Cowboy Doctor
Page 11
Her eyes closed tightly.
“Please don’t be concerned. You’ll be paid whether you are here or not. But it’s imperative you don’t step foot on the property until the threat is over. I told Ben you would be safe with me and I have to keep that promise.”
“I understand.” Her voice caught.
“Your cabin will be waiting for you when you return. Take the things you need before you leave.”
“May I ask one favor?” she requested. “Will you let me tell my grandfather?”
“Whatever you want, Tracey.”
“Thank you.”
“Goodbye for now. We’ll stay in close touch.” She heard the click and handed Roce back his phone. “He told me to leave the ranch ASAP.”
“Thank God.”
“But what about you?” she said, getting to her feet. “You’re as much of a target as I am. I don’t care if you’re the new vet. You should stay far away, too.”
“Let’s not worry about that right now. John is calling the detective as we speak and will get back to us when he has more information. Since it’s Sunday and I have the day off, we’re going to go on that horseback ride and enjoy the picnic Solana is preparing. We’ll worry about getting your things later. Give me a minute to check my messages in the office first.” He brushed his mouth against hers before leaving the kitchen.
Tracey gripped the back of the chair, mentally rehashing the conversation she’d just had with John. He’d relieved her of her duties for a couple weeks. Now Roce was acting as if it was of no consequence because she could stay with his family.
But she wasn’t his responsibility!
What she needed to do was ask him to drive her back to the dude ranch. She would pack up and leave for Polson until it was safe to return. The thought of moving away from Roce caused her so much pain she could hardly breathe, but there was no way she would allow him to take care of her. Tracey didn’t have the right and the situation wasn’t of his making.
A few minutes later Roce returned. “Are you ready to go?”
She took a deep breath. “Yes, but if you don’t mind, I’d like it if you would take me to the dude ranch and wait while I pack up my stuff. As much as I’d love to go horseback riding with you today, I’ll have to give it a miss and go back home for a while.”
Lines suddenly darkened his features. Tracey would like to think it was because he didn’t want her to go, but they’d known each other for only a week. It was too much to hope that he’d fallen in love with her. A miracle like that just didn’t happen.
“There’s no need for that. You’ve got a job here with me, starting today.”
Since there’d been trouble with Wes, Roce had invented the job, realizing she might need a place to go for protection. From the beginning she’d sensed intrinsically that he was the heroic kind of man who was a breed apart from everyone else.
But she wasn’t born yesterday. He’d barely gotten his new hospital started and wasn’t ready to hire anyone yet. Though there was nothing she’d love more than to stay here and lean on him, she refused to be one of those lovesick, pathetic, desperate women.
“I can’t thank you enough for the offer. It’s so generous, but my mind is made up. I’m just glad I could cook you breakfast after all the things you’ve done for me.” Without waiting for a response, she hurried through the house to his truck and climbed into the cab.
He eventually joined her and they took off for the dude ranch. “You’re wrong if you think I manufactured the job for you.”
“Even if I am, I have to leave. John has already said he doesn’t want me anywhere near the ranch. If you knew my grandfather, you’d understand that when I tell him about this, he won’t rest until I’m home. Do you think I’m happy knowing you’re going to stay on as John’s vet? We have no idea what danger is lurking right now.”
“You’re jumping to a lot of conclusions, Tracey.”
“But the threat is real and you know it, otherwise John wouldn’t have decided to let me go. So don’t tell me I’m overreacting.”
Roce didn’t argue with her. Instead he grasped her hand for the rest of the drive.
The proliferation of cars around the ranch house that Sunday afternoon meant the new groups of tourists had arrived. Roce drove past them to the cabins beyond the corral and pulled up next to her car. “Let’s do this fast and get your things packed. Maybe we can get out of here before one of Wes’s spies sees us.”
She could only hope. “It won’t take me long.”
They hurried inside. She pulled her suitcases out of the closet and got busy. With Roce’s help the job took only half the time it would have normally On the last trip outside, she carried the gift basket of half-eaten goodies he’d given her.
He helped her get in. “I’ll follow you to my house. I want to have a final meal with you before you drive all the way home.”
A final meal. She felt as if she was going down for the third time.
* * *
TRACEY THOUGHT SHE was going home to Polson, but Roce had news for her. As they drove away from the dude ranch, he phoned Eli to alert him about the latest events. Luckily, it was Sunday and the family was home. After telling him his plans for Tracey, he asked him to bring Daisy to the house when he could.
Eli assured him the dog would be there waiting for them. Roce clicked off and phoned Wymon to convey the same information. “John has told her not to come back for a couple of weeks. She thinks she’s going home.”
He heard Wymon’s deep chuckle. “Things couldn’t be working out more perfectly for you.”
“Except that she already turned me down when I offered her a job with me.” That was probably because she didn’t want to make any kind of a commitment to him. If she was still in love with the memory of her fiancé, it would explain her determination to return to Polson.
“If I know my brother, you’ll do something she won’t be able to resist.”
“I’m working on it.” But how did you fight a ghost, if that was the real reason she was so hell-bent on leaving?
“Good luck, Roce, but watch your back.”
“I hear you.” They clicked off.
While he kept his eyes on the rearview mirror, wondering who might be following them, he phoned Solana to let her know the picnic had to be canceled.
After thanking her for going to the trouble, he told her to surprise her husband, Luis, with it and go off on a romantic getaway. Her warm laughter told him she might just act on his suggestion.
He breathed a sigh of relief when Tracey pulled into the parking lot next to the house. Roce drew up beside her and helped her out of the car. Already he could hear Daisy barking inside.
Tracey eyed him in surprise. “She’s back?”
“Eli returned her. He said she’s been missing me.”
“Oh...the little darling.”
He pulled out the remote that operated the electronic lock. Daisy flew through the air and ran rings around both of them. She was so excited that she jumped up to kiss Tracey, sending her into a fit of laughter.
“I’ve missed you, too. Did you have fun with Libby?” She burrowed her face in the dog’s fur and led her inside.
Roce shut the door, loving the way they interacted. “She might need to go out again. If you want, open the back door for her.”
“Come on, Daisy.” She put her down and they headed for the kitchen. If Roce didn’t know how attached the dog was to him, he could’ve been hurt that Daisy would transfer her allegiance so easily. But Tracey wasn’t just any person. She had a sweetness and love for animals that shone through, and Daisy sensed it.
He went to his office to check his messages. Glad to learn there were no emergencies, he walked back to the kitchen and filled Daisy’s dishes with food and fresh water.
With
that taken care of, he started cooking hamburgers and got out the ingredients for another green salad. While he filled a bowl with potato chips, Tracey came back in. His dog rushed over to him. Roce played with her, then let her go so she could drink.
“Daisy is adorable.”
“She thinks you are, too,” he murmured. “Come and sit down. Our food is about ready.”
“Let me just wash my hands. I’ll be right back.”
Like clockwork, Daisy followed her down the hall to the bathroom. He could hear Tracey’s gentle laughter. The joyful sounds of the two interacting were like music to his ears.
A deep feeling of contentment seeped through him. After a lifetime of searching, he felt she was the missing piece of a difficult puzzle, a piece that had finally turned up. Until now, he’d never been able to finish it. There was no way he would allow her to leave him unless she told him she was still too heartbroken over her loss to truly love another man.
“Oh, boy, Daisy, hamburgers!” Tracey sat down before flashing Roce a glance. “Maybe I can prevail on your doctor and master to give you part of one.” Her fabulous eyes, a lavender-blue at the moment, melted him on the spot.
He poured coffee for them and sat down. “It’s possible...but comes at a steep price.”
“Ooh. That sounds a little scary.” But she said it with a smile and they began to eat. After a minute she served herself some more chips and said, “How steep?”
It pleased him that she hadn’t been able to let it go. “Be with me until John asks you to go back to the dude ranch.”
She stopped chewing. “I told you before. I couldn’t do that, Roce.”
“I’m not talking about you staying at the main ranch house at night, or renting a place in town. I want you here with me all the time, where I can protect you. There’s a perfectly good bedroom down the hall I won’t invade. Mine is upstairs. We’ll treat my house like a hotel. Since I need someone here to help me, it’s a perfect solution and will keep you busy while we wait to hear from John.”
“Except that it wouldn’t work.”
“Why not? It would only be for a temporary period.”
To his surprise, she got up from the chair. “For one thing, I don’t want to be your assistant. I’m a schoolteacher. That’s what I’m trained for. If I go back to Polson, I might be able to fill in at a summer school.”
She’d just administered a gut punch. “In that case, just be my guest and accept my hospitality. Wes Hunter has put both of us in a difficult situation, but this makes the most sense. If the police settle this matter sooner, you could be back at the ranch in another week.”
“What if it goes on much longer?”
“What if it does?”
“Stop it, Roce! You know I can’t accept your offer.”
“Because you’re not that kind of woman? Don’t you think I know who you are?”
“That isn’t what I meant,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me. Tell me why you’re fighting me so hard on this. Don’t you agree we’ve become good friends?”
“Of course.”
“You trust me? Like me?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Then what is?”
She shook her head. “I have to go. Thank you for the lunch. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the things you’ve done for me, but I can’t go on taking from you forever.”
“You’ve taken nothing I haven’t wanted to give.”
A moan escaped her lips. “There’s no winning an argument with you.”
“That’s what my brothers tell me,” he said. “Why the big hurry to leave? It won’t take you that long to drive home.”
“I’d rather not drag this out any longer.”
Roce got to his feet. “Drag what out? I thought we were having a leisurely Sunday meal. Are you that anxious to get back to Polson?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.”
“Did you call to tell your parents you were coming?”
“No. I’ll phone them on the way.”
“Then there’s no hurry. Why not stay with me a bit longer? Daisy will be devastated when you go.”
“You’re the one she worships. She’ll get over it.”
“But I won’t,” Roce said.
Her head lifted. “What do you mean?”
“Have you considered how much I’m going to miss you when you’re gone? I’ve gotten used to being with you. When I visit Chief, it will be strange to realize you’re so far away.”
“Don’t forget that cute waitress in Hamilton who’s dying for you to come in again. I bet she’d love to be your assistant if you offered her the job.”
Tracey started through the house to the front door.
He followed her. “There’s just one problem with that,” he said.
She looked over her shoulder at him. “What would that be?”
“I’m in love with you, Tracey Marcroft. Not anyone else.”
Roce heard her sharp intake of breath. She fell back against the door, as if she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.
“Just so you know, if you walk out of here now, it means you don’t feel the same way about me. How could you when your heart is too full of your love for the fiancé you lost? I’ll have to handle that. But you need to know I won’t try to see you again, because it will hurt too much.”
“Roce...” He could see her trembling. “You know how I feel about you. You know it.”
“I do?”
“Do you honestly think I could have spent this whole week with you, kissing you, talking to you, laying my life wide open to you, if I weren’t ready to love you with all my heart and soul? Jeff will always have a special place inside me, but he’s gone and life is still ahead of me with you.”
“Then come here and show me.”
She flew to him faster than his dog ever could. With an exultant cry, Roce drew her into his arms and swung her around before carrying her down the hall to the bedroom. He closed the door so Daisy couldn’t come in, then followed her down on the bed with his body and proceeded to devour her.
For the next while they both forgot the world in their need to express feelings they’d kept in check until now. She gave him kiss for kiss until it all melted into one explosion of rapture. There were no words to express the way this fabulous woman made him feel.
“I love you so much,” she whispered feverishly, covering his face with kisses. “I fell instantly in love with you. It was like a dream. What I can’t fathom is that you love me back. We only met a week ago. It’s too soon to feel this strongly.”
“Who says it is, or cares?” He buried his face in her neck. After kissing her senseless, he lifted his head. “I knew how I felt that first evening when I saw you standing next to John. My breath caught because the late afternoon sun had turned your hair a flaming silvery-gold. I still have that reaction every time I see you.
“Do you know your eyes are the color of larkspurs? I want to ride with you in the mountains and show them to you. I want you in my world, Tracey. I couldn’t handle the thought of you leaving.”
Her heart streamed into her eyes. “I don’t want to leave. And I didn’t mean what I said about not wanting to be your assistant. You know I didn’t. There’s nothing I’d love more than to help you any way I can.”
He looked down at her, smoothing her hair away so he could kiss every inch of her face. “Then it’s settled. While I go out to the car to bring in your bags, why don’t you call your family? Tell them how we got involved in the first place and that I’ve asked you to stay here until the police say it’s safe to go back to the dude ranch.”
She clutched his arms. “If you’re sure.”
“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”
Chapter Nine
Tracey woke up the following Sunday morning no longer knowing herself. After living with Roce in his house for a glorious week, she felt as if she’d arrived in heaven, but feared it couldn’t last. They’d made no promises and hadn’t slept together yet. She knew he was trying to honor her, because he was that kind of man, and she adored him for it.
Her mom and dad had shown great understanding when she’d explained about Wes and everything that had happened. As for her grandfather, he’d sounded grateful she was living under Roce’s protection.
When Roce wasn’t out on a call or with a patient in the surgery, they cooked, cleaned, had long conversations, took Daisy for walks, laughed, watched TV and held each other. Every night it got harder to say good-night and disappear into their individual bedrooms. The times when he did have to leave, the dog was her constant companion, and Tracey had never been so happy.
So far they hadn’t heard from John. Roce hadn’t seen him when he’d driven to the dude ranch in the mornings to check on Chief. He was thrilled with the horse’s improvement and chatted with Sheldon about giving Chief light exercise. But the other man had shed no news about his son and Roce hadn’t pushed him. All was quiet in that department.
Tracey was beginning to think the first week of her stay at the dude ranch with Wes on her case had been a bad dream. In her heart of hearts she was ecstatic that she didn’t have to go back there yet. Every time she answered the landline phone at the house, she looked to see if John’s name showed up on the caller ID. When it turned out to be a patient or one of Roce’s family members, she let out a sigh of relief.
Today, after he returned from checking on Chief, they were going on a long ride in the mountains—the one they’d planned to take last Sunday. This time she insisted on fixing them their picnic lunch, which she would pack in a saddlebag. While she was wrapping their roast beef sandwiches, Daisy started barking.