by Debra Kayn
She moved over to the sidewalk and picked up the two hanging baskets she'd chosen at the garden center earlier. She'd discovered two hooks already screwed into the awning over the front door a couple of days ago and thought the flower baskets would appear welcoming to her patients' owners.
A horn honked twice, and she turned to find a car slowly pulling over to the curb in front of the clinic. She raised her hand above her eyes to block the glare of the sun.
"Hey, stranger." Luce waved from the open car window.
"Hey, yourself. I didn't know you even owned a car." Samantha set the flower basket back down and brushed off her hands.
"Once in a while, I dust this old piece of junk off and cross my fingers that it starts. If it does, I go shopping for the day down in Cartland." Luce stepped out of the car and kicked the dented door closed. "I hate shopping, I really do, but how can I expect to entertain all the men in Skamania looking like a bag lady?"
Samantha rolled her eyes. "You always look wonderful."
Luce strolled up to the newly built flowerbed. "Now I know what's kept you away from the café. You've been a busy bee. I don't know the last time I saw this old place looking so good. And flowers...very pretty."
Pointing to where the geraniums would grow, Samantha explained the different seeds she'd planted. Proud of the improvements she'd done, she mentally patted herself on the back for doing it all by herself. She'd worked her butt off to keep her mind off Bobby and Parker, who still refused to see her.
"How are you?" Luce squinted against the sun and tilted her head, studying Samantha.
"My clinic is bursting at the seams, and I've even reserved one day out of the week to begin making farm visits. My apartment is beginning to look lived in... Life is good." Samantha plucked a dead bloom off the geranium. She busied herself with deadheading plants and appraising the yard. She didn't want to glance at Luce and see any sympathy in her eyes.
"Okay, stop bullshitting me. How are you doing? Don't give me this life-is-rosy-and-I-am-Domestic-Goddess-of-the-Year crap, either." Luce stepped forward, not letting Samantha walk away.
Samantha lifted her chin and pursed her lips, but Luce threw her own stern expression back.
"I'm serious, Samantha." Luce patted her arm.
"Really, I'm fine. Life goes on. I really do like pretending I'm Mother Nature." She turned away.
Luce's silent disagreement showed Samantha she didn't believe a word she'd said. She figured Luce knew more about the situation than most people because she also called Bobby a friend.
"Bobby is miserable. He's shown up almost every night at the café looking for you." Luce waited for her to comment.
Samantha returned to picking at the geraniums and, after realizing she'd picked off the buds of the flowers, stopped. Her shoulders sagged.
"You don't understand, Luce. He wasn't in it for the relationship. We had terrific sex. That's it." She stood up. "I even asked him, and he hedged my questions and didn't deny it. Something's up with him, and he won't let me in."
Luce gazed out at the surrounding buildings down Main Street. "I'm not going to tell you that you're wrong, Samantha. Just sometimes, things aren't always as they seem. Nothing a little time and talking about won't solve, right?"
Luce's gentle advice comforted Samantha. She swallowed and nodded. She didn't know what to do or think anymore.
Luce hugged her. "I've got to hit the trail. Don't know if the old battle-ax will make it home." She pointed at her car.
Samantha grinned. "Good thing you only have a block to drive."
Luce walked toward her vehicle, stopped, and turned around. "Oh, I almost forgot what brought me out here in the first place. I have a message for you. Little Gabby wanted me to tell you that Bonny Bunny gave birth to five little babies. All of them are doing fine."
Samantha decided she'd check in on Gabby and her bunnies this week. Maybe find out if she wanted to join a 4-H group. Parker and she had both involved themselves in 4-H at Gabby's age. It was a great organization to learn responsibility, while also learning how to care for animals and make new animal-crazy friends.
She hugged her waist and smiled, remembering Parker when he was about Gabby's age. He'd raised a pot-bellied pig for the fair. It drove their parents crazy with all the digging his pet did in the yard. She chuckled. Parker had sure loved that pig.
She planned on skipping tomorrow's visitation at the prison for the first time. The last four weeks the visits she'd hoped for never materialized. Each time, Parker had refused to come out and see her. She'd let him have a week of no pressure and try again next Sunday. Only seventeen more months until she brought him home.
Chapter Seventeen
Samantha exited her car with the black bag containing all the equipment she needed to make a farm visit. She strolled up to the rambling, ranch-style house for the last appointment of the day. Charlene had sent her a brief text message earlier to tell her about this emergency visit and given her an address, but no other information on what she should expect. Most people out here owned farm animals, so she was prepared for almost any type of emergency.
She pushed the doorbell and stood back to listen to the chimes that went off inside. The door opened, and she frowned. Sheriff Dickerson stood in front of her, grinning.
"Samantha, I was hoping you would come. I wasn't sure if I called early enough to get an appointment for today, but your gal Charlene said she would try her best to get me squeezed in." Sheriff Dickerson popped a fresh toothpick between his teeth.
"What can I do for you today, Sheriff?" The ball of fire in the pit of her stomach that always appeared when she was around the man ignited.
Dickerson stepped out and shut the door behind him. With his hand on her back, he walked her to the barn. She walked faster to get away from the hand exploring her back.
"My horse is feeling under the weather and is off her feed. I thought I'd have you check her out." He slid the door open on the pole barn.
A quarter horse penned up on a side stall reared back and stamped its hooves at the sudden noise from the door. She set down her bag, moved over to the stall, and peered inside to get a visual on the horse.
That asshole!
The sight sickened her. Viscous, fresh whip marks all along the back flanks of the horse mingled with older scars. The whites of the horse's eyes flared up, and the horse lowered its head. The last thing she wanted to do was startle the horse and cause more distress.
She tuned out the incessant chatter coming from the sheriff and took her time inspecting the horse's condition. The problems amounted to more than a poor appetite, and she blamed the one person who owned the horse.
After stepping away from the stall, she leveled her glare on the sheriff and demanded he answer. "Can you explain how those marks got on the horse's backside," she paused and barely spat out, "Sheriff?"
Animal abuse was intolerable, and at any moment her temper threatened to override her professionalism. What kind of person beat an animal? She'd love to beat an abuser and show them how being under someone's control broke off little pieces of your confidence and happiness.
"Don't worry about those. Sometimes the horse needs a little reminding on who's in charge around here."
The horse struck the ground with its hoof and came down hard on all four legs, obviously agitated by the sheriff's voice.
"Shh, darling. That's it, sweetie. No one is going to hurt you. I just want to take a look and see why you don't want to eat. I bet you I could find some sweet molasses for you. You'd like that, huh?" Samantha continued to talk and soothe the horse with her voice. The horse eventually stood still, attentive and calmer.
She motioned the sheriff to move back from the stall. Slowly, so not to frighten the horse, she opened the stall door. The horse pawed the ground.
"Whoa, pretty girl. I just want to peek at you a little longer. There you go, sweetie. You're a nice horse, aren't you?"
She crept her way toward the horse with baby steps, slo
w and steady so not to startle the massive animal. She ran a hand down the horse's side. The muscles on the giant animal spasmed under her hand and shook her to the core.
She kept the singsong words flowing. Scared and stressed, the horse trembled under her hand.
Samantha spent close to an hour talking to the horse. She continued touching the animal, until finally, the horse relaxed enough to let her examine it closer. Besides the marks on the mare's back, she found evidence of older scars on the back and legs. Luckily, the overall health of the animal appeared stable. The abuse, unfortunately, didn't give the animal much hope of ever trusting another human if she remained in Sheriff Dickerson's care.
Talking softly to the horse, she promised to come back for a visit and bring her a treat next time. She doubted if the sheriff had ever treated the horse for worms or inoculated her for West Nile virus. Next time, she'd bring Charlene with her and make sure the animal got up-to-date on its vaccinations.
After giving the horse a small scoop of grains loaded with molasses, Samantha shut the stall gate. She smiled at seeing the horse nosing the horse candy. It killed her that she couldn't save every animal, but at this moment, she enjoyed knowing the horse had received a little love from her.
Samantha marched up to Sheriff Dickerson, who had been leaning against the opposite wall the whole time she dealt with the horse, and pointed at the door. "Outside. Now!"
She didn't wait for him to follow, but expected he would. He didn't seem like a person who enjoyed taking orders, and if nothing else, he'd follow her outside to put her in her place for speaking out at him. She waited for the barn door to close before letting him have it with every inch of redheaded temper she possessed.
"I'll be coming back at another time, and I swear if I see any new marks on that horse, I will call Animal Control on you faster than you can say my name. I don't care if you're law enforcement. There won't be a judge on this earth that you can convince your innocence to." She wrinkled her nose. "You make me sick."
She stormed past him. Shaking with anger, she missed the arm that snaked out to grab her and spin her to a stop. She gasped.
"I don't take threats from anyone, especially from the likes of you," he sputtered. "Maybe you would like me to see about extending your brother's sentence..."
The blood drained from her head, and she stumbled. She couldn't pull out of the grasp he had on her arm.
The ground became blurry, and Samantha blinked hard at the light-headedness washing over her. Dickerson jerked her to him and ground his hips into hers. His fat belly pushed into her stomach, and she lost her breath. His hands came around to cup her ass, and she shoved against his chest to get away.
The nausea and the fear of what the sheriff might do scared Samantha. She fell to her knees and scrambled away before he could catch her.
The moment she could stand up safely, she jumped up and ran away. She climbed in the car and hurried to lock the doors. The sheriff strutted toward the car, and she fumbled for the keys in her pocket, jammed the right one into the ignition, and started the car.
The engine turned over, but she pressed too long on the key, causing the engine to squeal. The tires spun and kicked out gravel against the underside of the vehicle in her haste to get away.
The medical bag she'd brought with her remained back at the sheriff's ranch. No way did she want to go back and retrieve it. She'd make up a new bag and cut her losses.
Samantha pulled up to the clinic and ran to the building. Her hands shook so hard she couldn't open the door. Leaning her forehead against the glass door, she wondered how in the world she'd gotten herself into this position. She'd moved here to get away from the lawmen who used their power to push innocent people around. Now, she'd never be able to bring Parker home to this.
A hand lay on Samantha's back. She screamed and came up swinging her arms, wildly fending off the person, afraid the sheriff had followed her home. This time she'd fight harder and longer.
"Samantha!"
She stopped. Her arms dropped, and the fight melted away. She wrapped her arms around the person who'd scared her half to death.
"Oh, Bobby, it's you. I'm so glad." She molded her body tightly to his and attempted to shrink herself into invisibility.
"What's wrong, baby? Are you hurt?" He ran his hands down her back.
"Can you take me upstairs?" She didn't loosen her grip.
"Sure, but answer me. Are you hurt?" He pulled her face away from his chest to gaze into her eyes.
She shook her head no. "Just take me to my apartment."
Bobby unlocked the door and lifted her into his arms. He took the stairs two at a time and deposited her on the couch. He lifted the afghan off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"Tell me what happened. You look scared to death. Did something happen to your brother?" He sat down beside her.
She squeezed her eyes shut. "I need to take a shower." She threw off the blanket and hurried to the bathroom.
The hot water broke through the tension, and under the steamy flow, she allowed the tears to fall freely down her face. Slowly, she gained control of her emotions before turning the water off. She'd take it one day at a time. That's all she could do. If anything else happened, she'd sell the clinic and move on.
Bobby had switched the television on in Samantha's living room during her shower, but turned to her the second she entered the room. She wasn't fooled. He no more watched the football game that played than she appeared calm, cool, and collected. She gave him a wobbly smile and sat on the other end of the couch.
After almost two weeks of not seeing him, Samantha sighed in relief to have him with her. The anger over his lack of communication and where he saw their relationship going had lessened since the night she'd kicked him out her apartment and out of her life. After all, she'd brought her own faults and secrets to the relationship too.
"Do you want me to leave?" He clicked off the television.
Swollen, dark bags sat under Bobby's eyes, and he fiddled with his watch. Maybe she could give him one more chance to explain things to her now that she'd calmed down. At least she could learn what'd changed between them.
"Stay." She turned sideways on the couch.
The cushion in the middle of the couch gave her enough space so that she wasn't touching him. If she did, she didn't trust herself to stay objective. She'd learned early on that her self-control disappeared around Bobby.
"I need to apologize for how I acted last time I saw you." She held her hand up when he tried to speak. "I need to tell you this. You have no idea how much I love you. Not being able to see you has killed a part of me."
Bobby moved over to the middle of the couch. She let him pull her onto his lap. Settled into the one spot that comforted her, she indulged in the safety of his strong arms.
"First off, get the idea that I only want you for the sex out of your mind." Bobby leaned down and kissed her. "Second thing, I love you."
Her head snapped up, and Bobby delivered a longer kiss.
"Last, but not least, I plan on marrying you, Dr. Samantha James."
This time Samantha kissed him, over and over, the day's events going to the back of her mind. Bobby's proposal preceded everything else.
"Oh, Bobby, you don't know how much I love you too." Tears of joy filled her eyes. "It doesn't matter what happened. We can work things out, right?"
"Samantha, listen to me, so there are no misunderstandings." Bobby waited for her to acknowledge him before continuing. "Work is going to be pretty busy for the next couple weeks, but I promise you as soon as I can work some things out, I'm going to spend every day with you and every night beside you in bed."
She nodded, grabbed his shoulders, and brought his lips down for another kiss, but he stopped her.
"There are a lot of things we're going to have to talk about, but right now you have to understand that I love you. I swear, I'll make everything up to you. We belong together."
"Can y
ou spend tonight with me? Only tonight...please?"
"Nothing is going to tear me away tonight, I promise." He smiled.
Samantha and Bobby walked to the bedroom hand-in-hand.
Now that Bobby had returned, Samantha wanted to celebrate their finding the way back to each other. Excusing herself, she slipped over to the bathroom and wiggled out of the pajama bottoms and ratty old T-shirt. She pulled on a black sexy thong with matching baby-doll chemise. She'd bought it a few weeks ago, prior to their big fight, in the hopes Bobby liked it.
He loved it. A lot.
A couple of hours later, Samantha served Bobby the vanilla ice cream with caramel topping they didn't get to eat last time. She licked her spoon and giggled at the groan it brought out of the man sitting on the bed with her.
"Sammy, are you going to tell me what had you so scared earlier?" He set his bowl on the floor.
"If I tell you, will you promise to let me handle it?"
He sighed. "I promise to listen. You scared me earlier, and I want to help you."
She placed her unfinished bowl of ice cream on the nightstand, inhaled, and explained what had happened out at Sheriff Dickerson's farm earlier.
"I'm going to kill him." He swung his legs over the bed and stood.
"You promised, Bobby. I can handle this. Really, I can." She grabbed his arm and pulled him back down on the bed. "I was just upset when you found me. Now I'm mad. I won't let him hurt me again."
"Damn him. I don't want you to go anywhere alone with him. If you need to visit his place again, I'll take time off." Bobby ran his hands through his hair.
She nodded. "Turn off the light, Ranger Man. I want to sleep in your arms tonight."
He shut off the lamp on the nightstand. Samantha snuggled up in his arms, and almost instantly, her body gave in to sleep.
Sleep didn't come for him. The details she'd shared with him about Dickerson played over in his head. The sheriff's tactic of bulldozing his way over the people in this town needed to stop. He stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't shake the feeling that Dickerson also had something to do with the roadblocks his team kept running into in their pursuit of Chuck Morgan.