Sweet Water Vet: Taking Rachael Part 16

"No, not at all, but I am surprised. I thought that your career would come first."

"You know, people change, they grow, and their circ.u.mstances alter. It provides endless possibilities on the direction a life can take. I love my work. It is one of the most important things to me aside from my family, but if I am still doing exactly the same thing in the same way in five years time, I'll be disappointed. I think we have to move forward and experience as much of this G.o.d-given gift of a life as we can. I'll be happy to have a change when the time and situation is right. How's that for a bit of philosophy at seven thirty in the morning. What about you?"

"Me?" He held the door to the main part of the house open for her.

"The more, the merrier I say, and I'd enjoy the practicing in the meantime."

She giggled. "Well, you shouldn't have any difficulty. What with b.o.l.l.o.c.ks like an everlasting porridge pot."

He burst out laughing. Janet and James were having breakfast and stopped to look at each other and then at him with mild surprise. It was far too long since they'd last heard that hearty sound from his lips.

"Good morning," Rachael sang as she sauntered to the table. "Any coffee going?"

"Sure." Janet waved at the coffeepot on the table. "Help yourself."

"Isabella is making pancakes." James grinned at them both.

"Better get your order in."

Joshua strolled into the kitchen while Rachael sat down. He greeted Isabella and swiped a stack of pancakes piled on a plate, which he placed in the center of the table.

"First batch. Dig in."

As they ate breakfast, Rachael offered to take him to the airport since she had to go into town to stock up on food supplies and get 121.

some household stuff for her new home. Janet, a self-confessed snoop, invited herself over to Rachael's cabin on Tuesday night for dinner.

"You know, our family has always wanted that land of yours, but generations of your mama's would never let it go."

"Really? Well, I'll be honest, I won't be the one to break tradition.

Do you like Italian? We'll have pasta, wine, and watch a girlie flick.

How about that?"

"Oh, sounds great. There's too much testosterone around here. I'd love a girls' night in!"

"So would I." James looked hopeful.

"Sorry, bro, but that p.e.n.i.s in your pants is an automatic bar."

"That's s.e.xual discrimination, that is."

"Yeah, get used to it." Janet smirked.

Joshua rolled his eyes. "I'll go get my stuff and we'll head off."

He wished that he didn't have to go, but he had a lot of meetings planned and decisions that needed to be made. He'd considered asking Rachael to go with him but couldn't afford to be distracted on this trip, and he would hardly have any time to spend with her. Still, he didn't really need that much sleep...no, he had to be sharp and quick for the sake of the business.

As they arrived at the airport, Joshua directed Rachael to drive away from the main building toward the aircraft hangars, and he made a phone call.

"h.e.l.lo, Mac. I'm here...Is it prepped and ready to go?...Great, see you in a minute."

Rachael looked at him with an eyebrow c.o.c.ked and a sardonic twist to her mouth.

He sighed. "Yep, we have a company jet."

"I bet you fly it, too."

"Sometimes. If I'm not too busy working on the way."

122.

"You really are mult.i.talented." And in usually Rachael fas.h.i.+on, she got right to the point. "How come you're single? I'm thinking secret alter ego, axe murderer, or something."

He regarded her sternly for a moment, then snorted, "You are direct, and I could ask you the same question."

"I've never met that special person who I want to annoy for the rest of my life," she joked. "I asked first."

"It's been said that I'm arrogant, bossy, domineering, intimidating, controlling, and s.e.xually rapacious and voracious, among other things. I've never met a woman who can handle that-handle me-until maybe...now."

Rachael absorbed his words and gave him a few of her own, "Honest, responsible, loyal, adventurous, challenging, s.e.xy, masculine, intelligent, attractive, awesome in bed, among other things, and you're darn right about one thing-I can handle that."

He leaned over and kissed her hungrily on the lips. She managed to pull back, breathing hard.

"If you don't go now, I'm driving off with you to the nearest secluded place."

"That's kidnapping," he growled, thinking that it was a great idea.

"Man-napping, actually, and it'll be a hostage situation. I can promise you that, so get out now." She was gripping the steering wheel.

"I will be back on Thursday. Get plenty of rest Wednesday night."

"Follow your own advice. I'll see you then."

He started to get out.

"Oh," she added, "and I'll be working on my poker skills."

Implausibly, his c.o.c.k became even harder. Thursday couldn't come soon enough.

123.

Chapter 7.

Rachael spent the rest of the day stocking up on supplies and buying stuff that she needed for the cabin. She popped into the Vet Practice to inquire about Crossling's horse. Colin was out, but Sandy, his shy new receptionist, greeted her warmly. When Rachael asked about the horse, Sandy's face dropped.

"It was fine when Roy took him away, but two hours ago he rang to say that it had died in the night. Colin went over there to see for himself. He should be back soon."

"I can't believe it. Do you know why?"

"No, Roy wouldn't give any details but he's-he's blaming you."

She looked embarra.s.sed and worried.

"What? I saved that horse's life. It wouldn't have made it back here if I hadn't opened its airways. This is terrible news. I don't understand it. Poor horse."

Just then, Colin's truck swung into the reserved s.p.a.ce next to Rachael's Jeep, and Rachael ran out to meet him. He looked p.i.s.sed off.

"Sandy has just filled me in. Do you know what happened?"

"Not really. Not the full story, anyway. Crossling won't let me see the horse. He says it died last night, and he's buried it. It's d.a.m.ned suspicious, Rachael." He raked his fingers through his hair. "He said he thinks that you did something wrong and is currently deciding whether to take the matter further."

"No way," Rachael spat. "Not without a body and an autopsy.

What was the condition of the horse when he left you?"

124.

"Fine, although, like I said yesterday, I would have liked to have had him under observation a bit longer. I administered the antivenin in time and, because you'd managed to keep the swelling and any infection under control early on, I really thought he was okay."

"Crossling is angry because I insulted him. He's doing this to spread gossip about me and harm my professional reputation. We need to do some damage control and insist on seeing the corpse."

No matter what they did, Roy Crossling wouldn't let them onto his property. Even when they took a police officer along to the ranch, they couldn't persuade him.

"He's within his legal rights." Officer McGowan shrugged. "In the eyes of the law, he hasn't done anything wrong."

"What about slander?"

"Well, that's a civil private matter, and he hasn't done it openly yet. The problem is that he doesn't really need to because news travels fast here. I'm sorry."

Rachael felt a cold sense of dread creep over her.

"We just need to spread the truth then," Colin said. "I need to make a few calls."

That evening Rachael went to bed early and had restless dreams about Joshua, snakes, and horses.

In the morning, she still felt tired but tried to put Crossling out of her mind. The truth will win in the end. Mid-afternoon, she got a call from Colin, and it wasn't good news. He hadn't heard anymore from Crossling, but the American Medical Veterinary a.s.sociation had contacted him because he was her sponsor. Apparently, they had received a complaint that Rachael was practicing without a Texan license and the death of an animal had been mentioned. Colin had carefully explained the circ.u.mstances and lack of any evidence, including a corpse. The man had been sympathetic but stressed that the a.s.sociation had procedures that must be followed, and her license would, at best, be delayed while the matter was investigated.

125.

"Do you want to come over for dinner? I don't want you to worry alone."

"Thanks, Colin, but I'm having Janet Ryden over for a girls' night in."

"Good, well, have fun and keep me posted if you hear anything more."

Janet arrived at seven with a chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

"Let's open it straight away and drown my sorrows. You'll never guess what's been going on."

Rachael told Janet all about the false accusation and her concern about her future career in Texas.

"Roy's a spineless little rat. d.a.m.n, I'm sorry that you got involved. If you hadn't helped me-"

"Now, hold on a minute. You can't blame yourself. It's squarely in his court."

"Yeah, but there have been bad feelings between our families for some time now. You see, thirty years ago, Roy's father was in a lot of financial trouble. He owed money to the bank and was about to get his property repossessed, so he asked our dads for help. They knew that he wasn't reliable, but they didn't want to see the family lose their land either, so they entered into a legal agreement. We leased a large area of their land and obtained the mineral rights for fifty years.

Our daddies thought that there might be oil there, but it was a risk and they had to do a lot of exploration. Anyway, they found oil on Crossling's land and on our own, too. Of course, we started pumping on the leased land first. The Crosslings are hopping mad. They believe that the oil will all be gone before the lease runs out. That may or may not happen, and we are legally within our rights to suck it dry."

"I see, but that doesn't have much to do with me. He's just being b.l.o.o.d.y-minded. Here, have a top up." She poured more wine. "We'll watch Love Actually. How about that?"

"It sounds like a great plan."

126.

"Speaking of love, how's things between you and the deputy?"

"Well, we have admitted our feelings for each other, and now I'm waiting for him to make the first move. He should be back from Austin by now, but I haven't heard from him. Maybe he's tired. What if he's changed his mind?" She looked horrified at the thought.

"Calm down, give him time. There's no way that man isn't interested in you."

"Rachael, he's had nine years. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but he'll miss his opportunity if he doesn't get his skates on. I'm going back to college in a few weeks."

"Well, maybe we can pick up a few tips from the big screen."

By the end of the movie, Rachael was ashamed to say she was definitely tipsy, but she was enjoying herself. Janet had only had two gla.s.ses of wine all evening and felt okay to drive home.

"You can stay here if you want to. There's a bed in the open loft."

"Thanks, but I promised I'd visit some of the wells early in the morning with James. I'm getting more involved in the business on somebody's good advice." She smiled. "Thanks again. It was a fun evening. Try not to worry too much about the whole horse thing.

People aren't that stupid here. We'll make sure that the truth gets around."

"Thanks. Drive carefully now." Rachael gave Janet a hug and watched as the taillights of her car disappeared into the night. She hadn't liked to point out that it wasn't really gossip that was her primary concern. She was more worried about the prospect of her license being held up or, worse still, not granted.

Rachael went into the house and gave James a quick call to say that Janet was on her way home.

"Did you eat a tasty dinner, watch a good movie, and enjoy yourselves while I sat here on my lonesome?"