Fresh-Start Ranch

by Leann Harris

  Doc’s reasoning made sense. She needed to step up and deal with the situation. “Okay. I’ll let him know, but in the meantime, let’s go put your updated files on the computer.”

  Doc frowned.

  “You want your clinic as up-to-date as possible,” she offered. “Once you’re familiar with it, I think you’re going to like it.”

  “The jury’s out on that one.”

  “You just haven’t had the right teacher. C’mon, let me introduce you to your computer.”

  “I’d rather face the south end of a northbound mule.”

  Tessa laughed, wishing her dad could’ve been more like Doc.

  * * *

  Later, Tessa called Ethan. “Doc’s not going to come to the board meeting, so to save myself the embarrassment of getting lost, I’d like to take you up on the offer of driving me there.”

  “I can do that.”

  To Tessa’s amazement, he didn’t make an issue out of it. “Then I’ll see you Saturday at—?”

  “Five-thirty,” he supplied. “That will give us plenty of time to get to the restaurant.”

  “Thanks, Ethan.” She hung up. Feeling unsettled and anxious about the board meeting, Tessa called her mother.

  “Hey, sweetheart, how are things going out in New Mexico?”

  “Great, Mom.” She talked for a while about how much she was liking the area, and how welcoming nearly everyone had been. “Of course the story on how I delivered Hope put me in a good light with the ranchers.” But then she explained about the problems they were having following the initial rescue.

  “If Ethan hadn’t shown up just in time today. I don’t know what I would have done.”

  “Ethan?” Her mother paused. “Ah, yes, I think you mentioned him before.”

  Of course she had. “He is the head of the local rescue group.” Why did she feel defensive?

  “What do I hear in your voice?” her mother asked.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “There’s a lightness in your voice when you mention that man.”

  She must’ve put more emphasis on his name than she intended. “Ethan is, well...he doubted my skill, but I think I’m starting to win him over.”

  “Oh.”

  “As a veterinarian, Mom, nothing more. That’s why he asked me to the Society business meeting.”

  “Really?”

  The more Tessa talked, the worse it sounded. Her mother always knew when she had good news or bad. When she’d called after breaking up with Brent, her miserable fiancé, Tessa only had to say “Mom” for her mother to know something was wrong.

  “Trust me, Mom, it’s nothing more than a board meeting.”

  “Tessa, you don’t have to defend yourself to me. I’ve prayed that what happened with your father, then Brent, didn’t turn you off the idea of falling in love. There are good men out there.”

  “Mom, it’s a board meeting. Nothing more.”

  “Really?”

  The more Tessa talked, the deeper the hole got.

  “Tessa, you know I felt guilty about—”

  “Mom, I don’t blame you for Dad’s drinking and gambling. He did that. As for Brent, I kinda knew something wasn’t right for a long time. I just didn’t want to admit it.”

  Tessa heard her mother sniffle. “I’m glad things are working out at that clinic for you. That people are accepting you and you’re working with the Rescue Society. Do you really like being out West? I worried that maybe you wouldn’t like the area.”

  “I love it, Mom. I want you to come out to New Mexico as soon as you can to see for yourself what a great place this is and meet the people.”

  “I’ll try, sweetheart. I think I’ll be able to come maybe around Thanksgiving. We got a contract with that company in Brussels that we’re having some trouble with. I’m going to be going back and forth several more times.” The talk shifted to her mother’s work for a while before both of them had to admit they were tired. After saying their goodbyes, they hung up.

  Tessa couldn’t wait for her mom to meet Doc Adams and the McClures. Disappointed her mother couldn’t come for the next several months, Tessa comforted herself with the fact her mother had finally won a big promotion in her company.

  As she got ready for bed, Tessa thought about the call with her mom. Odd, it sounded as though her mother was in a parking garage. Maybe her mother had worked late again and Tessa caught her going home.

  Drifting off to sleep, she heard her mother’s warning not to let her father and ex-fiancé ruin her future. Surely her mother would understand the wisdom of guarding one’s heart against heartache again. Surely she would understand.

  Surely.

  Chapter Seven

  Saturday morning, Ethan drove out to his brother’s equine therapy ranch after getting Zach’s panicked call, asking if he would come and help. One of the horses had gone lame, several of the volunteers hadn’t shown, and the baby and Sophie were sick. The world was coming to an end and Zach couldn’t think. Ethan readily agreed.

  On the drive to the ranch, Ethan thought about the most recent incident of Tessa confronting Kevin. He’d had nightmares about it last night. Since he’d found that small woman in his stables examining his horse, he’d felt off his stride. Really, his world had tipped off its axis.

  After Mary left him standing at the altar, he’d been gun-shy about commitment. Sure, he’d dated casually in college, but nothing ever clicked. Over the past few years he occasionally went out with the few single women from around here, but they knew about his aborted wedding and viewed him more as a friend...or sometimes as “poor Ethan.” He could have done without the pity but in a way it had been a relief that no one expected him to put his heart on the line again.

  Was he ready now?

  “Lord, I don’t know what’s happening, but guide me, because I’m on ground I haven’t ridden on before.”

  He checked in with Zach when he got to the ranch. The baby had a slight fever and Sophie was asleep, having spent most of the night up with the baby. Zach looked completely beaten.

  As Zach looked down into his daughter’s bed, he turned to Ethan. “I think I’d rather lose my other leg than have that little one get sick again.”

  Ethan shook his head, because he knew his brother was in for a lot of sleepless nights in the future and lots of time spent in prayer. Not voicing his opinion, Ethan hurried down to the stables. On his way there, he called his mom and apprised her of the situation. She was on her way.

  “Morning, Ollie,” Ethan called out, walking up to the stables.

  The old foreman grunted. “You here to help?”

  “I’m the cavalry coming to the rescue. What do you need done?”

  “What I need is five more people and someone in the office to answer the phones. I ain’t no secretary. If you want nice talking, then get someone else.”

  “Is Beth here?”

  “No.”

  Ollie was in a mood this morning. Since he wasn’t any better a secretary than Ollie, he called his sister. “Can you come and help out? We’re short of people.”

  “I can and I’ll bring Tyler with me.”

  “Thanks, sis.” Over the past month, Beth and Tyler had resettled into a new home in Albuquerque. Tyler had worked at the ranch for close to a year, living in the foreman’s house. But after Tyler and Beth married, they moved to the city, making it easier for Beth to get to work and the airport for her frequent business travels. Tyler had signed up with the city to become a policeman.

  When Ethan walked into the stables, he saw Tessa examining Dakota, a two-year-old gelding.

  “Funny meeting you here like this.”

  Tessa looked up from where she squatted by the horse’s left foreleg. “The clinic got a panicke
d call from your brother. What are you doing here?”

  “I got the same desperate call.” He squatted by Tessa’s side. “Zach’s baby and wife are sick, and the man is a basket case.”

  They smiled at each other.

  She patted Dakota. “Cut your brother some slack. New parents are cautious with their first arrival.”

  “Somethin’ got to account for his odd behavior.”

  “What in the Sam Hill are you two doing down there?” Ollie demanded.

  Tessa stood. “Well, it looks like Dakota stepped on something, a rock, or something hard. He’ll need to be on restricted movement and to be kept on a soft surface. It doesn’t look like there’s any infection, but keep an eye on him. And no riding him for a few days.”

  “What else can go wrong?” Ollie grumbled as he walked away.

  “Is he always so charming?” Tessa asked, watching the old man disappear around the corner.

  Slowly rising to his full height of six-three, Ethan smiled down at her. “Sometimes he’s more abrupt, but we love him like that. When Ollie came up with cancer and was nice to all, it had us worried. I’ll take his bad moods any day.”

  “That’s a positive way of looking at things.” She ran her hand over the horse’s shoulder.

  Ethan grabbed Dakota’s lead rope and led him to the back corral. When he came back inside, Tessa had finished packing up her equipment.

  “Can I pick you up about five-thirty this afternoon? That should give us plenty of time to get to the meeting.”

  “Sounds good. See you then.”

  As he watched her go, he reminded himself this was a board meeting, not a date.

  * * *

  At five-fifteen Tessa walked out of her room into the kitchen where Doc sat doing charts—paper charts. She wore a simple sleeveless black jersey dress, black heels and a long string of pearls. Earlier she’d had on jeans and a Western shirt, but Doc informed her that the restaurant was a dress-up place.

  Doc looked up and paused. “Well, you clean up nice.”

  “Do I look okay for the meeting? I mean, this isn’t a date. What will the other board members think?” She pulled off her pearls.

  Doc grinned. “They’ll think you knew the dress code for the restaurant. I’m sure several of the other board members’ wives will be there in their Sunday best.”

  Tessa walked to the table and eyed the folders. “Am I ever going to get you to use the computer?”

  Holding up his hand, Doc defended himself. “I wanted to write these notes before I try typing them in. I only want to worry about one thing at a time.” The man grinned, making the corners of his blue eyes wrinkle. With a full head of white hair, he was still an attractive man, but it was obvious he’d spent his life outside from the weathered condition of his face.

  “That’s a good idea.”

  “What’s a good idea?” Ethan asked, opening the back door.

  Tessa started to frown at the man for always showing up unannounced, but then her eyes took him in. Dressed in new creased jeans, white shirt and a tan sports coat cut in Western style, and boots, he looked so good that she couldn’t form any words. In his right hand, he held a tan Stetson.

  Ethan whistled low, then stopped himself, looked at Doc Adams, then back at Tessa. “Uh, I didn’t mean—” He swallowed. “Nice dress, Tessa.”

  Tessa’s heart skipped a beat. “Doc told me about the dress code at the restaurant. I hope this is okay.” The pearls in her hand slipped.

  Ethan caught them and handed them back to her. “Yes.” He waited for her to put the pearls on.

  Doc shook his head. “Get out of here.”

  Ethan flushed.

  “I guess I should say ‘don’t keep her out too late.’ You never know when we might have an emergency.”

  “Got it.” Ethan escorted Tessa to his truck and held open the passenger-side door.

  Once on the road, Ethan flashed her a smile. “If it makes you feel any better, I got the third degree from my parents before I left. Wanted to know where I was going and with whom.” He shook his head. “When I said a board meeting for the Rescue Society, they gave me an odd look. I told them where it was and Mom still was acting weird.”

  Strange, Tessa had the same feeling with Doc Adams, as if he was seeing her off on a date. That was an experience she’d never had with her father, since he’d split long before she was old enough to date.

  But she wondered, if her father would’ve stuck around, would he ever have smiled at her as Doc did? And would she have felt as proud?

  * * *

  The board met in a separate dining room at the back of the restaurant. Once all the board members arrived, they ordered dinner and ate. Tessa took the time to ask each of the ranchers how their rescue was doing. After the last plate was cleared, the board began serious discussion on the situation. Finally, Mary said, “So it’s agreed that I need to file a restraining order against both Kevin Raney and William Moore.”

  “Agreed,” Ethan said and all the other board members concurred.

  “Then I’ll do it first thing Monday morning.” She put her pad away in her briefcase.

  “Everyone, be sure to report any further trouble with Kevin or William,” Ethan instructed. “We want as much documentation as we can get for the restraining order.”

  The meeting broke up.

  As Mary talked with the Cousinses, Mason Lee, one of Mary’s law associates, introduced himself to Tessa. He explained that he was going to start working with Mary on Society business.

  “Do you think it will be hard to get that order?” Tessa asked Mason.

  “No. Mr. Raney is a familiar name around the courthouse. He’s been connected with a lot of defendants in swindling and running book, but no one’s been willing to roll on him.”

  Ethan heard the last of the exchange and stepped close to Tessa. “So the man hasn’t changed. It’s good to know what we’re up against. We’ll be extra careful.”

  With a final goodbye, Ethan escorted Tessa to his truck. Her silence as they left the city made Ethan wonder what she was thinking.

  “I’m hoping that the restraining order helps,” Ethan said, “because I don’t want to see any more of our volunteers hassled.”

  Tessa came out of her musings. “I hope so, too. You’ve got a lot of good people in your group.”

  “I think you’ve won over most of the board. Steve Barlow told me he thought Doc had found a good one with you.”

  Her smile glowed in the dash lights.

  Ethan found himself telling her stories about different ranchers who were there. He told her how Steve Barlow ended up proposing to his wife, Connie, over the PA system at the state fair one year.

  “He didn’t.” Tessa laughed.

  “He did. She was all over the fair, doing everything from helping with the 4-H lamb judging, to entering her pie in the cooking contest. He tried three times during the fair to propose, but was always interrupted, so the last night, in frustration, he walked to the PA booth, explained to the announcer what he wanted, and they let him take over the PA system and ask her. He met her in the middle of the arena, put the ring on her finger and kissed her, in front of all those folks.”

  “I don’t know if that’s romantic or what.” Tessa laughed.

  “Well, it was the horse rescue that brought them together.” Ethan glanced at her. “So why did you get into horse rescue?”

  “I love horses, and when I was in high school, the place where I worked took in a rescue horse. I cared for that gelding and watched him go from a wounded creature who didn’t trust anyone to a healthy horse and a wonderful animal. The owner gave the horse to his granddaughter and a happier pair you’ve never seen. It was then I knew the power in rescue. I wanted to do more.” Every word she uttered resonated in his
soul.

  She studied him. “What about you? Why are you in rescue?”

  “Doc Adams got me into it the summer I worked with him. He was passionate about it and, just like you, I saw the difference it made.” And it made up for the mistake he’d made. “Ranger was a rescue. He was my first rescue.”

  “I can see why you were a little edgy that first time you saw me with him.”

  When they pulled into the parking lot of the clinic, a brand-new red Ford F-150 SuperCab sat before the clinic doors.

  “I wonder who’s here at this time of night,” Tessa said as they came to a stop.

  “I don’t know. I don’t recognize the truck. And it still has dealer tags on it.” He hopped out of his truck and ran around the front of his vehicle and opened Tessa’s door. As they passed the new truck, Ethan got a good look at the paper tags. The dealer was in Kentucky.

  Tessa opened the screen door to the breezeway and walked inside. The overhead light in the breezeway was off, allowing them to see clearly through the glass window in the kitchen door. A handsome woman with pixie-style brown hair sat at the table with Doc. He sat with his back to the door.

  “Do you know who the woman is sitting with Doc?” Ethan murmured. “I’ve never seen her before, but she seems familiar.”

  “Mom,” Tessa whispered.

  His eyes widened. Mom? He looked from the woman to Tessa and saw the resemblance.

  Tessa opened the door and rushed into the kitchen. “Mom.”

  The woman stood and opened her arms. Tessa ran into them.

  Ethan grinned and looked at Doc. He wasn’t smiling. There was a grimness around his mouth and eyes, which set Ethan back on his heels.

  “What are you doing here?” Tessa asked when she drew back to look at her.

  “I’m bringing my daughter her graduation present.”

  A gasp escaped Tessa’s lips. “That new truck I saw outside is for me?”

  Her mother nodded her head. “I’ve been planning this for the last six months. The dealer kept the truck for me while I was in Europe, and when you called yesterday, I was in Missouri eating lunch on my way here. I hoped you wouldn’t guess.”