Next time maybe he wouldn’t be quick to make surly comments when he was having a miserable day.
She smelled delicious, like vanilla splashed on wildflowers. The scent of her drifted to him, a bright counterpoint to the sometimes unpleasant smells of a busy veterinary clinic.
It was an unsettling discovery. He didn’t want to notice anything about her. Not the sweet way she smelled or the elegant curve of her neck or how, when she tucked her hair behind her ear, she unveiled a tiny beauty mark just below the lobe...
He caught the direction of his thoughts and shut them down, appalled at himself. He forced himself to move away and block the sound of her low voice crooning to the dog.
He had almost forgotten about his technician until she came out of the employee changing room, shoving her arms through the sleeves of her parka. “Do you mind if I go? I’m sorry. It’s just past six-thirty and I’m supposed to be at my Bible study Christmas party in half an hour and I still have to run home and pick up my cookies for the swap.”
“No. Get out of here. I’m sorry I kept you late.”
“Wasn’t your fault.”
“Blame my curious dog,” Caidy said with an apologetic smile that didn’t mask the concern in her eyes.
Joni shrugged. “Accidents happen, especially on a ranch.”
Ben felt another twist of guilt. She was right. Even the most careful pet owner couldn’t prevent everything.
“Thanks, Ben. You both have a good night,” Joni said.
“I’ll walk you out,” he said.
She rolled her eyes—this was an argument they had been having since he arrived. His clinic in San Jose hadn’t been in the best part of the city and he would always make sure the women who worked for him made it safely to their cars in the parking lot.
It was probably an old-fashioned habit, but when he had been in vet school, a fellow student and friend had been assaulted on the way to her car after a late-night class and had ended up dropping out of school.
The cold air outside the clinic blew a little bit of energy into him. The snow of earlier had slowed to just a few flurries. The few houses around his clinic blinked their cheerful holiday lights and he regretted again that he hadn’t strung a few strands in the window of the clinic.
Joni’s SUV was covered in snow and he helped her brush it off.
“Thank you, Dr. Caldwell,” Joni said with a smile. “You’re the only employer I’ve ever had who scrapes my windows.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you right now,” he said truthfully. “I just don’t want you getting into an accident on the way home.”
“Thanks. Have a good night. Call me if you need me to spell you during the night.”
He nodded and waved her off, then returned to the office invigorated from the cold air. He pulled open the door and caught the incongruous notes of a soft melody.
Caidy was humming, he realized. He paused to listen and it took just a moment for him to recognize the tune as “Greensleeves.” He was afraid to move, not wanting to intrude on the moment. The notes seemed to seep through him, sweet and pure and somehow peaceful amid the harsh lights and complicated equipment of the clinic.
Judging by her humming, he would guess Caidy Bowman had a lovely voice.
He didn’t think he had made a sound, but she somehow sensed him anyway. She looked up and a delicate pink flush washed over her cheeks. “Sorry. You must think I’m ridiculous, humming to a dog. He started to get agitated and...it seemed to calm him.”
No surprise there. The melody had done the same to him. “Looks like he’s sleeping again. I can take things from here if you need to go.”
She looked uncertain. “I could stay. My brother and niece can handle chores tonight for the rest of my animals.”
“We’ve got this covered. Don’t worry. He’ll be well taken care of, Ms. Bowman.”
“Just Caidy. Please. No one calls me Ms. anything.”
“Caidy, then.”
“Is someone coming to relieve you?”
“I’m not fully staffed yet and Joni has her party tonight and then her husband and kids to get back to. No big deal. I have a cot in my office. I should be fine. When we have overnight emergency cases, I make do there.”
He had again succeeded in surprising her, he saw.
“What about your children?” she asked.
“They’ll be fine with Mrs. Michaels. It’s only for a night.”
“I... Thank you.”
“You’ll have a hefty bill for overnight care,” he warned.
“I expected it. I worked here a decade ago and know how much things used to cost—and I’ve seen those charges go up in the years since.” She paused. “I hate to leave him.”
“He’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Come on. I’ll walk you out.”
“Is that a service you provide for every female who comes through your office?”
Close enough. “I need to lock up anyway.”
She gathered her coat and shrugged into it, and then he led her back the way he had just come. The moon was filtering through the clouds, painting lovely patterns of pale light on the new snow.
Caidy Bowman drove a well-used late-model pickup truck with a king cab that was covered in mud. Bales of hay were stacked two high in the back.
“Be careful. The roads are likely to be slick after the snows of earlier.”
“I’ve been driving these roads since before I turned sixteen. I can handle a little snow.”
“I’m sure you can. I just don’t want you to be the next one in need of stitching.”
“Not much chance of that, but thank you for your concern. And for all you’ve done today. I’m sorry you won’t see much of your children.”
“The clinic is closed tomorrow. I can spend the whole day with them. I suppose we’ll have to go look for a temporary furnished house somewhere or I’m going to have a mutiny on my hands from Mrs. Michaels, which would be a nightmare.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again, and he had the distinct impression she was waging some internal debate. Her gaze shifted to the door they had just exited through and back to him, then she drew in a breath.
“We have an empty foreman’s cottage on the River Bow where you could stay.”
The words spilled out of her, almost as if she had been trying to hold them back. He barely noticed, stunned by the offer.
“It’s nothing fancy but it’s fully furnished,” she went on quickly. “It does only have three bedrooms, but if you took one and Mrs. Michaels took the other, the children could share.”
“Whoa. Hold on. How do you know Mrs. Michaels? And who told you we might be looking for a place?”
“We met in the waiting room earlier. I knew you were staying at the inn because my sister-in-law Laura runs it.”
If not for that moment of sweetness when he had found her humming a soothing song to her dog, he would have had a tough time believing the warm and welcoming innkeeper could be any relation to this prickly woman.
“Anyway, your housekeeper mentioned you might be looking for a place. I, uh, immediately thought of the foreman’s cottage on our ranch. Nobody’s using it right now, though I do try to stop in once a week or so to keep the dust down. Like I said, it’s not much.”
“We could manage. Are you certain?”
“I’ll have to ask my brother first. Though all four of us share ownership of the ranch, Ridge is really the one in charge. I don’t think he’ll say no, though. Why would he?”
He didn’t understand this woman. He had been extraordinarily rude to her, yet she was offering to help solve all his domestic problems in one fell swoop.
“I’m astonished, Ms. Bowman. Er, Caidy. Why would you make such an offer to a complete stranger?”
“You saved my dog,” she said simply. “Besides that, I liked Mrs. Michaels and I gather she’s had enough of hotel living. And how will St. Nick find your children in a hotel, as lovely as the Cold Creek Inn might be these days? They shoul
d have a proper house for the holidays, where they can play.”
“I agree. That was the plan all along, but circumstances haven’t exactly cooperated.”
He had planned to spend the entire next day looking around for somewhere that better met their needs. He never expected the answer would fall right in his lap. A less cynical man might even call it a Christmas miracle.
“I still have to talk to Ridge. I can let you know his answer in the morning when I come to check on Luke.”
“Thank you.”
She gave him a hesitant smile just as the moonlight shifted. The light combined with her smile managed to transform her features from pretty to extraordinarily beautiful.
“Good night. Thank you again for your hard work.”
“You’re welcome.”
He watched her drive away, her headlights cutting through the darkness. When he had agreed to buy James Harris’s practice, he had been seeking a quiet, easy community to raise his family, a place where they could settle in and become part of things.
Pine Gulch had already provided a few more surprises than he expected—and he suddenly suspected Caidy Bowman might be one more.
Chapter Three
“You say the new vet only needs a place to stay for a few weeks?”
Caidy nodded at her oldest brother, who stood at the sink loading his and Destry’s supper dishes into the dishwasher. “That’s my understanding. He’s building a new house on Cold Creek Road. I’m guessing it’s in that new development near Taft’s place. Apparently, it was supposed to be finished before he took the job, but it’s behind schedule. Now it won’t be ready until after Christmas.”
“That’s a nice area. Heck of a view. I imagine his house is probably a good sight better than our foreman’s cottage.”
“They’re at the inn now. I got the impression the children and the housekeeper might be going a little stir-crazy there.”
Ridge straightened and gave her a look she recognized well. It was his patented What were you thinking? look. He was ten years older than she was and she loved him dearly. He had stepped in after their parents died and had raised her for the last few years of high school and she would never be able to repay him for being her rock, even when his own marriage was faltering. He was tough and hard on the outside and sweet as could be underneath all the layers.
He still drove her crazy sometimes.
“You ever stop to think that Laura might not be too thrilled if you go around finding other lodging arrangements for her paying guests?”
“I called her already and she was cool with it. I know it’s lost business, but all I had to do was paint the mental picture of Alex and Maya cooped up in a couple of hotel rooms for weeks on end—including through Christmas—and she had complete sympathy for Dr. Caldwell and his housekeeper. She thought it was a great idea.”
She didn’t bother telling her brother that Taft’s wife had also dropped a couple of matchmaking hints a mile wide about how gorgeous the new vet was. He was kind to animals and he loved his kids. What more did she need? Laura had implied.
Ridge didn’t need to know that. Much as she loved both of her sisters-in-law and considered Laura and Becca perfect for each respective twin, she didn’t need her brothers joining in and trying to look around for prospective partners for her. The very idea of what they might come up with gave her chills.
After one of his long, thoughtful pauses, Ridge finally nodded. “Can’t see any harm in Dr. Caldwell and his family moving in for a few weeks. The house is only sitting there empty. I can run the tractor down the lane to make sure it’s cleared up for them. It might need the cobwebs swept and a little airing out.”
“I’ll take care of everything tomorrow after I check on Luke.”
So it was settled, then. She had to fight the urge to give a giant, cartoon-style gulp. What had she just gotten herself into? She didn’t want the man here.
Okay, he had been a little less like a jackass toward the end of her visit to the clinic with Luke, but that didn’t mean she was obligated to invite him to move in down the road, for Pete’s sake.
She still wasn’t quite sure what had motivated her offer. Maybe that little spark of compassion in his blue eyes when he had tended to Luke with that surprising gentleness. Or maybe it was simply that she couldn’t resist his cute son’s charm.
Whatever the reason, they would only be there a few weeks. She likely wouldn’t even see the man, especially as it appeared he spent most of his time at the veterinary clinic. And she could be comfortable knowing she had done her good deed for the day. Wasn’t Christmas the perfect time for a little welcoming generosity?
“What did you think of his doctoring?” Ridge asked.
She thought of Luke and his carefully bandaged injuries. “He’s not Doc Harris but I suppose he’ll do.”
Ridge chuckled. “You’ll never think anybody is as good as Doc Harris. The two of you have taken care of a lot of animals together.”
She had loved working at the vet clinic when she was in high school. It was just about the only thing that had kept her going after her parents died, those quiet moments when she would be holding a sick or injured animal and feeling some measure of peace.
“He’s a good man. Dr. Caldwell has some pretty big boots to fill,” she answered.
“From rumors I’ve been hearing around town, he’s doing a good job of it so far.”
She didn’t want to talk about the veterinarian anymore. It was bad enough she couldn’t seem to think about anything else since she had left the clinic.
“What were you saying to Destry after I started clearing the dishes? I heard something about the wagon,” Caidy said.
He glanced through the open doorway into the dining room, where Destry was bent over the table working on a homework assignment about holiday traditions in Europe.
“Des asked me if she could invite Gabi and a couple of their other friends over for a wagon ride Sunday night. She suggested caroling to the neighbors.”
She never should have shared with Destry her memories of doing that very thing with their parents when she and the boys were young. “What did you tell her?”
He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. She could tell by his expression that he had given in. Ridge might be a hard man when it came to their cattle and the ranch, but when it came to his daughter he was soft as new taffy.
“You’re a good father, Ridge.”
“She loves Christmas,” he finally said. “What can I do?”
The rest of them weren’t quite as fond of the holidays as Des but they put on a good show for her sake. Since their parents’ murders just a few days before Christmas eleven years ago, the holidays seemed to dredge up difficult emotions.
Becca and Laura had worked some kind of sparkly holiday magic over Trace and Taft. This year the twins seemed to be more into the spirit of Christmas than she’d ever seen them. They had both volunteered to cut trees for everyone. They had even gone a little overboard, cutting a few extras for neighbors and friends.
She and Ridge didn’t share their enthusiasm, though they both went through the motions every year. Caidy even had all her Christmas presents wrapped and the actual holiday was still more than a week away. No more last-minute panics for her this year.
“What time are they coming?”
“I told her to make arrangements for about seven. I figured we would be done with Sunday dinner by then.”
Though Taft and Trace both lived closer to town, her brothers usually brought their families out to the ranch every week. With the hectic pace of their lives protecting and serving the good people of Pine Gulch, it was sometimes the only chance she had to see them all week.
“I’ll throw some cookies in just before they get here so they can have something warm in their little bellies before they go. And I’ll make hot chocolate for the ride, of course.”
“Thanks. Destry will appreciate that, I’m sure.” He finished wiping down the countertop and set the clot
h on the sink’s edge. “You won’t consider coming with us?”
By his solemn expression, she knew he was aware just what he asked of her. “I don’t think so.”
“You would really send me off on my own with five or six giggly girls?”
“You can take one of the dogs with you,” she offered with a grin.
He made a face but quickly grew serious again. “It’s been eleven years, Caidy. Taft and Trace have moved on and both have families. Of all of us, you deserve to do the same. I wish you could find a little Christmas joy again.”
“I find plenty of joy the rest of the year. Just not so much in December.”
His mouth tightened, his eyes darkening with familiar sadness. Each of them had struggled in different ways after their parents’ deaths. Ridge had become more stoic and controlled, Taft had gone a little crazy dating all the wild women at the tavern in town and Trace had become a dedicated lawman.
And she was still hiding away here at the River Bow.
“You need to move on,” her brother said. “Maybe it’s time you think about trying school again.”
“Maybe.” She gave a noncommittal answer, too tired to fight with him right now after the ordeal of Luke’s injury and the hours spent in the waiting room of the veterinary clinic. “Hey, thanks again for letting the vet stay in the foreman’s cottage. It shouldn’t be longer than a few weeks.”
Ridge wasn’t fooled for a moment. He knew she was trying to change the subject. For once he didn’t try to call her on it.
“Just think. For a few weeks anyway we’ll have our own veterinarian-in-residence. With your menagerie, that should come in pretty handy.”
She made a face. Given her unwilling reaction to the man, she would rather not have need of his professional services again anytime soon.
* * *
A good four inches of snow fell during the night. It clung to the trees and bowed down the branches, turning the town into an enchanting winter wonderland, especially with the craggy mountains looming in the distance.
A Cold Creek Noel Page 3