by Heidi Hormel
Pepper turned, waving her arms at the creatures to shoo them away. Not one furry beast paid attention. “Get out,” she shouted. The man with the clipboard stood frozen to the spot as Butch raced around, deciding he really was a herding dog. He barked and nipped at the llamas and alpacas.
Pepper yelled, “Faye, get your animals. Now.”
AJ moved as quickly as he could when he saw that the creatures weren’t going to be moved along. He was stopped short and sent to the ground by a muscle spasm that froze his legs and took away their strength. The truck driver continued to stand with his mouth open.
“Oh, dear,” Faye said, “My Beauties are being bad today.”
“Lady,” the driver yelled over the racket. “Get them out of there or I’m calling the cops. They’re going to ruin my other deliveries.”
“You shouldn’t have tempted them,” Faye chided.
AJ caught his breath between the muscle spasms and said, “Get in the truck and drive away before they eat everything.”
The driver took the advice. The truck started up. Startled, the animals scattered and stampeded off into the desert with Butch and Pepper racing after them.
Faye stood quietly. “I tried to warn her about the attorney. She always did have to figure out things the hard way.”
Chapter Seven
Worrying over her patients at the clinic, working on a way to get AJ to come in for an exam on his back and hip as well as finally getting to making a longer list of child care alternatives for EllaJayne were preferable mental exercises to going over the disasters Pepper’d had at the ranch, culminating with the destroyed plants last week. She shoveled in her yogurt to make up for the missed lunch, which she’d spent talking with the insurance company...again. The greenhouse and damaged plants weren’t covered. Every day got her deeper in debt with no end in sight. Maybe she should have listened more seriously to Faye and her predictions on how the universe viewed their situation and Pepper’s calls to the attorney. It didn’t seem fair or right since she’d only called in the law to look out for everyone’s best interests—except AJ’s.
“Mrs. Carmichael is here. Need you in Exam Two,” Claudette said and looked almost sorry for interrupting Pepper’s furtive meal.
No rest for the wicked or those who went against the universe. She threw away the yogurt and focused on her next patient. She’d take care of everything else later. Although...perhaps Mrs. Carmichael might be a good choice as a caregiver for EllaJayne. By working out a deal with the grandmotherly Mrs. Carmichael, like a couple of free appointments and insulin samples, Pepper might get on the universe’s and AJ’s good side.
* * *
PEPPER WATCHED ELLAJAYNE babbling to Oggie from her car seat in the back of the purple SUV. AJ, desperate and harried, had called her early in the day asking her to pick up the little girl from the high-priced day care near to Tucson. Lucky for him, they’d had an extra car seat for her to borrow. She hadn’t even had a chance to tell him about Mrs. Carmichael, who already looked after her own grandchildren and was happy to take on another little one—and at a bargain-basement price. She was perfect. Pepper loved when things worked out. She’d bask in the glow of this success before tackling the will and the damage at the ranch. “Right, EllaJayne,” she said to the little girl.
“Oggie,” she yelled in agreement, shaking her stuffed animal.
Pepper smiled. “Oggie and you will love Mrs. Carmichael. She makes the best cookies, which might be why she can’t keep her blood sugar under control. I should look for low sugar recipes for her. Good idea, EllaJayne.” It was kind of nice to have another person in the car, even if the toddler’s conversation was limited.
“I wonder what Faye’s making for dinner. It doesn’t matter. I have a secret stash of sausages in the back of the freezer that I’m going to cook to celebrate.” She thought her triumphant solution deserved a special dinner. Faye would fuss about the meat for ten minutes tops, Pepper predicted. Her mother tried to be a good vegetarian, but she rarely turned down pork—and pork in the form of sausages was irresistible to Faye.
As she lifted EllaJayne from the car seat, Pepper glared at the jerk-face llamas and alpacas placidly hanging out in the corral. Her mother still insisted on calling them her Beauties, despite the destruction they’d caused with their stampede. Pepper would be paying off that stunt for who knew how long and how far back it would set her plans for the garden. She’d play Scarlett O’Hara on that—tomorrow was another day. Tonight she’d celebrate her one victory. Mrs. Carmichael would get her points with AJ, which had nothing to do with what had happened after the fire and everything to do with the agreement they had.
“Down. Want down,” EllaJayne insisted, drumming her feet against Pepper’s thigh. She wasn’t falling for that. If she put the toddler down, she’d be off and into something. She knew only too well now how AJ could have lost track of the little girl on that first day they’d met. “Boot,” the little girl insisted and pointed. Pepper followed her finger. Butch was racing toward them, panting happily. He barked and ran in circles around Pepper as she tried to walk inside. He didn’t quiet until EllaJayne was on the ground and he’d sniffed her over, licked her face and then knocked her down with his enthusiasm. Pepper waited for the little girl to cry. Instead, she giggled and shouted, “Boot, Boot, Boot.” Apparently that was toddler for Butch.
“You look much better,” Faye said as she walked calmly into the chaos on the porch.
“I’m cooking dinner, and we’re having sausages on the grill.” Her mother protested for eight minutes and then agreed it was probably for the best since AJ needed extra protein. Pepper didn’t ask why. When Faye made those kinds of pronouncements, it was always better to not know why. She made her way to the kitchen listening to the dog, her mother and the little girl play in the living room.
When the food was ready, EllaJayne pounded a spoon against the table, giggling at the barking Butch. Finally, twenty minutes after the sausages came off the grill and with no call from AJ, Pepper said, “Let’s eat,” putting a cheery lilt into her voice for the little girl. She’d only agreed to the day care pickup. AJ shouldn’t assume that because she and her mother were female, they were built-in babysitters. She focused on dinner. It had been a long time since they’d had such a treat. She’d been given the sausages by a patient, who used a secret family recipe to make them. They were nearly as precious as gold in the Angel Crossing bartering system that was used for everything from an office visit to a bag of coffee at the general store. They were bliss on her tongue. She glanced over at the suddenly quiet EllaJayne who was trying to give Butch her sausage.
“No, you don’t,” Pepper said, swooping in to snatch the meat and clear off the little girl’s plate. She immediately started to wail, until Pepper plunked down a bowl of yogurt—not Faye’s but handmade at a small dairy that had started up in the next town—along with fresh fruit. Pepper began feeding her. EllaJayne didn’t have the coordination to use the spoon fast enough for her yogurt greed.
“You loved yogurt, too,” Faye said, “although cheese curds were your favorite. There was a dairy woman from Wisconsin who lived at Dove’s Paradise.”
Pepper remembered quite a bit about Dove’s Paradise, the commune that she’d lived in with her mother and her mother’s parents.
“You know,” Faye started, “the universe had a plan when Gene’s truck broke down at our door that day.”
Pepper had heard this story, but there was a comfort in listening again to how Daddy Gene’s radiator had leaked, he’d stopped for water and her mother had been there. Faye insisted their water signs had immediately recognized each other. Daddy Gene had said all he’d noticed was her halter top and Daisy Duke shorts. They’d gotten together then, but Daddy Gene had been on the road nearly all the time. It had been two more years before he bought the place outside Angel Crossing and invited Faye to joi
n him, telling her that he’d already named the ranch for her, so she had to agree. Pepper felt tears gathering. She couldn’t believe he was gone.
“Daddy,” EllaJayne yelled.
Pepper started, spilling yogurt. She looked but didn’t see AJ. “Not yet, baby,” Pepper said, offering another spoonful. The little girl shook her head and Butch barked.
“They must hear something,” Faye said serenely. “I’ll make AJ a plate so it’s ready for him. I feel he needs a little pampering.”
Pepper wondered if something in the air was turning everyone—except her—into a nutcase. “Are you done?” she asked EllaJayne.
“Want Daddy. More yogurt.” The toddler smacked the table. Butch went into another frenzy of barking.
Pepper lifted the wriggling child from her chair and carried her back to the tub for a wash down. Both yogurt and potato salad decorated her hair. Butch joined them despite the fact he hated the tub as much as he hated getting his feet wet—lucky for her and him that they lived in the desert.
She’d only gotten EllaJayne’s shoes and socks off before her mother called for her. Something in her voice caught Pepper’s attention. She picked up EllaJayne and went to the kitchen.
“What, Faye?” she asked.
“Daddy,” EllaJayne screamed in her ear. The little girl was right this time. AJ was standing beside Faye. Then he turned around slowly, painfully and she knew why Faye had sounded odd.
* * *
AJ’S ACHING CHEEK and back stopped him from smiling at his little girl—who for the first time seemed happy to see him. He noted the concern and something more in Pepper’s eyes before her gaze traveled over him like a doctor. He opened his mouth, but she beat him to it.
“Don’t move until I can check you over. Faye, take EllaJayne.” She handed off his daughter, who snuggled into Faye with her thumb in her mouth.
“I’m fine.”
“That’s a lie.” She stared hard at his face, then turned to her mother. “Get EllaJayne ready for b-e-d.”
Every creature at the ranch knew his little girl hated the word bed. AJ allowed the homey smells of food and baby powder to waft over him, erasing a fraction of the day’s disasters. Still, he had a job, even if it was temporary.
“Sit,” Pepper said.
“I just need aspirin, a beer and dinner.”
“Sit first. I want to look at that cheek and where else? Your back?”
He nodded carefully because the muscles in his neck were the consistency of concrete. Soon he’d be frozen in place from the tip of his head to his heels. He hadn’t had spasms like this since he’d tweaked his back two years ago. Of course, he hadn’t been regularly hauling hay and feed or helping a reluctant heifer give birth—her bucking and twisting had ended with him flat on his back, a bruise on his cheek. Although when she’d first smacked him with her thrashing head, he’d thought she’d broken his entire face.
Pepper’s touch, strong but light, quickly traveled over his body. Professional but not without sympathy. When he’d gone to the ER or hospital before, they’d treated him like an inanimate object who periodically made noise.
“When did you injure your back?”
“While ago,” he hissed out as she touched a particularly sore spot. It might have been where he’d landed during the birthing fiasco.
“Do you have muscle relaxants?” She didn’t stop moving her hands over him as she talked.
“A beer?” He’d prefer that right now to any pills. He’d seen too many guys sliding into relying on them to get out of bed every day.
“Not the same thing. I don’t have anything here.” Her voice trailed off as she slowly, thoroughly and painfully poked at his cheek. “You didn’t break anything, but you should have tended to this immediately. We’ll get ice for your cheek and back after I check your vitals, then I’ll help you to bed. Do you need to use the bathroom?”
He blushed, darn it. No man wanted a woman asking him if he needed help in that department. “I’m good.”
“I’ve been a nurse and an EMT. I’ve seen it all.”
Could be, but he’d had enough humiliation today. He didn’t need much in the way of dignity but he wasn’t giving this up.
“I’m getting my bag out of the car. Don’t move until I’m back to help you.”
She went off. He gathered himself to stand, which would be a long, slow, painful process. He was getting that beer. Then he’d get EllaJayne ready for bed so they both could hit the sack. Tomorrow would be bad but he’d have to keep moving. The job only paid well if he showed up, no matter what had happened today.
His arms still worked, thank the Lord, which allowed him to lever himself to a crouched-over stand. He couldn’t straighten just yet. He shuffled to the fridge, stopping twice for a cramp to release his leg muscles.
He took two long chugs of beer and toddled with a gait less steady than EllaJayne’s toward the bedroom.
“Stop,” Pepper said. “You’re going to fall.” She wedged herself against him. He wished he could appreciate her fragrant softness. She smelled of spicy sausage. His stomach growled despite the pain. He couldn’t be too bad if he was hungry.
“Got extra-strength aspirin in my gear.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll get you settled in bed with ice, then food, then aspirin. No beer.” She held onto his bottle and had him moving down the hall before he could say boo.
Fortunately, the bed sat well off the ground and he could fall onto its pillowy top. She tried to strip him, but he fended off her attempts, allowing her to only pull off his boots and socks. She efficiently rolled him onto his stomach, left with the beer bottle and came back with ice packs for his spine and face.
“I’ll be back in twenty minutes to move those and you.”
Was that a threat or a promise? He’d wanted to say that but hadn’t had enough breath. Damn it, he hurt. Just falling onto the bed had put his back into spasms again. By the time he counted to forty-two, the ice had numbed the muscles. How long until she returned to torture him? He closed his eyes and waited for the cold to finish numbing his face.
“Boot, Boot. Come,” EllaJayne yelled as the dog’s toenails scrabbled on the plank floors of the bedroom.
AJ cracked open his eye and saw his naked toddler and the useless shepherd racing around the room. This would not end well. It never did. He took a second to allow himself to imagine ignoring it. Then he moved his arm to push himself up in bed.
Faye’s voice floated into the room. “Children, come.” Magically, the dog and little girl raced from the room.
He relaxed back into the bed’s downy embrace. Could he be selfish until morning and ask the women to care for EllaJayne? He did allow himself to close his eyes. He’d lay here for another five minutes, tops. Then, he’d get up, get the aspirin and find his girl. He’d give her a final snack, settle her into her bed and read her to sleep if she needed it. He’d need to set a double alarm for the morning. He couldn’t be late to the ranch.
“Time to take off the ice.” The packets of numbness were whisked away before he could protest or even snatch them back. “I’ll work on your back. Then we’ll sit you up so you can have dinner, then ice again, then sleep.”
He tried to break in, explain that EllaJayne would need him—until Pepper tried to sit him up. Obviously, the numbness wasn’t muscle deep.
“Relax. Tensing your muscles only makes it worse. We’ll wait ten minutes and ice you again. Will you be okay here on your own while I refill the packs?” By the time she came back he wanted to lie down again. Honestly, it had never been this bad before. Instead of helping him lie flat, she put ice behind his back and on his cheek as she eased him back on the pillow. Then she handed him a mug of soup. It was mainly broth. He didn’t care. His finally loosening muscles were making him drowsy.
“Thanks
,” he managed just as she handed him the aspirin.
“All in a day’s work.”
“EllaJayne—”
“Faye is taking care of her. She’ll sleep in our room tonight. It’s no bother. You wouldn’t be able to get up if she needed something.”
“I’m good.”
“I don’t think so. I’m the professional. I say tonight, we’ll take care of that little girl. You’ll be with her all day tomorrow.”
“I’ll be at work.”
“There’s no way you can work tomorrow. The swelling in your face should be minimal, but your back is another matter. Turn over again. You need another round of ice.”
He resisted. “I don’t have a choice here. This is the best job I’ve found so far. This problem with my back isn’t new. I’ll be okay in the morning. If I dose myself with aspirin, I’ll be good to go. I thank you and Faye for watching Baby Girl so I can get sleep.”
The ice packs landed on his back, his face pressed into the pillows. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes to take these off. Then I’ll help you to the bathroom.”
He didn’t respond but she would not be helping him. When he heard her and Faye in the kitchen, he pushed the ice off and gathered himself. He could stand. He could walk.
* * *
PEPPER WAS OUTSIDE the bathroom door when he opened it. “I told you I’d help you.”
“Didn’t need help.” He held himself in the perfect position where his back only ached. The stabbing pain was gone. He stepped forward and his leg buckled, so he reached out to grab at anything to stop his fall. Pepper’s surprisingly strong arm and shoulder propped him up.
“Nope. You didn’t need any help. I can see that. Do you want to add severe concussion or a broken limb to the mess you’ve made of yourself?”
“Slow down.” He wrenched the words out. God. He didn’t want to admit that standing had been about all he’d been capable of. He pulled in a breath, blew it out and readied himself. He could do this because tomorrow he’d have to be fit enough to do ranch work. “I’m ready now.”
