by Cat Johnson
But I was all out of nice at the moment. It had been beaten out of me by Mr. Philbin and the mean people of Mudville.
“We ready?” the animal control officer asked Carson just as Mr. Philbin disconnected his call and stashed the cell in his jacket pocket.
“I sure as hell am,” Philbin said, stepping around the desk.
Carson glanced at me and then nodded to the animal control guy. “Yeah. Follow me over.”
I followed the group out and got into my truck and that’s when it hit me. They were taking her. And I knew what would happen to her next.
The tears blurred my vision as I followed the line of vehicles toward Main Street, led slowly by Carson. The whole thing had the feel of a funeral procession to it. In a way, that’s kind of what it was.
It wasn’t far, but I wished it had been. Every mile brought me closer to the time I’d have to say goodbye to my little girl. I’d be doing it with tears in my eyes and I was sure that bastard Philbin would notice and probably take great joy in the fact he’d broken my spirit. And at this point there was no denying it was good and broken.
Then what? Once they’d taken her and left, what would I do with myself?
The dead last thing I wanted to do was go back to that shop, stand behind the cash register and smile. I just didn’t have it in me. I was done. At least for today.
If Gretchen couldn’t come in to cover, I’d just stay closed for the day. I’d incur the wrath of the shoppers who just didn’t get that a solo entrepreneur needed a day off sometimes. And I’d lose a day’s worth of sales. But I didn’t have a choice. If one more person said something to me about that calf, I was going to lose it.
The whole situation was too much. How could I watch them pick her up and toss her in the back of the Animal Control van? But how could I not be there for her?
As Carson pulled up in front of my place, I knew it was going to take me a long time to get over this. If I ever did.
Carson paused, waiting for me to park in the driveway and get out of the truck.
“Ready?” he asked.
“No,” I said honestly.
He reached out like he was going to touch my shoulder, then dropped his hand, as if he thought better of it.
At least he didn’t take joy in this, unlike that rotten Philbin.
The Animal Control van pulled up next to us. “Where is it?”
It. Like she wasn’t even a living animal. I opened my mouth to answer but didn’t know if I’d get the words out. Instead, I pointed toward the carriage house.
Carson, watching me, answered, “The calf’s in there.”
The guy frowned. “You know, you can’t keep livestock in the village.”
“I know. It was only temporary,” I said, annoyed even in my distressed state.
“You wanna let us in?” Carson asked, watching me.
“No, but I suppose I will so you don’t arrest me.”
Carson pressed his lips together and drew in a breath but didn’t reply.
When all this was over—long, long over—I was going to owe him an apology.
Until then, I stomped to the door. I gripped the handle and tugged, sliding the big wooden door along the metal rail and exposing my makeshift pen.
“She’s in there,” I said, not looking yet as I braced myself to face my little girl after I’d failed her.
“Where?” Carson asked.
“Right th—” I stopped mid word as I turned and saw the pen was empty. “What the heck?”
I stepped inside and looked around the piles of clutter I’d had to move to make room for the pen. There was barely room to walk, forget about space for a calf to hide, no matter how small. But maybe, with as frightened as she was, she’d wedged herself behind something.
“What are you trying to pull here?” Philbin asked, the accusation clear in his tone.
“I’m not trying to pull anything.” I spun toward him, hands on my hips.
“You’re saying it just escaped?” he spat, looking doubtful.
“Since this calf escaped from you just four days ago and you’re the expert stock handler running a supposedly professional operation, what makes it so inconceivable that she could escape from my carriage house? Huh?”
Carson, playing the sleuth, had his flashlight out and was searching the area.
“The back door is ajar,” he said, before moving back to the pen I’d created. “And this barricade has a couple of gaps big enough I imagine a small calf could have squeezed out.”
“That means she’s out there again on the loose.” Worse, I’d heard it was supposed to be bitter cold tonight.
“So, you’re not going to arrest her?” Philbin asked Carson.
I’d been so worried about the once again missing calf, I hadn’t realized I needed to be worried for myself. I shot a concerned glance at Carson and wondered if I had enough money in the bank to pay Dee Flanders and make bail if I ended up in jail and needed a lawyer.
“No, sir. I’m not,” Carson said, allaying my fear.
Philbin sighed. “I’m heading back to the office.”
“Aren’t you going to search for her?” I asked him.
“No, Miss Meyer. I’ve wasted enough time on this already. I think I’ll let you search, since you have so much experience in livestock search and rescue. You let me know when you find it. Then I’ll send somebody over to pick it up.” The son of a bitch even had the nerve to grin at me before he turned to walk away.
Over my dead body would I let him know if I found that calf again. This time I’d drive her over state lines if I had to, just to keep her away from this miserly man.
But none of that would be a concern if I couldn’t find her. Carson came back to me after speaking to the Animal Control officer. He stood next to me and stared at the empty pen.
“What if I can’t find her again?” I asked.
“We’re on Main Street. Somebody’ll spot her.” He turned to face me. “And if they report it, I’ll give you a call. Okay?”
“You’d do that for me? Even after the way I’ve treated you today?” I asked.
“Of course. I know you’re upset and you have every right to be. That guy is a dick. You know I’m on your side, right? But at the same time, I do have to do my job.”
“I know.” I had to admit, Carson was a really good guy.
He’d make some girl a great boyfriend. Too bad I was so hung up on Cash, that girl couldn’t be me.
“Oh, and I don’t have anything new for you on the stuff you found in the attic over on Second Street.”
Jeez. That whole thing with the missing—and then found—cape felt like a lifetime ago. “Thanks for the update.”
“No problem.” He looked like he was about to go and then hesitated. “One more thing.”
“Yeah?”
“I just want you to know the only reason I haven’t asked you out again is because I’m pretty sure you’ve got a thing for Cash.”
Shocked, I opened my mouth, thinking I should deny it but not sure I could.
Carson held up a hand to silence my protest. “But, if it turns out I’m wrong about that and you wanna get together some night, you have my number.”
He didn’t wait for an answer. Instead he spun and walked toward his vehicle parked along the curb.
As he paused with the door open, he called back, “Good luck finding your calf.”
Carson had just driven away and I hadn’t even had time to come up with a plan for my new search yet when Harper’s car skidded to a stop in the driveway.
She was out of the driver’s seat and to me in seconds.
“What’s happening? You didn’t answer my texts. And Bethany hadn’t heard from you either.” Her gaze cut to the empty pen. “Uh oh. Where’s the cow?”
I blew out a breath. “I wish I knew.”
THIRTEEN
Cash
“Where have you been?” Stone asked.
“Nowhere,” I said as I moved to grab a bale of hay to toss
to the horses for their afternoon feeding.
Stone crossed his arms over his chest and watched me. “First you run out of here without a word, then you disappear for well over an hour. And now you say you’ve been nowhere.”
“I’m not saying I agree with your summary of my afternoon, but all right, let’s say I do. What’s your point?” I asked.
Annoyed, as I’d hoped, Stone let out a huff. “My point is, you had to be some place.”
Actually, I’d been many places. Red’s carriage house, where I’d nabbed the calf. The old shed on the back of our property here, where I’d stashed the calf.
My secret errand took longer than I’d hoped it would and I’d been missed.
The calf was young, so I’d had to feed it with a bottle and set it up with enough straw it could stay warm until I could slip it in with our calves. But I couldn’t do that until I had time to remove the auction house’s ear tag. That was evidence I wanted gone.
Stone didn’t need to know any of that.
“Nope. I wasn’t anywhere.” I shook my head, then pinned Stone with a stare. “Shouldn’t you be with your girl? She seemed pretty upset last I saw her.”
“Harper went over to Red’s. She figured Red would need the support after they came and took back the calf.”
“Hmm. Good idea.” I nodded.
It was all I could do to control my grin knowing that the auction company wasn’t getting that calf back. Not today. Not while I was around to prevent it.
Of course, Red wouldn’t know I had the animal. I’d left the back door open so they’d think it could have gotten out on its own and not blame her.
Did they believe that? Did Red? What was she thinking right now?
It could be pretty much anything. And she could be just as upset as if they had taken the calf from her. At that sobering thought I no longer had trouble controlling my grin.
I needed to finish these chores and get over to her place.
Whether I was going to tell her the truth or not was still up in the air in my mind. I wanted her to have plausible deniability.
If she didn’t know what had happened, she couldn’t be blamed for it. If I got caught, I wanted it to fall on me, not her.
God willing, I wouldn’t get caught. My father would flip. And Morgan Farm didn’t need that kind of negative press.
Even if all I did was provide more suitable accommodations for my friend’s calf that she’d found roaming the streets of Mudville, I was probably technically breaking the law.
If the stock company found out what I’d done and decided to come after me, I could get in a lot of trouble. Red hadn’t stolen the calf the way folks had accused her of doing, but by moving it out of her place, I suppose they could say I had stolen it.
I’d been raised that only bad people stole. Funny, I didn’t feel like a bad guy.
Not after hearing from Harper about how mean people were being to Red and seeing it for myself on her Facebook post. Then, hearing how the auction owner wouldn’t even accept our money to buy the calf fair and square—it had all forced my hand.
Had everyone acted like decent human beings from the beginning, that calf would be bought and paid for and happily living with the Morgan calves. But, as it turned out, there were a few real nasty apples spoiling the Mudville barrel.
Hell, I guess I could always throw some cash in an envelope and shove it under the auction company’s door. That way I could walk away with a clear conscience and they wouldn’t be out the small amount the tiny thing would have gotten them at the sale.
But I still had to figure out what to do about Red.
How could I ease her mind about the calf without tipping my hand? That one would be a lot harder to accomplish than paying back the stock company.
Stone was still there staring at me as I pondered my next course of action. I had to get him off my case. Then I had to get the horses fed so I could get the hell out of here and over to Red’s place to see what state she was in.
“You going to stand there like the King of England watching me? Or you gonna help?” I asked, figuring that would accomplish both tasks.
Stone scowled, grumbling something about kings and queens I didn’t have much interest in listening to. But he did walk over and start filling the feed buckets while I threw more hay into the stalls.
Mission accomplished. At least the two most immediately pressing issues had been handled. Stone was busy and no longer talking and the horses were being fed.
Hopefully the rest of my issues would be resolved as easily and smoothly.
Red was in the store when I walked in the door about an hour later. Gretchen was behind the register but the customer standing at the counter wasn’t there to buy anything from what I could see.
It looked like she was there to yell at Red. And though Red stood silently and took the dressing down, I could see she was seething inside. Her cheeks were flushed. Her breathing short and rapid.
She looked about as stressed as I feared she would. But I’d been assuming she’d be upset after finding the calf missing. Not from getting more abuse from the less than fine citizens of Mudville. And abuse was the best word I could come up with given the incredibly cruel things the woman was saying to Red.
“I bet you stole that calf and let it loose just so you could post about it on Facebook. That’s what this reward you set up is really about. Not the calf. It’s all to get publicity for your shop, you . . . you . . . social media whore,” the horrible woman spat.
The word whore pushed me over the edge as much as the ridiculous accusation.
“All right. That’s enough.” I stepped forward and grabbed Red’s arm, taking only enough time to get a good look at the face of the woman who would be going on my shit list before I steered Red away and into the office.
I didn’t stop there and reached for the knob on the back door. I glanced at her before opening it.
“Your girl okay here alone if we leave?”
She nodded. The color in her cheeks had started to fade, leaving her pale and looking shell shocked.
It was more than time to get the fuck out of this place. I opened the door and pulled her through and outside with me.
I was well versed with Red’s carriage house after the last couple of days. I got us inside and closed the door, before bringing her over to the staircase and setting her up on the bottom step. That put her eye level with me so I could really get a good look at her and assess what level of damage I’d have to fix after she’d been emotionally attacked.
I was still fuming at how she’d been treated, feeling protective of this woman who didn’t deserve any of the bull shit that had been thrown at her.
“You okay?” I asked, gripping her forearms, not willing to let her go.
She responded with a move that was half nod, half head shake, which gave me enough of an answer to know she was not okay.
I let out a sigh, wishing I could fix this with one well aimed punch at the offending party. Unfortunately, from what I’d seen, heard and read, there were a lot of assholes who had hurt her. And half of them were women. I couldn’t solve this one with my fists.
She drew in a stuttering breath. “How can people be so mean about the reward? All I want to do is find her.”
“What reward?” I asked.
I’d been confused about what the bitchy woman had been referring to, but it hadn’t been the time to stop and ask questions.
“I posted on Facebook that I’d give a cash reward of two hundred dollars to anyone who caught the calf. I was only trying to make sure she was found. It’s so cold and she’s out there hungry and probably scared.” Her voice broke on the last word as the tears started to flow.
“Shh. It’s okay.” I pulled her closer to me, trying to calm her fears without telling her the truth.
“No. It’s not okay. I should have built a better pen. I should have made sure the back door was locked. It’s my fault—”
“Red—”
“If sh
e dies, it’s because of me." She talked over me, her voice shaking as she did. “It’s going to be below zero tonight—"
“Red. Stop. I have her.” I pulled back far enough to see her face at my revelation.
In the waning light of late afternoon coming in the window on the staircase, I saw her frown. “What?”
The cat was out of the bag now. Might as well admit the truth. “I heard they were coming to take her away so I made sure I got here first.” I lifted a shoulder.
Her eyes widened as she gripped my shoulders. “You have her?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“She’s safe?”
“Yes.”
“At your farm?”
“Yes.”
For the first time today, her face brightened . . . then I couldn’t see her face anymore as she pulled me to her and crashed her lips into mine.
It wasn’t the reaction I’d expected, but I wasn’t going to complain. Oh no. Instead, I kissed her back, wrapping her in my arms and enjoying my reward for playing the hero.
The kiss quickly went from gratitude to something much more. It wasn’t long before I realized we needed to move to someplace a little more private.
With my tongue in her mouth and the hard-on from hell straining to get out of my jeans, I considered how I hadn’t locked the carriage house door behind us.
Even knowing I had to stop, I couldn’t help myself as I ran my hands down her body, pressing her closer against me and enjoying the pressure of her body against mine as I did.
I groaned as I forced myself to break the kiss, if not the embrace. I liked her against me, even if it would look pretty bad if someone walked in and caught us.
“We shouldn’t do this here.” But damn, I really wanted to do more of this.
She audibly swallowed and nodded, looking about as dazed as I felt. Her gaze met mine. “You really came and got her? For me?”
I let out a short laugh. “Of course. I’d do anything for you.”
“Come upstairs.” Her voice was husky, her cheeks flushed, her eyes narrowed.
The way she looked and the way I felt, for better or worse, she didn’t have to ask me twice.