The Rancher and the Vet

by Julie Benson

  “Adding your current mindset to typical teenager attitude won’t be productive or pretty.” Avery clasped Reed’s arm, halting him. Tense muscles rippled under her palm. “What’s going on here? I know Jess is in trouble, but she wasn’t picked up for doing drugs or drinking. She hasn’t hurt anyone. Why are you so angry?”

  “Why aren’t you more upset? She vandalized your shelter.”

  “Don’t change the subject.” She inched closer and squeezed his arm. “Tell me why you’re so upset.”

  He jerked away, rejecting her comfort. Fine, that was probably best for both of them. She wouldn’t make the mistake of offering it again.

  “I’m responsible for Jess. She’s been testing me. I’ve got to show her I won’t tolerate this. No, it wasn’t drugs or something worse. This time.”

  “I know you take your guardian role seriously. That’s who you are.” She wanted to hold him, ease his fears, and the thought left her shaken. “You’re worried Jess’s behavior tonight could lead to bigger issues, and it’s your job to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

  “Damn right it is.”

  “Jess has always been a good kid. I think there’s something else going on here. Is she acting out because her dad’s gone? Is she hanging around with the wrong crowd? Guys focus on getting the facts and finding a solution, but you’re dealing with a teenage girl. You need to find out why she did this. You can’t just get angry with her.”

  The shelter was her problem, not why Jess was acting out. Helping Reed and getting attached to him and his niece would complicate her life, but more important, it would take time and energy away from her job. And she could so easily get emotionally involved—but she couldn’t forget what had driven them apart.

  Still, she thought of Jess, and how Reed’s current mood could react with hers to make things worse. Avery stepped closer and reached out to him, but pulled back at the last moment. Instead, she peered up at him. “Reed, lighten up. She hasn’t joined the Mafia. She spray-painted the shelter. This is very fixable.”

  His stance softened as he reached for her hand. He clasped her fingers so tightly she almost winced. “I’m glad you’re here. You always helped me keep things in perspective. I’m so scared of messing up. What do I know about kids? Look at the example I had for a father.”

  Her heart ached for the pain his father had caused, both emotionally and physically. Staring into his worried gaze, she wished he hadn’t said anything. How could she leave him alone to deal with the situation after what he’d just said?

  “We’ll handle this together.”

  “Thanks.” He released her hand, took a deep breath and smiled faintly. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  When they walked into the police station, Officer Blume met them at the front desk. “Someone driving by on the highway saw a group of teenagers spray-painting the shelter.” The officer faced Reed. “Your niece was the only one caught at the scene. She won’t tell us anything. We checked her phone and have an idea of who was with her, but unless she corroborates that, all the blame falls on her.” Officer Blume turned to Avery. “Does the shelter want to press charges?”

  “If it were up to me, I’d let things go with restitution, but it’s shelter policy that we prosecute in cases like this,” Avery said to both men.

  “Would you give us a minute alone?” Reed asked the officer.

  The other man nodded. “I’ll finish the paperwork for your niece’s release and be back in a minute.”

  Once he and Avery were alone, Reed said, “There isn’t any way you can avoid pressing charges?”

  “I’m afraid not. Since it’s a shelter policy, there’s nothing I can do. I’m sorry. If I could let things go at restitution, I really would.”

  He nodded. “Thanks for that. How am I going to tell Colt Jess got arrested?”

  The weariness in his voice tugged at her heart. He really was in over his head. “Colt will understand. She’s a teenager. They do stupid stuff like this.” She placed her hand on his arm, and he placed his hand over hers. “Now you know more, and you’ll watch her closer for other signs of problems.”

  “I don’t know if I can do this. It’s so much responsibility. That’s why I never—”

  Though he cut himself off, she knew what he’d been about to say.

  That’s why I never want to have kids.

  She pulled away and walked across the waiting room to sit in one of the wooden chairs against the wall.

  She wouldn’t get involved with Reed again. Some risks were worth taking and some were just plain foolish because the odds of succeeding sucked. Having a relationship with Reed fell into the latter category. She’d help him with Jess, but that was as far as things would go. She hadn’t been willing to compromise all those years ago and give up having children, and she couldn’t now.

  When Officer Blume returned with Jess’s release papers, Avery reiterated that the shelter would be pressing charges. As the officer went to get Jess, Avery and Reed stood awkwardly beside each other.

  “You lied to me,” Reed said the minute the teenager arrived. His low voice rippled with restraint.

  “No, I didn’t. When I talked to you, I was at the movie, but it was lame, and we left.”

  “Then you should’ve called me to pick you up. What the hell were you thinking? You committed a crime.”

  Jess stood there, her body rigid, her arms crossed, looking at the floor.

  Reed shoved his hands into his front pockets. “I want to know who you were with and why you did this.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Why couldn’t Reed see his heavy-handed attitude was only making Jess more adamant to best him? Avery stepped forward and placed her hand on the teenager’s arm, but Jess refused to meet her gaze. “Why would you do this to the shelter?”

  “It wasn’t me,” Jess insisted.

  “The police caught you there with spray-paint cans,” Reed said.

  “I was there, but I didn’t do anything.”

  “Then who the hell did?” Reed fired back.

  Jess fidgeted with the hem of her black skull-print T-shirt. “I tried to talk them out of it, but no one would listen. Really I did.” Jess finally met Avery’s gaze. Guilt shone in her eyes.

  “I believe you, sweetheart.” Avery wrapped her hands around the girl’s icy ones. Her mind raced trying to recall who Jess’s friends were and why they would damage the shelter, but nothing came to mind. But then, who could figure out how teenagers’ brains worked, or rather, didn’t work? “You’ve got to tell us who was with you.”

  “I can’t.”

  Reed held out his hand, practically shoving it under his niece’s nose. “Give me your cell phone. I bet you’ve got texts that’ll shed light on what happened.”

  Jess stepped back. “You’re not my father. You’ve got no right to look at my phone because you don’t pay for it, and there’s nothing on it that implicates anyone.”

  “That’s all right. I’ll get the information another way.” Reed’s strong voice rang with unflinching authority. “The police checked your phone. I’ll get Lindsey’s last name from them. Then I’ll call her parents.”

  Jess squeezed Avery’s hands so tightly her knuckles cracked. “I’ll say she wasn’t there, and then there’s nothing the police can do.”

  “A crime was committed and your friends need to be held accountable for their actions.”

  “I can’t tell the police. You don’t know what it’s like in high school.” Jess’s panicked gaze locked on Avery. “Tell him he can’t do this. I’m already a freak—the girl whose mom ran off with the computer-repair guy and got herself killed. There are people who don’t want anything to do with me because of that. If I squeal on my friends, I’ll be a complete outcast.”

  Avery tried to catch
Reed’s eye, but his stare remained focused on Jess. Things had always been black-and-white to him.

  “Then that’s the price you’ll have to pay,” Reed said.

  “That’s easy for you to say. You won’t be the one sitting alone at lunch while all your former friends sit at another table whispering about you.”

  “What kind of friends are they if they ran off and left you to take the blame?” Avery asked, hoping to make Jess see how she’d misplaced her loyalty.

  “I’ll find out who Lindsey is, so you might as well tell me.” Reed ground out the words.

  “How can you do this to me?” Jess’s voice broke and her eyes filled with tears. She turned to Avery. “Can’t you make him understand?”

  Avery glanced between the stubborn pair. Neither one showed any signs of backing down. Someone had to play peacemaker. “Reed, can I talk to you in private?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about.”

  “Please?”

  Avery’s soft plea and the worried look in her eyes when she placed her hand on his arm pulled him back to reality. The anger stirring inside him startled him. Worse yet, it reminded him of his father.

  A vision of the man, his eyes bulging, nostrils flaring as he railed at him, flashed in his mind. Was that how he looked to Jess and Avery?

  He turned and walked across the room, his knees growing weak, Avery beside him.

  “Being a hard-ass isn’t working. All it’s doing is making her more adamant about protecting her friends. You have to back down. Colt told me about Jess threatening to run away. She can only take so much.”

  “I know. I don’t think she would really do it, but just because she’s threatened to run away doesn’t mean I can overlook what she’s done or the fact that she won’t tell the police who was with her. She has to tell them everything.”

  “Can’t you see she’s not going to? All you’re doing is alienating her.”

  “She vandalized your shelter. You should be backing me up and helping me get the names out of her. Instead, you’re coddling her and encouraging her to defy me.” Reed shoved his hands into his pockets. “She’s being overly dramatic about her friends’ reaction.”

  “No, she’s not. You don’t know what girls can be like, or how fragile their psyches are. She could be right that her friends would ostracize her.”

  “We’re talking a legal issue here, Avery.”

  “I know, but I’m more concerned about her emotional state. If she’s willing to take the fall for her friends, let her. My mom and dad used to talk about natural consequences. They said those were often worse than any punishment they could give us. Lay things out for her, that if she won’t tell on her friends, the natural consequence is she’ll end up in juvenile court to take all the blame. It might teach Jess a good lesson about friendship.”

  What Avery said made sense, though he balked at the idea of letting Jess’s friends get away with a crime. But those kids weren’t his problem. Jess was. “Maybe you’re right, and I should let her face the consequences.”

  “Trust me.”

  The words hung heavy between them and had nothing to do with the situation surrounding Jess. “I always have.”

  Avery nibbled on her lower lip. “I think letting the court deal with Jess is the wisest thing to do.”

  He nodded, whatever might have passed between them now gone. When they rejoined Jess, he said, “I’ll ask you one more time to tell me who was with you, and before you answer, be aware that the shelter’s policy is always to press charges in cases like these. Dr. McAlister has no say in the matter. That means when the shelter presses charges you’ll end up in juvenile court, and there won’t be anyone else to take the blame.”

  “I understand,” Jess said, though he doubted she truly grasped the implications of her decision. “I’d rather go to court than betray my friends.”

  “I admire your loyalty, Jess, but I think your uncle’s right,” Avery added. “Your friends don’t deserve you.” Then she turned to him. “Will you two be okay if I head home? I have an early surgery scheduled for tomorrow.”

  Reed nodded, the anger he’d felt gone, thanks to Avery. What would he have done if she hadn’t been here to help him, to smooth things over when he’d been on the brink of letting his frustration consume him?

  He couldn’t even think about what might have happened.

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING REED stared at his brother’s image on the computer screen as he updated Colt on his daughter’s antics. “I’m out of my league here. You’ve got to talk to Jess about what happened. Make her tell you who she was with.”

  “I’ll talk to her, but my guess is she won’t tell me any more than she told you. When Jess makes up her mind, there’s no changing it.”

  Reed chuckled. “Sounds like someone else I know.”

  “Yeah, you.” His brother laughed. “For what it’s worth, I would’ve handled things the same way you did. As a parent, I’ve learned sometimes I have to let my kid fall flat on her face.”

  “Her friends shouldn’t be getting away with this.”

  “They’re not my problem. I’m more worried that Jess got pulled into this stunt. I thought she had more sense than to go along with the crowd.”

  “I’m screwing up with her. I can handle running my own company, but dealing with Jess is bringing me to my knees.” His voice broke and he paused to collect himself. “I’m saying things that sound so damned much like our father.”

  “You’re nothing like that bastard, if that’s what you’re worried about.” His brother’s confident reassurance offered Reed little comfort. “Have you had any luck with getting the association to make an exception for Jess?”

  “Not so far, but my lawyer’s working on it.” He explained about the federal act. “Have you talked to your in-laws? Do they have an idea when they can come stay with Jess?”

  “I got an email from them the other day. Joanne’s doing better. She started physical therapy, but she’s not up to traveling yet.”

  “What do you think about me threatening to go to the media if the association won’t change its position?”

  “I guess I don’t have a problem with that, but I’m still not sure Jess is better off with them.” Colt turned to the voices escalating in the background. “I gotta go. I’ll talk to Jess as soon as I can and I’ll back you up. Don’t worry. You’re doing better than you think.”

  “Stay safe.”

  After his brother responded with a quick “Will do,” they were disconnected. Reed shook his head. He was doing better than he thought? In what universe?

  He couldn’t risk losing control with Jess, or making bigger mistakes. He picked up his phone, called his lawyer and asked what he’d found out.

  “I checked on the occupancy issue, and they’re in compliance.”

  With the way his luck had been running of late, why did that not surprise him? “Threaten to contact the local media, and if the association doesn’t concede, do it.”

  “Are you sure that’s what you want to do? There’s an outside chance it could backfire and be bad publicity for the company.”

  “It won’t backfire. We’re talking about a widowed soldier and his teenage daughter. The public support will be overwhelming.”

  He was done being nice. Time to play hardball before he messed up even worse with Jess.

  * * *

  TWO DAYS LATER, Reed and Jess stood before Juvenile Court Judge Hoffman.

  After Reed had taken away her cell phone and grounded her per Colt’s instructions, Jess had adopted a two-pronged approach to dealing with him—avoiding him and pretending he was invisible. He figured the justice system would take care of punishing her further, but their strained relationship had started wearing on him.

  “You’re not doing a very
good job as a guardian, Mr. Montgomery.” The judge stared down at Reed from his seat behind the massive oak bench, the American and Colorado flags standing watch behind him.

  No kidding. Thanks for letting me in on that secret.

  “Taking care of a teenager is new to me, Your Honor.” Weariness seeped into him. He felt as if he’d aged ten years since he’d met Jess at the airport. At this rate, he’d die of old age in three weeks.

  “If you don’t have the skills to do the job, then you’d better find a way to get them. You’ve been given a huge responsibility. Your brother’s in Afghanistan serving our country. He shouldn’t have to worry about his daughter. It’s time to cowboy up.”

  When Judge Hoffman looked as if he expected a response, Reed replied, “Yes, sir.”

  “Young lady, I hear you refuse to tell the police who was with you Friday night,” Judge Hoffman continued, his stern voice booming through the courtroom.

  “I was alone.” Jess crossed her arms over her chest. What could be seen of her coffee-colored eyes through the long bangs hanging in her face blazed with teenage defiance.

  His teenage-girl-remote-island idea looked better all the time.

  “The witness said she saw four teenagers,” Judge Hoffman countered.

  “I won’t betray my friends.”

  “That concerns me. Protecting your friends when they commit crimes is not using good judgment.” Judge Hoffman’s gaze scanned the gallery. “What do you have to say about all this, Dr. McAlister?”

  Avery, dressed in a black skirt and white blouse, stood and moved forward. Reed couldn’t help staring. He remembered her having great legs, but not ones that belonged on a pin-up poster.

  “While I can’t overlook what Jess did, I understand her reluctance to be more forthcoming. Teenage girls can be very cruel, especially if they feel betrayed, and that’s likely to be how her peers will see her talking to the authorities.” Avery glanced toward Reed and Jess. “From what Jess told me, there has been unkind talk about her mother. She fears if she names names things will get worse.”