by Kate Pearce
She tilted her head to look up at him and he couldn’t look away as memories flooded over him.
“What?” she asked softly.
“You still do that little bird trick with your head.”
“I haven’t changed that much really, Danny.”
“I guess not.”
She lightly touched his arm. “I’m sorry I got mad at you.”
“Right back at you.”
Her smile was full of sweetness and he instinctively leaned in to appreciate it and then abruptly straightened.
“Okay. We’ll go through the mudroom so we can take off our boots.”
Dammit, she still drew him in like a bee to a flower. He really should be more careful. They were still at odds and there was no reason for him to trust her.
“Welcome back,” Danny said as he ushered her through into the kitchen. There was no sign of his father, but the delicious smell of freshly brewed coffee hung in the air.
“Wow! This kitchen is amazing!” She turned a slow circle to take in the hand-finished wooden cabinets and long polished table.
“Kaiden did it.”
“Your brother Kaiden?”
“The one and only. He trained as a master carpenter.”
“It’s beautiful.” She moved over to the table and ran her hand over the surface. “I haven’t seen him in town yet, but if I do, I’ll tell him myself.” Her faint smile died. “Although he probably won’t want to talk, and if he hasn’t changed, he’ll have no hesitation in telling me why.”
Danny shrugged. “He’s been busy lately running his business and helping Juan Garcia manage his place. I doubt he’d go out of his way to be mad at you.”
Faith didn’t look convinced as he poured her some coffee. He went to add cream and sugar and then looked up at her.
“How do you take your coffee?”
“Just like you were going to make it.” She half smiled. “I still have a sweet tooth.”
He gestured to the table and waited until she took a seat before joining her.
“Is your dad okay? He looked worn out,” Faith asked.
“He’s definitely overdone it today. If my mom was here, she’d be telling him to sit down and let us deal with things. He’s not good at giving up control.”
“Who is?” She sipped her coffee, her gaze reflective. “I’m not great at that myself.”
“Yeah,” Danny said slowly. “I guess I realized that when you went ahead and had the baby adopted before I even got to see him.”
Silence fell between them broken only by the hum of the refrigerator and the ticking of the kitchen clock.
“My parents made that decision. They said you agreed.”
“Only because I was told that’s how you wanted it to go down and that it was too late for me to stop it anyway.”
“We did talk about adoption.” Faith looked up at him. “Before, I mean.”
“Yeah, we did.” Danny sighed. “I’m not saying it was the wrong thing to do, Faith. I just wish I’d gotten to see him at least once.”
“So do I.” She reached out and gripped his wrist as if words were not enough and he covered her hand with his own. “He had dark hair and weighed around eight pounds. I don’t remember much after that because all hell broke loose and I lost consciousness.”
“What?” Danny stared at her.
“No one told you about that either?”
He shook his head.
“I had full-blown eclampsia. Just after Marcus was delivered, I had a seizure and they ended up putting me in a medically induced coma to save my life.”
“Shit. I had no idea.”
She shrugged. “That’s why I don’t remember much about the decisions that were made by my parents and your father. At one point, they weren’t certain if I was going to make it, which is probably why they went with the adoption solution.”
“How can you be so calm about all this?” Danny asked.
“Because for me it happened seventeen years ago, and I’ve had time to come to terms with it.” She smiled. “For you it’s all new and it’s obviously a shock.”
“Damn straight it is.” Danny set his mug down on the table. “If I’d known at the time, I would never have allowed them to hustle me away to Morgan Valley. I had a right to be there with you.”
“I was kind of upset when I finally woke up and there was no sign of you,” Faith admitted. “And when I tried to contact you all I got was silence. I figured you were done with me.”
Danny sat back. “I was never—” He stopped talking, aware that he was treading on dangerous ground and unwilling to risk the fragile understanding they’d managed to reach. “I wish I could go back and get a redo.”
“Same.” She released his hand and focused on her mug of coffee. “We were both so young.”
“And foolish.”
She smiled. “Foolishly in love.”
“I never thought that part was foolish, Faith,” Danny said gently.
“Neither did Romeo and Juliet and look what happened to them.” She drank more coffee, her expression strained.
“What’s happening with my calves?”
With his usual impeccable timing, Danny’s father chose just the wrong moment to come into the kitchen and sit himself down at the table.
“We’re rehydrating the calves and making sure they’re kept warm. I’ll come back and check on them tomorrow, but don’t hesitate to call me if anything changes before then,” Faith said.
“It’s scours, isn’t it?” Jeff asked.
“At this point I’m not sure whether it’s just bad luck, or whether there’s some underlying cause we’re missing.” She glanced from Danny to his father. “From what I can tell you’ve done everything right as far as ranch management goes.”
“That’s a given.” Danny’s father nodded. “We run a clean and safe ranch.”
“I know it’s frustrating when I can’t immediately give you a solution, but as you well know diarrhea in calves is both widespread and complicated,” Faith said. “It’s going to be a process of elimination until we work out what’s going on and how to treat it.”
“I get that.” Jeff fixed Faith with a hard stare. “But don’t take all day.”
“I won’t.” Faith smiled at him. “One thing I forgot to ask, have you brought in any cows recently?”
“Nope. All the calves are from Miller-bred cows.”
“Okay, which lessens the chance that an infection came in that way.” Faith finished her coffee and stood up. “I’d better get going. I have a clinic in half an hour.”
Danny rose to his feet. “I’ll walk you out.”
After Faith made one more detour to the barn to talk to Adam and check on the calves, Danny finally waved her off and watched her drive away. He returned to the kitchen to find his father still sitting at the table.
“She’s a good vet. Thorough. I like that.”
Danny got more coffee. “Yeah.”
“Better than Dave.”
“She’s got more experience.” Danny leaned back against the counter and studied his father. “Why did you force me to come back to Morgan Valley when Faith was having our baby?”
His father blinked at him. “Where the hell did that come from?”
“A sincere desire to know why you decided to interfere in my life?”
“You were seventeen! What the heck did you know about anything, let alone how to be a father?”
“Mom was seventeen when she had Adam,” Danny reminded him.
“That’s different!”
“Why?”
“Because we were married, I had this place, and you had nothing but foolish dreams.” Jeff folded his arms over his chest. “And I didn’t like the way the McDonalds were blaming you for everything. I told them it takes two to tango and that Faith was just as guilty as you were.”
Danny winced. “Wow, no wonder they couldn’t wait to get me out of Faith’s life.”
“You were both too young to have a child. W
e all agreed on that.”
“It’s a good job your parents didn’t say the same thing to you, isn’t it?” Danny countered.
“As I said, it was different back then.”
Danny held his Dad’s defiant gaze. “Did you tell Faith not to call again when she tried to contact me?”
“Yup.”
“You’re just admitting it out loud?”
“Sometimes it’s easier to have a clean break than a drawn-out drama. You’d been through enough,” Jeff said gruffly. “I didn’t want her riling you up again and putting you off your work.”
Danny slowly shook his head. “Do you ever think about the fact that you have a grandson out there somewhere, Dad? A boy who will never know this family or the life he might have had if you’d let me bring Faith home?”
“Can’t say I’ve thought much about it.” His father shrugged. “I’m not one for looking back and questioning every damn decision I make. I do what needs to be done in the moment and I live with the consequences.”
“Like when you kicked Mom out.”
“You’ve got me there.” Jeff rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “That wasn’t one of my best decisions.”
“Neither was siding with the McDonalds and stopping me from having a family.” Danny nodded at his father. “I’m going to check on the calves.”
* * *
Even as Faith ran through the list of possible reasons the calves had all come down with diarrhea, she kept hearing Danny telling her that he hadn’t known she’d been sick, that if he’d known, nothing would’ve torn him away from her side. And the way he’d looked at her like she was the most precious thing in his world—like they were seventeen again and deeply in love.
“Stop it.” Faith spoke the words out loud like she was really trying to convince herself. “Focus on the calves.”
The problem with diarrhea was that it could be relatively harmless or fatal, and the time between when the calf first became sick and death could happen fast. Unfortunately, she was already beginning to suspect that if it was scours it hadn’t been caused by flaws in management, but by something infectious. Working out what that was might take time, and vulnerable newborn calves didn’t have that luxury.
She reached the clinic, parked up, and went in to find Dave and Jenna in the back office. Dave took one look at her face and offered her his mug of coffee.
“What’s up? Are the Brysons giving you shit?”
“Not this time. I was just up at the Millers’. They’ve had four calves go down with scours.” Faith finished Dave’s coffee in two gulps.
“Four?” Dave frowned. “That’s unusual for them. Did they bring in new stock?”
“Nope, and from what I could see there were no issues with where the calves were born. The field was dry, not overcrowded, and clean.”
“So, we’re looking at some kind of infection,” Jenna said. “What do you think it is? Bacterial, viral, or protozoan?”
“I have no idea.” Faith blew out a frustrated breath. “What’s the chances that Jeff Miller is going to pay for extensive testing?”
“Small.” Dave shuddered. “He takes every bill I send him as a personal attack.”
“He might have no choice,” Jenna chimed in. “If it is infectious it could spread rapidly.”
Dave and Faith groaned in unison.
“Have either of you seen any other cases in the valley?” Faith asked.
“Not yet,” Dave said and Jenna nodded along. “But I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for anything coming up. The last thing we need is the whole community getting hit.”
“I’m going to bag up everything I wore today and keep my medical stuff separate,” Faith said. “If it is infectious, the last thing anyone wants is the local vet traipsing around spreading the problem.”
“Jeff would probably claim you were doing it deliberately to increase your revenue,” Dave added as he reclaimed his coffee mug.
Faith couldn’t help but smile. “He probably would, but I’m still going to do everything in my power to make sure he and his damn herd survive this whether he likes it or not.”
Chapter Six
“Come on, Faith.” Dave held the door of the Red Dragon Bar open for her. “You can buy me dinner.”
“That’s very kind of me,” Faith retorted as she took in the crowd of locals at the bar and around the pool table. The Red Dragon looked both busy and way cleaner than she remembered it. Jay Williams had obviously done a lot to improve the place since he’d taken it on.
“Hey, stranger!” Nancy shouted out from behind the bar.
Both Dave and Faith went to answer her and then looked inquiringly back at Nancy, who grinned.
“Whoever feels the guiltiest, I was definitely talking to you.”
“That would probably be me then.” Faith smiled. “Dave says we can eat here?”
“Yeah, go on through.” Nancy pointed to the right. “We’ve still got a couple of tables free.”
“Thanks.” Faith smiled and walked with her brother into the dining area where she immediately tried to back up.
Dave grabbed her by the shoulders. “Hold up, Sis. What’s going on?”
“Millers,” she whispered. “They’re everywhere.”
“It’s just Danny and Evan,” Dave objected. “They often hang out here on a Friday night.”
Of course, because she’d stopped in the middle of the restaurant everyone was now staring inquiringly at her. Her gaze locked with Danny, who looked wryly amused.
“Come on.” Dave took her hand and marched her forward. “I’m starving.” He nodded at various people in the booths. “Hey, January, hey, Chase, hey, Ted.”
Faith smiled along and was just congratulating herself on reaching her table when Danny stood up and blocked her way.
“Hey.”
“Hi, Danny.” She looked past him to his grinning brother. “Hi, Evan.”
“It’s good to see you, Faith.” Danny was speaking way too loudly.
“Er, thanks.” She searched his face. “You saw me yesterday as well.”
Evan snorted. “Wow, you’re so smooth, Bro.”
“It’s always good to see you,” Danny said just as loudly. Faith suddenly realized what he was trying to do when she noticed how everyone else in the diner was hanging on his every word. “And you, Dave.”
“Thanks for nothing,” Dave said, and turned to Faith. “Will you please sit down and feed me?”
Danny’s smile kicked up as he stepped out of Faith’s way. “The beef’s good and Sonali makes an amazing fried chicken.”
“Good to know.” She slid into the booth and hoped she wasn’t blushing as hard as she thought. “Nice to see you, too, Danny.”
She busied herself studying the menu as conversation around her restarted.
“Man, you’re really red,” Dave commented. “You should probably have a beer or something. I’ll go and get a couple, while you order.”
“What do you want?” Faith asked.
“Fried chicken basket with curly fries and extra honey mustard dressing.” Dave rose to his feet and held out his hand. “Beer money?”
“You can pay for that yourself,” Faith said. “Remember, I know exactly how much you earn.”
She returned her attention to the menu. She loved beef, but after the last couple of days dealing with sick calves, she fancied something different.
“Hi! Welcome to the Red Dragon. What can I get you?”
She looked up to find a young woman with a notepad and an expectant expression on her face smiling at her.
“Hi, I’d like the fried chicken basket with curly fries and extra honey mustard dressing and the smoked chicken salad, please.”
“Got it. Anything to drink?”
“Dave’s just getting us some beer.” Faith pointed back at the bar.
“You’re Dave’s sister?”
“Yup.” Faith nodded.
“I’m Sonali, I work with Bella, Jay’s mom, to manage the
diner. It’s nice to finally meet you.” She glanced over at the Millers’ table. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I bet you have.” Faith suddenly felt tired. “Probably none of it good.”
“I’m so sorry, that came out completely wrong!” Sonali gasped. “I never listen to gossip and always make up my own mind about someone when I meet them.”
“Good for you.” Faith suddenly felt old. “Would it be possible to have some water to go with our food?”
“Sure! I’ll get that for you immediately.” Sonali hurried back toward the kitchen just as Dave returned with the bottled beer.
“Everything okay?” Dave asked.
“Just peachy.” Faith took a very long slug of her beer and then another one.
Sonali came back with two glasses of iced water and set them on the table.
“I should’ve known it was you when your sister ordered extra honey mustard.”
“It’s my signature dish.” Dave grinned. “How’ve you been? How was the class?”
“Excellent and informative,” Sonali said. “I can’t wait to add some new items to our menu and the weddings up at Morgan Ranch.” She glanced over at the other booths. “I’ve just got to take this check over to the Millers and then I’ll check on your food.”
Sonali walked over to where Danny and Evan were sitting. Danny immediately stood and gave her a hug. His arm remained around her shoulders as her smile returned and she went up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. Faith couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but the way Danny listened so intently reminded her how good he had always been at making her feel special.
“Are Sonali and Danny dating?” she asked Dave.
“I think so.” Dave checked his cell. “They definitely were at some point, which makes no sense when she wouldn’t go out with me.”
Danny laughed at something Sonali said, which made Faith glance over again. Their eyes met over Sonali’s shoulder and Faith immediately looked away. She had no right to question Danny’s love life when she hadn’t spent the last seventeen years pining for him. She’d gotten married and divorced and learned a lot about herself in the process. Danny wasn’t the kind of man who would end up single. He had far too much to give to a woman and she really wanted him to be happy. If Sonali was that woman, even though she looked a lot younger than him, she’d happily attend their wedding and cheer them on.
