Farraday Country

by Chris Keniston

  And it was exactly that attitude about her grandfather that gave him enough leeway to get into so much trouble. “I’m sure if I ask Adam, he’ll give me the morning off to drive you in myself.”

  “Nonsense, Adam is a wonderful boss, but save the requests for extra time off for something you really need. We don’t want to take advantage of his good nature. And besides, we’ll be fine.”

  Kelly resisted the urge to argue. What constituted fine, like beauty, too often was in the eye of the beholder. “When will you be back?”

  “I’m not sure; we’re going to play it by ear. If nothing important creeps up at her office by Monday morning, we thought we’d take a few extra days and do a little sightseeing.”

  Heaven knew her mom deserved a few good days of fun with an old friend, but Kelly merely wished the ideas of handling her grandfather, her uncle, and possibly a new puppy weren’t already so overwhelming, and her mother hadn’t even left yet. Which brought her back around to the dog. “Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “We got the cutest new patient today.”

  Her mom nodded.

  “A puppy. Maybe a shepherd mix.”

  “We have a lot of those in these parts. Australian shepherds, German shepherds, all good cow dogs.”

  “Yes well, this one choked on a chicken bone.”

  “Oh no.” Her mom lifted both hands, palms flat against her chest. “Poor little thing.”

  Sympathy was exactly what Kelly was going for. Combine cute, sweet, and pity, and she might just be able to take the puppy home with her. “I was just going to go check on him. Why don’t you come with me?”

  “Well at least he’s okay,” her mom muttered following behind her. “Careless people shouldn’t be allowed to have dogs. Everyone knows chicken bones are bad for them.”

  “That’s just it.” Kelly pushed the OR door open and continued back to the recovery room where Adam and Becky stood over the still sleeping pup.

  “Oh, he is adorable!” Kelly’s mom stretched her hand forward and scratched under the puppy’s chin.

  “He’s a stray.” Kelly smiled.

  Her mom chuckled, shifting her hand to rub behind his floppy ear. “I should’ve seen that one coming.” Looking up at her daughter, she shook her head with amusement. “When does he come home?”

  Kelly threw her arms around her mom in a tight hug. “I hoped you were going to ask that.”

  “Could be as early as tomorrow,” Adam answered.

  “Oh my.” Kelly’s mom took a step back straightening her shoulders. “I’d better make a stop at Sisters and the feed store.”

  “You don’t think it will be too much with Pops and Uncle Ralph?”

  “Nonsense,” her mom waved her off. “If anything, training a dog will give them something safe to do.”

  Safe? She supposed her mother was right. How much trouble could two men get into housebreaking a dog? Then again… “Don’t worry about the store. What we don’t have here, I’ll pick up.”

  “You sure?” her mom asked.

  Kelly nodded. “You just get ready for your trip, Mom.”

  “Love you, baby.” Grinning from ear to ear, her mother gave her a tight squeeze, waved at Adam and Becky, and hurried out the door, a spring in her step.

  “That went well.” Becky gave her friend a thumbs up. “If you hadn’t spoken up, I was going to talk to DJ.”

  Adam shook his head. “And I was going to talk to Meg.”

  The three of them chuckled.

  Kelly rolled her eyes skyward. “Good thing we don’t get a lot of strays in here.”

  “The place would be more like Noah’s Ark,” Becky agreed.

  Right. Like Noah’s Ark. Two by two. The little guy looked so sweet. The soft-sided cone Becky had snapped around his neck for when he woke up looked to be as big as he was. Maybe bigger. Maybe once they’re all set up and the puppy is feeling better, she should look into a companion playmate for him. A good idea. One that had her wondering if there were any more pups in his litter, and had that really been mama outside the clinic? It was almost as if she’d given her stamp of approval, much the way the parents had done with Hannah and Dale, but would she be happy to know Kelly was taking this guy home to her crazy family? Or was she the crazy one even considering the mama dog was picking out parents for her pups?

  ****

  Arms laden with supplies, Ian felt a little silly showing up at the clinic again so soon, but his mind had wandered to how the puppy was doing and paid little attention to his conversation with DJ. At least picking up a few things made him feel like he was doing something. The bright smile that took over Kelly’s face when her gaze fell on him made the shopping trip more than worthwhile.

  “You’ve been busy.” Kelly stood and walked around to greet Ian.

  “Ran into your mom on her way into the Cut and Curl. She mentioned that you’ll be taking the dog home tomorrow.”

  Prying a bag open with her fingertip, Kelly peeked at the contents and nodded.

  “I hope you don’t mind, I picked up a few things.”

  “Oh look at this.” Kelly pulled out a huge rubber bone and laughed. “No splinters.”

  “That’s what I was thinking. You stuff one end with something like peanut butter or cheese.”

  “Yeah, they’re really popular with dogs that like to chew.” Taking one of the bags from him and setting it down on the desk, she glanced at the large bed under his arm. “Let’s take this back to where he’s resting.”

  Ian nodded and followed her down the hall. “Adam with him?”

  “No.” She pushed the swinging door open. “He was beat. Went home early. Becky too. There’s a tech coming in late tonight who will keep an eye on him till morning. I’m going to stay with him till then. Becky’s just upstairs if I need anything, but he’s mostly going to be sleeping off the anesthesia.”

  Only one of the kennels along the rear wall had an occupant. From his approach into the room, Ian could see the puppy was still pretty lethargic. “Rest is good for him.” Not until the lifeless tail gave a single thwack against the hard surface at the sound of his voice did Ian even realize the little guy was not sound asleep.

  Even though he was a small dog, Adam had placed him in one of the larger kennels. The little fellow lay curled up on a hammock raised a few inches off the ground.

  “Hey buddy,” Ian cooed, stepping into the large space.

  The dog pushed upward. Awkwardly lifting his head, he struggled to wiggle off the bed.

  “Is he supposed to do that?” Ian asked.

  Kelly squatted and dropping the new dog bed on the ground, reached over to pet and soothe the tired animal. “He needs to take it easy, but he’s okay.”

  Head hanging over the side, the moment Ian reached forward to scratch his neck, the dog dipped his chin and licked at Ian’s hand.

  “Bet that’s a thank you.” Kelly smiled.

  Settling down on the ground in a traditional lotus position, Ian stroked at the dog’s side, looking carefully at the shaven belly and ugly stitches.

  “Don’t worry,” Kelly raked her fingers along the pup’s hip. “His fur will grow back and cover all the scars.”

  “I wish I’d gotten to him a few seconds sooner.”

  “At least you got to him. Had he run off with that bone into an empty pasture or field, he would eventually have died alone.”

  The accuracy of the prediction wasn’t doing much to make Ian feel any better about not having found the puppy sooner to stop him from chomping on the bone.

  “Any more sign of the mama dog outside?” Kelly asked.

  Ian shook his head. He’d wondered about her too. From what Esther at the station explained, this and another dog had a reputation for appearing and disappearing at will around town. He’d heard tidbits here and there about the matchmaking dogs, but before Esther could fill in the details, DJ had called him into his office.

  For a few peaceful minutes, Kelly and Ian sat side by side, e
ach stroking a different section of the furry pup until with a wormlike shrug, the dog pushed himself forward and plopped over onto the two. The bulk of his body curled into Ian’s lap, his head and front paws draped over Kelly’s.

  “I don’t think he likes sleeping alone.” Kelly rubbed her knuckle at his jawline. “I bet he sleeps with littermates. Or his parents.”

  “He wouldn’t be the first toddler to sleep with his folks.”

  “No,” Kelly smiled, a pretty, sweet smile. “I don’t suppose he is.”

  “The thing that always amazes me about these animals is the unconditional love.”

  “I know. Doesn’t matter what their masters say or do. They’re always devoted.” Kelly’s eyes remained fixed on the dog. “Don’t you wish people could be more like dogs?”

  Something in her face told Ian the comment was not as off handed as it might have been coming from someone else. “I know a few who could learn a lesson or two.”

  “This guy trusts us to take care of him. To be kind. And I bet he’d never turn around and bite us.”

  “Not on purpose.” Ian wished he knew Kelly better, then he could come right out and ask what was bothering her the way he would Hannah or Grace. Not that either would tell him. Most of the time he’d get some mumbo jumbo answer that he was positive had nothing to do with the truth and everything to do with why he would never fully understand women. Except right about now, watching the sadness deepen in Kelly’s gaze, he really wished he knew the right thing to say. “What’s really on your mind?”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “Men,” she muttered before the filters in her mind could stop her. The second she heard her own words her eyes almost popped out of her head and her free hand flew to her mouth in an effort to stop her from saying anything else stupid.

  Based on the hint of a smile teasing at the corners of Ian’s mouth, Kelly was convinced she had completely succeeded in making a total fool of herself.

  Letting her hand drop, she opted to scratch the dog’s ears with both hands. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  “What did you mean?”

  Her heart racing at double time, she forced herself to lift her gaze from the dog to Ian. No hint of a smile remained. He continued to slowly run his hand along the dog’s side but kept his eyes steady on her. Right now she’d pay big bucks to know what he was thinking.

  Silence hung between them until it was clear Ian had no intention of saying anything else until she answered. Sucking in a long breath and then blowing it out in resignation, she shrugged. “Let’s just say my last relationship didn’t go so well and I’m probably better off with the dog.”

  “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

  She lifted her shoulder in a lazy shrug. “It’s hard.”

  “Which part?”

  “I’ve never been the skinny, pretty girl. Growing up, on the playground during school, Grace and Becky were the pretty ones, the normal ones.” She glanced at Ian’s direction, noticing a small frown forming between his brows, but he said nothing. “At first I remember parents, neighbors, even teachers sometimes saying I just had to grow out of my baby fat.”

  The frown remained on Ian’s face, but this time he bobbed his chin in a curt nod.

  “Then I,” she swallowed searching for the right words, “blossomed. And I started getting lots of attention, but even as young as I was, I knew it was for all the wrong reasons.”

  This time Ian’s mouth pressed into a thin line as he considered her words.

  “By high school everybody had filled out more proportionately. I wasn’t such a standout anymore, but I was still the only curvy girl in class.” She huffed a halfhearted chuckle. “At least I wasn’t told I had baby fat anymore. I’d become curvy and big boned.”

  “A lot of women pay big bucks for curvy.”

  She nodded. “True, but still, we always want what we don’t have. Becky spent most of her adult life telling me she’d kill for my curves, and I’d have killed to be looked at first for anything besides my figure.” Kelly wasn’t going to tell him that she also would’ve killed to have had a good honorable man like DJ Farraday fall head over boot heels in love with her no matter what she looked like. “Anyhow, in the long run I finally realized most men are jerks.” She winced. “Sorry, no offense intended.”

  One side of his mouth tipped up in a Farraday smile. “No offense taken.”

  “And I learned to recognize the nice normal ones. A few were really nice guys, and are still friends. It’s just this last one. Brett. Tall, thin, strong shoulders, bright blue eyes, the kind of guy you’d see on a romance book cover. The one all the girls dream of. At first I was so flabbergasted that somebody so nice and good-looking was interested in me that I think I was a little blinded to some of his not so nice flaws.”

  That little frown reappeared between Ian’s brows.

  “Becky was the first one to notice the little digs. Then Grace. Not until Joanna asked me why I put up with the jerk did I realize he was a jerk.”

  Ian had stopped stroking the dog. She could see the tension building in his shoulders and filtering down to the stiffness in his fingers. The hand at his side curled into a loose fist and she realized what he must be thinking.

  “He didn’t hit me or anything like that. I wouldn’t put up with anybody that stupid. It was just the subtle remarks about what I was wearing. How this skirt made my butt look big. Had I considered buying specially tailored blouses that would fit better. Maybe I should have the salad instead of the steak. That I should skip the potatoes because I couldn’t afford the carbs. I should exercise more to lose the extra poundage. Not pounds. Poundage. Think before I speak. Finally he just came out and said if I wanted to stay with him I needed to lose weight.”

  Ian had returned to petting the dog, but the tick in his jawline told her he might be doing that more to soothe himself than the animal.

  “I told Brett he needed to lose some of the fat in his brain. That plenty of men liked my curves and I didn’t need him. Turns out getting rid of him wasn’t that easy. Every time I look in the mirror I wonder if I’m really curvy or just fat. When I order dinner, I think should I skip the steak and have the salad. I know I shouldn’t let his digs change how I see myself. I’ve got hips and I’ve got boobs and there are women who would kill for both and good men who can love and appreciate me for all of me not just how I look. But something about this jerk has just been so hard to shake off.” Kelly dared to look up at Ian. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ramble.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

  “I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this.”

  “Maybe because I’m listening.”

  Goose bumps rose along her arms. Four simple words that may have been the nicest thing any man had ever said to her. Somebody paying attention to what was in her heart not on her chest, and just her luck, he had to be a Farraday. Not just a Farraday who probably saw her as nothing more than a kid sister, but one who wouldn’t be around long enough for her to get to know better. And wasn’t that just a damn shame?

  ****

  It was a good thing for this Brett character that Ian wasn’t in the same room or he might very well have snapped Brett’s neck in two like the chicken bone they’d cut out of this little puppy. The guy probably had a brain—and balls—the size of a peanut. There were plenty of things in this life Ian didn’t care for. Plenty of things ticked him off. Verbal and emotional abuse was at the top of his list, right after violence and nestled tightly beside animal cruelty.

  The way Kelly’s eyes widened slightly at his words told him whatever he’d said was either really, really right or really, really wrong, and he had no idea which. Waiting silently for her to say something, do something, to better show him what he’d done, was more unnerving than waiting for the jury’s verdict on a case that took years to build.

  Puppy broke the silent tension, nudging Ian’s now still hand.

  “Sorry, boy.” />
  “He needs a name.” Kelly’s expression shifted from surprise to warmth.

  Too bad the warmth was directed at the dog. Not that Ian had the right to be thinking that way. Nor did he have a logical reason for caring. But he did.

  “I don’t think Rover will cut it.” Kelly ran her finger along the puppy’s nose.

  “Maybe if your name was Jane.” He tossed a casual grin in her direction and nearly did a fist pump when she returned the smile.

  “He’s so cute.”

  “He is.” There was more he wanted to say, but those few words were all that he dared. For now.

  “Your Uncle Sean says a good cow dog should have a single syllable name to make commands easier to follow.”

  Ian nodded. Even when dogs had longer names connecting their breeding, ranchers usually called shorter names. “Planning on giving him away some day?”

  Surprised eyes looked up at him again. “No.”

  “Then you can name him anything you want.”

  Her head bobbed up and down as though she were not merely answering but convincing herself. “Buddy,” she whispered.

  “Thinking he might give you a name?”

  Kelly smiled up at him again. “You called him Buddy a few times. If it’s good enough for a president’s dog, why not good enough for him?”

  “Why not?” The name suited the dog. Ian felt certain Buddy would be his master’s best friend.

  “Then Buddy Morgan it is.” Reaching for the new dog bed, Kelly slid it under Buddy’s head as she pushed to her feet.

  He continued stroking Kelly’s new dog until she returned with a bowl of freshwater.

  “Let’s see if he’s interested in re-hydrating.” Setting the dish near the dog, Kelly stood watching.

  At the sound of the metal dish scraping along the floor, the puppy opened his eyes but didn’t lift his head. He carefully watched Kelly’s movements as she released the bowl and stepped back. For a few seconds Ian thought the dog’s groggy gaze seemed to be waiting to see if she’d kneel down and scratch his head once again.