by Mary Leo
Coco was thrilled her sister had driven in to get them, but she had a hard time concentrating on what her sister was saying. Ever since Russ had betrayed her secret about the sheriff and Lily—if it was a betrayal—she hadn’t been able to think about him in the same light. That question had her thoughts in such a tangle that she had a hard time concentrating on anything else.
“That’s nice,” Coco mumbled without hearing everything that Kenzie had said.
“I’ve been thinking about getting a couple llamas to add to our livestock,” Kenzie continued. “The coyote population is getting mighty restless and encroaching on the ranch at a steady pace. These little guys will help ward them off. They just need a couple more months to grow, and they’ll be a formidable deterrent.”
“Good idea,” Coco told her.
“Are you actually listening to me?”
The sisters stood behind Coco’s clinic in the clearing they’d made through the snow. For her part, Kenzie backed up that trailer like a pro, only requiring a minimal amount of direction. Something Coco could never do. She could barely back up her SUV, let alone an entire trailer.
“Of course I am. The llamas are a formidable deterrent.”
Kenzie looked all warm and cozy in a hooded, deep red down-filled parka, jeans and her usual tan-colored cowgirl boots. Even in the dead of winter, with several feet of snow on the ground, Kenzie never wore anything but a sturdy pair of boots. Her makeup was minimal, and her long, almost black hair was clipped up. Thick work gloves covered her hands, and a black scarf encircled her neck.
“Is everything okay? You seem very distracted. For one thing, it’s colder than a cave out here and you’re wearing a summer jacket.”
Without thinking about it, Coco had slipped on the thin jacket that always hung on a hook next to the back door. No scarf, no gloves, but she did manage to step into her favorite black lace-up, calf-high boots. No cowgirl boots for her. She found them completely uncomfortable and useless for the kind of work she did.
“I’m fine. Just didn’t feel like running back upstairs for my coat, is all. We’re almost done here, anyway.”
Unfortunately, this move was taking longer than Coco had anticipated. The cold had wrapped around her like a vise and chilled her to her very bones. Despite feeling frigid, she helped to load the animals, imagining it would only take a few more minutes, so she could stand the frosty conditions. Besides, she couldn’t stop thinking about Russ’s attitude the other morning at Holy Rollers. What was that all about? Had she somehow misjudged him?
She kept knocking that hour at Holy Rollers around in her mind, sure that she’d told him to keep the sheriff’s information a secret.
Or maybe she hadn’t made herself clear? Why else could he have gotten so confused and told everyone the details?
Her mind fogged up like a mirror in a steamy bathroom every time she thought about it. She couldn’t see past the betrayal, his eagerness to tell the group all the details surrounding the sheriff and baby Lily. It was almost as though he’d delighted in having something scandalous to share about the sheriff.
How could that possibly be true? She’d wanted to talk to him about it, but whenever she’d called, he’d been too busy to discuss it. Fortunately, they had a date that night. She was hoping to clear the air so they could get on with their relationship, because as it stood now, she could hardly think of him without getting completely frustrated.
The goats’ bleating brought her back to the present and she noticed that Kenzie was giving the kids a healthy snack.
“Sure you don’t want to adopt those fellas, as well?” Coco asked, hoping her sister would change her mind and say yes. Finding a forever home for goats at this time of year was tough. They ate like crazy, and with no grazing land available due to the weather, most ranchers didn’t want two more mouths to feed.
“At this point, despite them being adorably sweet, they’re a liability. It’s a shame. I’ll take them for now, though, to get them out of your clinic so Sheriff Wilson doesn’t give you another fine, but it’s a temporary situation...for a few weeks max. You’ll have to find them and the piglet a permanent home after that.”
Coco’s teeth chattered from the bitter cold.
“There’s one more thing I should tell you before you go, and I’m surprised you haven’t heard about it already. Maybe you should come inside for this. It’s complicated, and I’m really freezing.”
Coco wanted to get warm. Her ears felt a bit numb, and her insides couldn’t stop shaking. She crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself for warmth.
“Sorry, sis.” Kenzie fished out the key for her truck from her pocket. “We’ve been snowed in until today, remember? We’ve been so busy, it’s a wonder I had time to drive into town for the animals. As it is, I can’t even sit for a visit. I need to turn right around and drive back. The heavy snow destroyed one of our hay sheds. Everyone’s working hard to repair it. I need to get home and help. Can you give me the short version?”
Coco took in a deep breath, wanting to get it all out in one big push. The bitter wind stung as she breathed. “Sheriff Wilson might be the father to a three-week-old baby that was left on my doorstep a few nights ago, and because he doesn’t have anywhere else to stay, he’s moved into my spare room. It’s completely platonic, I can assure you. Oh, and somehow Russ thought I said it wasn’t a secret, and now the entire town knows all the details, but I haven’t told Jet how that happened yet.”
“Jet? You’re on a first-name basis with the sheriff?”
“After all I said, that’s what you’re most interested in?”
“It’s the most important part of the story. Last I heard, you and Russ were an item. If I know anything about Russ Knightly and his swollen ego, he can’t be good with this situation. Is it any wonder he blabbed it all over town?”
“He didn’t blab it all over town, exactly. It just came out when Phyllis and a few other people happened to be standing around our table, meeting Lily.”
“Who’s Lily?”
“Pay attention, would you?” Coco’s hands ached from the cold. She needed to go inside. “Lily is Jet’s baby.”
“I thought you said he didn’t know if the baby is his?”
“He doesn’t.”
“Then why did you just tell me that Lily is Jet’s baby?”
“I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m too cold to think. And this is a potential crisis. I’m having a relationship meltdown. I need your input.”
“This thing with Jet sounds complicated. Especially when you bring Russ into the equation. Everybody knows there’s no love lost between those two men.”
Coco shivered. “Russ has been nothing but a gentleman.”
“I wish I could help you out more.” Kenzie walked to the front of her truck with Coco following close behind, amazed that her feet still held up her freezing body. “A gentleman wouldn’t spread all those private details about the sheriff.” Kenzie stopped, shrugged and gave her sister a hug. “Maybe you should talk to Mom, or Carson might be better. He’s always good at sorting out these kinds of things. And get indoors. You feel like a popsicle.” She glanced back at the house, gesturing with her eyes. “And speaking of Sheriff Jet Wilson, isn’t that him standing in your doorway?”
Coco whirled around, and sure enough, there was the sheriff looking as handsome as ever. Lately, every time she saw him, her knees went a little weak.
“What’s he doing here?” Coco asked out loud. “He’s not due until later tonight.”
“Last I heard, he lives here, Doctor Grant. Now go on before you freeze to death. And call Mom or Carson... On second thought, why not talk it over with Jet? The way he’s looking at you, there might be more to this platonic living arrangement of yours than you realize.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
&nb
sp; But Kenzie didn’t answer and instead stepped up inside the cab, slammed her door shut, turned over the ignition and drove away, leaving Coco to her own devices. Truly a situation she didn’t want to be in.
* * *
KENZIE HAD DRIVEN off before Jet even had a chance to say hello. Somehow, by her quick departure, Jet had the feeling she knew about all the stories floating around town concerning Lily, and Dani. Probably not a situation she wanted to get involved in.
Smart woman.
By the time Coco slowly made her way back inside, closed the door, then didn’t move, Jet knew something was wrong. She wasn’t wearing a hat or gloves, and her coat looked like something you’d put on for a mild spring day, not for a winter cold snap in Idaho.
“Are you all right?” he asked, trying to get a look at her face.
She turned to him. “I...I’m...”
He took her hand in his and immediately knew what was wrong. She was colder than a calf caught in a snowdrift.
Without giving it another thought, he pulled her in tight against his body and wrapped her in his arms.
He expected some kind of resistance, but instead she immediately tucked herself in even closer, apparently starved for warmth.
He checked her pulse... It seemed too slow.
“The Fitzpatrick family taught me all about symptoms of hypothermia and how to treat someone who might be suffering from it. Dan Fitzpatrick, the dad, was part of a mountain rescue team. From what I learned, I’d say you were in the beginning stages.”
“I’m...I’m...so cold,” she said in a whisper, her entire body quivering. “I...should’ve come inside, but...I’m so tired.”
He rubbed his hands up and down her back. “Don’t try to talk. Just lean into me.” He pulled his wool parka up around her. “This coat you’re wearing wouldn’t keep a kitten warm, much less a grown woman. What were you thinking?”
“That’s just it... I haven’t been...thinking. I’m...sorry about...”
But she couldn’t finish her sentence. She was shaking so hard he thought she might break, but the shaking was a good sign. Her body’s heat regulation system was still working. “It’s fine, just let me take care of you.”
“Okay,” she said and collapsed into him. He picked her up and carried her upstairs, her head resting on his shoulder. “You can’t be...”
“Hush for a minute, we need to get you warm before hypothermia sets in, remember? You can say whatever you want once your temperature comes back up to normal.”
She felt as light as a feather in his arms, and being this close only raised his awareness of how much he genuinely cared for her. Sure he was mad as a bull standing in front of a red cape now that the entire town knew his personal business, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t attracted to her like all get-out.
She smelled clean, like fresh snow, with a hint of flowers, maybe roses. He liked being this close to her, just as he had liked her falling asleep on his shoulder the other night. She was a woman who brought up all sorts of emotions in him, and most of them had to do with making love to her.
But he didn’t have time to dwell on any of those feelings. He needed to get her temperature up because it seemed to be falling fast.
She tucked her hands inside his open coat for relief. They felt like little icicles against his chest. Her entire body was icy.
Not good.
He took the stairs two at a time. When he walked into her apartment, with Punky at his heels, he headed straight for her bed and set her down, covering her with the comforter and every other blanket he could find. The tips of her ears were pure white. He tucked her in good and tight, making sure her shoulders and neck were covered. Then he reached under the blankets, unlaced her boots and slipped them off.
Punky used his step stool to jump up on the bed and licked her face. Then he cuddled up next to her, as if he knew something was wrong.
“Thanks,” Coco said. “But...you don’t have to make such a...fuss. I’ll be fine.”
She seemed so small and helpless, when he knew she was anything but. It always struck him how vulnerable a person looked when their health was compromised. They could be the toughest person around, attitude off the charts with bulging muscles, but when they were hurting, everything changed. All their human frailties took over, and that person was as vulnerable as those baby goats Kenzie had just carted away.
“It’s no problem. Are you warming up?” he asked. “Or are you still cold?”
He figured she was finally getting warm, the shivering had subsided substantially, but he wanted to know for sure.
“Much better,” she told him with a half smile. He noticed that her ears were beginning to get a rosy glow once again, and he relaxed thinking he’d caught her in time. He’d seen firsthand what hypothermia could do to a person. Not a pretty sight. Dan Fitzpatrick had taken him on one of the team’s training rescue missions. He’d learned a lot. A person could die or lose limbs because of hypothermia, or just be sick for quite some time. Not that she had been close to having hypothermia, but certainly another ten or fifteen minutes out there, and she would have been a prime candidate.
Once he got a fire going in the fireplace, he put the kettle on, and by the time she could sit up and have her first sip of hot tea with honey, the shaking had completely stopped. She was able now to speak and pet Punky, who seemed to love the attention.
“Thanks for all of this. No one has done so much for me since my mom took care of me when I was living at home, and that was a lot of years ago.”
He tugged off his coat and tossed it over a wicker rocking chair in the corner of the room, along with his hat. He had already locked his weapon away. Then he sat on the bed next to her, gave Punky some loving and leaned back on the headboard.
“You’re welcome, but you shouldn’t have let yourself get so cold. Being a doctor, you know better than that.”
She nodded, holding her cup with both hands. “My fingers are actually tingling.”
The blanket slipped from her shoulder and he reached over and gently covered her again. It was then that he caught the look in her eyes and for a moment he wanted to lean in and kiss her, but he didn’t and settled into a pillow.
“You’re really a kind man under all that bluster,” she said after drinking down some tea. “Especially given what happened at Holy Rollers the other morning. It’s been the elephant in the room every time you and I have been together. I don’t know why we can’t seem to talk about it.”
He wasn’t good at handling compliments of any kind. One of his teachers in high school had taught him to simply thank the person and let it go, but still, he never could get used to it.
“Don’t tell anyone that I can be a nice guy or they won’t respect my mad-dog authority anymore. What happened at Holy Rollers?”
Her forehead furrowed. “I, um... We, um... That’s when it came out about your connection with Lily.”
“Oh, that.” He wasn’t angry anymore, not since he’d seen Coco shivering and thought about her with hypothermia. Now, that was serious. Everything else could be dealt with.
She stared at him hard. “Oh, that? This is your opportunity to lay into me. Why aren’t you?”
“Lay into you for what?”
“Don’t pretend that everyone in town isn’t talking about you being Lily’s dad.”
“I might be her dad. We don’t know that for sure. There’s a good possibility Dani might be lying.”
“Is that what everybody is saying? That you might be her dad?”
He sipped on his own cup of hot tea that he’d picked up from the nightstand and fought off the last remnants of irritation still swelling below the surface. He was no longer angry at Coco, but rather angry with this darn town and how the people in it loved to spread gossip.
“No. They’re saying that I
am Lily’s father. Cindy Whipple even knew that Dani is Lily’s mom.”
“I can explain,” she said, her face contorted in a deep frown. He didn’t like seeing her look so sad, not on his account.
“I’m more worried about you getting warm again than how the gossip got started. Besides, folks were bound to find out sooner or later, anyway.”
“Yeah, but this was way sooner than either one of us had anticipated.”
“More tea?” he asked, not wanting to talk about it anymore. He would have to learn how to deal with it on his own terms, and so would she, for that matter. This affected both of them as long as he was living in her spare room.
“No, thanks,” she told him. “I still have some.”
He went into the kitchen, bringing his things along with him, hanging his coat out on the hook along with his hat. The way he had it figured, the cow had already left the barn. No putting her back now.
He made himself another cup of tea. Checked his text messages—nothing that Nash wasn’t already handling—and went back and sat on the bed next to Coco. Color had returned to her face, and she had pushed the blanket down to her chest.
“Where’s Lily?” he asked, missing the sweet little darling.
“She’s with Drew and her parents. Turns out her parents love babies as much as Drew does, so getting Lily away from them will be a challenge. They’d like to move her right in.”
“They’re doing me a tremendous favor, and I’m grateful. So are you. Thanks again.”
“But aren’t you angry about all of this?”
He turned so he could see her, one leg bent for comfort. “I have to admit, there were moments in the last couple of days when I was seeing red, but I’m okay with it now, if you are.”
She put her cup down on the old trunk she used as a nightstand on her side of the bed and stared at him, obviously building up the courage to say something he probably didn’t want to hear.
“I’d like to explain what happened. It was my fault... Russ and I had a bit of a miscommunication when I told him what was going on. He thought I said...”