Chauvinistic—maybe by some people’s terms—but to him it was just plain and simple fact that any woman he cared about was going to have to understand that he’d have her safekeeping in mind at all times. Who, at night, would know if she didn’t return home after being called out on emergency? Who would know until she didn’t show up for work that she had run into trouble? Had a wreck? He yanked his thoughts away from her and her business. Or at least he tried. The woman was starting to obsess him. She seemed close to Betty but still she lived all the way in Ranger.
“Earth to Cole,” Sam said, topping off Cole’s coffee. “Did she say when her new equipment is gonna arrive? From what I gather, she did real good in the sale of her other place. Got all new stuff comin’ for the new clinic.”
“I don’t know about all that, but whatever it is it’s supposed to arrive Saturday. I’m working to get everything ready for it.”
Applegate stood up and ambled over to the counter. He was moving slow—limping, too.
“Is something wrong, App?” Cole asked, noticing the way the older man was moving.
Stanley spit several sunflower seeds into the spittoon. “We been helping Norma Sue bottle-feed some ornery baby calves.” Stanley chuckled. “One of ’um got the better of ole App yesterday.”
App grunted. “I’m still sore. The calf decided it was a goat and tried to mow me down.”
“That’s the truth,” Stanley agreed. “If Norma Sue hadn’t grabbed it when she did, ole App might’a got the boot right out of town.”
“Now thar’s an idea,” Sam said, rubbing down the counter.
Cole chuckled listening to them. They always gave each other a hard time. But since they’d all been friends for sixty years or more, it didn’t look as if they were gonna split up or anything.
“So when you movin’ back here, Cole?” App asked, ambushing Cole with the sudden change of subject.
“I’ve told him I need him,” Seth said.
Cole shot him a hard look. “I’m enjoying what I do.”
“Humph,” Sam snorted. “From what I hear you ain’t even got a home ta call yor own out thar. Livin’ in a hotel room ain’t no life fer a man. Especially when he’s got responsibilities back home and good reason fer being there. Yor brother is a newlywed—you should thank about him and also yorself.”
“That’s right. Just like I jest did by beatin’ the socks off this old sourpuss,” Stanley said, jumping several of App’s checkers. “Remember roots are good. Especially fer raising kids.”
“That’s what I’m telling him,” Seth said.
Cole drank his coffee in silence and let them carry on with their ambush.
A few minutes later after avoiding answering their questions and making his escape, Cole and Seth left the diner. Cole couldn’t help thinking that roots were good. Having people around who cared about you and knew you so well they could say anything—might drive some folks crazy but knowing those folks cared about you was a nice feeling. That was what Mule Hollow was made of.
“Some things never change,” he said as he climbed into Seth’s truck.
“Nope. It’s a good feeling, isn’t it?” Seth’s eyes were serious beneath his Stetson.
Cole gave a short half laugh. “You’re trying real hard to make me reconnect, aren’t you, brother?”
“You know I am. I want you here, Cole. Plain and simple. It’s more than just about me needing you at the ranch. It’s where you belong. You always said you were coming home to raise a family. So come home. Settle down. Find a good woman and have that family. Lori would have wanted that for you and you know it.”
Cole didn’t want to get into this and yet…it was unavoidable.
“And what about Susan?” Seth prodded. “If I’m right, there’s something there, isn’t there?”
“Drive, Seth.”
Seth slapped the steering wheel. “I was right. I knew it,” he said. Cranking up the truck, he backed out. “What are you scared of?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s a lie and you know it. Come on, Cole. Talk to me.”
“I have obligations—”
“You and I both know you don’t have anything going that you can’t get out of. And, besides, even if you did, it’s easy enough to plan to come home as soon as those are up.”
It was true. He’d freed himself up before coming here but there was plenty of work that still needed doing. “You know as well as I do that I can walk away from life as I know it at any minute. But that doesn’t mean I want to.”
Seth shot him an irritated look. “Why, because coming home would mean you’d be tied to responsibilities that aren’t so easy to get out of? You’ll never find peace unless you make a stand, Cole. You have to stop running.”
It would mean, also, that he’d be in town—around Susan…as of Sunday he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. “Out on the road I’m able to be happy most of the time…. I’m managing. I’m helping people.” And any disgruntled feelings that would besiege him from time to time could easily be pushed aside and ignored while he worked at solving other people’s problems. “It’s a good way of life for me. Here. Honestly, Seth, I don’t know how it would be. I don’t know if I can handle it.”
And Susan. Well, Susan complicated the situation tenfold.
Seth pulled the truck to the side of the road. “Cole, you can handle anything. With God’s help, you can conquer this fear or sadness or whatever it is. You are not alone. I know without you telling me that you blame God for taking Lori. And I know you felt powerless watching it happen. But, Cole, you have to know you deserve to move forward and have a life, too. One built around roots and family and not driven by anger and sadness and emptiness. You’re my baby brother and I saw you when we lost Mom and Dad. When you hurt you bottle it up. You hold it in—you smile and joke but it’s there. Truth is truth, Cole. And the truth is, it’s time to stop.”
It was seven in the evening when Susan turned into her new driveway. Cole called to say he needed her help with something, but he hadn’t told her what it was. She’d been out nearly all night and was dragging, but her energy level surged upward dramatically on seeing him standing in the doorway.
She’d thought about him almost constantly ever since Sunday. But she’d stayed away. She wanted to be the woman who took away the pain she’d glimpsed in his eyes. It was a dangerous thing to be thinking.
He wore his tool belt today—a reminder that, yes, he worked for her. His lean jaw was scraggly with stubble as if he’d been working as many hours as she had. His wavy brown hair curled from beneath the ball cap and his eyes seemed to light up as she approached. She couldn’t help thinking that the smartest thing she could do was get back in her truck and race in the opposite direction.
But she was no chicken. Or at least she’d never been before. “Hi,” she said and smiled, feeling self-conscious about all she’d revealed to him about her past. She was still amazed that she’d done that.
“I’m glad you could make it out, finally. I hear you’ve been busy the past four days.”
She couldn’t tell if he realized she’d been avoiding him or if he really thought it had all been about being busy…she went with busy. “Very. So what’s up?” she asked, keeping her focus.
He moved aside and let her pass into the building. The caustic scent of stain and varnish hit her. It wasn’t strong enough to cause her eyes to tear up or to run them out of the building but it was there making itself known.
“You look—I, well, I had an idea that I wanted to run by you.”
She almost smiled at the way he’d changed course on telling her she looked tired. Because it was more than obvious that was exactly what was buzzing around in his mind. The fact that he’d decided against saying it was good, so she pretended not to notice as she followed him to the reception desk.
The place looked fantastic. The cedar walls looked beautiful and the cabinetry he’d done in pine, opting to clear-coat it so the wood would s
how and match the light weave of blond running through the red of the cedar. He’d done her counters in the same wood and they looked very rustic.
“I still have to finish out the bathrooms and some cabinets in the dispensary and surgery. The front area is done, except for adding a clear coat to the front of the reception desk and the counter. I waited to do that because I had this idea about putting a few brands on them first. What do you think?”
Susan’s interest peaked. “That sounds interesting. Like take a bunch of different people’s brands and burn them into the wood?”
“Exactly!” He beamed at her. “I figured you’d get the idea pretty quick. What do you think?”
“I love the idea. I really do.” She met his smile with one of her own and time just sort of sat there between them. Focus, girl, focus.
“Good,” he said. “I had a feeling you would. Follow me,” he drawled, crooking his finger and then heading toward the doors leading into the back area. “I took the liberty to round up a few irons and thought since it’s your building you should have the honor of doing the first brand.”
Oh, boy—wasn’t that thoughtful? A warm sense of pleasure filled Susan and she hushed the small voice yelling “focus” in her head. He had several branding irons heating in a gas warmer and she pulled a few out and recognized the brands. “I really love this idea.” It seemed to be the only phrase she could string together at the moment.
“I’m assuming you’ve handled irons before?”
“Actually, no.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, don’t do branding. Some vets do, some don’t.”
“Not a problem. I’ll show you how it’s done.”
“I really—That sounds great,” she said, catching herself before she repeated herself again.
He grinned. “Then we had better get busy. Are you driving back to Ranger tonight?”
She heard the “you don’t need to” tagged onto the end even though he didn’t say the words. “No. I’m staying here, at the house.”
“That’ll help us get this done, although this shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. Hopefully you won’t have any emergency calls and you can get some rest.”
The man had tried, but hadn’t made it five minutes. But instead of it irritating her as much as before, she felt that same sense of pleasure flowing through her. He seemed genuinely to care about her overworking—if she relaxed a bit, she’d admit that it was a nice feeling. Wasn’t it?
“What brand do you want to start with?” he asked.
“Is the Triple T in there?” she asked, knowing that was the Turner Ranch’s brand.
“Right here.” He pulled it from the batch and handed it to her.
“Then that’s it, in honor of you thinking of this and also for getting me out of a bind.”
“I really love that idea,” he said, his eyes twinkling as he mimicked the way she’d said the words.
She liked the teasing side of him. “Where is Cole and what have you done with him?” she asked.
He reached for a brand, his smile fading. “It’s all me. I can have a lot of fun when I’m not stepping over into someone else’s business.” The side of his lip hitched upward again. “But when a lady isn’t watching out for herself it’s kinda hard for me to keep my mouth shut.”
She thought of Lori and wondered if he was, too. “I think…that’s an irritating, but commendable quality—”
His eyebrows shot upward in surprise. “Susan? Is that you?”
She gave a short laugh at his startled words. “That doesn’t mean I like being bossed around,” she warned him, giving him a look, “but I know you mean well.”
“I do, Susan.”
She heard the sincerity in his words and she believed him…. Her heart caught realizing how much she wanted to believe his actions for her were motivated by more than just concern.
She took a breath and looked at the brand in her hand. It was time to change the direction of the conversation or take the chance of exposing her emotions.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Y-yes. I think this brand has grown cold.” She struggled to sound normal. It was a hard thing to do when she felt as if she were losing control of her heart.
Chapter Seventeen
Cole stared at Susan and felt off-kilter. He’d come up with this idea about the brands the day before, after he and Seth had had their little talk. He’d been in such a foul mood that the last thing he wanted to do was spend time with Susan. Nope, he’d planned to avoid her at all cost, until he finished the job and hit the road. Which would be next week—unless he could get done early.
But this idea was too good to pass up. When it hit him he’d known he was going to have to put off clear-coating everything and call Susan to come out to get her opinion and her help.
Looking at her now, he was almost overcome with the desire to pull her into his arms. He stepped back. He was leaving. Nothing good could come from testing the waters between them. He wasn’t looking for that. He was interested in keeping her safe. And in getting her into her building.
They’d had to put the Triple T brand back into the heater to fire it up again.
“So how do you do this?” Susan asked again as they waited, sounding as if she was searching for something to fill the awkward silence between them.
Cole went with it, needing the distraction. “When you press the iron to the wood, you have to keep it steady. Give it even pressure and it’ll do the work. It’s easy. You ready?”
She nodded.
“Then let’s do this.” He pulled the brand from the heater and handed it to her. Their fingers brushed, drawing their gazes together. He let go instantly. Heading back inside, he held the door for her to pass. “I’m glad you came,” he said, unable to not tell her the truth.
She paused, her eyes serious. “Me, too. I should have come out more. I—I didn’t mean to abandon you during this project but I—Well…” She swallowed hard and he could tell she didn’t know how to move forward.
Welcome to the party.
“Anyway, I’m glad I came.” She hurried through the door and once inside she studied the front of the four-foot wall of the reception desk as if her life depended on getting this right.
Susan was just as mixed-up about what was going on between them as he was. At least that was what he thought. She was probably even more intent than him to keep this business—like she’d said from day one. She’d been right about that. But denying his feelings was getting harder and harder to do. And that was not something he’d anticipated.
Finally, Susan positioned the Triple T’s brand almost perfectly in the center and pressed. The muscles of her arms tightened as she leaned into it.
“You’re doing good,” Cole said, enjoying watching her. Susan liked to get things right. It was obvious in the way she applied herself to anything she did. He liked that, despite worrying about her. He’d come to realize there was much about Susan that he liked, which was exactly where all of this other emotion was coming from.
“Thanks.” She studied the brand, now burned black into the blond wood in a nice contrast. “It’s just a tad off on one side, don’t you think?” Leaning her head slightly to the right she contemplated her work.
“You aren’t going to lose sleep over that, are you?” His teasing got him a glare…but unlike other times, this glare instantly faded to a smile.
“I’m not that much of a perfectionist.”
He grinned. “That’s a relief,” he said, teasing yet totally truthful. “Come on. What do you say we get this show on the road?”
“I say let’s do it!”
They got new irons, and Susan walked back into the front area. She stared at the desk for a long moment and wondered if she was going to line it up perfectly with his brand. He hoped she would do what he’d envisioned and start branding the wood in random order…some slanted, some sideways, some straight.
“Here goes nothing,” she mumbled, then pressed th
e brand at an angle.
Yes! He laughed then took his brand and pressed it beside hers.
“Now, that looks good. Once again, great idea, Cole Turner.”
“Glad to be of service, Doc. It’s working out better than I thought it would.”
It was true, he realized. It had been a long few days and he’d missed her…
The idea flowed through him as if trying to settle in where it wasn’t welcomed.
He had missed her. Very much…
And no matter how much he was trying to deny it—or put off that he was merely feeling things out of concern or in friendship—he couldn’t. Question was, what did it mean? What did he want it to mean?
Susan was trying hard to act normal and not let Cole see the conflicting emotions she was fighting. She’d been doing that a lot lately. Focusing on the branding helped, but when he suddenly grew quiet she raised her gaze to his, just as his brows crinkled and his eyes dimmed.
She couldn’t move as he took a step toward her. The ringing of the phone broke the silence, but not the tension of the moment. When the phone rang in the evening it was usually the dispatch office with an emergency call. Reaching for it, she couldn’t help thinking she had an emergency going on already…one she was not at all prepared to deal with.
Turning her back to Cole, she listened as the dispatcher relayed the message. She could feel Cole’s eyes staring at her the entire time.
“What’s happened?” he asked the moment she hung up the phone.
“Mrs. A. is at the emergency room in Ranger with a broken hip. She’s demanding to see me.” Her heart was pounding as she headed for the door.
“Hold on, let me cut off the furnace,” Cole said, racing out the door into the back area again.
She didn’t slow down. She was already behind the wheel of her truck when he came jogging outside.
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