“No, Emma. I can’t. I don’t have the time needed. They have to be fed every few hours. This is a working ranch, as well as my veterinary business. I’m running behind as it is.”
A lone tear found its way out of her eye, rolling in slow motion down her cheek to drop off the edge of her jaw. Guilt gnawed at his gut. He shouldn’t be doing this to her, but something told him it was the right thing.
“Please don’t kill her.”
Her soft words were barely audible, spearing him right to the heart. Gabe shoved hard at the unwanted emotions she dredged up. She needed this. How he knew it was beyond him, but he’d committed himself to this course of action, so he had to follow through.
“The only way I can think of is if someone takes it and looks after it.” He glanced at his sister. “Darby works, and I’m too busy.” He lifted his hands in a show of defeat. “There’s no one left.”
Emma’s attention went back to the calf, its nose nuzzling her thigh. “I could do it.”
Those four gently spoken words sent a warmth flooding through him he’d never experienced before. He couldn’t help but smile. He squashed it immediately as Emma’s head turned around, her stormy blue eyes glaring at him.
“I don’t have to go to work, so I’d be home at the times she needs. And I have a big yard, with a fence. I’m home all the time doing my renovations. If you just tell me what I need to do, I could do it.”
Her gaze darted between them, daring them to doubt her, wanting them to believe her.
Gabe made a show of looking at his sister, as if wanting her input.
“Tell him, Darby! Tell him I can do it.”
Darby looked undecided for a moment, reinforcing his admiration of her acting ability. He’d be buying her a case of her favorite wine, not just one drink.
She nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think she could. With some help of course. We’ll need to keep an eye on them for a few days until things settle down, and we’d need to organize a shed or something for the little fellow for nighttime.” She turned to Gabe, her smile leaking out the edges, lending credence to her words. “I think it might be a good idea.”
Emma’s shoulders visibly relaxed, her hand going to the top of the calf’s head, her long, slim fingers stroking it.
Darby grinned at him from her position leaning on the half door beside him. She tilted her mouth to his ear. “You owe me, brother mine.”
Gabe threw an arm over her shoulder and squeezed. “Yeah, I know.” He raised his voice so Emma could hear.
“By the way, Emma, it’s a boy.”
Chapter Eleven
Emma dropped her chin into her cupped hands on the small outdoor table and stared at the newest member of her family.
“What am I going to do with you?” she asked the little bull, his mouth all creamy from the bottle she’d just given him. What had possessed her to say that she could look after him? She didn’t want the responsibility of another life, especially one so young. It wasn’t part of her plan.
Ralph just stared at her with his huge ebony eyes, oblivious to how close to dog food he’d come.
Ralph. Gabe had almost fallen over laughing at the name she’d bestowed with such seriousness on the bull calf. Every time he’d looked at Ralph, it had started him off again.
“It’s a very dignified name!” she’d argued. “My great-grandfather was named Ralph.”
And that had been it. She couldn’t get sense out of the man after that. He’d just gone about his business, building a small shed for Ralph with Ed’s help, shaking his head and chuckling. The calf made a huge nuisance of himself, getting in the way and sniffing everything in sight, jumping and bouncing around when they were trying to nail things together.
Emma grinned, remembering Ralph’s tendency to get under Gabe’s feet, tripping him and sticking his wet nose into his face, only to lick him from chin to forehead.
Gabe’s laughter had echoed around the backyard, sending Emma’s insides into a spin. Seeing him lying there on his back with calf slobber all over him was the funniest thing she’d ever seen. If only she’d had her camera.
Having Gabe around her home had felt so easy. It’d felt like he was meant to be there. She was so glad their friendship was getting stronger. She and Darby were getting along fantastically—she was a true friend—but it was nice to know Gabe didn’t mind her company either. Contentment had pooled deep in her belly and spread, flooding her as she’d watched him putter around the backyard with his tools.
She didn’t want to analyze to closely the source of the feeling. Just the thought of being accepted was enough.
So she was now the proud owner of a baby bull. Or rather, the adopted mother. Gabe had agreed to take Ralph back when he grew too big for her yard. A giggle slipped out of her mouth at the thought of a full-grown stud bull in her backyard. At least he’d be a conversation point.
Emma managed to get Ralph into his little shed without too much trouble. She shut the bottom half of the split door and latched it.
“You, my friend, need to rest.”
She stood a moment, stared down at him and shook her head. To think, only yesterday she had been scared witless of these animals. She still had no intention of going near the big ones, but calves she could handle. It was good to know she wasn’t a total write-off.
Emma took the three low steps to her veranda quickly, going over the list of things she had to do for the day. Mr. Fletcher would be open this morning until lunchtime, which was a godsend considering it was Sunday. It would save her the big trip to Pueblo for some supplies. She had a bathroom to paint and some lacquer to buy for the kitchen cupboards. Plus, she wanted to update the bathroom fixtures with some nice ones she’d noticed the last time she’d been in the hardware store.
The main street was surprisingly busy as she drove toward the hardware store. She’d thought being a Sunday morning, it would be much quieter, but it seemed most of the town was out. Not unlike a Sunday back in Matheson.
At the thought of where she’d grown up, Emma’s eyes flicked to the locket dangling from the key in the ignition of her truck, which led inevitably to the reason she’d left. She shoved hard at the shaft of pain, forcing it back where it belonged. Thinking about her cheating husband kicked all her hard-won peace in the belly. And Sasha, her precious Sasha…
Emma shook her head and closed a door on the hurt. She didn’t want to deal with that here, down the main street of her new hometown. Time enough for that when she was by herself. It was bad enough thinking about Alex and how it had felt to have been told—by his sister, no less—that he found her lacking, let alone think about all she’d lost on a whim.
What surprised her even more than the amount of people out and about today as she looked around as she drove was the amount of people that she didn’t recognize or remember meeting who waved to her. She blinked, taken aback. The locals actually smiled and waved at her as she drove by. It warmed her, knowing that, just maybe, she could be happy here. That small measure of acceptance from the locals touched her heart in a way that nothing else had for years. This was a place she could put the past behind her and build a new future.
Darby and the whole Jameson family had been wonderful. So friendly and welcoming, not asking too many personal questions, content to let her divulge what she wanted to. She had a feeling she had a friend in Darby like she’d always wanted.
Someone to laugh with, to be silly with, and someone to confide in. Not yet, but perhaps one day, once she’d known her longer. Much longer.
Emma glanced at the locket again, swinging from her key chain with the motion of the pickup.
Alex. Sasha.
The uncensored thought lent a sad taint to her happy thoughts, regret and loss coalescing into a tight little pinpoint of pain. Emma squashed the intrusive feelings and forced them back a second time. There was no point in dwelling on things that couldn’t be changed.
She was here, now, making a new life for herself, with new friends. Nothing would
replace what Alex and Sasha had meant to her, and she didn’t want anything, or anyone, to. The move to Jefferson’s Crossing had been about letting go of the past. Finding out who she was again. Freeing herself from things that could never be changed.
She’d hated the compassionate glances from people she knew, the glimpses of pity on their faces and the outright hostility from those she’d considered family.
Alex’s family. His sister in particular.
Blame was an insidious thing, gnawing away inside where it couldn’t be seen or dealt with, until one day it exploded with a ferocity that left damage and destruction in its wake.
Forgiveness was a hard thing to accomplish. Emma didn’t know if she would ever get there herself, but she was trying.
Swinging the pickup into an empty spot in front of the hardware store, Emma couldn’t help the grin that spread over her mouth at the thought of what Alex would think of Ralph.
Shock and total disgust. He would never believe it.
The subtle scent of paint and lumber, mixed with the faint undertone of fertilizer, hit Emma as she entered the large store. If you could think of it, chances were you would find it there.
A familiar figure caught her attention as she moved toward the middle section where the paint was stored.
“Good morning, Pete.”
The old man looked up from the paint chip in his hand, a huge smile widening his mouth. “Mornin’ yourself, ma’am.” At the frown she sent his way, he chuckled and amended, “I mean, Emma. What brings you down here this fine day?”
Emma bit back the grin trying to force its way out of her mouth. “I’m in desperate need of some paint, plus some pretty fittings for my bathroom. The ones there are a bit on the scary side.”
Pete’s chuckle blew out to a full belly laugh. “I never heard of fittings bein’ called pretty before. In my day they were functional, or not. You young girlies have all these strange ideas floating around those pretty heads of yours.”
A voice from behind her interrupted her response. “Hi there, Emma. How are you this morning?”
Emma threw Pete a small grin. He winked at her and pretended intense interest in the color chips on the wall in front of them.
Emma turned. “I’m fine, thanks, Ryan. What about yourself?”
Ryan Thomas smiled and threw her a saucy look. “I’m doin’ fine, but I know I’d be even better if you agreed to come swimming with us this afternoon. We’re all heading out to the lake, instead of to the usual barbeque at the Jamesons’. You up for it?”
Emma tried hard to hold in her laugh, but it was a lost cause.
“Actually, yes. I am. Darby asked me last night. I guess I’ll see you there.”
Ryan looked confused for a moment, not sure whether he’d been dismissed. Another cheeky grin wound onto his full lips. It was a nice mouth, one that wouldn’t take too much cajoling to want to kiss.
If there hadn’t been a certain veterinarian in town, that is.
Ryan was good-looking, in a fresh, open, sexy way. From the time they’d spent talking the previous weekend at the barbeque, Emma was sure he would be a good friend. Although she knew for a fact that Ryan wanted their friendship to be of the horizontal kind—not exactly what she had in mind for the cute rancher.
“Would you be needing a lift, by any chance? Since you’re new and all…” he trailed off, waiting for her answer.
Emma had no problems accepting a lift from him, but he would take it the wrong way, and she didn’t want to lead the guy on, not when she had no interest in him.
“Thanks, Ryan, but Darby is picking me up. I’ll see you out there though. I’m really looking forward to seeing the lake.”
Ryan nodded and lifted a hand. “No worries. I’ll see you this afternoon.” He nodded his head in Pete’s direction. “Mornin’, Pete.”
Ryan turned and moved toward the front door of the store with a hip-rolling walk designed to make women look at his tight ass in the well-worn jeans that molded so temptingly over the firm planes. A very nice ass, but Emma simply wasn’t interested.
The low-pitched chuckle behind her had her turning to face Pete.
“What’s so funny?”
Pete’s old, leather-colored eyes crinkled up at the sides in amusement.
“I heard ‘bout the little wager the boys have goin’. Must make you feel all warm an’ fuzzy with so many men chasing your hide.”
Emma couldn’t help it—her laughter burst out and echoed around the paint section of the store.
“Oh, I don’t know if warm and fuzzy are the terms I’d use but, yes, I heard about the bet.”
The smile stretching the old man’s lips reached his eyes, brightening them, and made Emma realize that he must have been a very good-looking man when he was younger.
“Have you picked one of those young bucks yet? From what I saw, that kiss young Gabe laid on you had you both a little flustered.”
Emma’s grin faded and her face warmed, burning ten degrees hotter in moments.
Pete’s old eyes widened and his face lit up. “Ah, I see.” Silence descended, then Pete’s mouth expanded in another grin. “Pity he’s not on that list, now, isn’t it?”
Emma looked away, unable to think of a coherent answer to remove the notion from his head. She did not think of Gabe that way. She didn’t want to think of him that way.
Yes, he was gorgeous. Yes, he’d kissed like he was devouring her and, yes, she’d liked it. But they were friends. They had agreed, and that’s how it would stay, regardless that she found him unbearably attractive. She hadn’t moved here for men. She didn’t get involved in casual relationships revolving around sex, and she had no intention of becoming serious with a man ever again. They couldn’t be trusted. You let them close, gave your heart and happiness over to them, and they let you down.
So that left her exactly where she was.
“You know,” Pete’s husky voice interrupted her spinning thoughts. “Gabe may not be on that list, but I insisted on bein’ added to it.”
Emma gasped and stared at him, wide-eyed. “You didn’t!”
Pete’s laughter drowned out her shock. “Yes, I did. Don’t worry, young lady. You remind me of my granddaughter livin’ over in Pueblo. I just thought… I’m kind of at the bottom of the list, my odds are over one-hundred-to-one. They only stuck me on there out of pity, I think. How do you feel like going out for dinner? On the boys.”
Emma blinked and tried to speak, her mouth refusing to obey her brain. A slow smile wound onto her lips, the inference washing up and over her.
The wily old coot.
“Pete, I believe I would love to have dinner with you. It’s a date!”
Chapter Twelve
Emma waved her white, large-brimmed hat in front of her face, fanning herself as she stepped out of Darby’s car.
Man, oh man, is it hot.
Little Ralph had been fast asleep in his miniature barn when she left, his tummy full of warm, creamy milk.
Emma let a grin widen her lips as she scanned the picnic area that sat right beside the jetty.
“View’s not so bad over here, Darb,” she called.
A loud chuckle reached her from the other side of the car, Darby’s head peering over the top when she turned to look.
“Well, look at that. You could play eeny, meeny, miny, moe.” Darby lifted an eyebrow and panned her gaze across the picnic site to the water. Half-naked male bodies littered the area, lazing in the shade of the trees as well as in the water.
Darby grinned at Emma as she came around the side of the car and fanned herself with her hand. “Did it just get hotter out here, or what? This is going to be so much fun.”
Emma grabbed the picnic basket, hooking it over her arm. “Mmm. There are only a few girls here. How is one to choose from all this eye candy? You know, overindulgence only makes you sick.”
Darby’s laughter echoed around the site, turning heads in their direction.
“Now you’ve done it! T
hey’re all staring at us.”
Darby raised an eyebrow and stuck her tongue between her teeth. “Not us, Em. You.”
Emma pushed away the flutter of nerves that followed Darby’s statement. She knew there were a few men on that silly list, but other than Ryan, Pete and a couple of others, she was sure Darby was overreacting.
“Don’t be silly, Darby. It’s hot. That’s why they’re here. Hot and hungry.”
Darby stared at Emma so long she glanced away, disconcerted. “If you say so. Come on. Let’s get this food sorted and take a dip!”
A dip. She couldn’t swim to save her life.
Dog paddle, sort of. Swim, no. But she wasn’t about to admit that to Darby and look stupid. She’d just sit on the edge of the jetty and dip her feet. No explanation needed.
Emma set the basket down on the picnic table and peered inside. Everything looked good to go. The cold things had freezer packs stuffed around them to keep them fresh, the things not needing refrigeration benefitting from the cooler interior of the insulated basket as well.
Darby slid her shorts off and tossed them onto the back seat of her car, then grabbed Emma’s hand and took off at a dead run down the jetty.
“Wait! I still have my sarong on!” Emma had tied a matching one over her new, white, one-piece suit. She’d felt far too exposed without the coverup.
Emma yanked her hand from Darby’s only a few feet from the edge of the jetty. The crazy girl kept running and vaulted from the end into the water. Emma sucked in a deep breath, undoing the knot on her sarong. She unwrapped it from her hips and draped it over the low timber railing beside her.
Bare feet slapping on the boards vibrated the dock beneath her feet. Emma glanced over her shoulder as a strong arm wrapped around her waist from behind and hurled her up into the air, another arm coming up under her knees.
An earsplitting squeal erupted from her lips. Her hat flew off, and she felt herself leave the jetty. She gasped in a breath before cool water slid up her body and enveloped her head.
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