“Hey, Sutton, I went to the lab you sent the cattle to for necropsy.”
“You’re still in town?”
“Yes,” he snaps. “What in the hell happened to the one from the Callahan Ranch?”
“It was attacked by a cougar. He wasn’t showing any symptoms of the disease before death, so I wanted to see if there were invisible signs. Maybe I can get a better idea. Everything I think that it could be is ruled out because it’s not showing the normal signs.”
“Sutton,” he sighs. “I understand why you did it. There’s a process for these things, though. You can’t just send them to a lab without filling out the proper paperwork or without looking for the ones in our network.”
“It’s not insurance,” I reply drily. “The lab was built to get to the bottom of these illnesses and diseases so that we can save cattle. Your dad started the lab as a way to save all animals and further animal medicine. You can’t keep putting a dollar sign on this stuff.”
“I can because I’m trying to run a business.”
“And you know damn well that I don’t spend frivolously or cause unnecessary expenses. If the lab tells me that those animals had internal symptoms, then I can treat the whole herd with confidence that they all already probably have it.”
I can hear him half-sigh, half-groan on the other end. He knows I’m right. He just wants to complain about everything I do since I continue to turn him down.
“You need to be clearing these things with me. I understand that you think I’m out to get you, but I’m running a business, and I have to be the bad guy and say no in certain situations. Had you gone through the proper channels, I would have told you that this particular lab has a longer turnaround time than any others in the area. They also have numerous complaints about wrong diagnoses.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose as I let out a sigh. Is he just making this stuff up? I asked Doc Lucy to help find it. I assumed she’d have used it before.
“Also, because the Department of Ag is involved, we are limited because it’s now a government case. The payments to the lab are different, and these guys don’t work with government contracts. I had to barter with them to get them to release the cattle and to get them sent to a different, better lab. We’ve lost valuable time.”
I let out another sigh. “Are you making this up?”
“Jesus, Sutton. No. I get that you don’t respect me as your boss, but if you want to continue working at the lab, you’re going to have to get on board. These are protocols that my father put in place for a reason. You can’t go rogue with these things, especially not when we’re dealing with something so time sensitive. If I hadn’t intervened, this could have ended really badly. I am not the bad guy. I also know that I’ve let my ego and my feelings bleed over into our work and I’ll work on stopping that.”
I suck in a breath. I pull the phone away from my ear to make sure that I’m talking to Ronnie. Apologies have never been his thing, and neither has admitting when he was wrong. I put the phone back to my ear.
“You’re right. I will follow the protocols from now on. Thank you for fixing it.”
“You’re a damn good vet, Sutton. I trust you.”
“I need to get out on the ranch to see what I’m dealing with today. If the lab calls you with results before me, please let me know.”
“Will do. I’m flying back home tonight. Will you be going with me?”
“What kind of question is that? You know I haven’t solved the problem here. I’m not going home.”
“Doesn’t hurt to try.”
He goes from tolerable to intolerable really fast. I roll my eyes and shake my head.
“Bye, Ronnie,” I groan into the phone before hanging up.
Well, at least I won’t have to deal with him for a bit. He admitted when he was wrong, and maybe I need to admit that I was wrong, too. He was right, I don’t respect him, so I skirt the protocols to avoid him because I don’t believe he says no for the right reasons. Maybe I should see that it’s not all about me.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Wade
The ranch is quiet except for the occasional lowing of cattle in the distance, and the rhythmic creak of the porch swing as Sutton and I sit side by side, poring over yet another book about cattle diseases.
“Researching outside is way better than being inside,” she teases offhandedly. “I’m also grateful that Caleb thought to bring these books home from the library. Everything we need is on the internet, but I’ve found so many more answers in a book that I couldn’t find with Google.”
“I would agree,” I chuckle. “Clearly we’re people who love the outdoors more than the indoors.”
“I like the indoors when you’re…never mind,” she says playfully as she looks up at me with a small smile tugging at her lips.
