“Ouch. That sounds awful,” she remarked. “But I guess it’s necessary to keep them healthy.”
“Aw, it’s not that bad. About like giving a person a flu shot.” He sipped his coffee, then leveled a curious gaze at her. “How are you and Arizona getting along?”
After taking a cautious sip of coffee, she answered, “Good. It’s beautiful here, and the weather is especially lovely.”
“This time of the year is spring for us. You’ve come at the right time to get acclimatized. A few more weeks and it’ll be as hot as he—heck. But you’ll get used to it—after a while.”
After a while. Yes, she would get used to her new home. If her parents would respect her independence and understand that she needed a change in her life, Nicole thought ruefully.
“Fort Worth can be sizzling in the summer, plus the humidity. I don’t think I’ll have any problem adapting to this drier climate. Actually, I’m still working to get everything unpacked,” she admitted. “I didn’t realize I brought so many things from Texas with me until I took a look at all the boxes stacked around the house.”
“The first four years after I graduated high school, I lived in the bunkhouse on the Johnson Ranch. Bunking with a bunch of cowboys doesn’t give a guy much room to collect very many things. When I moved closer to Wickenburg, I didn’t have much to box up. But that’s been years ago, and I’ve lived in the same house ever since. I’d hate to think of packing all the junk I’ve collected.” He grinned at her. “I’m too sentimental to get rid of things. I still have the first pair of spurs I ever bought. They’re cheap ones and falling to pieces now, but I wouldn’t part with them. I’ll bet you have things like that, too.”
She laughed softly, and it dawned on her that Trey had already managed to lift her spirits. Which was surprising. Especially since she’d met him not more than two hours ago. But he seemed warm and friendly. And God only knew how much she needed a kind, encouraging word.
“I do,” she told him. “I still have the first doll Santa brought me for Christmas. She’s practically bald now, but I couldn’t part with her.” She eyed him curiously as she sipped her coffee. “You worked on a ranch before you hired on for Chandler?”
He nodded. “The Johnson. I went to work there as soon as I graduated high school. See, my dad is a cowboy, but he moved to Montana when I was just a kid. I didn’t want to live up there, so I stayed here with my mom—until she left for New Mexico. That’s why I ended up bunking on the Johnson. And that’s how I ended up being a veterinary assistant at first and then later I went to college and earned a tech certificate. Mr. Johnson, the owner, said I had a knack for healing animals.”
When Nicole had first started dating Randy Dryer, she was drawn to him because he’d had a serious, no-nonsense personality. She’d been looking for a man who didn’t view life as a joke, who was disciplined about what he wanted for himself and his future. Roslyn had called him a stuffed shirt, and if Nicole was being honest, she could admit he’d probably been a bit dry at times, even boring. But he’d been safe and trustworthy. If anything, Trey Lasseter appeared to be the exact opposite. A happy, laid-back kind of guy, who smiled his way through whatever life threw at him. And wonder of wonders, he made her want to smile, too.
She said, “That’s good—that he helped you find your calling. I get the impression you like your work.”
His grin deepened. “I’d be lost without it. What about you? Are you an animal person?” he asked, then chuckled. “I guess that was kind of a stupid question—with you working in an animal hospital, I mean.”
His question was pertinent and certainly nothing to blush about, but Nicole felt a sting of color creep over her cheeks. “Your question wasn’t stupid. But I feel sort of stupid answering it. You see, I haven’t been around animals all that much. My brother—he’s older than me—had a dog when we were little kids, and a few of my friends back in Fort Worth had small pets. But I don’t know anything about cows and horses and goats or any kind of livestock.”
He reached over and gave her forearm a reassuring pat. “Don’t worry a bit, Miss Nelson. After you’re here awhile, you’ll learn more about animals than you probably want to know.”
Rising from the chair, he tossed his cup into a trash basket. As Nicole watched him walk to the open doorway of the break room, she realized she was disappointed to see him go.
“There’s no need for you to call me Miss Nelson,” she told him. “Nicci will do just fine.”
Pausing with a hand on the door facing, he glanced back at her. “Okay, Nicci. And you be sure and call me Trey. That’s the only name I know how to answer to. Unless Doc gets mad and calls me something worse,” he added in a teasing voice.
“Okay, Trey. Thank you for the company.”
Her remark appeared to catch him off guard for a moment, and then he winked and pointed to the sandwich lying on the table. “Better eat your lunch. We have a long day ahead of us.”
He disappeared out the door, and Nicole thoughtfully picked up the sandwich and began to eat.
We. Strange how Trey’s one word made her feel as though she belonged, as though she was a part of something meaningful.
The idea made her smile, and for the remainder of the day, she didn’t allow herself to think about her parents, or Randy Dryer or any other miserable thing she’d left behind her. Instead, her thoughts kept returning to the twinkle in Trey’s green eyes and the way those mischievous dimples carved his cheeks.
He was a happy guy. And Nicole needed some happiness in her life in the worst kind of way.
Copyright © 2021 by Stella Bagwell
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ISBN-13: 9781488075384
An Unexpected Father
Copyright © 2021 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Marie Ferrarella for her contribution to the The Fortunes of Texas: The Hotel Fortune miniseries.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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