”
She glanced at him, her blue eyes cool as ice. “Nothing’s wrong. Just thinking.” Her gaze went back to the road.
“Emily, I know it’s been a really long time but I used to know you. And I remember this kind of mood. If I messed up, I wish you’d say something.”
“You were fine. You’re obviously a good vet, Wes. I can’t complain about that.”
“That’s somewhat reassuring. So, what can you complain about?”
She glanced at him briefly. “I don’t need you coming to my rescue with Fred Corrigan, or anyone.”
“When did I come to your—” Then he remembered. “Oh. You mean when he was going on about having a man around?”
“Yeah, that. You even lied about us. Now he thinks we’ve known each other for ages.”
“It’s kind of true.” Wes watched her knuckles go white on the steering wheel. Wrong answer. “I was just mad that he was treating you so badly.”
“He was being a jerk but I handled it. I’ve always handled it. And I don’t need you jumping in as if I can’t handle it. I’ve never needed you before and I don’t need you now.”
Ah. So that was what this was about. “Of course you don’t need me. You’ve created a successful practice, and you’re obviously a great vet. But I can still stick up for you if someone gets out of line. That’s what good people do.”
“I can fight my own battles. I don’t need some man thinking that he has to make it better for me.”
But he’d wanted to make it better. Wes wasn’t sure he’d even had a choice. After listening to just a few words of Fred’s disrespect, he’d had to jump in. “If I was a woman would you want me to stick up for you?”
That stumped her for a moment. She shrugged. “Probably.”
“But you don’t want me to stick up for you?”
“Not just you. Any man. I’ve been handling that type of sexism my whole life.”
“But don’t you think when a man stands up for a woman it sends a strong message? That I’m not going to sit around and tolerate it? That I’m not going to join in?”
“But you did join in. You and Fred were talking about me like I wasn’t even there!”
Wes blew out a breath and thanked the good lord that he hadn’t had any sisters. He felt a little like a fly caught in a sticky web. There were no good moves to be made here without the spider jumping on him.
“What if someone threatens you physically? Can I stick up for you then?”
Emily shrugged. “If I’m losing the fight, sure.”
He smiled. “So I have to wait until you’re getting beat up? Remind me never to get into a barroom brawl with you.”
“Who gets into brawls?” She looked over at him, brows arched. “You?”
“No, not really. Maybe once. Or twice.” He held his palms up in a helpless gesture. “You’re changing the subject. I’m just trying to figure this out. You don’t want me defending you against sexist comments at work. If a situation turns violent you may want me to jump in, but only if your combat skills prove to be inadequate. What about if a dog attacks you? What do I do then?”
She was smiling now. That was a good sign. “Help me, of course.”
“Good to know. What about if this truck gets a flat tire? Can I offer assistance?”
“Sure.” She glanced at him long enough to give him a wink. “Though I can change my own tires.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. But if a client acts like a jerk to you, you want me to just let them?”
She sighed. “I want you to let me handle it. Don’t speak for me. If you do, it feels like you don’t believe I can deal with it. It undermines me.”
“Got it.” He reviewed the conversation with Fred in his mind. He had jumped right in to try to fix things for her. Though she’d jumped right in after him and put both him and Fred into their place. “I’ll try to keep my mouth shut in the future. If I mess up again, tell me.”
She grinned and there was evil lurking there. “Oh, trust me, I will.”
Wes pretended to cower into his corner of the truck and she laughed outright. He could listen to that sound all day. So bright and soothing, like water in a fountain. “Is it sexist if I offer to buy you a sandwich? It’s far past lunchtime.”
“Um…” She glanced at the dashboard clock. “I guess we have time.”
“Don’t tell me you usually work right through lunch.”
“I’ve got a packed schedule!” She shrugged. “Besides, that’s what granola bars are for.”
She had been living like a workaholic for too long. “You can’t exist on granola bars and do the kind of physical work we do. Plus, that’s just kind of sad. You live in a town with one of the best delis I’ve ever been to. I dreamed about their turkey with avocado on sourdough bread for over a decade. Are you really going to tell me that you don’t ever go there and get lunch?”
They were at an intersection and she rolled her eyes at him, but turned toward
Main Street. “The Redwood Deli it is. And yes, I admit, I haven’t had one of their sandwiches in a long time.”
“This is why you need me to help you with your practice. So you can eat a real lunch a few days a week.” He looked out the window as they drove past the park, with its towering redwood trees standing sentinel by the creek that gave the town its name. “Granola bars,” he muttered. “Please.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed but she was pressing her lips together to disguise her smile. She guided the truck into a parking spot. “Let’s go get your sandwiches,” she said as she shut off the engine. “I hope they are as good as you remember them.”
They were better. Wes sank his teeth into another satisfying mouthful of turkey and pickles and lettuce and avocado and felt another one of his dreams come true. How often, living on his tiny wages, eating cereal for dinner, had he dreamed of sitting here in this park, under these majestic trees, eating this sandwich? Now, here he was and the moment was even better than he’d imagined.
His years of poverty had been behind him for a while now, but they were always there, under the surface, reminding him how lucky he was to have enough. To have more than enough.
Emily bit into her sandwich across the picnic table. “Mmm,” she said, swallowing and dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. “That is amazing.”
“It’s nice to stop for lunch, right?” Wes pointed up to the redwood trees above them. “This has to be the best lunch spot on the planet.”
“Where did you eat lunch in Texas?”
“It depends. Usually work took me out into the more rural areas, so I packed a lunch. Peanut butter and jelly, mostly.”
She grinned. “That’s what I ate when I was a kid.”
“It’s cheap, doesn’t have to be refrigerated, and it works.”
“So there’s a very practical side to you.” Emily shot him an appraising glance. They might be joking around about lunch but she was trying to figure him out. Good. Because he was trying to do the same, with her.
“I’m very practical. I had nothing for so many years that now I’m pretty careful with what I have.”
“Except when it comes to deli sandwiches,” she said, taking a bite of hers.
“Ah, but not just any deli sandwich. This one. The one I remembered all the time I was gone.”
The humor left her eyes. “Glad you remembered something.”
Wes set his sandwich down. “I remembered you. Why do you think I came back here?”
Emily swallowed her bite in a gulp, her eyes wide. “I guess that’s what we’re both trying to figure out.” She waved her sandwich at him. “I can’t believe I haven’t gone to this deli more often.”
“Maybe that’s why I came back to Shelter Creek. To get you to eat a good lunch once in a while.”
“Do not push your luck, Wes Marlow.” Her smiling gaze caught his and he felt it like summer sun on his skin.
“Is that Emily?” A man in a sheriff’s uniform was striding through the park toward them. Wes noticed his car parked on the street. Emily turned around, then waved to the sheriff. “Adam, what’s going on?”
The man stopped by the picnic table and looked Wes up and down. “Wes Marlow, back in Shelter Creek.”
Wes squinted at him, trying to remember. Dark hair, dark eyes, a big, good-looking guy who filled out his uniform…
“I’m Adam Sears. We went to high school together.”
Wes suddenly placed the name with a much skinnier, smaller version of the man in front of him. “I remember you. We were on the track team together, right?”
“We were. Welcome back. I think I have something that belongs to you.”
“What?” For a confusing moment Wes tried to think of what he could have left with Adam so many years ago. Then he heard a bark from the sheriff’s car and it all came clear. “Rex?”
“I found him running along the road. I think he was looking for you.”
Wes stood. “I wonder how he got out?”
Adam laughed. “He’s a husky. Those dogs can climb any fence if they’ve got a mind to.”
This wasn’t good. “How did you find me here?”
“Shelter Creek is a small town. I called the cell phone on Rex’s tag and got your voice mail. I remembered you, and figured you must be visiting Emily’s parents, so I called them. They said you were probably with Emily today, but I could leave Rex with them. I was on my way to their house when I spotted Emily’s truck.”
“Nice detective work, Sheriff.” Emily held up a hand and Adam high-fived her.
“I really appreciate all your effort,” Wes said. The delicious sandwich soured in his stomach. Rex could have been hit by a car, or lost in the woods.
“I’ll call my parents and let them know that we have your dog.” Emily pulled out her phone.
Wes started for the sheriff’s car, Adam beside him.
“So you’re back in town after all this time? Sure glad to know you’re okay.” Adam shot him a bemused look. “You gave everyone around here a pretty good scare back then. They had missing person posters up, search teams out looking, the works.”
Wes stopped in his tracks. It had never have occurred to him that the whole town would have been involved when he ran away. But of course they would. Meg, Tom and Emily would have left no stone unturned, trying to make sure he was okay. “I left town to deal with a family problem. I never thought everyone would go looking.”
“This is Shelter Creek. Of course everyone would look for you. This town is like that, in case you didn’t notice in the years you spent here.”
Wes had been young and scared and trying so hard to fit in. He hadn’t noticed much beyond that. He’d loved it here, but part of him always felt like an outsider. Still, when he left, they’d all tried to find him. Wes turned the idea over in his mind with a sense of awe.
“Where’d you pick up that accent of yours?”
Wes grinned. “A whole lot of years in Texas.”
Adam nodded. “I guess that explains the cowboy hat, too. What brought you back here?”
“The weather.”
Adam glanced back at Emily. “Uh-huh. I figure you have a few more reasons than that.”
Wes grinned. “Maybe.” They reached the truck and Rex let out a yip of recognition, his nose poking through the partially open rear window. “Thanks so much for picking him up,” Wes said. “He’s a good dog. He’s just used to being with me all day. I guess he got worried.”
“You might need to leave him with a dog sitter.” Adam opened the car door. Rex leaped out and into Wes’s arms and he staggered back under the unexpected weight, rubbing the dog’s fuzzy ears and accepting a few kisses on the cheek.
“That’s enough,” he told Rex. “Party’s over. Now sit.” Rex sat obediently.
“That’s a well-trained dog,” Adam said.
“Unless he’s been told to stay in the yard, apparently.” Wes motioned toward Emily. “Want to come sit with us while we eat?”
Adam shook his head. “Nah, I’ve got a lot to do. But it’s great to see you. What are you doing Wednesday night? There’s all-you-can-eat pizza and cheap beer at Dex’s Ale House. I’m going to shoot some pool with a few buddies. You probably remember a couple of them. Caleb Dunne? Jace Hendricks?”
Wes tried to place the names. Jace Hendricks was the rancher that Fred had mentioned earlier today and it had sounded familiar. “I’m not sure.”
“They were on the high school rodeo team.”
“Oh. The cool kids.” Wes and Adam both smiled. Everyone had looked up to the kids on the rodeo team at Shelter Creek High School.
“Now that you’re such a cowboy, you should fit right in. Let us buy you a beer.”
“Sure. Assuming there are no veterinary emergencies, I’ll be there.”
Adam looked startled. “You’re a vet? Like Emily?�
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“Yes I am. I’m working with her this week.”
The deputy shook his head in wonder. “You two were always together in high school. What are the chances you ended up in the same career?”
“We both liked helping her dad.” Wes glanced back toward Emily. She was still talking on her cell phone. “I’d better get back. We don’t have much more time for lunch.”
Adam followed his gaze. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Emily around town grabbing lunch.” He winked at Wes. “Must be the weather.”
Wes laughed. “It’s definitely the weather.”
Adam clapped a hand to his shoulder. “Great to have you back, safe and sound. Hope to see you Wednesday.”
“Thanks again for the invitation. And for finding Rex. I’ll make sure he doesn’t have a chance to get out again.”
Adam gave him a thumbs-up and got into his car. Wes returned to Emily, Rex trotting at his heels.
Emily set her phone down as they approached. “My parents say hello. So this is your dog?”
“Rex, meet Emily.”
Rex sat and held out a paw, a trick Wes was especially proud of.
Emily glanced at Wes, eyebrows raised, and shook Rex’s paw. “Nice to meet you, Rex. It seems that someone has taught you well.” She ran her fingers over the fur on the big dog’s back. “Did he climb out?”
“I’ve never left him in a yard during a workday before. He’s always come to work with me. If I have to leave him for just a few hours, he’s fine in the house. He watches the animal channel.”
Emily nodded and Rex licked her knuckles. “He probably panicked. You’re lucky Adam found him.”
“I know.” He watched Rex relax with Emily. She really had a way with animals. She’d found just the right spot behind Rex’s ears and the dog’s eyes were half closed in bliss.
“Why did you name him Rex?”
“You know why.” He started whistling the theme of a film they’d watched together.
“Rex Harrison? From the old Doctor Dolittle movie?”
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