It was going to take a decent chunk out of the very meagre savings account that I’d managed to build over the years, but it would be worth it. Eventually.
Oatmeal’s gentle snuffing drags my attention back to the moment. She was likely due soon if her pacing was any indication.
“I got you, girl.” I rub my hand down her nose until she stills. “I’ll make sure you’re okay.”
“I think that’s my job, isn’t it?”
I spin around at the sound of a perky and very female voice.
For half a second, my brain short-circuits because the person standing in the open barn door, silhouetted by the rising sun, sure as hell isn’t Doc McKinney.
She’s younger.Wayyounger and prettier than any veterinarian has any right to be. Let alone one working on a ranch in the middle of nowhere.
Long, honey blonde hair pulled into a low ponytail that sways when she moves. She’s wearing Jeans that fit sinfully tight, and a soft flannel shirt rolled up at the sleeves with a puffy vest over top. And a smile.
My chest tightens before I can stop it, like I’ve forgotten how to breathe. It’s been a long time since something, or someone, has caught me off guard.
I don’t like it.
“Can I help you?” My voice is rougher than I intended, but at the same time, I’m not trying to make friends. Especially with random young women who step foot on my ranch.
Even if they do have tits like?—
“Actually, I think I can help you.”
Completely unfazed by my grouchiness, the young woman steps into the barn and walks toward me.
“I doubt it.” I shake my head and cross my arms, but she keeps coming. “Who are you?”
“Anna Milligan. I’m your vet,” she says, her smile only getting brighter. She stops directly in front of me. “I’m here to check on your horses.” She turns then and rubs Oatmeal’s nose.
“No,” I tell her. “My vet is Doc McKinney.”
“Not this time.” She turns to look at me, the bright smile still in place on her pretty face. “I’m his niece. He sent me out. Something about how he vowed never to set foot on Rock Creek Ranch?—”
“Okay.” I hold up my hand. I do not need to hear how my father had burned yet another bridge in this town. But I guess that would explain the lack of veterinary care this place had seen. “I thought maybe he’d retired.”
She laughs. “Not yet. But that’s the plan. I came out about a month ago to learn the ropes and buy the practice from my uncle.”
“Your uncle?”
She nods, brushing a piece of hay from her sleeve. “If you ask me, it’s long past time he stepped down, but I think he wants to make sure I’m serious about things before he backs away completely.”
I grunt. “You’d have to be crazy to move out here and take on his workload.”
“Guess that makes me the fool,” she says lightly, moving closer to Oatmeal’s stall. “But I like a challenge.” She waves an arm around her. “And it looks like I’m going to get exactly that with this place.”
Even though none of the neglect is my fault, I feel my irritation grow. After all, for better or worse, at least for now, Rock Creek Ranch is mine.
ANNA
By the time I finish checking the last horse, hair is falling in my face, my vest is covered in dust and grime, and my stomach is rumbling.
But I can’t stop smiling.
This is exactly why I worked so hard at veterinary school and convinced my uncle to sell me his practice. Well,almostconvinced him to sell me his practice.
As long as I could remember, I’ve loved being around horses, especially when I could help them.
