by Jessa James
Colt rolled his eyes, but shook his head. “No.”
“Well, then do what you can to help him. Or her, I guess,” he added, as if on second thought.
Colt arched a brow at his brother. “You didn’t get a name?”
“The judge only mentioned a Dr. Elliott, and I wasn’t asking a whole lot of questions, so...”
“Right. Got it.” He gave Sawyer a salute as he stood to leave.
“Where’s my wife?” Sawyer asked, nuzzling Shiloh’s head while his son squirmed to get free, not appreciating the distraction from whatever game he was playing on the tablet.
“She’s in the bedroom, asleep.”
“You talked to her?”
“She was already passed out. I didn’t want to awaken the dragon.”
Sawyer gave him a look at the comment, but nodded. “All right. Go on home, and try not to get into any more brawls on the way.”
Colt made a face, but didn’t argue it further.
“I’ll try. Bye, Shiloh.”
Shiloh didn’t say much, just nodded his acknowledgment. Colt got that.
Turning and leaving the house, he touched his swollen bottom lip and wondered what the veterinarian would be like.
* * *
Colt drove home, over the little stone bridge and up the incline. When the pavement fell away and the land flattened, he passed under the Roman Ranch sign.
Both sides of the road held grazing pastures, hemmed in by barbed wire fences. Colt pulled up in the circular driveway of the ranch, parking beside the facilities manager and the chef.
He climbed out of the truck, greeting a half dozen dogs as he did. The dogs all vaguely looked alike, brindled with shades of deep brown and gold, coming up to his knee or thigh.
He patted the dogs as he avoided the main house, a three story clapboard affair, that was probably abuzz with tourist activity right about now.
Instead, he headed next door to the bunkhouse he shared with his other brother, Walker. The bunkhouse had been renovated a couple years back, remodeled into four separate living areas, providing Colt and Walker each with their own studio apartments. It was all rough wood walls with a high clay roof, not nearly as fancy as the main house or guest lodgings. But it had the distinct benefit of being private, which he sought desperately at this moment.
He unlocked his quarter of the bunkhouse, letting himself into the dark, spacious room beyond.
He didn’t bother flipping on any lights as he locked the door behind him and blindly tossed his keys onto a side table. Feeling suddenly exhausted after the events of the last few hours, Colt headed straight for his bed, stripping down as he went. Thinking all the while about the punishment he had coming, and whether or not it would be awful.
He fell into bed, sleep pulling down on him until he willingly succumbed moments later.
3
Rose Elliott woke in an unfamiliar room, bathed in sweat and terrified.
It took her a moment to regain her senses, her brain sluggishly pulling together the facts: This was her new bedroom. She’d been dreaming. She was safe.
Rose repeated these things like a mantra inside her head, until her body stopped trembling and she felt her heart rate subside to a much more normal state. Rose took a shaky breath and closed her eyes as her body began to relax.
This was nothing new to Rose; she went through this process every morning, more or less.
Rose gave a tired sigh and sat up in her bed. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a decent night’s sleep. It was a wonder she hadn’t mentally cracked yet.
Crazy people don’t know they’re crazy, Rose.
Ignoring the unhelpful thought, Rose looked groggily around her barren bedroom. Most of her possessions were still trapped in the boxes piled high in the next room, leaving the space as stark and impersonal as a soldier’s quarters. The only things she’d bothered to unpack that added any sort of life to the room were her festive quilt and the hand-braided rug on the floor next to the bed.
Just thinking about all the unpacking that lay ahead of her was enough to make her want to pull the covers over her head and go to sleep again…
But she already knew what awaited her there. In the waking world, at least, she could try to escape the nightmare of her past.
Extracting herself from the tangle of sheets around her legs, Rose shivered when the fall chill hit her bare feet as she placed them on the floor. She stood, shuffling into the bathroom to assess the damage.
As she entered, she turned on the light and faced herself in the mirror. Long dark hair and permanently sun-kissed skin greeted her, gifts from the Native American side of her ancestry. The white side hadn’t given her much, aside from the potential for heart disease.
The dark bags that had taken up residence under her eyes didn’t escape her notice either. They made her look hollowed out, haunted; a physical reminder of what she relived every night.
As if she were ever in danger of forgetting.
Rose turned on the taps and splashed her face with cold water, feeling better once the remnants of sweat from her nightmare had been washed away.
Rose made her way from the bathroom, back through her bedroom, and into the spacious main living area of the house. Or, at least it would’ve been considered spacious if it weren’t for the copious amounts of moving boxes and animal crates everywhere.
As soon as she entered, her ears were full of barks and whines and meows. The cacophony made Rose smile, her spirits lifting a little.
The room boasted an open floor plan, which she liked. The kitchen was situated off to the left, leaving the rest of the space evenly split between living room and animal area. Rose traversed the boxes in the center of the room, heading for the large metal kennels that dominated the entirety of the right wall. Her pets greeted her enthusiastically as she approached.
Though the cats refused to stay in crates, that didn’t mean her dogs wouldn’t. She let out Dasher, the miniature pinscher; Elvira, the sheepdog; Maniac, the cocker spaniel; and Alexis, the pitbull.
“Hi!” she said to them all, squatting down so they could sniff her and lick her face. “Did you guys sleep well in your new house?”
The crates had become necessary after the fifth nighttime fight over a favorite toy, which almost scared her to death. She was pretty sure Maniac had started it, and he likely was the only one who needed the crate, but she was egalitarian about it. If one dog got the crate, they all did.
Especially now, with the stress of moving to take into account. If one of the dogs got overwhelmed, they could just go in their kennel and be left alone.
The twin ginger cats, Jury and Freckles, rubbed against her ankles.
“I suppose you’re all ready for breakfast, huh?”
Rose set about feeding them, then fed herself an English muffin with peanut butter. She absentmindedly petted the dogs as she ate, moving the curtains aside to peer out the windows.
Catahoula Creek might only be an hour from where she grew up, but it was a world away as far as she was concerned.
Far away from him, she thought. That’s what counts.
Then again, the towns did share the same sheriff.
Should I have moved farther?
She sighed and dropped the curtain. She saw a message blinking on her machine, whose volume was all the way down. She turned it up.
“Hi, it’s Mom. Calling from sunny Florida—”
She stopped the recording, checked the time on her phone. 7:15 a.m. That was central time, which put her mother at 8:15 a.m.
She called her mother.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mom.”
“Oh hey! Listen, listen.”
There was a long period of quiet in which Rose could hear the crash of waves.
“Nice, Mom.”
“You hear it?” her mom asked enthusiastically.
Suni Ellen Thompson, once Elliott, had moved to Florida recently with her new husband. She never quite got tired of surf and s
and, or hadn’t yet anyway.
“I heard it, Mom,” Rose answered patiently, scratching Alexis under the chin when she ambled over for attention.
“Really, Rose, you ought to just move here.”
Rose paused, thinking of all the things that stood in her way, and then how to explain them to her mother.
Instead, she sighed. “How’s it going?”
“Oh, amazing. Did you know that they have alligators on the beach?”
“Uh… nope.”
“Well, sometimes when the water is brackish, like on an inlet, there are gators. And they’re so much bigger here than in Louisiana…”
She let her mother chatter for a bit about what sorts of wildlife she’d seen recently; they lived on a mostly private beach, not the kind with white sand.
“Well,” her mother said and sighed. “Have you heard anything from… him?”
“Umm… no,” she said. “Not a word. I told you he’d vanish once I wasn’t immediately visible.”
Her mother made a disapproving sound.
“I really wish you’d—”
“You know what?” Rose interrupted, her patience wearing thin. “It’s a new day. No one wishes the past was different more than I do, but the facts are just that. Facts. So… let’s move on.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, honey. I know you’re right.”
“I’m going to look at the old veterinarian’s office today, try to see what I can make of it,” Rose said, changing the subject.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll turn out something groovy. The spirits seem to view your project pretty favorably.”
Rose bit back a retort about what the spirits thought, thinking it was about time to wrap this conversation up.
“Yep. Listen, I should get dressed. Gotta go walk the dogs and all that stuff still.”
“Okay, Rosie. I’ll tell Jake you said hi.”
“Okay. Love you. Bye!” she said.
She hung up and turned to the dogs.
“Grandma’s a little touched in the head, isn’t she?” Rose crooned to Elvira, who wagged her tail at the tone of her voice. “Yes, yes she is.”
She showered, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and walked the dogs. She also made sure she fed the turtles, who were living in and around the broken fountain in her backyard.
“Hey!”
Rose turned to find Jack, the six-year-old that lived in the next house over, standing just on the other side of her yard.
“Hi, Jack,” she said. Jack was the only local she’d managed to meet, and she wasn’t sure he counted. After all, he wasn’t exactly interested in her.
Jack skipped through the fence, and went to his knees before the dogs. “Dogs! Dogs dogs dogs!”
Rose laughed. He had the same level of enthusiasm for animals as she’d had at his age.
“Hey, whatcha got here?” he said, rising. The dogs went with him, as a matter of course.
“I’m raising some box turtles in the fountain,” she said. “It’s so warm here most of the year, it’s the perfect spot. They’re still trying to figure out what’s what, though.”
“Cool,” he said, putting his hands behind his back and looking with his eyes. A little something she’d taught him, despite not being very good with kids.
They’d only met two days ago, but the kid was obviously an information sponge — and he remembered and respected her rules.
“Yep. I have to walk my dogs over to my office, but we’ll be back later. Do you want to come say hi around three?”
Jack’s eyes darted back to his house, and he frowned.
“My mom might need some help with my brother.” Apparently his mother had just had her second son, which explained why Jack was at loose ends sometimes. “But if she doesn’t need me, I’ll come.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see you later,” Rose said.
“Okay. See you later, Maniac, Alexis, Elvira, and Dasher!” He pointed to each dog as he said goodbye.
The dogs acted as if he was a rock star for all the fanfare and excitement they showed as they barked and wagged their tails.
After he left, Rose got the dogs on their leashes, locked up her little house, and walked the six blocks to her office. It was nearly on the other side of town, which struck her as quite funny.
She was a small town girl, although she’d done her four-year stint of veterinary school in Baton Rouge. But she figured that was still a pretty small town, in the scheme of things.
Rose had walked around the office before, when they’d offered it to her along with a stipend for agreeing to work out here. Not many new vets probably got such a deal, but Catahoula Creek had a lot of livestock… and they were bound to get sick eventually.
She looked at the office now. Once a cheerful white clapboard building, now the structure was sagging and gray.
“Let’s see what’s inside, huh?” she asked the dogs.
She unlocked the front door and pulled it open, peering inside. It was musty as all get-out, from the front area to the two small patient rooms. The waiting room was nothing to write home about either, just dull and gray like the rest.
“Well, guys…” she said, knocking on various surfaces. “At least it’s structurally sound, huh?”
The dogs merely wagged their tails, happy with anything and everything.
“Hey!” a woman’s voice said.
Rose turned around and found two nearly identical women standing outside in the parking lot, though one was extremely pregnant.
“Um, hi?” Rose asked. She wasn’t great at making friends with strangers. They apparently didn’t feel the same, because they both came right in, as if they were comfortable regardless of place or company.
“I’m Shelby River,” said the not-pregnant one. “This is my sister, Remy.”
“Hi,” Remy said, offering her hand. “Oh my goodness, who is this?”
“Rose Elliott,” she said, shaking hands with both of them. “And these are Dasher, Alexis, Elvira, and Maniac.”
There was a long period of face-kissing and excitement on both ends. Apparently the women really liked animals, as evidenced by their jubilant expressions.
“So you’re the doctor taking over Dr. Larrett’s place? It’s been empty for far too long,” said Shelby, looking around curiously.
“Yeah, almost six years,” Remy said, putting her hands on her lower back.
“Do you need to sit?” Rose asked Remy, frowning.
Remy laughed. “Shelby’s been saying the same thing, but I feel like walking.”
“Pppfttt, until you get too tired and I have to drag you the block home.” Shelby rolled her eyes. “Remy lives like a block from you, in the big blue house.”
“Oh?” Rose said.
“Yeah, her husband insisted on being closer to town,” Shelby said, sighing dramatically. “You don’t have a ring on. Are you single? Single girls like to mingle…”
“Uhhh… yes…”
“Don’t pay her any mind,” Remy said. “Seriously.”
“So where are you from? Why did you move out here?” Shelby asked.
“Shelby!”
“It’s okay. I’m from Sarepta originally, so this is pretty familiar to me. I went to school in Baton Rouge, this is sort of… moving home.”
She forced herself not to make a face.
“Oh, nice,” Shelby said. “Veterinarian’s a good gig, I bet.”
“I got a job offer here making substantially more than anywhere else, so this is where I plan to be as long as you guys will have me.”
Remy smiled. “You’ll probably tire of us before we tire of you.”
“We’ll see,” Rose said with a half-smile. The sisters were charming, that was plain enough to see.
“Hey, since we’re talking to you, could I make like… an early appointment? I’ve got a mare that’s like three hundred days into foaling, and she keeps lying down in the shade. Like, every day. I’m worried.”
“Shelby, Dr. Elliott might not even be open for busine
ss,” Remy chastised her sister.
“I am open for business,” Rose said, “and it’s Rose, please.”
Shelby slid her sister an I told you so look.
“So can you come out and take a look at her?”
“Sure,” said Rose. “No problem. I could maybe come now, if you think it’s urgent.”
“Nah,” Shelby said. “I think she’s just tired of gestating that foal. Right, Remy?”
Remy turned pink. “Pick a time for her to come out to the farm, Shelby. I think I’m gonna start moseying toward the house.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Rose said.
“Seriously, come over whenever. Well, call first, in case I’m gone. I’m in the phone book under Braxton River.”
“Bye, Rose. Bye, dogs!” Remy said.
Shelby gave each dog a final pat, then waved to Rose.
With that, the two of them walked slowly off into the distance.
“What do you know? Survived my first locals.”
She patted Alexis for a minute, then closed up shop. She headed back to her house, making a mental list of repairs to be done.
Paint, for sure. The gutters needed a good cleaning, the driveway area needed to be recovered with rocks. Everything needed a good hard sweep and dust. She’d need to make some small modifications to the exam rooms…
She walked back to her house slowly, then helped the dogs into her aging Volvo. She’d found out yesterday that they could go into the Paint N Things hardware store with her, seeing another person carrying a ladder out with a dog following close behind.
“Organize!” she warned the dogs.
Dasher took point in the front seat, the other three sitting in the back seat calmly.
“Thank you.”
She turned and started to back out, then paused.
Walking in the distance, visible in her rearview mirror, was Jared fucking Chalke.
Jared Chalke.
Jared Chalke could not be walking past her house.
It was possible, but she’d moved away from Sarepta to get away from him.
