by Vivian Arend
Cryptic words. Ones that effectively tied her hands. She sat and watched as the room filled.
The growing crowd was quiet as a good two-dozen local ranchers gathered in the large-animal surgery at the back of the clinic, settling into folding chairs that had been gathered for the occasion.
The dread in Melody’s stomach was a solid brick, and she took a deep breath, fighting to keep from twitching with nervous energy.
There were more than just the men who’d complained about her. Steve was there, his dark gaze offering support from where he sat.
He’d been gone when she’d woken. A note on the table giving her details of the meeting time, and a promise he’d watch her back. He’d signed it with Xs and Os, and she wasn’t sure if the giggles that escaped were hysteria-based, or just what she’d needed to break the tension so she could get ready.
There were other Colemans present as well—Gabe and Blake, Travis and Lee, and Jaxi, who sat with baby Peter in her lap, a stern, unwavering glare aimed pointedly at Sean Dalton.
“I have to admit I’m surprised by your complaints,” Mathis said, opening the discussion. “These are some serious charges you’re considering.”
“Nothing against you, Mathis,” Sean Dalton insisted. “We just want you to know what kind of trouble you’ve got under your roof.”
“And you really think she’s incompetent?”
The question made Melody cringe, another shot shaking her when Sean responded instantly, “Incompetent and insolent—the girl is plain, outright rude for no reason. Think the power you gave her went to her head.”
Melody itched to respond, but Mathis had asked her to wait until the men had a chance to voice their concerns.
Steve rose to his feet. “I disagree. She’s competent. More than that, she cares. We trust her skills completely. I speak for all of the Coleman families when I say Melody is our choice when it comes to having someone work with our animals.”
Her throat tightened at his words. Then someone in the back shouted, “Of course you’d support her. You’re sleeping with her.”
His grin should have seemed out of place, except as Steve faced down the heckler, his easy shrug was so reminiscent of a typical, laid-back ranching attitude, it made his words hit with more impact. “Don’t know that has anything to do with her work skills. As far as I’m concerned it just shows I’ve got better luck than I deserve.”
Steve paced forward a couple steps, looking the other ranchers in the eye as he spoke.
“At the end of the day, we want strong work animals and strong breeding animals. We need healthy herds to deliver for sale. She’s more than capable of helping us met that goal. Fact is, between the four Coleman ranches, we pretty much pay her salary.” Another shrug lifted his shoulders as he focused on Sean. “Anyone who doesn’t want to work with her can call some other vet to come out. Drayton Valley is closest—although your visitation fees will go up. I hear he charges by the mile.”
Mathis chuckled. “I should’ve known when you asked to be a part of the meeting you weren’t going to play nice.”
Steve’s grin was back as he tilted his head toward Melody. “I’m not here to defend her. Her work speaks for itself, and any fool who is too bigoted or blind to see that doesn’t deserve to have her work with their animals.”
“Agreed,” Mathis said.
“What?” Sean was on his feet, glaring at Melody for a moment as if she’d somehow forced Mathis to say the words. “You mean she can waltz in and charge whatever the hell she wants? You’re okay with her coming on our land and making rash accusations?”
Melody held her breath. She hadn’t had a chance to tell Mathis about the horses yet.
“Sometimes rash accusations look a whole lot different to an experienced eye, Sean. Maybe you want to let that one go for now.” Mathis advised.
Mathis knew about the horses—Steve had to have told him.
She glanced across the room at him and the flicker of hope inside her chest grew a little brighter.
Especially since Sean was now so mad he was sputtering. “You’re going to believe the word of one person, when all of us don’t feel comfortable working with her?”
Mathis took a deep breath, his shoulders shifting wearily as he shook his head. “Sean, it always comes down to a choice. You don’t have to have Melody out to your place. Like Steve said, she’s got enough people who will work with her. I believe she’s a better vet than I am, and the time is coming when I plan to retire. At that point, you can either hire her, or get yourself another vet for the job.”
“Tom is talking about putting out his own shingle,” one of the other ranchers mentioned.
A low rumble washed over the gathered crowd.
That was enough. It was great to discover she had the support of the people who meant the most to her, but at this point what Melody wanted was to honour her mentor. He didn’t deserve to have to wade through anymore of this crap.
She rose to her feet.
The angry voices and murmuring didn’t die away until she hauled her chair from the wall and stepped up on it so she could be seen.
“I stand by all the treatments I gave, and the bills I delivered. If any of you want to file a formal complaint, I will help you fill out the forms so you can get in contact with the proper authorities.”
Her offer sent a ripple of consternation through the crowd, this time at a much lower level.
Melody focused on the worst of the lot, and it was Sean’s turn to squirm in his seat like a kid being held in at recess. “If you don’t believe that I have you and your animals’ best interests in mind, then we should part ways. But I’ll tell you right now, you won’t succeed in suing me for breach of skill or for trying to cheat you financially. I can guarantee that, so put that idea out of your head right now.”
Sean sat back in his chair, his arms folded over his chest as he deliberately broke eye contact to stare at the front wall.
So be it. She looked into the crowd instead, examining the faces of people she’d worked alongside, some of them during situations where she knew she’d saved their animals’ lives. She’d given her all, and damn it, they had to know that as well.
If the ringleaders were quelled, the others might see reason.
“When you call us, you’re trusting us to work alongside you as you care for your animals, for your livelihood. It’s not a trust I take lightly. Every time I’m in the field I fight to do what’s best for today and for your future. You matter to me, and your animals do too. Hell, it’s why I became a vet in the first place.”
Here and there in the room heads bobbed as the men who had come to the meeting out of curiosity acknowledged her passion and skill.
Maybe she should have left well enough alone, but it had to be said. The other issue she’d dealt with far too often. Since she was blabbing her head off.
“This job works two ways, gentlemen. While I don’t expect to be treated with kid gloves, I expect to be treated with dignity and respect while doing my job. It seems that’s too hard for some of you, so there are a few locations where I won’t be the attending vet any longer.” She glanced at her boss, guilt rushing in for not warning him. “If that’s an issue with you, Mathis, you can let me go, but otherwise they’ll have to wait until you or Tom can fit them into your schedules.”
A protest rose from the back of the room. “Typical woman. Comment about her work, and suddenly it’s all about how she’s a lady, and we aren’t allowed to complain.”
Steve’s hands curled into fists. Melody gave him a quick frown as she took a deep breath to regain control as well.
“I don’t mind the shit talk and jokes. Take Mark Mason.” She swung a hand toward the far corner of the room. All attention turned toward him as she continued. “Mark, you have a way with words. Some of your jokes are so damn funny I’m chuckling about them hours after I leave your ranch. Dirty talk can be just fine, and you, sir, have a gift.”
Mark eased back in his chair, ob
viously surprised to be picked out of the crowd to be praised. He wasn’t one of the instigators—probably had shown up when he’d heard there would be a meeting.
She held herself in tight control as she went on. “But some of you need to consider this—if you wouldn’t put your hand between Mathis’s legs and check his balls, then I expect you to keep your damn hands to yourself when I’m around, or in the future you’ll find out how quickly I can apply a castrator when motivated.”
The murmur in response was louder than before.
“I’ve heard enough.” Mathis walked over and offered Melody his hand, which was a good thing because she was about at the end of her rope. He lowered his voice as he helped her down from her perch. “You’re not fired, and if you’d told me earlier someone was getting out of line, I would have hogtied them myself.”
He turned back to the crowd. “If any of you want to discuss things with me privately, we’ll deal with complaints one on one, but the bottom line is if you want to work with Rocky Mountain Animal Clinic, Melody is my top assistant. If you have an issue with that, contact the front desk and Callie will give you a list of neighbouring vets you can work with.”
And that was it.
She was shocked by the abruptness of the conclusion, reeling slightly as men got up and left without another word. Jaxi offered her a wink before passing the baby to Blake then beelining for Lee, comments regarding his fresh black eye audible as they left.
“Sean,” Mathis called before the man could stomp from the room. “You might want to consider checking those horses on your south forty. I hear animal services are planning a visit to the area in the next while, and I have the paperwork from when you bought the animals not three months ago. I’d hate to have to do a report up for neglect.”
The man glared angrily at Melody before leaving without another word.
Finally it was down to Mathis, her and Steve.
She turned to her mentor. “There are a million things I need to say, but they all come down to thank you.”
He smiled. “Wait until we announce you’ve bought in as a full partner. You know, down the road when I’m prepping for retirement. We’ll have them screaming bloody murder.”
His confidence was unshakeable, and she lifted her head, prouder than ever to be able to work with a man like him. “Hey, I hope you took some pictures during your holiday.”
“Over six hundred shots. Steve here already invited me out for a barbecue tomorrow afternoon. Promised I could show you every single one.”
She was going to be crying in a minute if she didn’t watch herself. “Thank you,” she repeated.
He squeezed her fingers then let her go, pacing out of the room. “Heads up. You’re on first shift Monday morning. I’ve gotten used to sleeping late, so you’ll be doing a heck of lot more early tasks.” He grinned over his shoulder. “Perk of being the boss, you know.”
The room grew quiet as Steve stepped toward her, and she stepped toward him, and they met somewhere in the middle of the room.
She took another deep breath. “You stood up for me.”
“Not soon enough. I told you I was done being stupid, but obviously not.” Steve narrowed his eyes. “I want to know who was getting fresh with you.”
Melody gave him a dirty look. “What part of I can take care of myself did you miss hearing?”
He shook his head. “No, this is entirely different. This is about teaching them some manners. Their mothers would be ashamed.”
But he’d kept his cool, he’d listened to what was important, and all that meant more than she could explain in a few words. “I’m proud of you,” she said, catching his fingers in hers.
“I’m even more proud of you.” He glanced around the room. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Absolutely. “You have somewhere in mind?”
“Nowhere in particular. Just not here.” He pushed open the door for her. “Somewhere private.”
She knew just the place. Melody held out her hand. “Give me your keys. I’m driving.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Traders Pub wasn’t officially open. Steve had no idea how she’d got them through the locked doors and into the dance section of the pub, but somehow she did it. Ten seconds after she’d led him onto the dance floor, the muted lighting clicked on overhead.
He glanced at her, so glad that tension haunting her for so long had vanished. “Do I want to know?”
“Know what?”
Music started playing, and he laughed, pulling her to him and swaying to the beat. “You seem to have gremlins working for you.”
She rested her head against his chest, fingers tangled in his belt loops as she let him lead. “Gremlins whose pet pig had colic last week. I phoned ahead and asked for a few favours. Now shut up and dance. I like this song.”
He shut up, wrapped his arms around her and enjoyed having the place to themselves as the country singer serenaded them. Words about forever and a night that never ended—everything he longed for with Melody.
“Good song,” he commented, the tickle of butterfly wings rising in his stomach as he considered what he was about to do.
“He’s got a sexy voice.” She slid a hand up his chest, stopping with her fingers resting over his heart. “But yours is sexier.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” He sang along, echoing the words. Feeling emotion building all the way down to his toes until he was ready to burst with it.
Before he could speak, though, she broke in. “This part of the song is wrong.”
He paused, running through the lyrics. “You’re looking hot—that can’t be the part.”
“We know what roads we’ve been down.” Melody tangled her fingers in his hair, teasing the back of his neck. “You were partly right, back at the start of summer when you said what we had before wasn’t important because what mattered more was the future. But when I think about us, here and now, our relationship is so much richer because I have our past to compare to. And there’s no doubt in my mind what kind of a man I have.”
Anticipation and hope surrounded him, and his feet stopped moving to the music because she was all he could concentrate on. “I’m your man?”
“I sure hope so. Unless there was someone else who crawled into my bed last night and told me they loved me.”
He tucked his fingers under her chin and tilted her head back. “Nope. That was all me, in my favourite place in the entire world. Right by your side.”
Melody’s eyes sparkled. She lowered her voice. “This would be a good time for you to say it again, since I was kind of loopy the last time.”
“Hey, I thought since I said it already, it was your turn.”
“I’ll say it.” She brushed their lips together. “I’ll say it a whole bunch of different ways, until you’re drunk on me.”
Nice one. “You’re quoting songs at me. Now I know it’s love.”
He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her in the air, bringing their heads in line. “I’m more than drunk on you. I’m flying because when you look at me that way, I can do anything. Anything, especially love you for the rest of our lives.”
She cupped his face in her hands, her soft smile blooming until it lit up the entire dance floor. “I love you too. So much.”
They stood there in the middle of the room, not moving, not doing anything except grinning at each other like fools. Then Steve came to his senses and kissed her, taking her lips like he’d wanted for days. With everything in him because she meant everything to him.
Somehow they ended up with both feet on the ground, swaying to another song.
“Oh, I forgot.” Melody broke them apart, stepping to the edge of the stage. “I have to apologize.”
He paused a beat. “Okay.”
She shifted on her feet, but she still wore a smile—the one that said she couldn’t believe he was there with her. “I did something that wasn’t very nice, and I’ve been trying to think of a way to make it up to you.”
/>
He grew more intrigued by the moment. “I don’t know that you’ve done anything bad.”
“See, that’s the problem. You don’t even think it was wrong, but it was. I got away with it because I’m a woman.” She tilted her head to the side and pulled a face. “And that’s why I want to apologize. It’s one thing for me to get mad at you, or for you to get mad at me. That’s a part of a relationship and part of learning to get along. Obviously, we’re going to do a lot of that—the fighting—since we’re both so easygoing.”
She looked so glum for a moment he laughed.
Her smile reappeared. “But as everyone likes to remind me, I dumped a pitcher of beer on you, and that was inappropriate in so many ways.”
Steve shrugged. “It’s forgotten.”
A burst of laughter escaped her. “That’s the one thing it’ll never be—forgotten. That incident gets mentioned all over town, and I’m so sorry that I did it in the first place.”
He paused for a moment and considered. “You’re right, I couldn’t have gotten away with dumping beer on you.”
“But you can.” Melody pulled a plastic pitcher from behind the speaker, turning back as Steve’s amusement grew. “I thought about giving this to you in the middle of a Friday-night crowd, but I don’t want to wait until then.” She stepped forward and offered him the pitcher. “So I hope you’ll accept my apology in private. Go ahead, Steve, take your revenge.”
“You’re not serious.”
She pressed the pitcher into his hands. “Very serious. Do your worst.”
Steve glanced over his shoulder, but they were still alone. The music in the background changed as Melody stood before him, a contrite expression on her face, her body swaying to the upbeat tune.
What a difference a year had made. A year ago if she’d offered him this? He would’ve had no idea how to deal with it. But now he knew exactly what to do.
“You really want me to do this?”
