An Unexpected Father

by Marie Ferrarella

  Receptionist? This woman? She was too refined and delicate to be working in this dusty animal clinic. Was he dreaming, or had Chandler finally cracked beneath his heavy workload?

  Trey moved closer as he dared a second glance at the woman. Straight strawberry-blond hair hung all the way to her waist while a pair of silver-gray eyes were staring at him with a mixture of amusement and disbelief. Where in the world had Chandler found her? In a high-rise office in Phoenix? She definitely came across as a city girl.

  “I was going to introduce you yesterday. But we got called away from the clinic.” Chandler gestured toward the woman. “This is Nicole Nelson, but she goes by Nicci. She only arrived in Wickenburg last week, so she’s trying to get acclimated to Arizona and working here at the clinic at the same time.”

  Trey ordered his gaze to remain fixed on her face, but it blatantly disobeyed by slipping up and down the length of her petite figure. A pale pink dress, belted at her tiny waist, stopped just above her knees. Her tanned legs were bare and just as perfectly curved as the rest of her body. It was her choice of footwear, however, that caught the majority of his attention. The nude high heels had extremely pointed toes and straps that crisscrossed atop the foot and fastened around the ankle.

  He had to admit the fancy footwear was as sexy as all get-out. But hell, what kind of woman would wear such shoes to work in a small-town animal clinic? The vain kind, or one that lacked good sense?

  Trey extended his hand to Nicole Nelson, while worry for his boss was growing in leaps and bounds. This wasn’t like Chandler, he thought. No. The man was as practical as the day was long. What had possessed him to hire a woman who looked like she’d never dealt with a sick or wounded animal before. As the receptionist at Hollister Animal Clinic she needed to be prepared to see many.

  “My pleasure, ma’am. I’m Trey Lasseter,” he introduced himself. “Doc’s other right hand.”

  She arched a skeptical brow at Trey, which promptly caused Chandler to chuckle.

  “As much as I hate to admit it, I couldn’t run this place without Trey,” Chandler told her. “He’s a vet technician and has worked with me for more than eleven years now. Most of the time he gives me a headache, but I’ve learned to live with the pain.”

  Stepping closer, she placed her small hand in Trey’s and bestowed on him a smile that made the Arizona sun appear dim in comparison.

  “I’m happy to meet you, Mr. Lasseter. I was just telling Chandler that I hope everyone on the staff will have patience with me while I get the hang of how things are run here in the clinic.”

  If Trey ever had the chance to touch an angel’s wing, he figured it would feel like Nicole Nelson’s hand. All soft and smooth and delicate.

  “I’m sure you’ll do a fine job,” he said, then immediately kicked himself for lying. She’d probably do well to last two weeks here before she went running back to wherever she’d come from. But in this case, telling a fib for the sake of politeness was better than cutting her down with honesty.

  “If you’re wondering about Nicole’s Texas twang, she’s from Fort Worth,” Chandler spoke up. “She and Roslyn have been close friends for many years.”

  Oh, so that explained everything, Trey thought. Chandler had hired Nicole because of his wife. Well, at least he could breathe easy knowing that the vet wasn’t cracking up.

  “That’s nice,” Trey said inanely. “I mean, that you and Ros will be working together. Doc and I are friends, too. We go way back.”

  The woman’s silver gaze dropped to the front of his shirt where moist green cow manure had splattered a wide swath across his chest and down his left sleeve. The smell was second nature to him, but he figured that was the reason her dainty nostrils were flared in protest. Or maybe it was the fact that he was still holding on to her hand. Either way, he realized it was time for him to move away from the Texas beauty.

  Clearing his throat, he dropped her fingers and inched himself backward until his hip rammed into the edge of Chandler’s desk.

  A faint smile curved her lips. “I hear the door buzzer,” she said. “I need to get back to my desk. Nice meeting you, Mr. Lasseter.”

  Before he could invite her to call him Trey, she hurried out the door and left him staring after her.

  “What were you saying about Frank’s heifers?”

  “What?”

  Chandler’s chair squeaked, and Trey glanced around to see the veterinarian reaching for his cowboy hat.

  “Frank is going to be raising hell—that’s what you said.” Chandler levered the brown felt hat onto his head. “What’s wrong?”

  Trey did his best to push the image of Nicole Nelson from his mind and focus on the problem at hand. “Oh, uh—about a third of the heifers are empty. No calves on the way.”

  Chandler frowned. “Out of the whole hundred head?”

  “That’s right. I’ve written down the tally, but I’ve not finished the paperwork,” Trey told him. “Jimmy is up at the barn right now marking the barren ones.”

  Chandler whistled under his breath. “You’re right. Frank is not going to be happy about this. But he can’t rail at us about it. We’re just the messenger.”

  “It’s a cinch his bull isn’t getting the job done. Think he’ll want us to AI the barren heifers.”

  Chandler said, “Not now. It’s February. He won’t want babies arriving at the beginning of winter.”

  “That might be better than no babies at all,” Trey pointed out.

  “Not if bad weather hits.” Chandler shouldered on a worn jean jacket. “Let’s go to the barns. I want to look at these heifers myself. We might need to pull blood on them.”

  Trey snorted. “Frank isn’t going to want to pay for that extra expense. He’ll accuse you of using him to make an extra dollar.”

  “He can always get a vet out of Phoenix or Prescott if he doesn’t want to use my services.”

  “Ha! That’s not going to happen.” He followed Chandler to the door of the office. “Uh, Doc, what’s with the Texas lady? Couldn’t you find a local to take Violet’s place?”

  Pausing, Chandler glanced over his shoulder and scowled at Trey. “I probably could’ve found a local. But Nicole needed a job, and she has plenty of office experience. She’s perfectly qualified for the job.”

  “And she’s Roslyn’s good friend,” Trey dared to add.

  Chandler’s frown deepened. “That’s hardly her fault, Trey. Roslyn has been after Nicole for a long time to move here to Arizona. The job helped make up her mind. If you think that’s favoritism, I’m sorry. You’ll just have to get over it.”

  Trey gruffly cleared his throat. “Sorry, Doc. It’s none of my business who you hire to work here. I—well, I’m just a little shocked, that’s all. Miss Nelson—uh—she is a miss, isn’t she?”

  Chandler rolled his eyes. “Nicole is single. But knowing you, I’m sure you scoped out her ring finger before she left the room.”

  “Aw, Doc, I wasn’t looking at her that close. She just has that unconnected look. You know what I’m talking about.”

  “Not exactly,” Chandler said dryly. “Unless you mean she doesn’t look overly stressed and matronly.”

  Annoyed with himself for bringing up the subject of Nicole Nelson in the first place, he said, “Well, she just hardly seems the type to work in a place like this.”

  Chandler’s brows very nearly disappeared beneath the brim of his hat. “A place like this?”

  Trey smirked. “Hell, Doc, cow and horse manure, dust and animal hair, gory wounds and blood—you’ve been around all that stuff for so long you forget how it might look to someone like her.”

  “Working at the front office, Nicole won’t see too much of that,” Chandler replied. “Besides, I believe you’re going to find she has a stronger constitution than you think.”

  She was going to need a whole lot
more than a strong constitution to work around here, Trey thought, as he followed his boss to an exit at the back of the building. He seriously doubted the strawberry blonde had the fortitude to stick around this little cowboy town any more than a month, or six weeks tops. But he was going to keep that opinion to himself. Like he’d told Chandler, Nicole Nelson was none of his business.

  * * *

  The sun was incredibly warm for the third week of February, and Nicole had planned to soak up a bit of the sunshine on her lunch break, but just as she was about to carry a sandwich outside, her cell rang.

  When she spotted her mother’s name on the ID, she released a heavy sigh. Her parents were having a hard time accepting their daughter’s decision to move to Arizona, and for the past week and a half, her mother had called at least three times a day.

  “Hello, honey. How are you?”

  The tone of her mother’s voice made it sound as though Nicole had been critically ill instead of moving to Arizona and starting a new job. Biting back a groan, she said, “I’m at work, Mom. I’m on my lunch break.”

  “I’m aware of the time,” Angela Nelson replied. “I purposely waited for your break before I called. Aren’t you proud of me for not interrupting?”

  Putting her plan to go outside on temporary hold, Nicole sank into one of the gray metal chairs grouped around a long utility table inside the break room. “I need to use these few minutes to eat, Mom. Before I have to go back to my desk.”

  A short pause came back to her and then a sniff. “Well, pardon me for wanting to make sure my daughter is okay—way out there in the godforsaken desert—miles away from home.”

  “Is that violin music I hear in the background?” Nicole asked dryly. “If it is, it’s not working. I’m well and happy.” At least, she would be, she thought, if her parents would allow her to move forward instead of trying to pull her back to a time and place that she wanted to forget.

  “All right, Nicci, you’ve made your point. So, there’s no use in me trying to be subtle.”

  Nicole rolled her eyes at the idea of her mother being subtle. It wasn’t possible.

  “Your father and I want you to come home,” Angela continued. “Where you belong. As of yesterday, he’s been promoted—again. And his salary is going through the roof. He wants to help you financially—buy a new home, car, whatever you want.”

  “That’s nice, Mom. Really, it is. But I still have plenty in the trust fund you and Dad set up for me years ago. I don’t want or need financial help.” Especially from her parents at this stage, she thought ruefully. Two years ago, Mike Nelson had divorced Angela for another woman and left Fort Worth entirely. His adultery had wrecked the whole family. Angela had suffered a mental breakdown, and Nicole had been left to help her mother pick up the shattered pieces of her life. Then a few months ago, Mike had returned, begging Angela for another chance. Ultimately, her mother had forgiven him, and her parents remarried. But Nicole was far from forgetting or forgiving the upheaval the ordeal had caused in her own life. “I’m doing fine on my own. And we’ve hashed this out a thousand times already. I have no desire to move back to Fort Worth.”

  “Well, there’s always Dallas.”

  If Nicole hadn’t been so frustrated, she would’ve laughed. “Is there any difference? Other than about thirty miles?”

  Her mother released a short, mocking laugh. “We could have a long debate about the differences of the two cities. But your parents would be perfectly happy for you to live in Dallas. At least, you’d be near us. Not way out there—among strangers.”

  “I’m already making plenty of new friends. And I’m liking it here.” She added, “Very much.”

  “You would say that. Even if you are miserable, you’d be too stubborn to admit it. But anyway, Leah Towbridge—you know, she’s good friends with Randy’s mother—told me that Randy hasn’t gotten over you. That he’ll be coming back to Texas soon and wants to connect with you again. That should be enough to get you back here.”

  Furious that her mother would stoop to using that kind of emotional extortion, Nicole muttered, “I’m sorry, Mom. I have to get off now.”

  She punched the face of the phone to end the call, then turned off the sound so she couldn’t hear the ringer in case Angela did call back.

  Nicole’s hands shook as she dropped the phone into a pocket on her skirt and reached for her sandwich. Damn it, she’d moved hundreds of miles to get away from her mother’s smothering attention, her father’s betrayal and the regretful choices she’d made regarding her ex-boyfriend. She couldn’t allow those things to creep in and shadow the new life she wanted to create here in Arizona.

  She started to remove the plastic wrap from the sandwich, but tears suddenly blurred her vision, making it impossible to do anything but bend her head and try to sniff them away.

  “Miss Nelson, are you okay?”

  The unexpected sound of Trey Lasseter’s voice caused Nicole to outwardly flinch and hurriedly wipe at her eyes. “Oh! I didn’t know you were there.”

  “Sorry, again,” he said. “This must be my day for interruptions.”

  Nicole swallowed and straightened her shoulders. “Please, you shouldn’t apologize. This break room is for everyone. And I—I’m fine—really.”

  She glanced up to see the man was looking at her with those dark green eyes that she remembered from their earlier meeting. At the moment they were regarding her with gentle concern, which surprised Nicole greatly. He looked like a man who wrestled a steer by the horns just for the fun of it, hardly the type to notice a woman’s tears.

  “Well, if anybody gives you a bad time up at the front desk, you just let me know. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Oh, it’s nothing like that. So far everyone has been very nice and understanding.”

  He smiled at her as he crossed the room and pulled a small bottle of water from the refrigerator. “That’s good to hear. But sometimes folks can get irate and start making threats. Especially if they think they’ve waited too long, or don’t get the appointment they want.”

  She watched him twist the cap off the bottle and down half the contents before he lowered it away from his mouth. A very nice mouth, too, Nicole thought, as her gaze slid over the set of chiseled lips. The bottom was just plump enough to make for a nice kiss, while the top was a thin, masculine shape that matched his hooded brows.

  Clearing her throat, she said, “I’ve worked in a public job for several years. I’m used to people being rude and impatient.”

  He gave her a little half smile, which created a pair of charming dimples in both cheeks. The sight had her drawing in a long breath and letting it out. What in the heck was wrong with her? Why was she looking at this man like she was sexually starved, or worse? Was the high altitude of the desert affecting her brain?

  “That’s good,” he said. “I mean—at least it won’t be a shock when a rude one does walk through the door.”

  He was still wearing the same splotched denim shirt he’d been wearing earlier this morning when he’d walked into Chandler’s office. The manure appeared to have dried and the process had apparently taken away most of the odor. Now he smelled more like alfalfa hay, dust and sunshine. The triple combination was totally masculine and not at all unpleasant, Nicole decided.

  She began to unwrap her sandwich, more to give her hands something to do, not because she was hungry. Her appetite had vanished the moment she’d answered her mother’s call. “Have you already eaten your lunch?” she asked.

  “No. I usually just eat twice a day. Once before work begins and then when we quit—whenever that might be.” He gestured to the bottle in his hand. “Would you like a water? Or soda? Doc keeps the fridge stuffed for the staff. Guess you’ve already noticed that, though.”

  “Yes, I noticed. Chandler is not only nice, but he’s thoughtful, too.” She put down her sandwich and rose from
the chair. “I think I’d rather have coffee right now. Would you like to have a cup with me? Or do you have time?”

  Nicole didn’t know exactly why she was inviting Trey Lasseter to join her. Except that he was a coworker and she wanted to have a friendly relationship with everyone on the staff at Hollister Animal Clinic. Besides, he was nice to look at and easy to talk to. And anything to divert her thoughts away from Fort Worth was welcome.

  He shoved back the cuff of his Western shirt to peer at a square silver watch on a brown leather band. “Sure. That would be nice,” he told her. “You just sit back down. I’ll get the coffee. I bet you like cream and sugar.”

  Nicole hardly expected him to serve her, but since he seemed to want to deal with the chore, she wasn’t going to argue. “I do. How did you guess?”

  “Oh, most girls seem to like things softer.” He poured two foam cups full of coffee and added sugar and cream to one of them. As he carried the drinks over to the table, he said, “I have to be back at the barns in ten minutes. Jewell Martin is bringing a load of goats to be vaccinated. She’s getting a little long in the tooth to be doing the job herself. I told her I could drive out to her place in a couple of days and take care of the goats there, but she didn’t want to wait. Those goats are her babies.”

  He handed her the coffee before taking a seat in a chair kitty-corner to Nicole’s.

  “Long in the tooth?” she asked with a confused frown. “You mean she’s an older lady?”

  He laughed, but then seeing the blank look on her face, he immediately apologized. “Sorry, Nicole. I wasn’t laughing at you. Jewell is an older lady, but she does have a mouth problem, too. It’s the same problem I have with mine. It’s always running off when it shouldn’t be.”

  He gave her a full-blown grin, and the expression caused those adorable dimples near his mouth to deepen even more. Nicole found herself staring at him and forgetting all about her sandwich.

  “Oh, I see. Because Jewell is older she needs a little extra help from you?”

  He nodded. “And sometimes goats can get rowdy as hell—uh, I mean heck. Especially when you’re jabbing them with a needle or squirting meds into their mouth.”