Authors: Lynda LeeAnne
There was a lot of land here, I discovered
about twenty minutes into my jog. So much land that it’d be
extremely easy to get lost. I followed the fence line of the
property, but I knew there was no way I’d make it all the way
around. There was also a slight fog that hovered over the grass
this morning, so I couldn’t even see half the length of a football
field in front of me, much less see how much further I had to
go.
I turned around.
When I made it within close distance of the
house, I changed course and headed to the stable. I didn’t want to
see Tony, so I wasn’t taking any chances.
I was surprised when I didn’t see anyone out
and about. It had to have been a good thirty minute jog and people
were usually out here by now.
The smell that hit my nose upon entering the
stable was refreshing. Bizarre… maybe, but I loved the smell of
horse and hay. There was something peaceful about horses; calming.
There was a horse in nearly every stall I passed and smiled and
said “Good morning” to them in a soft, low voice so they wouldn’t
spook. Horses, racing horses in particular, weren’t known for
making friends easily, but when they loved, they loved hard. And I
loved them. I loved all animals. I didn’t become a Vet for
nothing.
Odd thing though, I was scared to death of
riding horses. I’d been on one when I was a kid, it was supposed to
be trained, but as soon as my butt hit that saddle, the horse went
nuts and nearly threw me. It was probably just scared, but that
sealed the deal for me… no riding. I’ll love on them, hug them, pet
them, heal them, but ride them?
I think not.
I gave major props to those jockeys for
being brave enough to sit on the back of one every day.
I walked until I finally came to the
opposite end of the stable. When I looked to the last stall on my
right, I saw a red marker taped outside the door and I knew the
horse with Lyme disease was inside. I couldn’t see her from where I
stood, so I moved to get a closer look.
“Hey there! I see you found our sick girl,”
I heard Shane call out from behind and I nearly jumped out of my
skin.
“Oh my goodness, you scared the crap out of
me,” I breathed, facing him now, and I rested my hand on my upper
chest in effort to slow down my heart rate, but it was useless.
Looking at Shane made it worse.
He wore dark jeans with a black leather
belt, a black polo shirt, and black leather boots that, if I wasn’t
mistaken, looked just like motorcycle boots. His sandy blonde,
medium length hair was brushed back, off his face, to the sides and
appeared to be the natural flow, not styled that way
intentionally.
“Yes, I found her. How long did you say
she’s been here?” I asked in a breathy voice that couldn’t be
helped.
He smiled knowingly.
“A little over a month now. Her name is
Starla. Her owner brought her here because he was having a
difficult time keeping up with her grooming and it was obvious
after I put her through the standard examination. No horse gets
through those doors,” he pointed to the entry, “Without a clean
bill of health and she was covered in ticks. In any case, a few
weeks ago one of the stable boys, Jordan, reported that Starla was
having a difficult time walking. If I didn’t already know her
history, I’d have thought it was simple arteritis, or that her body
was adjusting to the new living conditions, but I did know. She’s
positive for Lyme disease. Poor girl,” he responded, and by the
time he finished, we were both stood at Starla’s stall looking
through the grill on the top half of the wooden, two-piece
door.
She was a beautiful horse with a solid dark
brown body and black mane and tail. She wouldn’t look at us though.
She didn’t appear energetic, not even curious. She looked sad,
miserable and probably in pain. I could feel her pain. I could
almost. I wanted to pet her, but she didn’t know me yet.
“Have you started her antibiotics yet?” I
asked Shane and I felt the moment his eyes hit my face.
“Of course. I’ve no idea how long treatment
will take, but her owner isn’t a bad man. He was just too busy to
care for her properly. He wants her treated for as long as
needed.”
“I’d like to visit with her while I’m here.
If you don’t mind, I’d love to give her the antibiotics. I know you
asked if I’d be interested in helping your practice, and… well…
Tony and I are not in a good place at the moment so I’d rather not
ask him.”
“I know who you are, Trish,” he said and I
faced him. “Larry told me about your previous relationship with
Tony, and to be honest with you, I’m a little surprised you feel
like you have to ask him for permission at all.”
I stiffened at his brutal honesty.
“I don’t ask for permission from anyone, for
anything. You might know about my ancient history with Tony, but
you obviously have no idea why I’m here now. If you did, you
wouldn’t have said something so absurd. Believe me when I say that
I’m not here because he wants me here… I don’t even want to be
here.”
“I apologize and you’re right. I have no
idea why you’re here… I admit I assumed at first, but when I saw
Bobbie Jo leave the other morning and you were still here, I knew
my assumption was wrong. Anyway, it’s none of my business and I
shouldn’t have said anything.” He looked so genuine that I felt bad
for snapping at him.
“It’s all right,” I said.
“Look, I haven’t had breakfast yet. How
about I take you to grab something to eat in town to make up for
being an arse? We can talk about Starla and her treatment options.
My treat.”
I knew if the situation had been different,
Tony wouldn’t like it if I left with Shane, but now, I was pretty
damn sure he couldn’t care less. Plus, Shane was right. I didn’t
need to ask for permission to do shit.
“Okay. Can you just give me five minutes to
take a shower? I was jogging before I came in here.”
His eyebrows lifted questioningly. “A woman
that can take a five minute shower,” he chuckled, “I’ll wait just
to see that happen.”
I glared at him. “Oh be quiet. I’ll be right
back.” And I would. I’d just have to go without makeup.
It took me six minutes, and as I walked out
of the house, Shane howled with laughter. I had to smile because it
was
pretty funny.
“In my defense, it took at least two minutes
for me to walk from the stable to the house,” I said which only
made him laugh harder.
It was nice to finally smile.
I hadn’t smiled since before I arrived
here.
As I followed a still laughing Shane to his
silver F-250 Harley Davidson Edition truck, I realized that Tony’s
truck was gone. I wondered when he left, but I decided not to think
of Tony at all; it would be impossible, but I was going to try my
best.
The diner Shane took me to was old and
rustic in appearance. I adored it. There was something charming
about the way the waitresses greeted us sweetly when we walked in.
The place was packed, so I was happy when we were able to sit in a
booth near a window.
I was deep in menu concentration when I
heard, “Hey, Shane,” said in a gentle, yet raspy and sexy feminine
voice. I looked. A beautiful waitress stood at the end of the table
and she was staring right at Shane.
She had light brown hair pulled into a pony
tail, and when her eyes hit mine, they were the most vibrant green
I’d ever seen. Her eyes were so bright that it almost took away
from the dark bags under her eyes... almost, but not quite.
The bags made her look older, but she
couldn’t be older than me. She was pale, her skin flawless,
slender, but not skinny. I couldn’t stop staring. She smiled, her
lips tipped up with genuine warmth and she held out her hand, “Hi
there, I’m Shannon,” she said.
Oh my God, was this the Shannon that
Larry mentioned yesterday
?
Regardless of how strange, even if only to
me, this situation just became, I smiled at her and matched her
gesture.
“I’m Trish,” I said. Her smile grew
bigger.
“I figured. Shane told me Tony’s new girl
was out of his league.”
I was stunned.
“Why the hell are you still here?” Shane
butted in, in angry tone that caused both me and Shannon to face
him.
“Uhhhh… Nigel asked me if I wanted to work
overtime,” Shannon responded so low I could barely hear her. Her
smile had completely disappeared, her shoulders drooped, and if I
wasn’t mistaken, she looked ready to cry.
“Let me guess,” Shane sneered, “you
had
to work it, right? You show up late to the office every
day, every time I walk into your office, you’re either on a
personal call or you’re half asleep. I told you the other day,
Shannon, and I’m telling you one last time; if you show up late one
more time, I’m going to let you go,” Shane finished harshly.
Shannon’s eyes wouldn’t even meet Shane’s
anymore. They seemed permanently locked on something outside the
window now, but when I checked, I saw nothing.
How could he embarrass her like
this
?
I could understand having this conversation
in private, but not in public. Something was going on with this
girl. She was too… scared. She looked lost.
She swallowed hard, either holding back
tears or her pride, but I knew instantly that I liked her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I promise not
to be late again.”
And then, as if nothing happened, she
straightened and continued with her original task, “What can I get
y’all to drink?”
Nobody responded for a long moment. It
wasn’t until I started to ask for water that Shane decided to
speak.
“Are you coming into the office today? I
need you there, not here.” At his blunt words, Shannon’s eyes hit
mine quickly and then away. It was a movement so slight that only
another female would understand. She liked what he said. My guess,
she wanted Shane to need her for more than just work.
“I’ll be there,” she responded with a nod,
but never made eye contact.
Shane didn’t say anything. His eyes bore
into Shannon’s fac, and the silence grew.
I spoke up, “I already know what I want. Can
I go ahead and order?”
“Oh yes, sorry,” Shannon said as she fumbled
with her pen.
She took our order and I wasn’t surprised
when see Shane stared after her as she walked away and disappeared
into the kitchen.
“Why were you so rude to her when you
obviously care about her?” I asked.
His body tensed. “I don’t care about her,”
he said through his teeth. I didn’t bother to correct him. I just
gave him my “Yeah, right” look.
“I don’t,” he ground out. “I’m rather sick
of her, if you must know. She’s too quiet, nothing to look at, and
honestly, I would fire her if there was someone in this small town
to replace her…
what the hell was that for
?” he asked on a
shout when I kicked him in in the knee under the table. I missed.
I’d aimed for his baby maker.
Shannon had been walking up with our drinks
when he’d started talking. She was now stopped dead in her tracks
and I could tell by the tears swimming in her eyes that she’d heard
everything Shane said.
Shane twisted his neck and he groaned. He
knew she heard too. I watched Shannon compose herself in an instant
as she continued to our table, set our drinks down and looked
directly into Shane’s eyes.
“Consider this my two week notice,” she said
softly, but firmly and Shane’s body stiffened further as he stared
at her in surprise. “And don’t worry… I’ll help you find someone to
replace me and most definitely someone better to look at,” she
finished. She untied the small pocket apron around her waist.
“I’m going to head over to the clinic now so
I can get things in order for my replacement. I’ll get Jenny to
take over here.”
“Shannon, I--” he started, surely about to
apologize, but she held up a hand and his mouth snapped shut.
“It’s okay, Shane. I understand. I’d rather
lose my house and live on the street than work for someone so…
mean
anyway.”
My God, she couldn’t even come up with a
word better than “mean”.
She faced me, and when she did, her face
softened. I already knew that she was a sweet girl by her
introduction, but I knew right then that I really,
really
liked her. Something about her reminded me a little of Lex.
“It was nice to meet you, Trish,” Shannon
whispered, her tone so small and sad that she even made me want to
cry.
She turned and hauled ass out of there. I’d
have done the exact same thing, but with a whole lotta cussing.
Shane jumped up and mumbled, “I’ll be right
back,” as he took off after her.
I sat there and contemplated the situation
between Shane and Shannon until a new waitress brought out our
food. Something was up with her, that much I was sure of, and it
was apparent that Shane had no idea what it was.
I ate slowly as different ideas ran through
my mind. I was going to find out what Shannon was hiding.
What did she mean when she said she’d
rather lose her house and live on the street
?
I sighed.
Shane still hadn’t come back and I was so
deep in thought that I didn’t hear the footsteps that arrived at my
side until it was too late.
“How the hell did you get here?” I heard
Tony bark and my fork froze mid-air. I looked up and straight into
Tony’s heated eyes. Then my eyes moved to the left, where BJ stood
next to him.
Just fucking perfect
.
I glanced down to see they were holding
hands. It might have been because he dragged her to my table, but I
didn’t know and I had to set my fork down.