The Lawman's Rebel Bride

by Amanda Renee

  “She was.” He scratched his chest. “And then she wasn’t. Wait. Hold on. When she gets night calls, she leaves the address in the kitchen in case we need her.”

  Harlan bounced up and down on the Presleys’ front stoop. Fear and anxiety coursed through his veins.

  “Here it is.” Calvin handed him a piece of paper.

  “Thank you.” Harlan ran back to his cruiser and punched in the address. It was all the way on the other side of the county. He turned on his police lights when he pulled onto the highway.

  Twenty minutes later he drove onto the ranch. Belle’s and Lydia’s trucks were parked side by side in front of a large stable. He tried the main doors, but they were locked. He ran around to the side and found one that was open.

  “Sheriff’s department,” he called out as he walked through the door. He didn’t want to take anyone by surprise.

  “May I help you?” A woman approached him.

  “Ma’am, I’m looking for Belle Barnes. That’s her red truck out there. I believe she’s here on a veterinary emergency. It’s very urgent that I speak with her.”

  “Right away. Follow me.” The woman jogged down the corridor. “We have a mare foaling twins. The first was fine. The second one is breech.”

  The woman led him to a large stall. A mare lay on her side, breathing heavily, while Lydia was up to her armpit in the horse’s backside.

  “I almost have her turned around,” Lydia said. “Get a mask and a resuscitation bag ready.”

  Belle dug through a large duffel, removed two towels and shook them out. Then she unpackaged a mask and resuscitation bag and connected them together. For a brief moment their eyes met before she looked away.

  “I have her head!” Lydia cried. “Harlan, get in here. Belle, get behind me.”

  Belle dropped to the stall floor and wrapped her arms around Lydia’s waist.

  “Pull!” Lydia ordered. “We have to get her out now.”

  The foal slid onto the hay-covered floor. Belle scrambled to her knees and cleared the amniotic sac away from the newborn’s mouth and nostrils. “Breathe,” she whispered under her breath. “Breathe.”

  “Roll her onto her right side,” Lydia instructed. Belle, and Harlan quickly repositioned the foal while Lydia listened for a heartbeat with her stethoscope. “I’m not getting anything.”

  Belle reached behind her and grabbed the towels, tossing one to Harlan. She wiped any remaining amnion and hay from the animal’s mouth then began vigorously drying the foal. “Do what I’m doing,” she said to Harlan. “We need to stimulate breathing.”

  “We’re going to need that resuscitation mask.”

  Belle reached out and stilled Harlan’s hands. She placed the mask over the foal’s nose while Lydia extended the animal’s neck and applied pressure along the left side. Harlan assumed it was to prevent air from entering the gastrointestinal tract. Belle squeezed the bag with both hands. Each compression expanded the foal’s chest. They continued the squeeze and release cycle for a good thirty seconds before Lydia looked up at him.

  “Harlan. Grab the oxygen tank. I left it on the outside of the stall.” He retrieved it and knelt beside Lydia as Belle continued to squeeze and release the bag.

  “Okay, stop squeezing,” Lydia said. She withdrew a sealed pack from her medical bag, tore it open with her teeth and removed an oxygen line. Quickly, she connected one end to the tank and the other to the resuscitation bag. She adjusted the regulator on the tank, allowing the oxygen to flow. Within seconds, the foal began to breathe on its own. Lydia attached a nasal tube on to the oxygen line and placed the tube inside the foal’s nose.

  “Harlan, I’ll need you to hold this lightly in place. Remind me around the ten-minute mark. We need to check on the mare and the other foal.”

  An hour later, they stood and watched two healthy foals as they tried to nurse from a very tired mama.

  “That was amazing.” Harlan hadn’t had the opportunity to see Belle at work before. Sure, he’d been there for a few of her arrests, but this—this was different. He’d thought he understood what she did for a living, but he hadn’t imagined this. She was saving lives. He’d never seen her more focused and determined in the twenty-one years he’d known her. He’d completely misjudged her. “And you two do this all the time.”

  “Tonight was a rarity.” Lydia wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “A very successful rarity.”

  “Not that we didn’t appreciate the help, but why are you here?” Belle asked.

  Harlan gripped her by the shoulders and turned her toward him. “The nursing home called. Trudy had a bad episode. She fell and the ambulance was there to take her to the hospital. They asked me to locate you.”

  “Oh, my God.” Belle glanced down her body. “I’m covered in—oh, my God! Lydia, I have to go.”

  “Wash off first.” Lydia motioned down the hallway. “One of you call me with an update later.”

  Harlan waited outside for Belle. He’d managed to clean up outside with a hose.

  “Crap! I have my truck.” Belle looked from his cruiser to her truck and back again. “I guess I’ll follow you.”

  “Belle, get in. We’ll worry about your truck later.” He pulled onto the highway and turned his lights on again. “Why don’t you give them a call? Maybe they can tell you something over the phone.”

  “Okay.” Belle stared at her phone. “I don’t have the number.”

  And Harlan didn’t think she was capable of looking it up right now either. Between the euphoria from delivering the foals and the anxiety over her grandmother, Belle’s hands hadn’t stopped trembling since they got in the cruiser. He shifted in his seat and tugged his phone from his pocket. He unlocked it and handed it to her.

  “It’s in my contacts under hospital.”

  Belle tapped at the screen then held it to her ear. “Hi, I am looking for a status update on a patient. Gertrude Barnes. Yes. I’m her granddaughter and her next of kin. Correct. Okay. We’re on the way there. Thank you.” Belle handed the phone back to him. “They don’t know anything yet.”

  “Okay, we’ll be there in twenty.”

  “Harlan, what if this is it?”

  He reached for her hand and entwined his fingers in hers. “Then I will remain by your side for however long you need me. I’ll never let you go again.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I wish they would tell us something soon.” Belle sat in the hospital waiting area between Harlan and her father. A month ago she would have bet a million dollars that this scenario was impossible. Yet here she was, blessed enough to have two men who obviously cared enough about her to be willing to sit this close after she’d rolled around in horse manure and amniotic fluid. That was love.

  Belle pulled her hair into a makeshift ponytail. “I need a shower. I need a change of clothes.”

  “You need to move back in with me.”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “You need to get your head examined.”

  “You two need to talk.” Beckett rose from his seat. “And you both need a shower. You stink.”

  “You’re high if you think I would ever move back in with you.” Belle snorted. “I heard what you said in the stairwell at the courthouse. And I believe you love me. And I... I... I love you, too. But you and me, we don’t work well together. It’s like we live in a baggage claim and it just keeps piling on until we explode.”

  Belle had dreamed of hearing Harlan say I love you again. And when the words echoed throughout the stairwell, she’d had to cover her mouth to keep from saying the words in return. She wanted to love him freely, with all her heart. But he deserved to live and love without worrying what would happen next.

  “I was horrible to you that night. I let Molly get under my skin when I knew her threats would involve
too much of a commitment from her. She can’t even schedule a day in advance to see Ivy.”

  “Why would I want to get involved in that again?” Even though it was all she thought about. “It’s too much drama. I have enough drama in my life, never mind the fact that you dumped me twice. I appreciate you visiting my grandmother in the nursing home and sitting here with me. I even love the fact that you made a valiant effort to find me tonight. I love that about you. But everything else aside, Molly can play the Belle’s Past card whenever she wants. And then you’re on edge and Ivy’s at risk again.”

  “The next time I’ll call her bluff because I want to be there for you every day for the rest of our lives.” Harlan lowered down on one knee and took both of her hands in his. “I want to be there the day you realize your dream. I want to be there when you hold our child for the first time. I want to be there when you come home, smelling like—” Harlan raised her hands “—this after saving a life. I want to be there and comfort you after you lose the ones you couldn’t save. I want to be the man you want to come home to. The man you want to grow old with.”

  “Harlan.” Belle wanted the same things, along with permanence and stability. She had tasted it, however brief, and it still coursed within her. But she would never put him or anyone she loved at risk ever again. “I’m so sorry. But I can’t. I just can’t.”

  Harlan released her hands and sat back on his heels. “I’ll wait. For however long it takes. I’ll wait.”

  “Miss Barnes?” A doctor approached them. “I’m Dr. Rhodes. Your grandmother has a severe kidney infection. The nursing home had mentioned she’s had urinary tract infections in the past. Both urinary and kidney infection in the elderly and Alzheimer’s patients are much more pronounced than what we would experience. It throws their entire system off balance. Then they don’t eat, they don’t drink, they become dehydrated, and your grandmother is extremely dehydrated. Her potassium is at rock bottom. She will probably be here for a week so we can level her out, and then I think you’ll begin to see a significant improvement.”

  “What about her fall?”

  The doctor shook his head, then held a finger under his nose. Belle was mortified. “Nothing’s broken. But because her levels are so low across the board, it has affected everything from her reasoning to her balance. UTIs alone can exacerbate dementia symptoms.”

  “Within a week she went from remembering my wedding to not remembering me at all.” Those images still played in her head every time she closed her eyes.

  “Some of that I’m sure is Alzheimer’s and some of it is the infection.” The man’s eyes began to water.

  “Wow. Thank you so much. So, she’s going to be fine?” Belle wanted to shake his hand but thought better of it.

  Dr. Rhodes took a step back. “Her prognosis right now looks good.”

  “Thank you again. And I’m sorry I smell so bad. I just delivered twin foals.”

  “You look remarkably well after that.” He smiled at his own joke and then quickly turned to leave. “Go get some rest,” he called over his shoulder.

  Belle exhaled and looked up at Harlan. “I don’t know what I would have done without you by my side tonight.” He had taken care of her and had given her what she needed. She’d always striven to be self-sufficient. To never have to rely on anyone. That was the true measure of success. Well, it had been until recently. He had shown her that help didn’t mean she was weak. It meant she was brave enough to accept it. And she was brave enough to let go.

  * * *

  THE SOUND OF someone pounding on Lydia and Calvin’s front door woke Belle from a deep sleep. She reached for her phone and checked the time. It was two in the afternoon. Lydia had given her the day off since she had arrived home somewhere around sunrise.

  The pounding wouldn’t stop. Lydia and Calvin were at work and the boys were at school. “Someone needs to be smacked.”

  Belle trudged through the house. She hadn’t even reached the living room when she saw Molly’s face pressed against the glass. “Go away!” Belle shouted.

  Molly was the last person she wanted or needed to deal with. “You’re making a big mistake. Open the door.”

  Belle stomped through the living room and swung the door open. “If you threaten me one more time, just once more, you’ll be the one making the big mistake. Now get out of here.”

  Molly pushed past her. “Don’t be so dramatic. I mean you’re making a big mistake about Harlan.”

  She didn’t want to talk about Harlan. Telling him no earlier had been one of the hardest things she had ever done. She wanted desperately to believe in him...to believe in them. It was what made signing the divorce petition more difficult. But, doing so freed Harlan and he was better off without her.

  “How did you get here anyway?” Belle asked. “Isn’t Billings like six hours away?”

  “I took a plane after Harlan called and ripped me a new one.”

  “You probably deserved it.”

  “I did. I’ve done some research on you.”

  “That must have been an interesting read.” Belle braced herself for an onslaught of new insults.

  “I hadn’t realized how many commendations you had received from various animal organizations. Many of which applauded your willingness to go above and beyond to save a life, even when it meant putting yourself in harm’s way.”

  “It’s all in a day’s work.” Belle hated when people gave her awards. The spotlight was superficial and took away from the message to not be cruel in the first place.

  “You’re a large-animal vet tech. Animal rescue isn’t in your job description. You do things I’d pee my pants worrying about. So instead of judging, I should have congratulated you on all you have achieved for your cause. The only cause I’ve ever had is me, myself and I.”

  “You can change that, you know.” Belle had always given Molly more credit than she gave herself. “You need to swallow the fear.”

  “I already have, starting with no longer worrying about you being a part of Ivy’s life. Harlan says she’s miserable without you around. She needs you in her life. And I want you to be a part of it.”

  Belle had wanted to ask him about her while they waited in the hospital for news about Trudy, but the words stuck in her throat. She had become more attached to Ivy than she had thought possible.

  “I want to know my daughter. To do that, I have to make time for Ivy. The only way to accomplish that is to move here. So here I am. I have quit my job and I will take whatever comes available until I can find something at another travel agency. If you know of any apartments, I’d appreciate you letting me know. I’ll be at the same hotel I was staying at before.”

  Belle must have missed a memo somewhere. When had Molly grown up? “I’m glad you’re doing this for Ivy. She craves stability just as much as we do.”

  “Which brings me to you and Harlan. You guys were happy before I camped out in the driveway. And you should be happy. And I shouldn’t be jealous of that happiness. I’ll find my prince one day. But you have already found yours. And he’s waiting for you to come home.”

  * * *

  TO SAY HARLAN was shocked when Molly called and told him she’d spoken to Belle on his behalf was an understatement. He’d waited four days for Belle to call before he picked up the phone and asked her to come over for dinner. When she agreed, he almost pinched himself.

  He and Ivy spent the afternoon preparing a three-bean vegetarian chili and Provençal summer vegetables. They had taken a few wrong turns, but by the time Belle pulled down the ranch drive, they’d gotten it right.

  Before Belle reached the porch steps, Ivy ran upstairs. When she didn’t immediately return, he realized she was giving him time alone with Belle.

  He opened the door before she had a chance to knock. “Hi.” She was stunning in a red sundress and strapp
y sandals. Outside of their wedding, it was rare seeing her in anything other than shorts or jeans. She cleaned up well. She’d twisted her hair up in a casual style that begged for him to release it. But he behaved instead. “You look amazing.”

  “Thank you. So do you.”

  Harlan’s idea of dress casual was his best pair of Wranglers, a white button-down dress shirt and his black boots. He’d opted to forgo the hat and felt naked and vulnerable without it. But that was all right. A large dose of vulnerability was in order.

  He held the screen door open for her as she entered the kitchen. “Something smells wonderful. Did you order out?”

  Harlan laughed, not sure quite how to take that. “No, Ivy and I cooked for you. We scoured a couple hundred vegetarian recipes online before we found two we could handle. She helped me shop and prep, and she set the table all by herself. Including the flowers. Those are from her.”

  “How sweet.” Belle glanced around the room. “Where is she?”

  “Upstairs.” Harlan poured two glasses of Riesling and handed one to her. “She ran up when she saw you pull in. My best guess is she’s giving us time to talk. And we do need to talk, Belle.”

  “Yes, we do,” Belle said. “This is a delightful surprise.”

  “I read that the wine paired well with dinner.”

  “You really did do your homework.”

  Harlan nodded. “I felt I owed you that and so much more. I was so busy judging you, playing the good cop, I didn’t see what was right in front of me. And I’m sorry about the other night in the hospital. It wasn’t fair of me to declare my love for you in the middle of a crisis. Our relationship was the last thing on your mind and rightfully so.”

  “Well, that and the fact I stunk.” Belle wrinkled her nose. “I wasn’t exactly feeling my best.”

  “How about now? How are you feeling?”

  “Much more human, thank you. I owe you an apology myself.” Belle set her glass on the table. “I’ve made some really bad choices and some really difficult ones. Sometimes there’s a fine line between the two. I’m sorry I put you in the position where your daughter was threatened. I’ll spend the rest of my life regretting it.”