Claiming Her Innocence

by Vivian Wood

  “I heard it, Mom,” Rose answered patiently, scratching Alexis under the chin when she ambled over for attention.

  “Really, Rose, you ought to just move here.”

  Rose paused, thinking of all the things that stood in her way, and then how to explain them to her mother.

  Instead, she sighed. “How’s it going?”

  “Oh, amazing. Did you know that they have alligators on the beach?”

  “Uh… nope.”

  “Well, sometimes when the water is brackish, like on an inlet, there are gators. And they’re so much bigger here than in Louisiana…”

  She let her mother chatter for a bit about what sorts of wildlife she’d seen recently; they lived on a mostly private beach, not the kind with white sand.

  “Well,” her mother said and sighed. “Have you heard anything from… him?”

  “Umm… no,” she said. “Not a word. I told you he’d vanish once I wasn’t immediately visible.”

  Her mother made a disapproving sound.

  “I really wish you’d—”

  “You know what?” Rose interrupted, her patience wearing thin. “It’s a new day. No one wishes the past was different more than I do, but the facts are just that. Facts. So… let’s move on.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, honey. I know you’re right.”

  “I’m going to look at the old veterinarian’s office today, try to see what I can make of it,” Rose said, changing the subject.

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll turn out something groovy. The spirits seem to view your project pretty favorably.”

  Rose bit back a retort about what the spirits thought, thinking it was about time to wrap this conversation up.

  “Yep. Listen, I should get dressed. Gotta go walk the dogs and all that stuff still.”

  “Okay, Rosie. I’ll tell Jake you said hi.”

  “Okay. Love you. Bye!” she said.

  She hung up and turned to the dogs.

  “Grandma’s a little touched in the head, isn’t she?” Rose crooned to Elvira, who wagged her tail at the tone of her voice. “Yes, yes she is.”

  She showered, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and walked the dogs. She also made sure she fed the turtles, who were living in and around the broken fountain in her backyard.

  “Hey!”

  Rose turned to find Jack, the six-year-old that lived in the next house over, standing just on the other side of her yard.

  “Hi, Jack,” she said. Jack was the only local she’d managed to meet, and she wasn’t sure he counted. After all, he wasn’t exactly interested in her.

  Jack skipped through the fence, and went to his knees before the dogs. “Dogs! Dogs dogs dogs!”

  Rose laughed. He had the same level of enthusiasm for animals as she’d had at his age.

  “Hey, whatcha got here?” he said, rising. The dogs went with him, as a matter of course.

  “I’m raising some box turtles in the fountain,” she said. “It’s so warm here most of the year, it’s the perfect spot. They’re still trying to figure out what’s what, though.”

  “Cool,” he said, putting his hands behind his back and looking with his eyes. A little something she’d taught him, despite not being very good with kids.

  They’d only met two days ago, but the kid was obviously an information sponge — and he remembered and respected her rules.

  “Yep. I have to walk my dogs over to my office, but we’ll be back later. Do you want to come say hi around three?”

  Jack’s eyes darted back to his house, and he frowned.

  “My mom might need some help with my brother.” Apparently his mother had just had her second son, which explained why Jack was at loose ends sometimes. “But if she doesn’t need me, I’ll come.”

  “Okay. Well, I’ll see you later,” Rose said.

  “Okay. See you later, Maniac, Alexis, Elvira, and Dasher!” He pointed to each dog as he said goodbye.

  The dogs acted as if he was a rock star for all the fanfare and excitement they showed as they barked and wagged their tails.

  After he left, Rose got the dogs on their leashes, locked up her little house, and walked the six blocks to her office. It was nearly on the other side of town, which struck her as quite funny.

  She was a small town girl, although she’d done her four-year stint of veterinary school in Baton Rouge. But she figured that was still a pretty small town, in the scheme of things.

  Rose had walked around the office before, when they’d offered it to her along with a stipend for agreeing to work out here. Not many new vets probably got such a deal, but Catahoula Creek had a lot of livestock… and they were bound to get sick eventually.

  She looked at the office now. Once a cheerful white clapboard building, now the structure was sagging and gray.

  “Let’s see what’s inside, huh?” she asked the dogs.

  She unlocked the front door and pulled it open, peering inside. It was musty as all get-out, from the front area to the two small patient rooms. The waiting room was nothing to write home about either, just dull and gray like the rest.

  “Well, guys…” she said, knocking on various surfaces. “At least it’s structurally sound, huh?”

  The dogs merely wagged their tails, happy with anything and everything.

  “Hey!” a woman’s voice said.

  Rose turned around and found two nearly identical women standing outside in the parking lot, though one was extremely pregnant.

  “Um, hi?” Rose asked. She wasn’t great at making friends with strangers. They apparently didn’t feel the same, because they both came right in, as if they were comfortable regardless of place or company.

  “I’m Shelby River,” said the not-pregnant one. “This is my sister, Remy.”

  “Hi,” Remy said, offering her hand. “Oh my goodness, who is this?”

  “Rose Elliott,” she said, shaking hands with both of them. “And these are Dasher, Alexis, Elvira, and Maniac.”

  There was a long period of face-kissing and excitement on both ends. Apparently the women really liked animals, as evidenced by their jubilant expressions.

  “So you’re the doctor taking over Dr. Larrett’s place? It’s been empty for far too long,” said Shelby, looking around curiously.

  “Yeah, almost six years,” Remy said, putting her hands on her lower back.

  “Do you need to sit?” Rose asked Remy, frowning.

  Remy laughed. “Shelby’s been saying the same thing, but I feel like walking.”

  “Pppfttt, until you get too tired and I have to drag you the block home.” Shelby rolled her eyes. “Remy lives like a block from you, in the big blue house.”

  “Oh?” Rose said.

  “Yeah, her husband insisted on being closer to town,” Shelby said, sighing dramatically. “You don’t have a ring on. Are you single? Single girls like to mingle…”

  “Uhhh… yes…”

  “Don’t pay her any mind,” Remy said. “Seriously.”

  “So where are you from? Why did you move out here?” Shelby asked.

  “Shelby!”

  “It’s okay. I’m from Sarepta originally, so this is pretty familiar to me. I went to school in Baton Rouge, this is sort of… moving home.”

  She forced herself not to make a face.

  “Oh, nice,” Shelby said. “Veterinarian’s a good gig, I bet.”

  “I got a job offer here making substantially more than anywhere else, so this is where I plan to be as long as you guys will have me.”

  Remy smiled. “You’ll probably tire of us before we tire of you.”

  “We’ll see,” Rose said with a half-smile. The sisters were charming, that was plain enough to see.

  “Hey, since we’re talking to you, could I make like… an early appointment? I’ve got a mare that’s like three hundred days into foaling, and she keeps lying down in the shade. Like, every day. I’m worried.”

  “Shelby, Dr. Elliott might not even be open for business,” Remy chastised her si
ster.

  “I am open for business,” Rose said, “and it’s Rose, please.”

  Shelby slid her sister an I told you so look.

  “So can you come out and take a look at her?”

  “Sure,” said Rose. “No problem. I could maybe come now, if you think it’s urgent.”

  “Nah,” Shelby said. “I think she’s just tired of gestating that foal. Right, Remy?”

  Remy turned pink. “Pick a time for her to come out to the farm, Shelby. I think I’m gonna start moseying toward the house.”

  “It was nice to meet you,” Rose said.

  “Seriously, come over whenever. Well, call first, in case I’m gone. I’m in the phone book under Braxton River.”

  “Bye, Rose. Bye, dogs!” Remy said.

  Shelby gave each dog a final pat, then waved to Rose.

  With that, the two of them walked slowly off into the distance.

  “What do you know? Survived my first locals.”

  She patted Alexis for a minute, then closed up shop. She headed back to her house, making a mental list of repairs to be done.

  Paint, for sure. The gutters needed a good cleaning, the driveway area needed to be recovered with rocks. Everything needed a good hard sweep and dust. She’d need to make some small modifications to the exam rooms…

  She walked back to her house slowly, then helped the dogs into her aging Volvo. She’d found out yesterday that they could go into the Paint N Things hardware store with her, seeing another person carrying a ladder out with a dog following close behind.

  “Organize!” she warned the dogs.

  Dasher took point in the front seat, the other three sitting in the back seat calmly.

  “Thank you.”

  She turned and started to back out, then paused.

  Walking in the distance, visible in her rearview mirror, was Jared fucking Chalke.

  Jared Chalke.

  Jared Chalke could not be walking past her house.

  It was possible, but she’d moved away from Sarepta to get away from him.

  Yet there he was. Blond hair, flashing blue eyes, big megawatt smile. He wore a some sort of uniform, as if he were working.

  And his hands…

  She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at his hands. Remembering the feel of those callused palms as they crept under her dress, as they held her still. The smile on his face as he laughed at her pathetic struggles.

  He got her panties down, ripped them off, there in the back seat of his pickup. She’d been shaking and crying so hard, he had to slap her a couple of times to quiet her.

  Shut up, he’d said. You want it, so I’m gonna give it to you. You’ll never forget me…

  And after, when he’d made her climb out of the pickup, he’d thrown her torn panties at her…

  Stupid slut… he’d said, then pulled off with a squeal of tires.

  She felt the familiar burn of shame in her chest. I am a modern woman, she reminded herself. It’s not my shame to bear…

  Suddenly Rose’s hands tightened on the wheel, and she came back to the present. She looked again, couldn’t immediately see him. Had she imagined him?

  Fuck you, Jared Chalke, she thought. No more…

  She threw her car into reverse, backing out haphazardly. She nearly backed right into a beautifully restored red Ford truck, sending the dogs skittering for footholds.

  She didn’t care, though. She needed to go, needed to drive. That was the only thing that would ease this tightness in her chest, make the tingling in her hands fade away.

  Rose threw the car into drive and punched the gas as hard as she could.

  No more, she promised herself. It wasn't him. You aren’t going to have a panic attack. You are not going to have a panic attack…

  With that thought riding her, she drove out of town as fast as she could.

  4

  Colt pulled his truck up outside the address he had written down. This was the spot where he’d seen the little blue Volvo speed off the day before; the Volvo now sat in the driveway, unmoving.

  Ahh, he thought. Maybe the new veterinarian has a need for speed… and little in the way of peripheral vision.

  He turned off the engine, listening to it settle. The classic red 1968 Ford F-100 was his baby. Having a truck around to haul trailers and equipment was essential on a farm, but it also proved useful in other ways.

  Leaving the keys in the ignition, he got out of the truck. He checked out the house, which was one of the older rentals in town. It was one-story, with an oddly flat roof and a postage stamp-sized lawn. The house was maybe yellow once, but was now so sun-bleached that it was impossible to know for sure.

  He walked up to the front door. The second his boots hit the concrete, a clamoring of dogs made their presence known inside the house.

  He stopped, his brows shooting up.

  He’d grown up around Catahoula curs, a local breed of dog. They were underfoot everywhere you went on Roman Ranch, always trying to help… and get some bits of human food in the process.

  This wasn’t quite the same, though. The curs knew him, these dogs didn’t. A man with one foot missing knew better than most what he didn’t want to run from…

  Blowing out a breath, he moved forward to knock on the faded blue door. Honestly, he was a little surprised that the vet hadn’t already come to see what the ruckus was.

  He knocked on the door once, then again.

  No answer.

  He looked back at the Volvo in the driveway, then at the lights on behind the curtains.

  What was he supposed to do, leave a note?

  Colt heard a noise from the backyard. He walked around the house, and came upon quite a scene.

  A woman with dark, waist-length hair wet from the shower, was trying to break into the house in nothing but a towel. The towel hid enough, but he could see the outline of her breasts, a goodly portion of each leg, the delicate but proud curve of her neck.

  She was completely, utterly gorgeous. Her skin was beautiful, tan and without blemish. Colt thought she might be a mix of Mexican or Native American.

  Whatever she was, she was hot. She was breathtaking, as a matter of fact…

  She caught sight of Colt, and screamed.

  “Whoa!” Colt said, holding up his hands and backing away. “I’m just here to help, uhh… with the veterinary office?”

  The woman tried to pull the towel around more of herself, pressing a hand to her throat. She looked panicked. Her face was bright red with embarrassment; Colt felt a little bad for checking her out a second ago.

  Damn, though.

  “I— That is, I’m locked out,” she confessed. Her accent was local, he could tell that much. He lowered his hands.

  “I could take a look at the door, if you want,” he offered. “Not that my lock picking skills are really on par, or anything…”

  She gave him a long look, then backed away from the door.

  “Um, I’m Colt Roman, by the way,” he said, looking at the door.

  “Rose,” she said, looking around nervously. “Rose Elliott.”

  “You must be the new vet, then,” he said, keeping his eyes on the door.

  “Yeah.”

  He glanced over at her, saw that she was still painfully embarrassed. “Let me get something out of my car to jimmy the lock with.”

  Her mouth turned down at the corners, but she just looked away and nodded.

  Colt fetched two bobby pins that some girl had left in his truck. He hurried back and got down on one knee.

  As he worked, he chatted, to keep things from getting too weird. Or, at least weirder than they already were.

  “Is that your blue Volvo out front?”

  She nodded, biting her lower lip, but didn’t answer.

  “You almost hit me yesterday,” he said. “I’m the red Ford truck.”

  “Oh. Uh… sorry,” she said.

  He looked at her, and she visibly got more red. So he turned back to what he was do
ing. Within a minute, he had the door unlocked.

  “You should fix that,” he said, nodding to the lock as he stood. “Anybody can get in.”

  “Okay,” she said, starting to open the door. She paused, unsure what she should do. “Umm, thanks.”

  “Wait—” he said as she started to close the door on him. “I’m supposed to help you with the renovations to the vet clinic.”

  “Oh. Ummm… I’ll meet you there. In a few hours, I guess?” she said.

  “Like… two? Three?” he asked.

  “Two!” she said, then shut the door in his face.

  Colt blinked. Jeez, and Sawyer thinks I’m careless?

  He looked at his watch. Maybe he could go see his brother, grab a bite.

  He went back around the house, setting off another frenzied barking session. Climbing back into his truck, he pulled out and drove the short distance to Sawyer’s house.

  Sawyer was in the front yard, carrying Shiloh around. Colt parked and jumped out.

  “Hiiiiiiii!” Shiloh said from his place riding on Sawyer’s back.

  “Hey,” Sawyer said. “Remy needed some boy-free time.”

  “Ahh. Where are you off to?”

  “Diner. You wanna come?”

  “Sure,” Colt agreed. “Hey, I met the new vet.”

  “Oh yeah? Is he anywhere as mean as the old guy?”

  “Uhhh…” Colt said. He considered telling his brother everything, then kept the conversation light. “It’s a she. She got locked out of her place, so I jimmied her lock.”

  Sawyer’s brows lifted. “Oh yeah?”

  “Come on, it wasn’t like that.”

  Colt started across the street to the only restaurant in town, Roxie’s Diner. It was all chrome and red leather, inside and out, classic diner style.

  “No?”

  “No,” Colt said, shaking his head. “Although… she is worth looking at.”

  “Ahhh, now the truth comes out.”

  They entered the diner, saying hi to the eponymous Roxie. She was a five foot tall ball of energy, topped with bright red hair that couldn’t be achieved outside of a dye box.

  “Hey boys,” Roxie said, blowing them a kiss. “Sit wherever you want.”