by Claire King
“Was that your paw yanking on her hair, Guy?” Daniel asked through his teeth.
“Oh, God,” Guy whimpered. “I didn’t mean nothing. She stomped my foot.”
Not sparing Grace a glance, Daniel reached out a long, mighty arm and grabbed the little man by the collar of his stinking flannel shirt. “She should have knocked you flat for touching her. Looks like I’ll have to do it for her.”
“Daniel,” Grace gasped, but couldn’t have stopped the punch that seemed to explode like a cannon out the end of Daniel’s arm. Guy Tate landed five feet from where he started out, with his head in a pile of horse apples. He didn’t move. He didn’t, in fact, so much as groan, though Grace was gratified to see his chest stir in a shallow motion.
Daniel turned the weighty force of his menace to Tommy Felcher, who was in a low crouch, ready for action. “Last words?” he asked blandly.
“She started it.”
Daniel almost laughed, it was so absurd. “I’ll keep that in mind while I’m beating the hell out of you.”
“Daniel, stop,” Grace said. “I’m fine. I just want to take this horse and go.”
Daniel ignored her, but Tommy thought she had come up with a grand idea, apparently. “Let’s just forget the whole thing, Danny. Like the lady says. Take the horse and go.”
“I don’t think so,” was the terse reply.
“Listen, she don’t even want your help. Look at her, for God’s sake, Danny. She looks like she can take care of herself.”
He didn’t so much as flick a glance at Grace. “Yes, she does,” he conceded softly. Tommy didn’t fly so much as crumple as one of Daniel’s massive fists caught him in his stomach. He went down with a bit more noise than did Guy, but in the end the effect was the same. “But she shouldn’t always have to.”
While Grace stared at the two men lying just about lifeless on the disgusting floor, Daniel grabbed her wrist in a death grip and hauled her close. “Are you all right?”
She was wild-eyed. “Yes.”
“Good. Get your damn horse and get out of here.”
Grace spoke carefully to the horse and managed to get close enough to grab the halter rope. The poor thing was dancing with anxiety. She led it out of the barn. Daniel watched her, scowling, and Grace had the feeling he was waiting for her to make a mistake so he could pounce on her, as well.
They walked in silence to Grace’s truck and trailer. He helped her load the horse without a word and stood like a sentry at her door until she was inside and buckled up.
“Daniel—”
“Don’t talk to me right now, Grace.”
“I just want to say—”
He gripped the open window. “I don’t want to hear what you have to say.”
“You were right about coming out here.”
“Yes, I was.”
“And I’m sorry.”
“You should be.” He was still fuming, almost as much from the scene at her clinic as the one in that stinking old shed. He’d followed her out here, muttering every mile. He’d known there would be trouble with those two, had known them since grade school and had an excellent idea how they would react to the thrilling sight of Grace McKenna. What he hadn’t known is how unbelievably insane he would feel when he saw them yanking her hair, pawing her white, slim neck. He was practically vibrating with the aftereffects. If he’d gotten there a minute later, or if she’d had a mark on her, he would be going back into that barn after Grace left to finish the job.
Grace put her hand over his. His fingers were white-hot and rigid.
“I’m sorry, Daniel. I should have listened to you. But I thought—”
“I know what you thought. You thought I was just trying to weasel my way into your vet practice.”
Under the anger, Grace saw the edge of a wound. She was ashamed of herself for opening it up again.
“That one man, the one with the big belly, he kicked that horse with a steel-toed boot. Its kidney’s bruised, and it may have some internal bleeding.”
Daniel’s lips thinned. “I guess I’ll just go back and hit them again.”
“And then when I tried to take the horse out,” she continued, “they stopped me. I want you to know I tried not to provoke them. Sort of.”
“They’re easy to rile, those two. What happened in there wasn’t your fault, Grace. But you should have let me come out—”
“And then, you came bursting through that door like—I don’t know. Like a hero.”
Daniel scowled at her. “Don’t get carried away, Doc.”
Back to calling her Doc, she noted. Ah, well. She’d get it said with or without his cooperation.
“And all I could think was, Oh, there’s Daniel to rescue me. It just popped into my head. I was in trouble, and there you were.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” His anger was sliding into confusion, embarrassment. She had stars in her eyes, silly woman. All he’d done was toss a couple lightweight troublemakers on their ears. He didn’t love her, but he would have done a hell of a lot more for her than that.
“Not one man, not one person, outside my own family, has ever done anything like that for me, Daniel.” His gaze sharpened on her. “It’s always been like what Tommy said. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” She met his eyes, smiled. “I just wanted you to know that, while that may be true, I very much appreciate you hitting those guys on my behalf.”
He couldn’t help it. He had to smile. “You enjoyed that, did you?”
“Very much. Thank you.”
He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. “I just get to where I think I have you pegged as a nice, sensible woman, Doc, and you turn bloodthirsty on me.”
“I’m multifaceted.”
He smiled. “I can see that. Go back to the clinic, now. I’m going to chat with Tommy and Guy about buying that horse.”
She almost warned him, Be careful. But then she took another look at him. His eyes still gleamed from battle, his big, rangy body appeared invincible. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll see you.”
“Friday,” he said. Grace looked at him blankly. “You’re checking my heifers?”
“Oh, the heifers.” For one thrilling moment she thought he’d been asking her for a date. “Yes. Friday. See you Friday.”
He waited until she pulled out before he started walking back to the barn. Grace drove slowly, watching him in her side mirror until he disappeared, and did her best not to sigh.
Friday found Grace shoulder-deep into the back end of one of Daniel Cash’s herd cows, checking the size of the fetus. Preg-checking was not the cleanest job, and was physically strenuous, as well. She looked like a woman who’d just been given diamonds.
“Seven months,” she mumbled, taking a green grease pencil the circumference of a Cuban cigar out of the pocket of her coveralls and marking a large seven on the hide of the cow in the squeeze chute. She smiled widely at Daniel, her face glowing, thrilled with the job. “Okay, let her go.”
Daniel popped open the chute, released the head-catch. The cow ambled out, accustomed to the exam and the noise of the chute.
“Bring the next one through,” Daniel yelled to his father, who was standing alongside the alleyway where another three cows waited impatiently for their examination. “Keep her,” he shouted to Frank, who opened the gate in front of the released cow and let her walk through.
Howard coaxed another cow into the chute and Daniel clanged it closed on her, squeezing her in so she’d stand still long enough to be checked.
Grace squirted the thread of glycerin jelly over the heavy plastic glove she had clamped to the open shoulder of her coveralls and plunged her hand inside the cow. She frowned in concentration.
“Ooops, three months, Cash. This one got away from you.” She marked the cow with a big three.
“Sell her,” Daniel shouted as he loosened the head-catch again and let the cow go; Frank headed the cow through a different gate. “This is the little bunch I couldn’t find in the deser
t when I A.I.’ed the rest of them last summer.”
Grace grunted. “This one’s ready to calve.” She market it with a nine.
“Keep her,” Daniel bellowed, and let the cow go.
“Do you have an A.I. tech?”
“She asks nonchalantly.” Daniel deftly caught another cow as she barreled through the chute. Grace tried very hard not to stare at the muscles bulging in his arms as he squeezed her in. Ever since that episode with Tommy and Guy in the shed, Grace had been trying very hard to not even think about his muscles.
“Doc Niebaur always did it for me,” Daniel said. “I can’t imagine why you couldn’t. Even though you’re a girl,” he added with a smirk.
Grace smirked back. “Shut up.”
He looked her up and down. Slowly, as if neither one of them had another thing in the world to occupy their time at that moment. “It doesn’t look bad on you, Grace.”
She checked the cow, waved her through with a big zero on her flank, and tried not to let her face go hot and her knees go weak. “Thank you.”
She preg-checked the rest of the cows Daniel had in the alley, stripped off her glove and went back to her vet box to wash and gather up her supply of syringes and blood tubes.
The wayward cows had only been an afterthought. She’d actually come out to bleed the two-year-old bred heifers Cash Cattle was selling to a ranch across the state line in Montana, checking them, as law required for cattle going out of state, for the deadly brucellosis virus. Brucellosis, or “Bangs,” caused spontaneous abortions in cattle, and the livestock industry was unrelenting in its effort to stamp it out entirely.
“We ready for the heifers?” she called over her shoulder.
“You want lunch, first, slave driver?” Daniel yelled back at her.
Grace laughed. “Nope.”
“Well, we’re hungry.”
“That’s a shame.” She walked back to the chute. “Because we’ve got work to do, Cash.”
He considered her a minute. Her face was flushed, her eyes sparkling. He was the only other vet he knew who enjoyed this part of the job so much. Only, he reminded himself, he wasn’t a vet. “Bring ’em in,” he shouted to his dad. “The lady wants to work us to death.”
Grace finished with the heifers late in the afternoon. Beautiful, sleek creatures, they were current on their brucellosis vaccinations and appeared healthy. Grace smiled at Daniel as the last young cow was released from the chute into a pen where she and her sisters would be fed and watered, separate from the rest of the herd, until the Bangs test cleared.
“They look good.”
“They do,” he agreed. He was proud of his herd. He wasn’t doing what he’d always thought he’d be doing with his life, but he was taking his best shot at success, anyway.
“I don’t see any problems. There was a little touch of pinkeye on Number 254, so I treated it.”
“Pinkeye?” Daniel frowned.
“Very mild. It’ll be gone by the time you ship them Monday.”
He grunted, shoved his hands into his back pockets, looked around to see if he could spot the imperfect specimen.
“I’d better get back to town.”
He brought his attention back to her. Jeez. He was sick or something, because those coveralls just did it for him. “Guess so,” he said after a moment.
“Thanks for lunch.”
Daniel nodded toward the house in the distance. “Mom’s thing,” he said. “She was a little flustered she had to serve it out in the corral, I think.”
Grace laughed. “Sorry about that. I like your folks. Danny.”
Daniel winced. “Don’t call me that.”
She grinned at him. So, Mr. Impervious had a sore spot, did he? “Your mom and dad seem very happy.”
“They like being retired.” Daniel looked around, saw his father shutting gates after the heifers. “Well, semiretired. They’re wasting their lives, of course,” he added fondly.
“They ran the place alone before you and Frank took over?”
Daniel nodded. “Dad bought his brother out years ago. Uncle Moe.”
“Moe?”
“Maurice. It’s a family name.”
Grace wrinkled her nose. “Thank goodness your parents didn’t hate you enough to give you a family name.”
Daniel rubbed his chin, decided prudently not to tell her his middle name was Maurice.
“Lisa’s father was a rancher, too?” Grace asked.
“Yes, although she took to it a lot better than he did. He was always sort of halfhearted about it. Almost lost the place a couple times to creditors.” He chuckled. “Nothing halfhearted about Lisa.”
“You can tell that by her eye shadow alone,” Grace mused, then put her hand over her mouth, embarrassed. “Sorry.”
Daniel laughed. “You think she looks like a harlot at work, you should see her at the Rowdy Cowboy some Friday night.”
“I shudder to think.” She took in a breath, pushed it back out. She was stalling, wanting to be near him, and she knew it. Foolish girl.
“Well.” She stuck out her hand for a manly shake. “Good day today.”
Daniel stared down at her hand for a full five seconds, looking for all the world as if he didn’t have any idea why it was hanging there, before his shoulders twitched and he jerked his hands from his pockets. He shook her hand briefly, one hard pump, and let it go as if it was burning hot.
Grace’s mouth turned up at one corner. She wiped her hand down the front of her coveralls. “You have manure on your hands.”
“You have it in your hair. My mother was repulsed, she told me.”
Grace clamped her hands over her head. “Aah! Not really. Are you kidding?”
“I wouldn’t kid. I’m humorless.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, if I really do have manure in my hair, I’m going to murder you for not telling me.”
“Well, if we’re going for full disclosure here, you don’t just have it in your hair.” He reached around her with one giant hand. “It’s on your butt, too.”
She nearly jumped out of her skin. “Hey!”
“Excuse me.” Frank’s face was carefully blank as he approached them. “That it?”
Daniel turned on his heel, surprised Frank had come almost upon them without him noticing. Maybe if he hadn’t been mooning over his veterinarian… “Yeah, I need to throw a few bales out for them tonight, but I can do that.”
“I’m going into town, then.”
“Thanks for your help today,” Grace said as Daniel’s brother turned to leave. “I thought that one old biddy was going to run right over me.”
Frank barely shrugged and moved toward the little all-terrain vehicle he’d driven up from his house on the north end of the ranch.
Daniel gave Grace a grim, apologetic look, and went after his brother.
“Real polite,” he said when he caught up to his brother. “You barely spoke to Doc McKenna all day, and then you can’t even say goodbye?”
“I didn’t realize I was required to fall all over your girlfriend.”
“She is not my girlfriend,” Daniel rasped. “We’re just friends. Hell, we’re barely even that. But she is our vet, and a woman, and she did give you a compliment, idiot. You weren’t raised to be such a jackass. What the hell is the matter with you?”
Frank turned slowly to face his brother. He looked past him for a moment to study Grace. “You’re just friends with a woman like that, Danny, and you think something’s wrong with me?”
Daniel poked his finger at his brother’s chest. “Watch your mouth.”
Frank practically sneered. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. You may not be sleeping with her, but you sure want to. She’s smart and good-looking and she looks at you like you hung the moon. Well, good for you. I apologize for not being more thrilled about it.”
“You sorry, self-absorbed son of a bitch.”
Frank put up his hands. “You think I care about your opinion of me, Danny? Those days are ove
r.” Frank dropped his chin to his chest, squeezed his eyes tight. “Look, I can’t give you what you want.” He looked up, allowed all the misery in his heart to show in his gray and hopeless face. “I just don’t care enough anymore.”
Daniel stood silently as his brother swung onto his four-wheeler and roared off.
“Daniel?”
He turned to Grace, saw compassion in her soft brown eyes.
“Sorry about that,” he said, feeling hollow, guilty.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I’m just sorry to see how much he’s obviously still hurting. Lisa told me about his wife and baby.”
“He’s determined to never get over it.”
“I don’t imagine he will get over it.”
Daniel’s green eyes went hard as he watched his brother ride away. “We all have to face what life dishes up.”
Grace studied the back of Daniel’s head. “Yes, we do,” she said softly. “Maybe he will. Someday.”
“Maybe.” He turned, noticed she was wiping her hands with an antibacterial wipe. “You heading back to town?”
Grace nodded.
Daniel rubbed the sting from his eyes with the back of his wrist. “Do you need some help loading your stuff?”
“No.” She’d already carried the insulated case of blood samples to the truck, placing them carefully into the vet box in back. “I did it.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Okay. Well.” She pushed a clod of dirt around with her toe. “I’ll have the results of the blood tests on Monday.”
“Good.” Hung the moon, huh? He’d have to think about that. “Thanks.”
“I’ll call you. Everything looks fine, though. No signs of any trouble. You can ship them out Monday afternoon.”
“Good.” He toed at the same clod, hit her boot with his own, sending an insane little shiver up his spine. “You have plans this weekend?”
“I was going to set up the blood serum tests tonight.”
“Oh. That sounds good.” He looked up, caught her watching him. “I’ve got to come into town later tonight.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I’ve got to—” What? What? “I’ve got to do some stuff.” Brilliant, brilliant, Danny-boy. He could have kicked himself. “I was going to eat at the café.”
