I followed his finger and saw a familiar brunette sitting at the bar. It took me a moment to realize it was the same woman I’d met in the Roundup a couple months ago. We had a good time together but never bothered to exchange phone numbers.
She was nothing like Julia. I tilted my head toward the woman. “Yeah, thanks, but no thanks.”
The bartender looked at me as if I’d lost my mind, but he took the drink and brought it back to her. I caught him leaning forward to tell her something. The glare she gave me in response should’ve set me on fire. That was a woman unused to being told no.
Happy I’d dodged that bullet, I reached in my pocket and tossed some cash down for my drink. Then I headed back to the table, determined to have a good time.
NINE
JAKE
Istroked my hand down Queenie’s side, trying to soothe the mare. The horse was ill. That much was obvious to me. She wasn’t eating well, her coat had lost its luster, and she had limited energy. Queenie was pregnant with another six weeks to go before the birth, but those weren’t normal symptoms for a mare in her condition.
“Help’s coming, Queenie. We’ll get you on the mend,” I promised the animal. I’d started getting seriously worried about her condition the previous day, but had given the horse until this morning to show improvement. When her state seemed, if anything, to have gotten worse, I’d made the call to Julia.
Julia, the woman who’d driven off a month ago without a backward glance after our night together. My offer to continue our…whatever it was had been shot down by her decisively, which still confused me. I’d thought we’d had a great time. The sex had been incredible, and the companionship had been awesome, too, both on the hike and when we’d sat together in front of the fire.
Her feelings must have been different. Other than running into her at the Cattlemen’s meeting, there’d been nothing but silence between us ever since. Silence I’d broken with my phone call this morning. The care of my horses came before any personal issues I might have.
“Jake?” Julia’s voice through the open barn door made me jerk my head around. I hadn’t heard her pull up.
“Over here, Julia,” I said and stepped from the stall.
She wore her typical work attire: jeans, work boots, and a green polo shirt with the veterinary symbol embroidered on the chest pocket along with “Lett Veterinary Services.” Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun and her face was clean of makeup.
Damn, she was beautiful, the way she carried herself with confidence and purpose. I’d never realized before how sexy confidence was in a woman.
“Good to see you,” I said, meaning it.
“Hello, Jake.” She didn’t return the compliment, which stung a bit. “Let me get in the stall with Queenie and take a look at her.”
I stood in the open doorway, watching her examination. I’d witnessed Julia and Declan examine my animals numerous times, but this felt different. More personal. Julia checked the horse’s eyes and mouth, ran her hand over Queenie’s sides, limbs, and heavy belly. All routine stuff, so why couldn’t I pull my eyes away?
“What do you think?” I asked after a few minutes.
“At first glance, I’d say she’s malnourished, nutrient deficient.”
“What?” I kept my tone low so as not to frighten the mare, but I wanted to shout. Calling Queenie malnourished was bullshit. Anyone who knew me knew that I’d never neglect any of my horses.
“What feed are you using?” Julia asked as she exited the stall.
“Chek’s. What’s that about?” I demanded when she grimaced.
“That’s low-quality feed. Considering how close she is to the end of her pregnancy, Queenie needs more and better nutrients. Is that what all of your horses are eating now?” She glanced around the barn. Most of the stock were out in the pastures and the stalls stood empty. “Maybe I should take a look at the others.”
“That can’t be right,” I argued. “I switched to Chek’s last month because Luke specified it in his plan for the horse breeding program.” I’d found where Luke had researched the newer brands on the market and selected this one. He hadn’t gotten a chance to switch over before the crash, but his notes had been clear. “He picked this personally, and he only got the best.”
“You can choose not to believe me, but let me show you something.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and pulled something up on the screen before holding out the phone to me. “Take it,” she insisted.
She’d pulled up several links about Chek’s feed from various sources. Reluctantly, I took the phone and started to read. I saw pieces from magazines that catered to the rodeo crowd and to horse breeders, journal articles from professional organizations for veterinary science, and reports from ranchers like me, lamenting the poor quality of the feed brand.
Shit.She was right. I’d been feeding my stock crap for the past month. I’d wondered briefly if it was truly the best quality optionbecause the cost of the feed was significantly lower than my previous brand, but instead of doing my own research, I’d put my confidence in Luke.
“Luke couldn’t have known all that.” I handed the phone back to her. “Those reports must have come out after he picked the feed. He wouldn’t have risked the horses’ health.”
She gave a delicate shrug. “Some of those reports are more than five years old, but they were originally published in veterinary journals, so he might not have thought to check them,” she said, pocketing her phone, “but you should do your own research and ask questions. Don’t rely blindly on someone else’s choice. Luke didn’t know everything. Your father understood that well enough.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?” How didsheknow anything about what my father thought? Now I was pissed. I’d been willing to concede her point about the feed, but I wouldn’t just stand there and listen to my family being bad-mouthed.
