“Yeah, Blake’s a good girl,” Suzanne chimed in. “She just is going through a rough spot lately. With Martha gone, I don’t think she knows what to do with herself.”
“Who’s Martha?” Jane asked, looking back and forth at the women for an answer.
“She was Blake’s best friend,” Suzanne told her. “Everyone knew that Blake and Martha were close. They were always together. Then, one day, Martha just up and left.”
“Yeah,” Darla sighed. “It was pretty sad. They were so happy together. I was sure that they were a couple, but who’s to know now?”
“Why did she leave?” Jane questioned.
“No one knows,” Suzanne said. “I think that it was unplanned. All I know is when she did, Blake was pretty torn up. Good thing Walter was there. If he hadn’t been, she probably would have gone off the deep end.”
“Hm,” Jane said, thinking about what she had just heard. She had known that Blake was grumpy, but she didn’t even think about why that could be. Knowing what she knew now, she could understand why a woman would be so adamant about being on her own. Blake was probably afraid that someone was going to leave her again, so instead of letting anyone in, she just kept to herself.
“I feel so bad for her,” Darla said. “I wish I knew why Martha left.”
“She didn’t tell you anything about it?” Suzanne asked, looking Jane in the eye.
“Not a word,” Jane sighed.
“She was always one to keep the important things to herself,” Suzanne replied. “I can’t imagine something like that happening and her not talking though. If you had seen her while she was with Martha, you would understand. Blake’s still a nice girl, but she has definitely changed a bit since Martha disappeared.”
“Well, now that you are here, at least she don’t have to be alone,” Darla said.
“I suppose,” Jane said. “I’m not exactly sure if I’m her cup of tea. I am her doctor, and she isn’t too keen on that.”
“Yeah, Blake’s not one to take advice,” Suzanne responded. “She’s used to doing what she wants when she wants.”
“When Martha was around, she would listen,” Darla said.
“Well, Martha’s gone now,” Suzanne said. “And the only person that might know if she’s coming back is her daddy.”
“Does he live in town?” Jane asked.
“Yeah,” Darla laughed. “He’s the mayor.”
“Wow,” Jane exclaimed. “I didn’t see that coming.” Jane started to say something else when the front doors of the office opened and a rugged-looking woman in a cut-off flannel shirt and cowboy hat walked towards the reception desk.
“Do you have time to see new patients today?” the woman asked in a deep throaty voice.
“We do,” Darla piped up, waving her over. “Come over here, and I’ll take down your information.”
Jane watched as the woman went through her address and insurance information, noticing how good she looked in the tight blue jeans that were squeezing her body in all of the right ways. The woman was tanned and muscular from what looked like manual labor. She wasn’t used to seeing this in the city. Most people just went to the gym or tanned at the salon, but there was something about seeing a woman that was so naturally built that made her breath catch in her chest. Jane scanned the woman up and down, taking in the big picture, and as she did, the other woman turned around, looking back at her with a big grin on her face. “Dr. Steibold,” she asked with a wink. “Hi, I’m Jack Donovan. I’m ready now. Can you help me?”
“Sure can,” Jane replied, trying to keep her composure as she led the other woman back to what she assumed were the patient rooms. “Get it together, Jane,” she told herself, finding the nearest room and closing the door. If women around Melville looked like this, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with herself.
Chapter Eight
Blake opened her eyes, realizing that she had fallen asleep. She hadn’t meant to, but her recovery from her accident was definitely taking the best of her. Blake tried to push herself into a sitting position on the couch, but her back began to protest as she did. Blake closed her eyes, trying to deal with the pain, because she didn’t want to be confined to one area for the rest of the day. Through the pain, she finally got herself into a sitting position and looked around to check the clock. It was late in the afternoon, and Blake had wasted most of her day. She shook her head and forced herself on her feet.
She had planned to check her horse, Smokey after breakfast and visit Walter at the store, but now that most of her day was gone, she needed to get on the move if she was going to get anything done. Blake used her crutches to push herself towards the back door. She could hear Smokey making noise as soon as she got herself into the backyard. “I’m coming, boy,” Blake sighed, knowing that he was probably hungry. Walter had taken care of him while she was in the hospital, but she hadn’t thought to ask her friend to come by now that she was home. Smokey was her animal and her responsibility, and the poor guy was probably starving since she missed his breakfast.
Blake pushed herself past the vegetable garden and on towards the small barn. She could smell grass being cut somewhere in the distance and looked over her couple of acres, noticing that her yard was past due for trimming. There was so much to do, and at the moment, it was getting more difficult for her to keep up. She knew that she should ask for help, but it was a blow to the ego to have to ask someone else to do the chores that she should be able to manage, and it made her feel useless.
Blake got to the barn and traveled along the dark cement floor to Smokey’s stall. Just as she neared, the beautiful animal turned to look at her with angry eyes. “I know, boy,” Blake apologized. “I know I’m late.” She opened the stall and fumbled through a hay bail that she had left right outside the stall to fill his floor feeder. Once she had managed to fill the feeder, she looked around to ensure that he had water. The automatic water bowl was full to the brim, and Blake pushed herself against the wall of the wooden stall, looking at her animal friend. Smokey dove into the hay, looking intermittedly at Blake to see what she was doing. Blake noticed that the horse’s demeanor had calmed now that there was food to be eaten and began talking to him about her day. She knew that Smokey didn’t understand what she was saying, but she could tell that listening to her soothed her lonely animal. Blake gave Smokey a quick brush down and bid him fair well. She was going to have to suck in her pride and let Walter ride him to the pasture. It wasn’t Smokey’s fault that she was injured.
Blake locked the stable door and hobbled out of the barn back towards the backyard. Using her crutches had seemed to get easier as the day went on, and she had begun to gain her confidence back. She looked around her land, noticing a patch of flowers that was growing by their lonesome and decided that she might put up a couple of decorations to put around them and maintain their presence. Just as she neared her garden, she felt a tough pull on one of her crutches. Blake looked down and noticed that the leg had sunk down into a sticky pile of dirt. Blake pulled hard on the leg, attempting to get the piece loose and felt herself spiraling through the air and towards the ground. Blake braced herself for the landing, knowing that it was going to hurt and put out her arm, trying to cushion her fall. It didn’t work. Pain jutted through her as she hit the ground, and Blake rolled around waiting for the pain to stop shooting through her body.
The pain finally manageable, Blake looked around and noticed that her crutches had fell several feet away from her. She tried to push herself up, but as she did, she noticed a sharp pain radiate from her wrist. “Damn it,” Blake yelled, irritated that everything had to be so difficult. She laid back down and looked up towards the sky. She couldn’t let her injuries take her down. She needed her independence back.
Chapter Nine
Jane walked out of the office, waving to Darla and Suzanne as she exited the building. It had been a good first day, and she knew what it was like to be the person in charge for the first time in her life. Jane felt goo
d about her accomplishments, and after the day that she had, she felt like she belonged in the small, unfamiliar town. She had met several of the locals, and she felt like she had actually made a difference in their lives and in the community. It seemed that life in Melville might have been the change that she needed.
Jane walked down the sidewalk, feeling the light breeze blow around her hair and reflecting on her meeting with Jack Donovan. The woman had been her first patient of the day, but she was the last thing on her mind. Jane had wondered what the social life would be in such a small town, and she hadn’t expected a woman with such a charisma to live around Melville. Jack was sweet and charming and made Jane smile. The other woman had come in to get a cut on her hand stitched up after cutting her hand on the blade of an axe. She was working on a farm in a nearby town, and Melville had the closest physician’s clinic. Jane was happy to help the other woman, listening to her stories about the farm that she worked on and smiling at her subtle sense of humor. At the end of the appointment, Jane was sad to see Jack leave, but when the other woman turned around and handed her a small piece of paper with her number, Jane lost her bearing. She was completely without words and found herself waving Jack goodbye even after she had left the clinic. Jane closed her eyes, remembering that moment. She was so embarrassed.
Jane certainly wasn’t used to losing her cool, especially in front of studs like Jack Donovan. She was a stickler for maintaining control over herself, and she didn’t like to think of herself acting like a helpless puppy dog in front of another female no matter how attractive she was. Jane felt the small paper in her pocket, where Jack had written her number. She wasn’t sure if she was going to follow through with calling her. Even though Jack was charming, Jane had just gotten to this new town, and she knew by talking to the gals that she worked with that people were close, and there was no privacy. Her primary focus at the moment was her career, and she didn’t want to begin a relationship with someone when she had so much going for her in the work place.
Jane looked up, noticing the familiar trees and realized that she was almost to Blake’s house. She could see the blue house sitting nicely on the acres of land in the distance and wondered how the other woman had occupied her attention since she had gone to work. Jane’s head filled with a multitude of thoughts involving all of the activities Blake probably attempted in her absence. The other woman was stubborn, and she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with her.
Jane walked up the sidewalk and unlocked the front door of the house. The walk home had been brief and peaceful, and she was ready to fulfill her responsibilities with Blake and the house. “Blake,” Jane called as she entered the house, but there was no answer. Jane wandered through the rooms of the house, looking for Blake or any sign that she was there when she caught sight of the back door. It was unlocked and slightly ajar. Jane approached the door carefully, grabbing a knife from the kitchen as she walked by. She wasn’t sure if Blake had gone out back or if someone had broken into the house, but she wanted to make sure that she was prepared. Jane slowly walked through the creaky door, stepping onto the back porch and looked around. She saw no signs of an intruder, but she did she a familiar shape laying by the flower bed. “Blake?” Jane called, running towards the other woman. “What happened?”
“I fell,” Blake muttered angrily. “I was working on getting up. No need to get all worked up.”
“What were you doing out here in the first place?” Jane asked. “You’re not exactly in the right shape to be wandering around.”
“I’m not going to be stuck in the house all day,” Blake retorted. “Besides, I needed to feed Smokey.”
Jane looked over to the barn in the distance and listening, she could hear a loud winey. “You have a horse?” she asked, wondering how she didn’t realize that sooner.
“Yes,” Blake said. “And he was hungry.”
Jane started to say something else, but she decided against it. She knew that Blake wanted to feel useful, and from what she had learned about the other woman in the last day or so was that she used to have a very active lifestyle, so sitting still wasn’t in her nature. Jane bent down and put her shoulder under Blake’s arm, grabbing her crutches as she did. “Here,” she said. “Let’s try to get you on your feet.” Blake cooperated, leaning on Jane to position herself, and the two of them worked together until Blake was standing.
“Thanks,” Blake said, grabbing her crutches and hobbling away.
“I’m not done,” Jane said, catching up to the other woman. “It looks like you got scraped up pretty badly. We need to get into the house, and get you cleaned up.”
“I’m fine,” Blake replied, continuing towards the house.
“No, you are not,” Jane said, standing in front of her. “Let me help you out. I know that you have been through a lot, but this is my job.”
Blake looked at Jane in the eyes with a questioning look. “What do you mean I have been through a lot?”
“I heard about Martha,” Jane confessed. “And that along with the bull riding accident must have put you in a difficult place. I know that I am not her, but I am trying to be your friend. Let me help you out. If you ever want to get back to your normal life, we need to keep you in good health. You can’t wander around getting hurt.”
“You don’t know anything about Martha,” Blake retorted, anger in her expression. “You have no idea what I went through.”
“I don’t know all of your feelings surrounding that situation,” Jane said. “But I do know that you are hurt, and I want to help. Let me help you.” Jane looked at the other woman in the eyes, noticing the anguish that she held behind her guarded countenance. She walked around to Blake’s side, putting her hand on the middle of her back and walked with the other woman in silence towards the house. Jane wasn’t sure what else to say, but from Blake’s actions, she realized that the other woman was going to allow her to help her.
The two walked up the porch, and Jane opened the door to let Blake walk in first. She noticed the other woman grimace as she walked by and looked at the other woman, trying to find the source of the pain. Jane saw Blake using her right hand to hold the crutch and then, let go of the crutch repeatedly to clench her hand together. “Did you hurt your wrist?” Jane asked.
“Yeah,” Blake replied. “I must have done it in the fall.”
“Probably trying to catch yourself,” Jane noted as they walked into the house and to the kitchen. Jane looked around for a chair so that Blake could sit down and found one nearby in the dining room. She brought the chair into the kitchen and assisted the other woman, putting her crutches against the cabinet. “Where’s your medicine cabinet?” Jane asked, looking at the other woman. She was pretty scuffed up and was covered in mud.
“I have Tylenol in the bathroom,” Blake replied.
“Don’t you have Band-Aids or antibacterial gel?” Jane inquired, looking at a smirking Blake.
“No,” Blake replied. “I told you that I would be fine.
“No,” Jane told her. “I’m going to get you cleaned up. If you ever want to heal, we can’t just leave new injuries untouched. Wait here. I have some supplies in my medical bag upstairs.”
“Well, I was planning on running off, but I guess I will sit here and wait if you insist,” Blake replied, rolling her eyes.
“Do you need to get smart with me?” Jane asked, not waiting for the answer, but she could hear Blake’s retort as she walked up the stairs. Jane just shook her head and headed to her room to get her medical bag. She worked quickly, heading down the stairs as soon as she obtained the small bag and into the kitchen, where she already saw Blake reaching for her crutches.
“Where do you think that you are going?” Jane asked the other woman, clearly taking her by surprise.
“Who’s to say that I haven’t already gone somewhere and came back?” Blake replied with an arched eye brow.
“Alright, cowgirl,” Jane said, shaking her head and setting her medical bag on the counter. She w
ent over to the sink and found a clean wash cloth in a drawer nearby, wetting it with warm water. “Here,” Jane said, patting the dirt off Blake’s face with the warm rag. She noticed the other woman’s eyes tear up as she did so. “Are you okay?” she asked, putting her hand on Blake’s arm.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Blake said, turning in the chair and wiping her eyes with a stray hand. “I’m just not used to being cared for.”
“No one has ever helped you when you were hurt? What about Martha?” Jane asked, realizing that the question had left her mouth before she could stop it. Jane knew that the other woman was fragile at the moment and didn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable than she already was.
“No,” Blake said simply. “I am used to taking care of myself. Why are you being so kind to me?”
“It’s what I do,” Jane said. “And as much as you think that you are alone in this healing process, I really do want to be there to help you.”
“Why?” Blake asked, staring at Jane with a hard look.
“I don’t know,” Jane replied honestly. “There’s just something about you that makes me feel like you need me around.” Jane watched as the other woman digested this information and continued to wash off the dirt from her body.
“Can we just get the bandages on and maybe, something for my wrist?” Blake finally said. By this time, she had wiped away the tears and replaced her vulnerability with her normal countenance.
“Yes, I’m working on it,” Jane chuckled, glad to see the other woman feeling better. “What’s the rush?”
“I’m going out tonight with Walter,” Blake replied. “And I need to call him to find out when he’s coming around to pick me up.”
“Do you think that you’re ready for that?” Jane asked, looking at Blake closely. “You just got out of the hospital, and today, you got injured trying to go to the barn.”
“I didn’t try to go to the barn,” Blake retorted. “I made it. It was that stupid vegetable garden that tripped me up. I just need to pay more attention. Besides, who are you to tell me where I can and can’t go?”
The Heart of the Rodeo Page 3
