Home Again

by Lisa Emme

  Allie went straight to the feed room and grabbed the garden hose kept coiled by the tap. Turning it on, she shoved the hose at Mike. “Well, here then, make yourself useful. Could you fill the water buckets in the back four stalls please?”

  “Sure thing.”

  While Mike took care of the water, Allie grabbed four coloured pails and proceeded to add a mix of grain to each. As a vet, Mike was impressed when he noticed that she was carefully weighing each measure and not just scooping and throwing it into the feed pail.

  A few minutes later he returned, coiling the hose as he went. He shut off the water, hanging up the hose.

  “Thanks.” She stepped out of the feed room carrying two pails in each hand. Mike reached down and took two of them.

  “The yellow one goes in the first stall on the left, the blue pail is Lily’s,” Allie said.

  Mike raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know horses had colour preferences.”

  “What, and you a vet and all?” She laughed and held up the red pail in her hand. “Buck gets extra cod liver oil.” She held up the green pail in her other hand. “Old Joe gets his supplements with some molasses.”

  “And blue and yellow?” He held up the two pails in his hands.

  “They’re the same - just oats, cod liver oil and some vitamins. But I think Lily likes the blue pail better.” She shrugged at Mike’s skeptical look. “What? A girl can be choosy.”

  When the pails were in their appropriate stalls, Allie pulled on her gloves and grabbed a rectangular bale of hay from a stack inside the front stall. The bale was tied with coarse bailing twine but the gloves protected her hands.

  “Here, let me get that.” Mike moved to grab the bale.

  “Nah, I got it. Besides, you don’t have any gloves.”

  She dropped the bale on the floor by the first occupied stall and pulled a folding knife from her front pocket. With a snap of the blade she cut the twine and then divided the bale into four. She grabbed a portion of hay, took it to the first stall and spread it out in the manger. Mike grabbed a second portion and did the same.

  With Mike’s help, the work was done quickly. She walked over to the large sliding door at the back of the barn and pushed it open along its sliding track. Four tall horses stood patiently at the door.

  “Chow’s on, you greedy beasts.” She stepped back allowing the horses to walk briskly into the barn, each headed to their own stall. A big sorrel gelding passed by Mike, his ears flattened.

  “Oscar! You behave yourself.” At Allie’s scolding tone, the gelding veered away from Mike.

  “Oscar?” Mike asked.

  “As in ‘the Grouch.’”

  “Huh. Good name.” Mike chuckled.

  Allie grabbed a hoof pick from a hook on the wall and walked into Oscar’s stall. She rubbed him down from neck to tail, checked his legs for nicks or scrapes and then lifted his feet, checking his hooves for cracks and stones. Oscar barely noticed her, his head buried in his feed pail, as he munched contentedly. Satisfied that all was well with her charge, she pulled the stall door shut behind her and moved on to the next.

  “Are all these horses yours?” Mike reached out to Buck who, finished with his meal, stood with his head hanging over his stall on the chance that there might be more food coming his way. Buck wuffled at Mike’s hand, his big, horsey lips tickling his outstretched palm.

  “No. Just Old Joe and Lily. Oscar and Buck are being boarded.” She closed up the last stall door after giving Lily an affectionate pat on the rear. “Do you ride?”

  “A bit. Can’t really be a country vet without knowing your way around a horse. But I prefer a bit more horsepower.”

  “Yeah, nice bike.”

  “Thanks. I could take you for a ride sometime.”

  “Ha! Yeah, I bet you could.” She brushed her hands off, wiping them on her shorts. “Well, that’s it.”

  She double-checked that the feed lid was locked down properly then flicked off the light and headed out of the barn, Mike on her heels.

  “You’re leaving the door open?”

  “Yeah, I’ll turn them back out to the paddock later.”

  They went back around to the front of the house and Mike’s Harley. On the way, she stopped under a large oak tree.

  “Well, here’s the tree house, and that concludes your tour of the Roberts farm.”

  Mike looked up about ten feet to the old, worn-looking tree house perched in a V made by the trunk and a large branch. A rope ladder hung down from one side, a tire swing on the other.

  “Wow. This is the perfect tree for a fort.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought when I was seven.” She smiled and leaned back against the rough bark of the tree, remembering the summer she and her uncle had built the tree house. Lost in thought, she didn’t notice that Mike had come to a stop right in front of her. He leaned in close, kissing-distance close, one hand on the tree beside her.

  “Penny for your thoughts.”

  “What? Oh.” She shook her head. “Nothing, just remembering the good old days.” She took a deep breath, inhaling his fresh, clean smell. He must have had a shower before coming over tonight because he smelled fresh and clean, yet all man. The thought of seeing water running down his muscled body brought a blush to her cheeks. She ducked out from under his arm, ignoring his knowing grin, and put some distance between them.

  “Well, goodnight then. Thanks for your help.” She looked towards the house. “I should get inside. Got a boy to wrangle into the tub before bed.”

  “Yeah, I should be going. Thanks for the pie. It really was the best pie I have ever had. No lie.”

  “You’re welcome. You can always get more in town at the Red Hills Café. I’m baking all their pies now.”

  “You are? What other kinds of pie do you make?”

  “Oh, all kinds. Cherry, Apple, Rhubarb, Saskatoon, Pecan, Peach…”

  Mike groaned, holding his stomach. “How’s a guy to choose?”

  “Well, they won’t all be available all the time. Depends on the season. It’s strawberries right now.”

  “Well, I’ll be sure to check it out then.”

  ***

  Back in the house, Allie paused at the landing on the way up the stairs to look out the window to the front. She watched as Mike pulled on a black leather jacket and helmet and then climbed on his bike, giving it a kick to get it started. It was a complete turn on to see his fine ass straddling the powerful bike. Get a grip girl. You so don’t need a man right now. She shook her head and ran the rest of the way up the stairs. Work never seemed to end on the farm. She had a boy to bathe, horses to turn out and pies to bake. No time for a man. No sir.

  “Mornin' Randy.”

  “Morning Bill. Not out fishing today?”

  “Nope. Man’s gotta earn a living.”

  “Yes sir. No arguments here.” Randy looked at the spry, old fellow and shook his head. What was it that made the men in this town seem to never want to retire? At least old doc Mundy appeared to have finally decided to slow down. Bill Medlock, the town’s pharmacist, didn’t seem to be showing any signs of wanting to retire, and he just celebrated his sixty-fifth birthday not too long ago. At forty-five, Randy MacAllister was already thinking it would be nice to retire. Of course, maybe it wasn’t so much retirement but rather a change he was looking for, having worked his entire life on the family ranch and under the critical eye of his father, the formidable Duncan MacAllister.

  “I’ll have your prescription up in a minute. Just need to finish filling this rush job, if you don’t mind,” Bill said.

  “No problem. Take your time, take your time, I’m in no hurry.” Randy grabbed one of the chairs set to the side of the counter for that purpose, stretching out his long, lean frame. Randy MacAllister was tall and had the tough, sinewy build of a man who worked hard for a living. His skin was
already tanned a deep brown, well at least his face below his hat and the lower half of his arms.

  “So I see that Grace’s girl is back in town,” Bill said, feigning nonchalance.

  Randy grunted, noncommittally. “That’s what I heard.”

  “My, that girl sure takes after her mama. Pretty as a picture, she is.” He rattled a bottle of pills and then affixed a prescription label. “And that young son of hers, what a charmer. Too bad he’s so poorly.”

  Interest peaked, Randy straightened in his chair. “Oh?”

  Bill continued on. “So many worries for such a little guy. Must be hard on his mama. And expensive too.” He rattled the bottle of pills again as he slipped it into a white paper pharmacy bag. “In fact, this here prescription is for the little guy. Doctor phoned it in from the city. Just lucky we had these pills in stock. Allie should be by any minute to pick them up.”

  “You don’t say? That wouldn’t perhaps be why I’m still here waiting on my prescription now is it, you old meddler?”

  “Well,” Bill replied defensively, “It’s a damn shame, if you ask me. A young girl left with hardly any family and what little she has left too damn stubborn to - ”

  “That’s enough Bill, nobody asked you. You know how it is.” Randy looked uncomfortable. “Listen, I’ll come back later.” He headed to the front of the store, but before he could reach it, the door opened, the bell above it tinkling the arrival of a new customer.

  Allie stepped into the store and then stopped, a surprised look on her face. “Oh, Uncle Randy. Uh, hi. How are you?” Allie ran a hand through her hair self-consciously. She hadn’t been thinking about the possibility of bumping into anyone she knew, her mind set as it was on getting Dougie’s medicine and returning home as quickly as possible. She smiled tentatively. “How is Aunt Eleanor?”

  “Good, good. We’re both good.” Randy shuffled uncomfortably. “Eleanor is enjoying summer vacation from the school right now.”

  “Oh, that’s nice.” Allie smiled genuinely. She had always liked her uncle’s wife, Eleanor, who it seemed went out of her way to be kind to Allie.

  “I heard you were in town. Been back long?”

  “About a week I guess. We’re staying up at the house with Elaine and Russ for a bit.”

  “Oh, well. That’s good, good.” There was another awkward moment of silence. Really, could it get any more uncomfortable? The last thing she was prepared for was an encounter with her estranged uncle.

  “Uh, well I should….” She picked up a shopping basket and gestured around the store.

  “Oh, yes. Take care now.”

  “Thanks. You too.” She took her basket and moved off down an aisle randomly. Randy watched her for a moment then went off in the other direction. He stopped halfway down an aisle, pretending to be engrossed in the selection of shampoo and glanced surreptitiously at Allie. It had been five or six years since he last saw her. He knew she came back from the city often, but she tended to just stay out at the farm and not come into town much. That old meddler Bill Medlock was right; she had grown into a real beauty, so much like his baby sister. He shook his head as old pain surfaced, pain and guilt. The car accident that took his sister’s life, leaving his young niece an orphan had been tragic enough. But to his eternal shame, he had let his father compound the tragedy - he had done nothing to try and stop the overbearing Duncan MacAllister from all but ostracizing Allie, making her life in the small, close-knit community almost unbearable.

  ***

  Allie skimmed up and down the aisles quickly, grabbing a few things here and there – mascara, lipstick, toothpaste, children’s vitamins – before arriving at the pharmacy counter.

  “Good morning, Mr. Medlock. Not rushing you, am I?” Allie asked with a warm smile.

  “Good morning, Allie dear. No, no, you’re just on time. Have your prescription right here.” He placed a small, white paper bag on the counter. “Now listen. I’ve only filled half the prescription. Unfortunately this medication is so new there’s no generic available for it yet. I thought it’d be better to just take some to try in case your doctor ends up changing things on you again. That way you won’t get stuck with any leftover.”

  Allie placed her shopping basket up on the counter and picked up the prescription bag. “Thanks, I….wow! Is that the price for just half?” Her eyes widened in shock.

  Bill gave her a sympathetic look. “Yes, as I said…” He held up his hands in front of him in a futile gesture.

  “Oh, well….okay then.” She took a deep breath. “You know, I don’t think I really need all this other stuff. Just a few impulse buys, nothing I really needed. Do you want me to put it all back for you?”

  “Oh no dear, no need for that.” He gave her another sympathetic look and pulled the basket behind the counter. “It’ll give me something to do this morning. It can get pretty quiet in here at times.”

  Allie opened her wallet and pulled out several bills. After paying for the prescription her wallet was all but empty. “Thanks again for rushing this for me Mr. Medlock. I should get going.” Blinking back tears, she clutched the prescription bag to her chest and practically ran from the store.

  ***

  “You can come out now Randy. She’s gone.” Bill grumbled and slapped Randy’s prescription on the counter. Randy walked up to the counter, grabbed the shopping basket Allie left behind and took a look at the items inside.

  “Better ring these things up too. Seems my niece forgot a bag.”

  Bill smiled and began to quickly ring things in, throwing them into a bag. “Best get this out to her before she leaves.”

  “Well, go on then. I’ll hold down the fort.”

  ***

  Out in the parking lot, Allie sat in her car and wiped the tears from her eyes. How on earth was she going to make ends meet? The two-weeks severance she had received from her last job was all but gone and the insurance company was still dragging its feet on paying her claim for her apartment contents.

  A tap on her window startled her from her thoughts. Self-consciously, she wiped the last of her tears before rolling down the window, surprised to see Mr. Medlock.

  “You forgot your other bag.” He held up a shopping bag.

  “But I didn’t…no, I couldn’t.” She frowned and shook her head in protest.

  “Now, don’t you worry. It’s been taken care of.” He thrust the bag through the window.

  “Taken care of? By who?” She grimaced as the realization hit her. “Really, I can’t. I don’t need anyone’s charity.”

  “Now little lady, you listen here. You take this bag for what it is. It’s not charity. It’s family reaching out to family. Pride is what tore your family apart. Are you going to let pride keep standing in your way?”

  Allie frowned again, but then grudgingly took the bag. “Thank you and could you please thank my uncle for me too?”

  “You coming youngster? I need me some coffee.” Doc Mundy stood out in front of the Vet Clinic, hands on his hips, as he watched Mike stop by his truck and toss his medical bag into the back.

  “Yep, I’m right behind you, Doc. Just want to lock things up.” He hopped up into the back of his truck and punched in the code to his truck locker.

  “You alright there Mike?” Doc looked at Mike in concern. “You seemed a bit distracted this morning. Not having second thoughts, I hope.”

  The two had spent the morning out at the Farley ranch inoculating forty head of cattle. It was rough, dirty work - a real change of pace for a former city vet.

  “What? Oh, no. No, nothing like that. Just got some things on my mind is all.” Stowing his gear in the locker, he slammed the lid shut.

  “Some thing or some one?” Doc smiled, a mischievous gleam in his eye.

  “Just things.” The doc was right on the ball for an old guy. It was someone, a particular someone, w
ith blonde hair and curves in all the right places. Earlier, Mike thought he had seen her beat up old SUV down at the pharmacy and since then he couldn’t get Allie Daniels off his mind. Not that he needed reminding. He had tossed and turned all night, thoughts of her luscious ass and perky breasts causing his blood to near boil. What was it about that little firecracker? Sure, she was his type, if he had to admit to having a type - smart and sassy, lush and curvy, a real woman. Not like a lot of the women back in the city who either starved themselves half to death until they looked like twigs that could snap in a stiff breeze, or subjected their bodies to all kinds of artificial treatments.

  There was something more to Allie Daniels though, than just being his ‘type’. She seemed so strong and independent, but vulnerable too, like she carried a lot of hurt deep inside. It made him ache with the need to hold her in his arms and kiss all her troubles away. Man, you are losing it. He shook his head and jumped down from the truck.

  “Come on, doc. I think I need a piece of pie to go with that coffee.”

  ***

  Across town, someone else had Allie Daniels on his mind.

  Randy MacAllister sat in his office at the Circle D Cattle Company, his thoughts on his young niece and her boy. Seeing her today had stirred up all kinds of guilt. It gnawed at his gut.

  Twenty-five years. Had it really been that long? Twenty-five years ago this past fall, his rebellious, much loved, younger sister had run off to the city with dreams of becoming an artist shining in her eyes. Always a wild spirit, young Grace MacAllister in particular, had felt the burden of responsibility placed on her by their domineering father. Young and in love with Howard Daniels, a local farm boy with aspirations of becoming an architect, they had run off to the city, defying her father’s wishes.

  Duncan MacAllister had been furious. When the detective he’d hired had finally tracked the pair of young lovers down, Duncan had stormed off to the city, intent on dragging his wayward daughter back home if he had to. Only he didn’t. He came back empty-handed, locking himself in his study for days. Randy’s mother, Marie, already frail of health, had not coped well, especially when Duncan had made the edict that Grace was dead to them, prohibiting so much as her name to be spoken.