by Jill Sanders
Missy’s Moment
~ West Series ~
Melissa & Reece
© 2014 Jill Sanders
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Dedication
To my favorite readers…
Yeah, you.
Summary
Melissa is back in Fairplay, Texas for good. After taking over the small health clinic in town, she finally feels like she has everything she’s ever wanted. But when Reece West walks into the clinic, she finds something she didn't even know she wanted. Now she’ll do just about anything to get the man of her dreams.
Reece is looking for trouble, and he’s found it at Saddleback Ranch. He can ride hard, rope some steer, and train the horses that he can finally afford. But when he bumps into little Missy Holton again, his world will turn upside down.
Table of Contents
Dedication 1
Prologue 5
Chapter One 9
Chapter Two 24
Chapter Three 43
Chapter Four 60
Chapter Five 72
Chapter Six 83
Chapter Seven 95
Chapter Eight 107
Chapter Nine 118
Chapter Ten 133
Chapter Eleven 142
Chapter Twelve 153
Chapter Thirteen 168
Chapter Fourteen 182
Chapter Fifteen 191
Chapter Sixteen 200
Epilogue 210
Breaking Travis… Coming in October 213
Prologue 213
Chapter One 218
Other titles by Jill Sanders 232
About the Author 234
Missy's Moment
by
Jill Sanders
Prologue
Reece wiped the blood from his nose and yanked his chin up so his pa wouldn’t see that the blow had damaged his soul. When his brother, Ryan, moved to help him up from the dirt, he shook his head to stop him.
“You like hitting little kids, old man?” He stood up and dusted off his Levi’s like he had all the time in the world.
“Little brats who don’t listen to me deserve to have their asses kicked.” His old man stood almost a foot taller than Reece’s thirteen-year-old frame. He couldn’t wait for the day when he would be taller than the old man, because he knew that was the day he’d walk away and never look back.
“Pa, it was my fault.” Ryan started to cover for him. Even though the boys were identical in looks, they were complete opposites in personality.
“I’m the one who didn’t shut the gate after Pa asked,” Reece said, squinting his eyes at his twin. “I’ll go hunt down the horses.”
His father grunted and threw him the reins to Buck, his stallion. “Be back by supper time or you won’t get any slop.” Reece watched his father walk away without a backward glance.
“Hang on a few minutes, and I’ll saddle up Star,” Ryan said before rushing towards the barn.
“No,” Reece called out. “Star will just slow me down. I can get the damn horses myself.” He jumped on the back of Buck and hightailed it out of the yard.
The dry heat of the day turned to a cool breeze as he flew across the yellow fields. He knew where the three horses would go first, the stream, so he headed towards it with a smile on his face.
This is what he lived for, a moment to himself as he rode across the fields. No old man slapping at you, no brother sticking up for you. Just him and a horse. He leaned down and patted Buck on the neck. “You like to run, don’t you?” He smiled when the horse nodded his head. He had a way with animals; they always seemed to listen and never gave him shit back.
It took him almost two hours to get to the stream, and by the time he gathered the three horses and tied their leads together, he was covered in sweat and dirt. Tying the rope to a tree, he pulled off his soiled clothes and jumped in the cool water for a swim.
After ten minutes in the cool water, he calculated that he wouldn’t get home until an hour after dark. Damn. He was hungry.
Pulling his dirty clothes on, he jumped on Buck’s back and yanked the other horses to follow him. When he finally rode up, the back porch light was the only one on in the small house. It had taken him too long to get back, mostly because he hadn’t wanted to injure a horse by rushing in the dark.
There wasn’t a warm plate in the oven waiting for him, no sweet note from a mother telling him to eat something—nothing. Except an empty feeling as he climbed the dark stairs with achy muscles and a sore backside from the long ride.
When Reece sat down on his bed, Ryan sat up and flipped on the small light.
“I saved you a sandwich.” He nodded to a plate sitting on the box he used as a nightstand.
“Thanks.”
“Were they at the stream?”
“Yeah,” he said in between bites.
“Damn, I’m sorry, man.”
Reece shrugged his shoulders. “My fault.”
“Man, I can’t wait til the day we can get out of here.” Ryan lay back down and stared up at the ceiling.
It was a common conversation of theirs. They’d been planning their escape since a month after their mother had passed of cancer shortly after their tenth birthday. That’s when their dad had turned mean.
“Yeah, til then, I guess I need to make sure I close the gate.”
Ryan chuckled. “Did you enjoy the ride, at least?”
Reece nodded. “Best moment of the month so far.” He smiled at his brother and flipped off the light. The two boys lay on their beds, identical dreams of escaping in their heads as they drifted off.
Chapter One
Melissa walked into the empty clinic and smiled. The small waiting room was quiet, but she knew that within the hour, it would be full of crying kids and worrying mamas. She’d never imagined herself back in her hometown, taking over the clinic that everyone in town had been in at some moment in their lives.
“Well?” her older brother said from behind her. “What do you think?” Grant wrapped his arm around her shoulders and smiled down at her.
She smiled up at him, wanting to squeal with joy. “Thanks for buying me breakfast.” She nodded to the coffee in her hand. He’d taken her to Mama’s, the best—and only—diner in town. It had just been remodeled and was busier than ever.
Melissa was staying with Grant, his wife, Alex, and their daughter, Laura, out at their new ranch just outside of town. At least until she could find a place of her own. There were a few possibilities but she had yet to make up her mind about which one to move in to.
It had been almost two weeks since she’d returned to town and had bumped into Dr. Conner, who had quickly informed her that he was looking to hire a new head nurse for the clinic. Bonnie, the head nurse who had worked at the clinic for as long as anyone could remember, had retired earlier that year. Dr. Conner had told her that he was desperate to hire someone who could put things in order again around the clinic. He was about ten years older than Melissa and had been working at the clinic since moving into town almost six years ago. Melissa had noted that he wasn’t a bad looking man; he was tall, had jet-black hair and dark eyes, something she’d always found very attractive in a man. She’d worked with plenty of doctors in Houston where she’d gone to school and done her internship, but she had immediately wondered about working with Dr. Conner since it was a small town and people talked.
She’d run into him at the grocery store, and he’d almost begged her to at least stop by and look into the clinic.
She’d put it off for a while, but after applying for a few jobs in the city, she’d decided that sticking around her hometown for a while couldn’t hurt.
When she had stopped by, all the other employees had been so accepting and kind, and when Dr. Conner had presented her with an offer, she’d jumped at it.
Now as she looked around the room, she couldn’t help but smile.
“Anytime, little sis.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Anytime. Well, I’d better get back to the house. I bet my girls are up already.”
She smiled, remembering how cute her niece was. Her soft blonde hair, chubby baby cheeks, and eyes matched Grant’s perfectly.
“Go be a husband and daddy.” She reached up and kissed his cheek. He had changed so much in the past few years that she still had a hard time believing he was the same man. Gone were the chubby cheeks, the thick glasses, and the insecurity. Now her brother looked more like a movie star than the awkward boy she’d been raised looking up to, which only made her look up to him even more.
By the time she’d flipped on all the lights in the clinic, several of the staff had arrived and were preparing for the day. Since Fairplay was a small town, she already knew everyone who worked there. When the doctor walked in at a quarter past eight, the waiting room and the three small examining rooms were already full. Apparently, it was early flu season and most of the kids in grade school had passed it to one another.
By the end of her first day, she was exhausted and yet strangely full of energy. She knew there was a lot she could improve on at the small clinic and hoped that everyone else would be as excited as she was to make things flow more efficiently. During her lunch, she had written up a small list of items she would fix first.
After the doors were closed and locked for the day, she knocked on Dr. Conner’s office door.
“Come in.” She took a deep breath and opened the door.
“Oh, Melissa,” he said, setting down a folder. He waved her in and motioned to the chair. “So, how was your first day?”
“Great.” She smiled, feeling a little nervous.
“I can’t thank you enough for helping us out. So, what did you think?” He folded his arms on the desk and waited.
She took a deep breath. “I have a few suggestions.” She looked down at the paper in her hands.
“Great.” He held out his hand for the paper.
She waited as he read through her list, her fingers folded in her lap, and her eyes focused on his face, waiting for any emotions.
“These could all work out very well.” He smiled and looked up at her. “Some of them might take some time for us to adjust to, but I think we can all make an effort. When would you like to start on these?”
Her eyebrows shot up. There was no arguing, no complaining, no power pushing. She wasn’t used to it. At the hospital she had interned at in Houston, she’d been laughed at when she’d made a small suggestion and had been told to just follow the rules that someone much smarter than her had come up with years and years ago.
“I can come in early tomorrow and start on the organizational parts. I can write up the changes to help the other employees.”
“Wonderful.” He stood and handed the paper back to her. “I knew you were going to be good for us.”
She smiled and took the paper from him. For the first time since entering the medical field, she felt like someone had listened to her opinions.
When she left the clinic, Alex was sitting in her truck waiting for her. She honked the horn and waved her over.
“So, how was your first day?” she asked.
“Crazy.” Melissa smiled as she got into the truck. “Busy. And the most wonderful day I’ve had in years.” She smiled.
Alex laughed. “You belong here, sister,” she said as she pulled out onto Main Street.
They chatted as Alex drove slowly through the small town. Much had changed since Melissa had left almost six years ago. The tornado that had ripped through town a little over a year ago had damaged most of the buildings in the older part of town. Now most of them had new storefronts and a fresh coat of paint. New streetlights and park benches lined the newly paved roads. The playground at the city park was bigger than ever.
The mayor, William Davis, a longtime Fairplay resident, had used the FEMA money well. Even the old movie theater was up and running now.
“I can’t believe how much the town has grown.”
Alex laughed. “Really?” She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess since I have never left, I can’t see it, other than all the fixes after the tornado.”
“It must have been hard when it hit.”
Alex nodded. “We had some scary times, but everything turned out alright.”
“Haley was hurt, wasn’t she?” Haley and Melissa had been friends as kids and had spent the night at one another’s houses at least once a month.
“Yeah, she broke her leg. She was banged up pretty good.”
“I haven’t gone out to see their new place yet.” Melissa frowned and looked at her hands. “I guess I’ve been focusing on myself since getting into town.”
“Don’t worry about it. She has her hands full with those twins of theirs.”
Melissa smiled, thinking of Haley and Wes’s two boys. She’d bumped into Haley at the Grocery Stop and had cooed over the chubby boys. “They are so cute. I’ll have to swing by their place and smother them with kisses again.”
Alex laughed. “I can’t believe she’s the one that had twins. They run in the family, you know.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, our grandfather was a twin, and we have twin cousins.” She glanced over at her. “I think you met one of them at our wedding. Reece?”
“Hmm, I don’t remember.”
“He’s tall, dark hair, green eyes, and had a sour look on his face the entire time.” Alex smiled. “He’s the younger one. Both boys had it hard growing up.” She shook her head. “My aunt died young and their father was an ass. No one has heard from his brother, Ryan, in years.” She shook her head and frowned.
“It must have been hard on them, losing their mother so young. I know Haley always talked about losing your mother. Then your dad died when we were fourteen and her grief started all over.” She remembered that day. Haley had stopped spending the night at her house after that, and she had pulled away from their friendship. She’d always thought it was something she’d done or said to ruin the friendship. In the end, she’d become closer to her friend Holly, who now owned the local bookstore.
“Yeah, it hit her the hardest.” Alex shook her head. “She was a daddy’s girl. She was the only one of us that couldn’t really remember our mother.”
They drove through the gates of Grant and Alex’s place, and Melissa looked at their lovely home. It sat down in a little valley. The large stone house sat off to the left and there was a big gray barn to the right. Her brother had so many animals, she had a hard time keeping up.
“What?” Alex asked when Melissa laughed.
“It’s just that my brother has so many animals.” She giggled again.
“What’s so funny about that?”
“We never had any growing up. He knew how to ride, we both did, but now he owns horses, cows, chickens, and…” She giggled again. “Goats. I mean, he spoils those goats more than he does anything else.”
“Tell me about it.” Alex rolled her eyes and smiled. “They can do no wrong. Do you know that he’s thinking of building a new barn, just for the goats?”
She nodded. “He told me over breakfast.”
Alex grunted. “That man has a soft spot for those damn goats.” She stopped the truck and turned to her with a smile on her face. “But, then again, so do I. Buttercup saved my life once, you know.”
Melissa laughed. She’d heard the story of how the little goat had helped when Alex had been knocked out by Mrs. Nolan, the ex-mayor’s wife.
“And Junior saved your brother.” She nodded towards the large dog that hobbled ac
ross the yard to greet them.
The dog’s thick dark fur hid the scars that everyone knew were there. Most of his left hind leg was so badly damaged, he spent most of his time lying down. Alex and Grant doted on the dog more than any other animal on their small farm.
“For that, we all owe him everything.” Melissa knelt and rubbed the dog’s thick fur as his tail thumped in the dirt. She got teary every time she thought about the scare they’d had after Mrs. Nolan had shot her brother point-blank. She’d spent almost a month at her parents’ place until her brother had gotten back on his feet. The little dog had gotten the worst of it, though. And Mrs. Nolan was rotting away at some state-run loony bin in Rusk, Texas.
When she looked up, she saw her brother standing on the porch holding little Laura, as she liked to call her. They had named their daughter after Alex’s mother, who had died in a tornado that hit Fairplay when the girls were very young.
She watched as Alex walked up and hugged and kissed her family. Something inside Melissa shifted and for the first time in her adult life, she wished for a moment just like that.
Lauren had given Reece the largest ranch house on the property. It had been sitting empty since they’d put in a few trailers closer to the barns. They had over a dozen men working for them now and, by the looks of it, they needed another dozen.
He’d spent the first day there helping with the cattle and had noticed a beautiful palomino running wild in one of the corrals. When he’d approached it, the beast’s ears had perked up. Chase told him that the horse was still untrained and in dire need of breaking.
Chase hadn’t had enough time to start working on the horse, and Reece had quickly requested the job.
“You can start on him first thing in the morning,” Chase said, patting his back. “Just don’t come running to me when the beast kills you. He’s an ornery son of a gun.”
He’d spent the rest of the day helping the hands brand the cattle and getting the little ones up to date on shots. It had been a sweaty job, but he’d loved every minute.
