Ms. Langley snorts. “I’m sure she does. But this isn’t some backyard experiment. We’re talking about the health of an entire industry.”
“With all due respect,” Jared says, his voice firm, “Doc Sutton knows what she’s doing. She’s got more experience—”
“Experience doesn’t equal expertise,” Mr. Carter says, his tone dripping with condescension. “We’ve reviewed her records. Her methods are… unconventional, to say the least.”
“Unconventional doesn’t mean ineffective,” Tommy pipes up, crossing his arms. “You’ve got no right to come here and talk down about her like that.”
The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife. I step forward, my voice low but firm. “Look, we’re not killing these cattle unless there’s absolutely no other option. Doc’s been making progress, and we’re going to give her the time she needs to see this through.”
“This doesn’t just affect you, Callahan. The entire town is having the same issues, and once I find where the problem started, we’ll probably learn that by not killing the infected animals, it caused it to spread to the entire town; we could be talking the entire county and state within a month,” Dr. Reed says.
Didn’t they just say that they had proof that I was responsible? I inhale slowly, taking in their words. If I keep them talking enough, I can probably get them to trip up some more.
“The ranch that’s responsible for this mess will be facing so many fines that they won’t be able to recover financially,” Ms. Langley says.
“We’d like to take a look at your quarantine area,” Dr. Reed interjects.
“These two aren’t dressed to go five feet from this driveway. Do y’all have a change of clothes?” I ask.
“No, we don’t need—” Ms. Langley starts.
“One, you’re not going anywhere near the quarantine pen without respecting Doc Sutton’s protocols of hazmat gear. Your shoes…” I point at Ms. Langley. “Will put holes in the gear andwould make the suit ineffective. You’ll have to stay here unless you have a change of shoes at least.”
“I’m not—” she starts.
“I’m running a ranch here; this is my livelihood, and I won’t allow anyone to come near my animals without following the proper guidelines that we have in place.”
“You can’t—” Mr. Carter starts as he takes a step forward.
Dr. Reed puts his hand up in the air and takes a step in front of Mr. Carter. “We’ll give it a few more days,” he says finally. “But if there’s no significant improvement, we’ll have to revisit this conversation.”
“Fair enough,” I reply.
Ms. Langley mutters something under her breath, but I don’t catch it. Probably just as well. As they turn to leave, Benny claps me on the shoulder.
“You handled that better than I would have,” he says, his voice low.
“Barely,” I mutter, my eyes drifting toward the guest house. Sutton’s still nowhere to be seen, and her silence is starting to weigh on me. I pull out my phone again, staring at the unanswered text before shoving it back into my pocket.
Something isn’t right with those three and this visit. If they go next door to Frank’s, will he be able to get them to leave like I did? Some of these new ranchers won’t think to call Sutton or Doc Lucy either. They’re up to something, and I need to figure out what it is, but first I need to check on Sutton.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sutton
The wine glass is cool against my palm as I swirl the crimson liquid, staring at the spreadsheet on my laptop screen. The numbers don’t lie, no matter how much I wish they would. Two weeks. That’s all the time I have to come up with the rest of the money. My mind races through possibilities, but none of them feel like enough—or fast enough. Selling my house might work, but there’s no way I could close a sale in time. My throat tightens as the weight of it all presses down on me.
I have a 401K, but even that’s not nearly enough, with only having been in the workforce for four years.
My phone buzzes on the table, and I glance at the screen.
I had ignored Wade’s text earlier, only because I’m too embarrassed to tell him just how bad things are financially for Dad. I need to focus on finding a solution and then I’ll talk to him about it. If I know him, he’ll swoop in and try to fix it when his ranch could also be in money trouble. I didn’t open it or evenlook at it. I’m sure it was just him checking in to see how the meeting went.
I breathe a sigh of relief to see that it’s Kelsey. I grab it and swipe to answer, grateful for the distraction.
“Hey,” I say, trying to keep the exhaustion out of my voice.
“Hey, yourself,” Kelsey replies, her tone light but laced with concern.
