The Heart of a Cowboy

by Trish Milburn

  “Just in time,” Dr. Franklin called out as soon as she stepped into the waiting area. “Dr. Natalie Todd, this is Kylie Forbes. And this handsome fella,” he said as he pointed toward an enormous, tawny-colored Neapolitan mastiff, “is Peanut.”

  She nearly laughed at the diminutive name for the dog.

  “I figured out of all my waiting patients, he’s the closest to what you’re used to.”

  That he was, more similar in size to the horses and cattle she regularly saw than the tiny Yorkshire terrier sitting on the lap of another woman in the corner.

  Natalie leaned down eye to eye with the dog. “Hello, Peanut. What seems to be the trouble today?”

  Kylie rubbed Peanut’s head. “He’s got a lump in one of his legs.”

  Dr. Franklin directed Natalie toward an exam room, and Kylie followed with her canine companion. A few minutes later, as Natalie moved next to the examination table where Peanut was lying, the dog raised his head and licked her cheek.

  “Peanut, no!” Kylie looked at Natalie. “I’m so sorry.”

  Natalie just laughed, her heart lifting more than it had in days. “It’s okay. I’ll take doggie kisses all day long.” She petted Peanut’s massive head. “Now let’s check out your boo-boo.”

  She ended up removing a lump from Peanut’s leg with assurances that Dr. Franklin would let Kylie know the results of the tests as soon as he could. Next up was a cat that had gotten into a fight with a bigger badass kitty followed by a beagle that hadn’t been eating. A parade of small animals with various ailments filled her afternoon, keeping Natalie so busy that it was quitting time before she realized it.

  When she finished with her last patient, a pet rabbit that had been feeling under the weather, she wandered into Dr. Franklin’s office and plopped down into the chair next to the same scarred wooden desk he’d used when she was a kid.

  “You need to get some help if every day is like today,” she said.

  “I have help.” He motioned toward her then went back to typing.

  “For today.”

  He gave her an odd look, as if he knew something she didn’t, before pecking a few more keys then turning off the computer. He clapped his hands together once as he leaned back in his chair. “You as hungry as I am?”

  Now that she thought about it, yeah, she had worked up an appetite. She thought of Mr. Brody’s invitation and wished she could take him up on it. She’d love to catch up on everything that had happened in the years since she’d left. She’d wondered so many times since Chloe had never replied to her letters. But Natalie had to keep her distance until Chloe and Owen returned home.

  “I could eat.” That in itself was a miracle.

  “Good, Sheila and I are taking you to dinner. You like Mexican?”

  “That’s not necessary.” While she adored Dr. Franklin, the thought of small talk or, worse, deeper conversation freaked her out. What if she let something slip? What if through amazing powers of deduction, he figured out her real purpose for returning to Blue Falls? She knew she was stretching, but hiding in her motel room until the rest of the Brody clan came back from their trip seemed like the safest, wisest plan.

  “I insist. You saved my bacon more than once over the past few days. It’s the least I can do.”

  “Which I was glad to do. After all, if not for you I might be driving a delivery truck or scrubbing floors for a living.”

  Not that there was anything at all wrong with either of those jobs. They just weren’t what spoke to her. She couldn’t imagine ever getting up in the morning looking forward to delivering potato chips or mopping other people’s floors. But each new day brought a new challenge in helping her animal patients feel better and live healthier lives. It made them happy, their owners happy, her happy.

  “Somehow I doubt that. You had more drive than any little kid I’d ever seen. And the way the animals always responded to you, your path was meant to be.”

  She swallowed against the lump forming in her throat, one of gratitude this time. “That means a lot coming from you.”

  In the quiet that followed her words, Dr. Franklin’s stomach growled audibly. He patted his middle. “I think we better get something to eat so my tummy doesn’t do me in before I can retire.”

  Natalie couldn’t think of a plausible reason to decline, so she followed Dr. Franklin the few blocks to La Cantina at the edge of downtown. He parked in the lot but she slipped into the end space on the side of Main Street.

  The moment she spotted Sheila Franklin, it became more obvious just how much time had passed since Natalie’s family fled Blue Falls. While Dr. Franklin didn’t look all that much different from what Natalie remembered, his wife had aged more substantially. She was still a pretty woman for her age, but she was thinner and there was a look of not entirely well about her.

  All that said, Sheila’s smile was as wide and welcoming as it had ever been. She pulled Natalie into her arms for a stronger hug than Natalie would have guessed Sheila could give. Then the older woman stepped back and framed Natalie’s face with her hands.

  “Look at you. You’ve grown up into such a beautiful young woman.”

  Natalie blushed at the compliment. “Thanks. You look good, too.”

  Sheila stepped back, making a dismissive pfft sound. “No I don’t, but you’re sweet to say so. Had a little fight with some breast cancer last year, but I kicked its butt back to where it came from.”

  “I’m so sorry. I mean, I’m not sorry you kicked its butt. That I highly approve of.”

  Sheila laughed, and Natalie’s heart lifted to hear Dr. Franklin’s wife was on the mend. She hated the idea of him losing the woman he’d loved his entire adult life, the way Mr. Brody had lost his. Maybe Sheila’s health scare was another reason he was so anxious to retire and move closer to their grandchildren.

  “You okay, dear?”

  Natalie realized her thoughts must have shown on her face when Sheila looked at her with concern.

  “Yeah, fine.”

  “Let’s take this chitchat inside,” Dr. Franklin said. “I’m in dire need of some chips and salsa.”

  Sheila gave a little eye roll as she wrapped her arm through Natalie’s and headed toward the front door of the restaurant. “The way he talks, it sounds as if I never feed the man.”

  Once they were seated and the waiter had taken their order, Dr. Franklin leaned his forearms against the table and looked right at Natalie.

  “So, what do you think about taking over my practice and letting an old man retire?”

  Chapter Six

  Natalie was glad Dr. Franklin dropped his bomb before her hand made it to her mouth because she would have totally choked to death on a tortilla chip. She dropped the chip back into the basket.

  “What?”

  “I told you I’ve been thinking about retiring, and your arrival here seems like the perfect way for me to do that.”

  “Uh, I’m flattered, but there’s one small problem. I live in Kansas.”

  “I’m sure they have moving vans in Kansas. And if Sheila and I relocate to the beach, our house would be available. See, perfect.”

  Maybe if they lived anywhere but Blue Falls. But after Natalie divulged her reason for being here to the Brodys, they weren’t going to want to see her in town or have to depend on her to care for their animals when they needed veterinary care. Not to mention she wouldn’t be able to look any of them in the eye and not be swamped with guilt by association.

  “I appreciate the offer, I really do, but my job, my home, my family, they’re all in Kansas. My life isn’t in Blue Falls anymore.” Even though a part of her irrationally wished it was, as if she’d left a part of herself behind here all those years ago and it sensed she had returned.

  The skeptical look on Dr. Franklin’s face made her wan
t to squirm, tempted her to accept his offer even though it didn’t make the smallest amount of sense. Yes, she’d dreamed of having her own practice where her schedule and decisions were hers alone, but it had never been anything more than that. She couldn’t give up the security she had with her current job, not to follow some dream that might not work out. She remembered the feeling of not having enough money, of living on the edge of disaster, and she never wanted to experience that kind of worry ever again.

  Natalie wanted to kiss the waiter for choosing that moment to bring them their food. It broke what felt like Dr. Franklin’s laser-beam gaze directed right at her as if he could make her change her mind with sheer determination.

  After the waiter left the table, Dr. Franklin sighed. “Well, the offer stands if you change your mind. But one way or another, I’m retiring soon and moving near my grandbabies before I’m too old to play with them.”

  Thankfully, Sheila steered the conversation toward less potentially life-altering topics for the duration of their dinner, and Natalie was finally able to relax enough to enjoy the evening.

  When the waiter stopped by to clear away their empty plates, he asked if they wanted dessert. At the same moment, Dr. Franklin yawned.

  “I think we’ll pass,” Sheila said. “Somebody’s ready for bed.”

  “Don’t let her fool you,” Dr. Franklin said. “She just doesn’t want me to get fat.”

  That drew a hoot from Sheila and a smile from the waiter before he headed to the kitchen with the dirty dishes. Natalie smiled, too, happy that she’d been able to spend time with the Franklins despite Doc putting ideas in her head that she wished he hadn’t.

  “What are you smiling at?” he asked when he noticed Natalie watching them.

  “You two are cute together.”

  Doc and Sheila gave each other matching looks of love and admiration as he wrapped his hand around his wife’s.

  “I was a goner the moment I laid eyes on her,” he said.

  His admission set off such an intense longing in Natalie that she wished there was some medicine she could take to make it go away. She glanced at Sheila in the same moment that the older woman looked at her. Sheila gave her a small smile of understanding, as if Natalie’s feelings were as visible as the empty chip basket in the middle of the table.

  “I hope you find a man who will be as good to you as Harry has been to me. You’ll be a lucky woman.”

  An image of Garrett Brody popped into her mind, causing her to lower her gaze so she didn’t reveal that tidbit, as well. She tried shoving his image out of her head, telling herself she had about as much chance with Garrett as she did with Michael Fassbender.

  After saying good-night to the Franklins outside the restaurant, Natalie didn’t think she could face shutting herself away in her little motel room yet. Nervous energy pulsed through her body as Dr. Franklin’s offer bounced around in her head, bumping into images of Garrett and the knowledge of why she was in Blue Falls.

  Hoping a walk would alleviate the jittery feelings, she headed up the sidewalk, pausing to look in shop windows in an effort to purge her mind of things that could not be.

  She ended up in front of the Mehlerhaus Bakery. A woman close to Natalie’s age opened the door, releasing the tantalizing scent of fresh-baked sweets into the evening air. Maybe a nice sugar high would occupy her mind with other thoughts for a while. Not to mention a pastry might make her taste buds happy.

  When she stepped up to the counter a few minutes later, the woman on the other side of the display case gave her a curious look.

  “Natalie?”

  Surprised that someone recognized her, she nodded.

  The other woman smiled. “I thought so. You resemble your mom, at least how I remember your mom looking.”

  Considering where she was standing, Natalie hazarded a guess at the other woman’s identity. “Keri?”

  “Yep. I heard you were back in town. Wow, it’s been forever.”

  Damn, why hadn’t she just gone back to the motel? The more people who knew she was in town, the more likely someone was going to start asking questions she couldn’t answer, wouldn’t answer for anyone but the Brodys.

  “Yeah. I was glad to see the bakery still here.”

  Keri rested her arms against the top of the glass case. “Sort of in my blood. So, what can I get you?”

  Natalie shifted her attention to the sugary confections on offer. “How does anyone ever make a choice? Everything looks delicious.”

  “It’s part of my evil plan to make everybody buy one of everything.”

  Natalie laughed a little, and it alleviated a smidge of the tension that had been knotting her muscles all evening.

  “Well, I don’t think I have quite that much room in my stomach, but I’ll take one of the lemon tarts.”

  As Keri reached into the case for the tart, she asked, “So, how have you been? I heard through the grapevine that you’re a vet.”

  “Yeah, up in Kansas.”

  “It totally makes sense. I remember we brought in our puppy to see Doc Franklin when I was young. He’d been bitten by a spider. I was crying, convinced he was going to die, and your mom assured me he’d be okay. And when they took Bucky into the back of the clinic, you said you’d keep him company. I still remember that as if it was yesterday.”

  Natalie had no recollection of that conversation, but it did sound like her mom. Even though she currently harbored conflicted feelings about her mother, Natalie knew that her mom had a good heart and had always loved animals of all kinds.

  “I know she might not remember it, but tell her thank you for that from me.”

  Natalie nodded. “I will.”

  Before Keri brought up any other tales from the past, Natalie paid for her tart and turned to leave. She nearly dropped her dessert when she saw a man in a sheriff’s department uniform step inside. She froze, unable to move or think clearly for what felt like the longest seconds in the history of time.

  It occurred to her that she should let the local authorities know what her father had done. After all, Karen Brody’s death was still sitting in their files classified as an unsolved...death. It wouldn’t be classified murder, right? Her father hadn’t meant to kill Karen. Vehicular manslaughter? It didn’t matter what term was attached to the accident, the result was the same—a good person’s life ended too soon.

  The tacos she’d had for dinner churned in her stomach, making her wonder if she’d ever be able to eat without her stomach revolting again.

  “Hey, Simon,” Keri said. “You remember Natalie Todd, right? We went to elementary school together before her family moved.”

  The man in uniform took a few steps toward Natalie, making her grip the tart a bit too tightly. Before she squished it completely, she forced herself to relax her grip.

  “Yeah.” The man smiled as Keri rounded the end of the front counter. He lifted his arm and wrapped it around Keri’s shoulders, making it obvious they were a couple. Wait, Simon?

  “Simon Teague?”

  “The one and only.”

  “You’re a deputy?” Sure, it’d been a lot of years since she’d known Simon and his brothers, but the sight before her did not compute.

  “Sheriff, actually.”

  “You’re kidding.” The words were out of Natalie’s mouth before she could stop them.

  Keri burst out laughing. “I know, right?”

  “Not feeling the love right now,” Simon said.

  Keri placed her hand on his chest. “Just because I laugh doesn’t mean I don’t love.”

  “It’s a good thing you’re cute.”

  “And keep the sheriff’s department supplied in doughnuts.”

  Simon rolled his eyes. “Woman, you’re killing me.”

  That’s when Natalie saw the
ring on Keri’s left hand. “You two are married?”

  “Yeah,” Simon said. “And a word of warning—if you stick around long enough, Verona Charles will match you up with someone, too.”

  Damn if Garrett’s image didn’t plunk itself down front and center again. Choosing to ignore it, she instead said, “Who?”

  “Oh, you might not remember her,” Keri said. “She’s the aunt of a friend of ours who moved here after you left, and self-appointed town matchmaker. Thing is, she’s pretty good at it, like she’s got a sixth sense or something.”

  Whoever this Verona woman was, Natalie needed to steer clear of her. In fact, she needed to keep her distance from everyone until she could complete her mission and get the heck out of town.

  She glanced at the department patch on the arm of Simon’s uniform, promising herself that she’d tell him the truth about Karen’s death before she left Blue Falls. But not before she told the Brodys. They shouldn’t hear the truth from Simon or anyone other than her.

  * * *

  GARRETT EXAMINED PENELOPE’S WOUND, glad to see it was already beginning to heal with no signs of infection. Not only was Natalie Todd a beautiful woman, but she was also very good at her job.

  His phone buzzed with a text message. He stepped out of Penelope’s stall, closing the door behind him, before pulling the phone off his belt.

  Owen had texted him a photo, one of him, Linnea, Chloe and Wyatt standing at the front of the cruise ship, a vast expanse of blue ocean behind them. They held a sign that read Don’t You Wish You Were Here? Owen in particular looked as if he was rubbing it in.

  Already plotting ways to get back at his siblings, he texted Owen back—a picture of a fresh pile of horse manure and Was just thinking of you.

  Actually, he’d been thinking about Natalie, as he’d been doing much too often since they’d crossed paths at the music hall. No matter what was going on, he could usually lose himself in the never-ending ranch work. But that wasn’t the case this time, and wasn’t that just dandy considering she didn’t seem to harbor the same interest toward him. What did he expect? Her life was two states away.