The Doctor's Cowboy

by Trish Milburn

  She started the car and headed home through the rain that was letting up even more. Her thoughts drifted back to when she was a child, when she would hang out at the hospital while her mom was at work there. Her mother had been a nursing assistant, but she’d been great with the patients, calming them, making them laugh, gifting them with a smiling face and a sympathetic ear.

  Chloe’s memories settled on Beatrice Collins, a tiny slip of an old woman who’d been in the hospital back when Chloe had been about eight years old. Even though it’d been more than two decades since then, Chloe could still remember how very alone Beatrice had looked in her bed. The sad part was that she’d had family. They simply hadn’t come to see her. Chloe’s mom had done what she could to cheer up the older woman, but Beatrice had still died alone in the hospital. Chloe remembered her mother being upset about it, not so much that Beatrice had died but that she’d been so lonely in her final days. Chloe could still hear her mother saying, “I think she died of a broken heart as much as anything.”

  She hadn’t thought of Beatrice in a long time, but the image wouldn’t leave her. Wyatt was out of the woods now and otherwise young and healthy even if he did wear the scars of his trade. Even so, she found herself pulling into a parking space in front of the Primrose Café. Before she could talk herself into driving on home like any sensible person, she got out of her car, walked inside and proceeded to order two meals to go. While she waited, she texted Garrett to let him know the Brody men were on their own tonight without telling them why.

  By the time her order was ready, the rain had moved out. A sliver of the sun setting in the west had found a crack in the clouds and spread out its rays as if comforting the landscape after the storm. She took a deep breath of the rain-scented air before slipping back into her car and retracing the route to the hospital.

  Luckily, the staff seemed to be busy elsewhere as she made her way down the hallway and into Wyatt’s room. “Did you miss me?”

  He looked up from where he was reading the Sports Illustrated and scrunched his forehead in concentration. “Who are you again?”

  She lifted an eyebrow at him. “Just for that, I’m taking this chicken-fried steak to someone who will appreciate it.” She spun toward the door.

  “Wait. Don’t tease a guy like that.”

  Chloe turned halfway toward him and lifted one of the takeout containers. “So you do want this?”

  “I don’t care if you have a gas-station hot dog in there. It’s got to be better than the food here.”

  She honestly felt sorry for the cafeteria workers. They no doubt worked hard and got no love. Still, facts were facts. Hospital food was, as a general rule, dreadful.

  Chloe placed both meals on the rolling table, which Wyatt had positioned in front of him. “Scoot.” She motioned for him to move his legs so she could sit on the edge of his bed.

  Wyatt opened his container and inhaled deeply. “Will you marry me?”

  Chloe froze for a moment before forcing herself to laugh. She hoped he didn’t notice the jolt that went through her at his joking proposal. What was it with Wyatt and all these references to marriage? She seriously needed to get a grip. Just because she’d decided maybe it was time to start her own family before she was too old did not mean she had to latch on to the first guy who crossed her path. Sure, he was good-looking—really good-looking—but you couldn’t base a relationship on looks alone, even if that person didn’t live his life on the road cheating death most of the year.

  Remembering that she hadn’t made any sort of response to his “proposal,” Chloe shook her head and opened her plastic utensils. “I think you might have that concussion after all.”

  Thankfully, he didn’t pursue the topic, instead diving into his meal as if he hadn’t eaten in days. Maybe he hadn’t had a decent dinner in a long time. She’d been around enough rodeo cowboys, especially the ones who weren’t at the top of the rankings, to know they didn’t have enough cash to toss toward pricey food.

  “So, what’s life like in Wyoming? I’ve never been there.”

  He shrugged, and she saw the wince that motion caused.

  “Probably not much different than here, just a lot colder in the winter.”

  “How’d you get into bull riding?”

  “Looked like fun.”

  Chloe stopped eating and stared at him. “You’re going to make me work hard for every scrap of information, aren’t you?”

  He met her gaze. “Frustrating, isn’t it?”

  She knew he was talking about her first name. “Fair point.”

  He took another bite of his gravy-covered chicken-fried steak and chased it with a drink of tea. She’d just taken a bite of her green beans when he spoke again.

  “My grandpa was a rodeo announcer, so I was around rodeo from the time I was young. Can’t really say why I chose bull riding other than I was full of myself, thought I could do anything.”

  “How long have you been riding? I can tell you’ve had several broken bones and probably more cuts and bruises than you can count.”

  “Since I was thirteen in junior rodeo.”

  “I still can’t believe they let kids ride bulls.”

  “They’re not the rank ones you see in rodeos like the other night.”

  “They’re still bulls with horns that can do damage.”

  “Have to learn sometime. Is it any different than being a doctor? When did you know that’s what you wanted to do?”

  She stared at him then sighed. “You need to stop making valid points.”

  He laughed and winced again.

  “Are your injuries causing you pain? We can look at the dosage of the painkillers again.”

  Wyatt shook his head. “No, nothing I can’t handle. I want off those drugs as soon as possible.” The intensity of his words caused her to look at him more closely. Had he experienced a problem with painkillers in the past?

  They ate in silence for a couple of minutes before she noticed Wyatt was watching her.

  “What?”

  “I was wondering why you decided to come back.”

  This time, she was the one to shrug. “I’ve worked here long enough to know how incredibly long and boring the days can be when you’re stuck in the hospital. It’s as if time moves slower inside these walls.”

  “That’s perceptive.”

  She smiled then wiped the edge of her mouth with her napkin. “I like to think I’m a bit smarter than the average bear.”

  “Guess you’d have to be to become a doctor.”

  “It’s certainly not easy. There were times when I didn’t think I could cram one more medical fact in my head or it would explode or start oozing out my ears.”

  “Nice image.”

  She gave a little bow. “Thank you, thank you very much.”

  “You make a habit of this, then?”

  “I’ve been known to spend extra time with patients, watch a movie or two, hand out cupcakes from time to time. I’m probably too softhearted.”

  “No, it’s great. More doctors should be that way.”

  “There are lots of doctors who care or they wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing, especially in small communities like this.”

  “But do they bring their patients dinner or sit and watch TV with them?”

  “Well, no, but I understand the need for distance, especially if you want a long career. Lots of people we see don’t make it, and it carves a little part out of you if you’ve allowed yourself to get close to them.”

  “But you do it anyway.”

  Chloe twirled her fork in her mashed potatoes. “I can’t seem to help it.”

  When Wyatt didn’t say anything in response, she looked up to find him staring at her as if he’d just stumbled upon the eighth wonder of the world. He seemed to reali
ze he was staring and shifted his gaze back to his food.

  “I’m surprised a doctor would bring me fried food.”

  “You shouldn’t eat it every day, but sometimes you just need comfort food. Like when I get sick, I’m going to eat some chicken and dumplings, carbs be damned.”

  When they both finished their meals, Chloe tossed the containers in the trash. She didn’t resume her seat on the edge of the bed, but she picked up the crossword book and flipped through the pages. Wyatt had already completed a dozen of the puzzles.

  “Don’t look so surprised,” he said.

  “What?”

  He pointed toward the book. “You looked surprised I’d done any of those.”

  “You just haven’t had the book that long.”

  “And a rodeo cowboy should have a lot harder time with it?”

  She set the book down on the table and crossed her arms. “That is not what I meant at all. For all I know, there are Mensa members who ride bucking horses and chess champions who do tie-down roping. I think lots of people have hidden talents.”

  “What’s yours?” He appeared to be having a hard time hiding a mischievous grin.

  “I’ll have you know that I’m the family Scrabble champ and have been since I was twelve.”

  “Yeah? Maybe you should broaden your competition.”

  “Is that a challenge, Mr. Kelley?”

  “Only if you’re willing to accept it, Dr. Brody.”

  “Then I guess you’ll have to do everything you’re told so you can get better and we can have a Scrabble duel before you leave.” She took a step back from the side of Wyatt’s bed. “And speaking of leaving, I really am going home this time.”

  “If you’re bored on your days off, you know where I’ll be.”

  She couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  When she stepped out of the room, she nearly collided with Sophie, who was wearing a too-happy smile. “Dr. Brody.”

  Chloe did her best not to utter an “oh, crap” at how loaded those two words from Sophie’s mouth were. She remembered their earlier conversation about the matchmaking pool and wondered if she’d just opened herself up to a full-on assault by Verona Charles and her determination to make sure everyone in Blue Falls got paired up to live happily ever after.

  Perhaps the bigger danger was how much a part of Chloe liked that idea.

  Chapter Four

  Chloe paused in slicing potatoes when she heard a text ping her phone. She activated the touch screen to see it was from Linnea. When she opened the message, it was a photo of the back of Linnea’s wedding gown. The confection of satin, lace and pearl buttons looked as if it were out of a fairy tale. But that was to be expected. Linnea owned one of the nicest bridal stores in Dallas, and she’d snagged herself a prince. Well, not literally a prince, but Michael Benson could certainly treat Linnea like a princess. He was a handsome financial executive who made a good deal of money, and had captured Linnea’s heart in record time.

  A sigh escaped Chloe as she stared at the dress. She was thrilled for her best friend, but she wondered if she’d ever find someone who made her feel the way Michael made Linnea feel.

  Her thoughts drifted to Wyatt Kelley, probably because he seemed to be the only guy on her radar at the moment. Maybe if Wyatt were local, she’d consider seeing if their conversations would lead to something else. She was normally pretty grounded and sensible, but for some reason she had to keep reminding herself that Wyatt would be gone in a matter of days. Besides, there was nothing between them other than some teasing and a few minutes spent together here and there.

  “You okay, sis?”

  Chloe closed the message on her phone before looking over her shoulder at Garrett. “Yeah. Why?”

  “Because you’ve been staring at your phone for over a minute.”

  Surely it hadn’t been that long. Had it? “Linnea just sent a text about her wedding dress.”

  Garrett walked up to the kitchen sink, turned on the water and proceeded to wash his hands. “Hope she has unlimited texting the way she’s sending you photos almost faster than you can open them.”

  “Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration.”

  “Maybe, but I guarantee you Michael isn’t sending photos of his tux and shoes and whatever else to his best man.”

  She bumped his shoulder with her own. “Just because guys are simplistic creatures doesn’t mean we have to be.”

  Garrett turned around and leaned back against the sink. “So you’re telling me that when you get engaged, you’re going to send Linnea fifty photos a day of every little detail?”

  There it was, that crazy reference to her getting married again. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll send them to you and Owen, too.”

  Garrett snorted then headed toward the front door. “Need anything from town?”

  “Nah, I’m good.” Well, except for the memory of Wyatt from her dream springing into her head.

  When Garrett was gone, she went back to slicing potatoes. It was a good thing she had a couple of days off, ones where she could immerse herself in tasks around the ranch and let the strange pull toward Wyatt fade. Part of her felt bad that he’d likely be bored crazy without anyone to visit him, but it wasn’t her responsibility to keep him entertained. She’d already done more for him outside her professional duties than any other doctor likely would.

  Still, as she went through the day cleaning the house, doing laundry and putting fresh hay in the horses’ stalls out in the barn, her thoughts kept straying back to Wyatt. She actually had to fight the urge to drive into town to see him. Visiting him on days she worked and was already at the clinic or hospital was one thing, but how could she explain visiting someone she barely knew on her day off? And if Sophie and the other nurses had their way, Chloe would be in the town Cupid’s matchmaking crosshairs. And just because Verona had gotten it right before with people whose other halves were supposed to just be passing through Blue Falls didn’t mean that would be the case with Chloe.

  Once she put the potatoes in the oven, she went out to the front porch to feed Roscoe and Cletus, the family’s two basset hounds. As soon as she stepped through the doorway with the scoop of food in hand, the dogs hopped up from where they were dozing at the edge of the porch and trotted over to their matching bowls, their long ears swaying.

  “Hey, fellas,” she said as she scratched first Roscoe between the ears then Cletus. She laughed when they ignored her, their minds focused on dinner. Letting them chomp away, she went to sit at the top of the porch steps.

  She watched as a hawk soared high above the pasture beyond the barn. The sound of horse hooves drew her attention back to ground level. Owen and her dad rode toward the barn from the south, what they all referred to as the back of the ranch. They’d been out checking the fence line after hearing about another strike on a nearby ranch by pranksters who for some reason thought it was great fun to cut ranchers’ barbed-wire fences, allowing their cattle to escape. What they either didn’t realize, or didn’t care about, was that their vandalism was dangerous. A cow could get hurt or, worse, someone might hit them with a car and be injured or killed.

  When her dad and brother dismounted, Owen took the reins of both horses and led them toward the barn. Her dad turned toward the house.

  “Find any breaks in the fencing?” she asked when he came close enough to hear her.

  “For now, everything is fine. Until they catch these bastards, we’re going to have to keep a close eye on the whole spread.”

  “I saw Simon Teague in town yesterday,” she said, speaking of the local sheriff. “He said they had something similar happen up in Runnels County a few months ago. He’s been talking with the sheriff up there, but they never caught the people.”

  Her father shook his head. “If they were stealing th
e cattle, it would almost make sense. But this is just pure meanness.”

  “Simon said they’re doing all the extra patrols they can.”

  “But there’s no way he can be everywhere at once, not with what few men he has at his disposal.”

  “Maybe they’ll get lucky.”

  Her dad grunted as if he weren’t holding out much hope for that. After a moment, he seemed to set aside worries of the fence cutters and looked at her. “Hear you’ve made a new friend in that bull rider laid up at the hospital.”

  Well, hell. She guessed it was too much to hope that word wouldn’t get out about her spending extra time with Wyatt. She shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Sort of stinks for him to be stuck in a hospital bed with no family or friends to keep him company. Doesn’t even have a roommate at the moment.”

  A sad little smile stretched her dad’s mouth. “You’re so like your mother, lending aid and comfort to anyone who needs it.”

  “It’s my job.”

  “It’s more than that, always has been since you were a little girl befriending every kid at school who didn’t have friends.” He paused for a moment. “I wish your mom could see what a good woman you’ve grown up to be.”

  Chloe pressed her lips together and blinked a couple of times against sudden tears. One would think that after all this time, talking about her mom wouldn’t make her want to cry. But at times, it felt as if she’d just talked to her mom, been held in her arms, only the day before.

  Perhaps sensing how close her emotions were to the surface, maybe even feeling choked up himself, her dad climbed the steps beside her, patting her on the shoulder as he passed by.

  Roscoe padded over and flopped down beside her, resting his head on her leg as if he knew she needed some comfort. She ran her hand over his head and down his back. He looked up at her with those big brown eyes, and her heart went gooey soft with love. Roscoe might be a dog, but he and Cletus were a part of the family.