Читать книгу A Cold Creek Noel - RaeAnne Thayne - Страница 8

Chapter Two

Ben made the last stitch to close the incision on the puncture wound, his head throbbing and his shoulders tight from the long day that had started with an emergency call to treat an ailing horse at four in the morning.

He would have loved a nice evening with his kids and then a few hours of zone-out time watching basketball on the hotel television set. Even if he had to turn the sound low so he didn’t wake up Jack, the idea sounded heavenly.

The past week had been a rough one, busy and demanding. This was what he wanted, he reminded himself. Even though the workload was heavy, he finally had the chance to build his own practice, to forge new relationships and become part of a community.

“There. That should do it for now.”

“What a mess. After seeing how close that puncture wound was to the liver, I can’t believe he survived,” Joni said.

He didn’t want to admit to his assistant—who, after three weeks, still seemed to approve of the job he was doing—that the dog’s condition was still touch and go.

“I think he’s going to make it,” she went on, ever the optimist. “Unlike that poor Newfoundland earlier.”

All his frustration of earlier in the afternoon came surging back as he began dressing the wound. A tragedy, that was. The beautiful dog had jumped out of the back of a moving pickup truck and been hit by the car driving behind it.

That dog hadn’t been as lucky as Luke here. Her injuries were just too severe and she had died on this very treatment table.

What had really pissed him off had been the attitude of the owner, more concerned at the loss of all the money he had invested in the animal than in the loss of life.

“Neither accident would have happened if not for irresponsible owners.”

Joni, busy cleaning up the inevitable mess he always left behind during a surgery, looked a little surprised at his vehemence.

“I agree when it comes to Artie Palmer. He’s an idiot who should have his privileges to own any animals revoked. But not Caidy Bowman. She’s the last one I would call an irresponsible owner. She trains dogs and horses at the River Bow. Nobody around here does a better job.”

“She didn’t train this one very well, did she, if he was running wild and tangled with a bull?”

“Apparently not.”

He turned at the new voice and found the dog’s owner standing in the doorway from the reception area, her lovely features taut. He swore under his breath. He meant what he said, but he supposed it didn’t need to be said to her.

“I thought I suggested you wait in the other room.”

“A suggestion? Is that what you city vets call that?” She shrugged. “I’m not particularly good at doing as I’m told, Dr. Caldwell.”

Sometime during the process of caring for her dog, Ben had come to the uncomfortable realization that he had acted like a jerk to her. He never insisted owners wait outside the treatment room unless he thought they might have weak stomachs. So why had he changed policy for Caidy Bowman?

Something about her made him a little nervous. He couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but it might have something to do with those impossibly green eyes and the sweet little tilt to her mouth.

“We just finished. I was about to call you back.”

“I’m glad I finally disregarded your strongly worded suggestion, then. May I?”

He gestured agreement and she approached the table, where the dog was still working off the effects of the anesthesia.

“There’s my brave boy. Oh, Luke.” She smoothed a hand over the dog’s head. The dog’s eyes opened slightly then closed again and his breathing slowed, as if he could rest comfortably now, knowing she was near.

“It will probably take another half hour or so for the rest of the anesthesia to wear off and then we’ll have to keep him here, at least overnight.”

“Will someone stay with him?”

At his practice in San Jose, he and a technician would alternate stopping in every few hours through the night when they had very ill dogs staying at the clinic, but he hadn’t had time yet to get fully staffed.

He nodded, watching his plans for a nice steak dinner and a basketball game in the hotel room go up in smoke. He had become pretty used to the cot in his office lately. Whatever would he do without Mrs. Michaels?

“Someone will be here with him. Don’t worry about that.”

A look of surprise flickered in her eyes. He couldn’t figure out why for a moment, until he realized she was reacting to his soft tone. He really must have been a jackass to her.

“I’m sorry about...earlier.” Apologies didn’t come easily. He could probably thank his stiff, humorless grandfather for that, but this one seemed necessary. “About not letting you come in during the treatment, I mean. I should have. And about what I said just now. I’m usually not so...harsh. It’s been a particularly hard day and I’m afraid I may have been taking it out on you.”

She blinked a little but concealed her emotions behind an impassive look. For some reason, that made him feel even more like an idiot, a sensation he didn’t like at all.

“You were able to save his leg. I thought for sure you would have to amputate.”

“He wouldn’t be much use as a ranch dog, then, would he?”

Her look was as cool as the December night. “Probably not. Isn’t it a good thing that’s not the only thing that matters to me?”

So she wasn’t like his previous client, who hadn’t cared about his injured dog—only dollars and cents.

“I was able to pin the leg for now, but there’s no guarantee it will heal properly. We still might have to take it. He was lucky, if you want the truth. Insanely lucky. I don’t know how he made it through a run-in with a bull in one piece. His injuries could have been much worse.”

“What about where he was gored?”

“The bull missed all vital organs. The puncture wound is only a couple inches deep. I guess the bull wasn’t that serious.”

“You would think otherwise if you had been there. He definitely was seeing red. After I pulled the dog out, he rammed the fence so hard he knocked one of the poles out of its foundation.”

She pulled the dog out? Crazy woman, to mess with a bull on a rampage. What was she thinking?

“Looks like he’s coming around,” he said, not about to enter that particular fray.

The dog whimpered and Caidy Bowman leaned down, her dark hair almost a match to the dog’s coat. “Hey there. You’re in a fix now, aren’t you, Luke-my-boy. You’ll be all right. I know it hurts now and you’re confused and scared but Dr. Caldwell fixed you up and before you know it you’ll be running around the ranch with King and Sadie and all the others.”

Though he had paperwork to complete, he couldn’t seem to wrench himself away. He stood watching her interact with the dog and winced to himself at how quickly he had misjudged her. By the gentleness of her tone and the comforting way she smoothed a hand over his fur, it was obvious the woman cared about her animal and was not inexperienced with injuries.

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 should 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.