Most of the appointments had been checkups and the owners had graciously agreed to a delay, but three people had opted not to reschedule. I suggested they contact Declan Morris over at the Animal Medical Clinic. At least that way, they would continue their pet care with a local vet. Instead, they all politely informed me that they would go to Family Veterinary Care instead.
Losing clients to Declan would’ve been far more tolerable than that corporate chain more than thirty minutes away. Frankly, it was concerning that some folks wouldn’t consider the other town vet. Sure, Declan didn’t make any friends when he’d accidentally opened up to Becca out at Black Hat and almost cost Shannon Cafferty the horse she’d been eyeing. But given that Declan and Shannon were now engaged, it seemed clearto me that he’d more than made up for it with his actions since. Unfortunately, sometimes folks around here were slow to forgive.
“Come to make me feel better?” I asked as Magellan jumped onto my lap. The black cat was an explorer at heart and had earned his name, but he was also a sensitive animal and knew when I was hurting. I appreciated the comfort he offered me as he turned three times and settled down, waiting to be petted.
“I’m not good at doing nothing,” I confided to him as I stroked my fingers down the curve of his spine. “And I’m really not okay with losing business. Not now.” I thought of the new equipment I’d ordered, banking on stud fees from Twister to help me make the payments. Fees that had yet to materialize. “It’ll work out. Somehow.” I closed my eyes, feeling sleepy. “I’ll feed you guys in a minute.”
My ankle had throbbed in the night, keeping me up as much as my worry had. I must have dozed off, because I jumped when a vehicle door slammed in my driveway. Magellan leaped down, dashing to the door to see who the visitor was and beating my two dogs who came from the kitchen, barking and tripping over each other.
“Julia?” Jake’s voice called out.
Great. Just what I needed.
“Coming,” I said and grabbed for my crutches to hobble to the door. “I wasn’t expecting you. Did Queenie get worse?” I was already trying to figure out how I could examine the horse while hopping on one foot.
“No, she’s about the same, but I did switch her feed back to what it used to be,” Jake said through the screened door. “I came tohelp you out. You’ve got a lot to care for here, and it’s going to be hard for you to manage. I figure I owe it to you.”
Was that a Jake Thorne version of an apology? He was probably too stubborn to actually admit any wrongdoing. He’d said sorry in the seconds after I’d hit the barn floor, but he had shown no regret over taking me to the urgent care center without my consent and carrying me in like I was a sack of potatoes.
What was worse was that story was all over Poplar Springs, as Sofia had informed me.
Part of me wanted to tell Jake I was fine. It was on the tip of my tongue to refuse his help when Fay, the boxer mix I had rescued from an abusive situation, leaned against me, almost knocking me down. I had to admit that Ididneed some help. Though it wasn’t a working ranch, I still had a number of animals, and they needed care I couldn’t provide until I was back on my feet.
“That would be nice,” I said, forcing the words out. “Thanks.”
“Great.” His smile was instant and a little too big. Was he reading something into my acceptance that I hadn’t intended?
“I’m still ticked at you,” I reminded him, “and my accepting your help doesn’t mean that I’ve changed my mind about selling you Twister or sleeping with you again.” I wanted to be clear on both those things.
“I wasn’t expecting anything. Just being neighborly.” His smile had disappeared when I spoke, but I noticed an amused twitch of his lips. If my animals weren’t hungry, I might have sent him away, but the chores needed to get done.
“Come into the kitchen. We’ll start with the house animals.” I unlatched the screened door for him to enter. “I should makeintroductions. Magellan, sometimes called Jelly.” I pointed to the black cat. “Izzy is on the sofa.” The calico kitty was perched on the back of the sofa. “Time to eat, Izzy.” I led the way into the kitchen, followed by Jake and my animals.
“I’ve seen this dog with you before.” Jake petted the collie.
“That’s Wellington, he’s a miniature Australian cattle dog. I worked in an animal shelter when I was in vet school. He was brought in one rainy night, soaking wet, underweight, and I fell in love.” I started to relax as I talked about my dog. “Sometimes he goes on ranch visits with me, but I like to leave him home to keep Fay company. Meet Fay.” I touched the boxer’s head. “My purloined pooch.”
Jake laughed, and it was such a good sound that it made me forget some of the tension between us. Some more of it melted away when he listened seriously and attentively to my somewhat bizarre requirements for the animals. Izzy had to be fed up on a bench so that Magellan didn’t try to steal her food, and Wellington liked to have his ears scratched while he was eating. Jake dutifully did as I asked.
“What’s in there?” Jake said with a glance toward a small room off the kitchen when the other animals were done eating. “I thought I heard something.”
“It’s only Pocket. Do you want to see?” I crutched through the doorway with Jake behind me. My hedgehog lived in a clear plastic enclosure complete with an exercise wheel and a tube to hide in. “Fortunately, I cleaned his cage yesterday morning, so you don’t have to do that. And I gave him some food when I got back from urgent care center. Take a look at him.”
Jake bent down and peered into the tube. “Hedgehog?” He shot me a surprised look, making me shrug.
“His family was moving away and couldn’t take him,” I explained. “I meant to find Pocket a home, but then I got used to him. He’s very lovable in the early evening when he comes awake. They’re nocturnal, you know.”
“I don’t know anything about hedgehogs. You can’t rope ’em or ride ’em.”
I smiled. “Nope, they’re just for fun. Should we head for the barn?”
With the dogs circling around us, we made slow progress across the open area between my house and barn. Being on crutches was way more exhausting than I remembered, and I was suddenly very grateful for Jake’s help.
“Sofia brought them in for me last night and fed them,” I said when we were in the barn and standing in front of the stalls. I believed horses should be out in the pasture when the weather was decent, but I’d been afraid I wouldn’t be able to round them up if a storm blew in, and while, it shouldn’t be much of an issue this time of year, Jake and I had gotten caught in a storm, so it wasn’t impossible.
“I’d have come and done that,” he said, grabbing the feed bucket like it was second nature.
“Not so much for Ally,” I cautioned when he approached my Paint horse’s stall. “I feed her smaller amounts four times a day. She doesn’t do well otherwise.”
