Collision at Roosevelt Ranch

by Elise Faber

  Next time she saw Esther, she was going to take her phone away.

  That woman had absolutely no shame.

  “Foxy Roxy,” Haley said.

  Roxy might be younger than her, but they’d both grown up in Darlington and were still close enough in age that Haley knew own Roxy’s embarrassing nickname. Thus, one mention of Foxy Roxy was all it took to get the other woman to behave.

  That and: “Just remember, my list of embarrassing details about you doesn’t end with nicknames.”

  Roxy nodded rapidly. “No Haley Bear.” Another nod. “Got it.”

  Haley lifted her fingers, pointing them at her own eyes then in Roxy’s direction. “Make sure you don’t forget it. Otherwise I might have to let Esther know who spray-painted Old-Man McDavid’s cow in high school.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  Haley only raised a brow in response.

  “You would. Damn. You’re mean, Haley Donovan.”

  She nodded. “And don’t you forget it.”

  “I won’t.” Roxy’s department phone rang, calling an end to her short break, and she pushed to her feet. They were surprisingly busy as they moved into the evening shift, but at least that would make the time go by fast. “Anyway,” Roxy said. “This is my Friday, so I won’t see you until next week.” She waved and started hurrying down the hall, pausing only to call over her shoulder, “Make sure you share all your good Sam time with Esther. I need to live vicariously.”

  “Hilarious,” Haley muttered, glancing down at her phone screen. Sam was supposed to have been there twenty minutes ago, and he hadn’t responded to her text saying she had finished up and was ready to go whenever.

  He’d probably had to deal with an emergency himself or a late patient. That normally wouldn’t have been an issue with her, medicine—whether for people or animals—didn’t always run on a perfect schedule. But he’d also insisted on dropping her off that morning since she couldn’t drive yet, and now she was stuck.

  Maybe Maggie or Melissa could come pick her up. She could catch up with Sam later.

  She pulled out her phone, texted her sister first, and received a response barely thirty seconds later.

  In Salt Lake for Ashley’s dance tournament. I’m sorry. I’d order Tim to come get you, but he’s in New York for a work trip.

  Damn. After telling her sister not to worry about it, she tried Melissa next. Melissa’s producer texted back a few minutes later.

  Melissa will be done filming in two hours.

  Shit. She’d forgotten her friend was back at Roosevelt Ranch filming the latest season of her cooking show. Melissa was a hell of a cook, hence the reason she’d been so excited when Sam had brought over her signature banana cream pie the other day. After sending a quick apology for interrupting, Haley sat back in her chair and considered what to do.

  “Hey.” Haley glanced up at the sound of Julian’s voice. He’d been relieved by the night shift doctor and had his lab coat over one arm and his keys in his other hand. “Your shift ended a half hour ago. Everything okay?”

  “Fine. I’m just waiting for Sam.” She held up her phone. “He’s running behind.”

  “Oh, well I’m heading out. Did you want a ride?”

  “Do you mind?”

  Julian rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t have offered if I minded.” He tilted his head toward the doors. “Come on, Mario Kart.”

  “That nickname better not stick,” she grumbled and hopped onto her scooter to follow him out to his car.

  “You’re welcome,” he deadpanned, but held open his car door for her as she slowly and ungracefully maneuvered herself into the passenger’s seat. A tug on the end of her ponytail had her glancing up and glaring when she saw him bite back a smile. “Not going to bring any suicidal deer down on me, are you?”

  She buckled her seat belt. “You’re lucky you’re a good doctor.”

  He rounded the car, sat in his own seat, and strapped in. “Everyone’s lucky I’m a great doctor.”

  “And modest, too.”

  Julian snorted. “Damn right.”

  “Just drive, Jeeves. You’re not funny.”

  He backed out of the parking spot. “Except I am.”

  Haley sighed. She had the feeling this was going to be a long ride home.

  Twenty-Four

  Sam

  * * *

  His gaze was tracking the seconds on the clock in the back of the clinic. Two more appointments and then he and Haley could have the rest of the night together. Well, actually the whole weekend. He’d blocked his Friday and Saturday, Michelle having offered to give him a break, and the clinic was closed on Sunday.

  After the business of the last week, Sam was definitely ready for some alone time with Haley.

  He’d dropped her at work that morning and was anxious to know how things had gone. Was she going stir crazy on her first day back, not being able to do more than glorified filing and the odd consult? Or was she just satisfied being out of the house?

  Well, he wouldn’t be able to discover the answer to either of those questions until he got his shit done.

  Shit, quite literally . . . in one of the cases anyway.

  They’d had a golden retriever with an intestinal blockage the previous day. The pup had required surgery and follow up, and they were now waiting for him to move his bowels before he could go home.

  Sam’s job was so glamorous.

  Snorting, he poked his head in on the vet tech who was walking Buddy. She shook her head.

  Damn. So, another night in the hospital with monitoring for Buddy, and then Michelle could check on him in the morning.

  His last appointment of the day was a simple one in some ways and extremely complicated in others. He only needed to give a few routine vaccines. The complication came in the form of a litter of six eight-week-old kittens.

  He spent the last hour of his day, quite literally, herding cats.

  By the time he escaped the room of kittens, he’d been scratched, bitten, and licked. Definitely the combination he wanted, unfortunately it wasn’t with the species—or person—he wanted.

  Sam spent a few minutes washing up and checking in with his overnight staff before he got into his SUV and headed for the hospital.

  Halfway there, he remembered the present he’d left at his house for Haley. His eyes flicked to the clock, saw he still had a half hour until he had to pick her up from her shift.

  Plenty of time.

  Plus, she would be exhausted and starving after her first day back.

  He had to think that banana cream pie would be a welcome addition. Okay, so he knew it would be, even if the slice he had wasn’t Melissa’s recipe. Rather it was something Henry was introducing at the diner. He’d given Sam a piece earlier that day after he’d gone to the diner for lunch.

  “Should have brought it to work with me,” he muttered as he drove down the narrow two-lane road. Then he would have been able to give Haley her treat without having to make this drive.

  Oh well. He hadn’t exactly been thinking straight, not after Haley had sent him a few very suggestive texts that had all but melted his brain.

  Sam turned onto Old Creek Road, his mind full of those sensual promises.

  She was going to stay at his house for the first time that night, and he had all sorts of plans for the various services in his house. The kitchen counter, the shower, the hot tub, the washing machine, the shoe rack—

  Well, his mind might be a little overstimulated, but at least it had creativity.

  With a snort, he took one hand from the wheel and pressed the knob to turn on the radio. Nothing happened.

  “What?” His gaze scanned the screen for a second before focusing back on the road. Nothing had changed with the stereo, despite the new SUV, so it wasn’t operator error.

  He pressed the knob again.

  And silence.

  “Hmm.” He twisted the dial up—nothing—and down—nothing. He turned the other dial, pressed other buttons.<
br />
  Still, the cab of his vehicle was silent.

  Whatever, he didn’t need music anyway. He was almost to his house and would fiddle with the system there. If nothing worked, he’d get the dealer to fix it.

  See? Look at him. The man with the plan.

  Hopefully, Haley would appreciate all his plans. Though—he couldn’t hold back his smirk—there had been no hopefully with regards to his scheming the previous night. She’d loved them, especially the part where he’d managed to get them both naked.

  Naked time was seriously the best time.

  If Haley had heard any bit of his last thoughts, Sam knew he’d never live it down, but she wasn’t there and so that meant he had carte blanche to imagine all the ways he wanted to bring her to orgasm.

  And there were many.

  With his mouth—her standing with one leg over his shoulder, him kneeling between her thighs. With his fingers—her in that dress again, no panties of course, him sliding his hand up her bare thigh and teasing her to a slow and intense orgasm. With his cock—

  “Fuck!”

  Two things happened at once.

  One, the kamikaze deer had returned, and two, his radio blared to life, static blasting through the speakers and making him jerk the wheel.

  He’d been so busy imaging all the ways he’d like to have Haley in his bed that he’d missed Suicidal Bambi on the side of the road. That combined with the jar of sound meant that—

  He was fucked.

  Sam tried to jerk the wheel back to center, but it was too late. His brand-new SUV was heading straight for the ditch on the side of Old Creek Road.

  He slammed on the brakes.

  The deer jumped clear of his bumper at the same moment his tires shuddered and tried to find purchase on the shoulder.

  Purchase wasn’t to be found.

  The front wheels plowed into the ditch, slamming him forward against the steering wheel.

  Everything went black.

  Twenty-Five

  Haley

  * * *

  She glanced down at her phone screen in worry. She’d texted Sam for the second time and had yet to receive a response.

  That in and of itself was unusual.

  What was also unusual? The churning in her gut.

  Perhaps in the past she might have thought that Sam was ignoring her, punishing her for some perceived slight like Brian used to. But Sam wasn’t like that, and . . . she was worried.

  “Why don’t you call the vet clinic if you think something is wrong?” Julian asked as they got off the highway and drove through downtown Darlington. “That way, if he did get caught up with a patient, you’ll know and can relax.”

  Haley gaped over at him. “How’d you get so smart?” she blurted before realizing the sentiment would make him even more arrogant.

  He grinned. “I was born this way.”

  Rolling her eyes, she dialed the number to Sam’s office. His receptionist Jane picked up. “Darlington Veterinary, how can I help you?”

  “Hi, Jane,” she said. “It’s Haley. Is Sam still there?”

  There was a pause. “Umm no, Haley. Sam left to get you”—there was a pause as though Jane were leaning over to check the clock—“over an hour ago.”

  The worry, the churning in her stomach, intensified.

  Because something was wrong.

  Very, very wrong.

  She barely processed thanking Jane, just hung up and dialed Sam’s number. It rang once and went straight to voice mail.

  “Nothing?” Julian asked.

  Haley shook her head. “Nothing.” A beat as she dialed again. Got voice mail again. “He’s probably fine. Just—”

  “Let’s keep going to your house,” Julian said. “We can start our search from there.”

  “Our search?” Her gaze found his.

  Julian nodded. “I’m not going to leave my best nurse to handle things on her own.”

  “Your best nurse?” She attempted to play along, even as she dialed Sam’s number for a third time, got his voice mail for a third time.

  Fuck.

  Something was seriously wrong. She knew it.

  Julian touched her shoulder. “He’s fine. I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding.

  But he didn’t sound sure. Not at all.

  Julian paused at the stop sign then turned right onto Old Creek Road. “Sometimes cell coverage is bad out here—”

  His words cut off as they came around a corner and saw an SUV—Sam’s SUV, plowed into the ditch on the side of the road. Smoke rose from beneath the hood, glass glittered across the roadway, and . . . there was no sign of Sam.

  Julian skidded the car to a stop, threw on the hazards. “Stay here.”

  Then he was out of the car and sprinting for the SUV.

  Haley opened her door and hopped out, reaching into the back seat to grab the med kit she knew Julian stored there. Throwing it over her shoulder, she kept as much of her weight as possible off her ankle as she ran after Julian. Which wasn’t a lot, given the shooting pain up her leg.

  She ignored it.

  Because the whole area smelled like gas.

  Julian had opened the driver’s door by the time she reached him and was feeling for Sam’s pulse.

  Please, God, let there be a pulse.

  “Unconscious,” he said, and she relaxed, dropping the kit and extracting a collar. They’d need to immobilize him before they moved him. Sam took the collar and secured it. “Back up. I need to move him in case the gas catches.”

  Haley hopped away, extracting her phone and dialing 9-1-1, as Julian lifted Sam from the SUV and carried him a safe distance away. Dispatch picked up her call, and she gave them the rundown of injuries as Julian called them out to her.

  It was a good thing Julian moved Sam because the moment they heard sirens in the background, flames burst from beneath the SUV’s hood.

  Haley had knelt next to Sam, helping Julian by putting pressure on a cut on Sam’s shoulder, so she saw the first moment Sam’s eyes opened.

  “Fucking deer,” he groaned and started to sit up.

  They kept him in place, but not before he saw the flaming ball of fire that was his new SUV. Sam’s eyes flashed wide. “That’s not—” Heat radiated in the space around. “Oh, fuck me, it is.”

  Haley thought he was referring to the brand-new SUV going up in flames, but then she saw where his gaze was focused.

  “Holy—”

  Julian’s jaw dropped open.

  Because a family of deer stood directly in the middle of the road, staring at them, their beady eyes almost menacing.

  “Deer,” Julian muttered. “Fucking deer.”

  The sirens grew louder, and the deer held their ground for one long moment before jumping the barrier and hopping off into the nearby field.

  A fire truck roared to a stop beside them, and after checking to make sure Sam was good, that Julian and Haley had it under control until the ambulance arrived, they immediately went to work on the fire.

  “Deer trying to kill me,” Sam muttered, eyes fluttering closed, limbs going limp.

  “He’s fine,” Julian reassured her. “But I swear, he might actually be right. Those deer might seriously be trying to murder him.”

  Twenty-Six

  Sam

  * * *

  It was nearly a week later before Sam was able to sort out in his mind exactly what had happened. One minute he’d been heading to pick up Haley’s pie, and the next he was waking up in the hospital with a concussion.

  He didn’t remember the roadside rescue or the apparent attempted killing by the murderous deer.

  He remembered pie, a soft hand in his, and kind blue eyes staring down at him while he lay in a hospital bed.

  Lucky for him, his bodily injuries were minimal. Concussion aside, he didn’t have any broken bones or cuts requiring sutures. He just had his slightly addled brain and nightmares about deer lying in wait on the side of the room.

  Thankfully, his bu
ddy Dan at Fish and Game had come down to investigate the issue. It turned out that a fawn was trapped behind the fence of the ranch next to his house. The deer were hanging around close to the road because the mother deer wouldn’t leave her baby.

  “That’s so sweet,” Haley said, sitting next to him on the couch as Dan explained the problem and how they were going to make it safer for them to drive.

  “Tell that to my SUV,” he muttered. Or his head.

  “Shh,” Haley said. “Don’t ruin it.”

  Dan shook their hands then stood, and Haley tried to follow suit. Sam pressed her back into the couch with narrowed eyes. “Don’t you dare. That ankle needs rest.”

  She’d set herself back a week of recovery after her hop-a-long road escapades, but luckily none of the bones in her leg had been reinjured significantly.

  “Samwise,” she began.

  “Haley Bear,” he warned, cutting her off. “Don’t start with me.”

  She crossed her arms, but her lips had curved. “You’re sexy when you’re bossy.” Dan snorted, and she waggled her fingers at him. “Bye now! Thanks for saving us from the homicidal deer.”

  “A good woman,” Dan said as Sam walked him out.

  “Yes.” He paused, opened the front door. “She’s also mine.”

  “The concussion turned him into a caveman, Dan,” Haley called. “Don’t mind him!”

  Dan chuckled and hesitated on the threshold. “Still yours?” he asked. “Despite the smart mouth?”

  Sam couldn’t hold back his smile. “Still mine. Always and forever.”

  Haley chimed in. “Also, he loves my smart mouth.”

  Dan grinned and said, “He ever screws up, sweetheart, and I’m next in line. I like my women with smart mouths and a little fire under the surface.”

  “Go away,” Sam said and slammed the door.