Fresh-Start Ranch

His grating attitude left her cold.

William jumped in. “No, she’s the vet who delivered the foal. I saw it with my own eyes.”

The other man’s brow rose. “Ah, beautiful and skilled.”

She wasn’t buying his line. “What are you doing here, William? I thought we’d resolved this issue yesterday with you and your mother.”

“Aw, don’t call Willy that. He’s a good ol’ boy and not the stuffed shirt his old man was,” the stranger interrupted.

Tessa stepped past Mr. Charm into the stall. “What are you doing, William?” she asked again. William glanced over her shoulder at the stranger.

“Willy wanted me to see my investment,” the man offered, his voice coming from behind her.

Tessa turned to face the stranger. She stood by William’s side. “I’m sure William told you that you’ll have to take that up with the court.”

He shrugged and took a menacing step toward her. “I’ve already paid for the foal.”

William shifted his weight from one foot to another. Tessa noticed the panicked look on his face. She squared her shoulders and put authority into her words. “I’m sure the court will take that into account.”

The stranger’s fake smile melted and his eyes went cold. “Why bother the courts?”

Tessa understood perfectly that the stranger was trying to intimidate her. She opened her mouth to respond, but another voice cut in.

“Because, Kevin, the sheriff’s already seized the animals. And if you’re trying to take the foal, you’ll be breaking the law, subject to arrest and then they’ll have an access into all sorts of information about you.”

The man whirled to face Ethan. Tessa had never seen a better sight than the tall rancher. She breathed a prayer of thanks.

“Ah, Ethan McClure, the hero of Cibola High School’s football team, coming to the little lady’s rescue,” the stranger sneered.

Tessa’s eyes narrowed, ready to correct the situation, but Ethan spoke first.

“If you’ve got a bone to pick, take it up with the judge. But be warned, Kevin, you need to bring your lawyer, because Mary will be there representing the rescue group, pressing our case.”

“Mary Jensen? You mean the little lady who left you standing at the altar? That Mary Jensen?” Kevin ended his taunt with a satisfied grin.

The comment rocked Tessa back on her heels. Ethan didn’t flinch, but Tessa noticed his hand clenched as if he was holding back his anger. “My history doesn’t change the facts. You’re not taking that foal anywhere.”

Kevin’s smirk turned into a glare. “We’ll see about that.” He looked at William and nodded to him to leave. As Kevin walked by Ethan, he stopped. “You’re not quite as righteous as folks think, hey, buddy? I know our hero has feet of clay.”

Ethan didn’t respond, but held his ground.

Kevin laughed. “I’ll see ya.” He winked at Tessa and walked out of the stables.

The tension holding her upright eased, and she took a deep breath. The shock of Kevin’s words still reverberated through her. Mary and Ethan had been engaged?

“You okay?” Ethan asked, coming to her side.

She gave a shaky laugh. “Yeah, but William’s determination to get Hope just seems—oh, I don’t know—so intense...desperate.” She thought about the things that Kevin threw at Ethan. What was going on? It was none of her business, she reminded herself. She had to stay focused on the horse.

“That bothers me, too.” Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s something there that doesn’t seem right. It’s like when my sister decided to wear one of my belts and put it back in the closet in my room, but she put it in the wrong place. It took me a day to understand what was bothering me.”

Tessa’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, I think William’s up to something.”

“I wasn’t talking about that. You knew when your sister borrowed your belt?” Kevin had thrown some pretty heavy accusations at Ethan and he was talking about his sister wearing his belt?

His eyes cut to hers, and his mouth twitched, disarming the tension. “She was bad about borrowing things. I’d walk into the kitchen and find her wearing one of my shirts or sweatshirts or belts. Or my brother’s stuff.” The way his brows knitted into a frown made her want to laugh.

“Wow.” Talk about ignoring the issue. She thought about calling him on it but she didn’t feel it was right to push.

“My example was to point out when something feels wrong.”

“I see.” She agreed with that, as far as it went.

He shrugged. “The foal seems to be walking without a limp,” he commented, changing the subject.

Her mind snapped back to the present. “That’s what I hoped would happen. She’s also nursing well.” Tessa ran her hands down the mare’s side. “Momma’s also doing well. The IV fluids helped.

“This lady has a will to live. Babies will do that to a mother.” When she looked up, meeting Ethan’s gaze, her last sentence took on a new meaning. They both understood Tessa wasn’t only referring to fillies.

He looked away and there was an odd tension between them. Uncomfortable, she asked, “So, what brings you here to the hospital? Did God whisper in your ear I was going to need backup?”

Ethan shifted uneasily as if guilty. “No. Mary had some papers that needed to be signed by me on society business. And since the clinic is on the way, I wanted to check on Hope and Lady, just in case the judge asks me about them. This judge sometimes likes to question different people about the animals’ conditions.”

That was a valid reason. “I just printed off the report, if you’d like to look at it.”

“I would. Mary wanted me to remind you she wants you there in person at the hearing, in case the judge has any questions.”

That wasn’t an unusual request. “I can do that, but you’ll have to tell me where the courthouse is located.”

“It’s in Los Rios. The hearing is ten-thirty.”

“Okay, I’ll be there, but I’ll need directions.” And she didn’t want to repeat her mistake of getting lost on the rural roads. She only had to fall in a hole once to learn to be wary. Kind of like falling in love. She didn’t need to repeat the mistake twice.

* * *

Ethan followed Tessa into the office. Doc Adams had brought in a battered metal desk and put it on the other side of the office from his messy rolltop desk. The computer monitor with hard drive underneath looked out of place in this room, which could’ve come straight out of a picture from a 1930s veterinary office. On the opposite wall, sitting on the metal desk, was a slick laptop. Tessa’s diploma rested on the floor, waiting to be hung. Obviously, she hadn’t had time to finish settling in. Between the two desks was a long table pushed against the back wall, with the printer on it. Underneath were several boxes.

“I haven’t had time to unpack yet,” Tessa explained, walking to the metal desk. “I’ll need your email address so I can send you future reports.”

“Agreed. I’ll put you on the email loop for the Society. Now most of our ranchers have email, but I’ll send you their phone numbers in addition to their email address.”

“Thanks.” She walked to the printer and picked up the report. Meanwhile, Ethan mentally ran over the information he expected the report to contain.

For the last day and a half when Ethan had been working at the ranch, he’d recalled Hope’s birth. What an incredible moment. They’d snatched victory from the mouth of tragedy. When his parents asked about what had occurred at the seizure, the words came tumbling out full of enthusiasm and praise for the new vet, surprising his folks as well as him.

After he finished, his mother simply smiled her I-understand-what’s-really-happening smile, while his dad shook his head. Their reactions puzzled Ethan but he’d been too distracted by thoughts of Tessa to dwell on them for long.

He felt as though he’d known Tessa forever. That didn’t make sense. He wasn’t ready to feel such a strong sense of connection to a woman. He’d talked to God while riding out to check fences, but he hadn’t come to any understanding of his feelings, even when he discussed his reaction with Ranger. He was glad his horse couldn’t talk and comment on his odd behavior.

Adding to his turmoil, this morning Mary called, needing him to drive to Albuquerque to sign papers. He’d gone, but the tension in Mary’s office was so thick, he knew that it was going to be a rough year while he was head of the rescue group. He couldn’t fault Mary’s legal expertise, but they’d never discussed what had happened the morning of their aborted wedding. Driving home from that tense meeting, he thought seeing Hope and Lady would be a good way to unwind. His anticipation had turned to alarm when he walked into Doc’s medical barn and clapped eyes on Kevin Raney.

Ethan had had the unfortunate experience to meet Kevin years ago. Kevin had been traveling the rodeo circuit. He didn’t rope or ride or participate in any of the events. What he did was provide drugs, drink, betting on rodeo events and poker games for the young men and the cowboys who worked the circuit. After a particularly ugly fight that had broken out among several cowboys, sending them to the hospital, Kevin had been barred from coming on the fairground or rodeo property. Later, Ethan had heard Kevin had spent time in the New Mexico state prison system.

So, what was Kevin doing with William?

“Here’s the report,” Tessa said, breaking into his thoughts.

His hand brushed hers when he took the pages. As if grabbing a live wire, a jolt raced through him. His gaze flew to hers. Her eyes widened and a startled “oh” escaped her perfect mouth. The surprise in her eyes told him he wasn’t alone in the reaction.

The moment ended with the outside door slamming. Doc Adams appeared in the doorway.

“Hey, Ethan, what are you doing here?” He looked from Ethan to Tessa.

Ethan took a step away from Tessa and turned. “I was driving back from the city and wanted to see how Hope and Lady were doing.”

Doc gave him a funny look.

“After meeting with our lawyer,” Ethan further explained, “I needed to spend some time with horses.”

Doc’s brow arched. “I see.”

Doc’s cryptic answer made the thirty-five-year-old Ethan squirm like he did the summer Doc had confronted him when he was sixteen and in a whole lot of trouble.

“It was fortunate he came,” Tessa interjected. “There was a little difficulty with William and Kevin Raney.”

“Oh?”

Tessa explained how Ethan’s presence had resolved the situation with the men, making Ethan feel ten feet tall. Doc threw Ethan a glance. They both knew what trouble Kevin could be.

“Good thing you showed up,” Doc said.

Did he hear something in Doc’s voice?

“Yeah, it seems I’ve been doing that lately. I’ll see you on Friday at the courthouse.” Ethan walked out of the office.

“Ethan,” Tessa called to him, following him outside.

Stopping by his truck, he turned to face her. “Yes?”

“Thanks again for your help with William and Kevin.” Her eyes softened with gratitude, making his chest tighten. “When you got here, I was wondering what I could do to stop them from taking Hope.”

Her words sent a chill down his spine. “Be careful of Kevin. Despite the charming smile he so easily flashes, he’s a con man, who’s spent time in the state penitentiary some time back. And from what I’ve seen, I doubt that he’s changed since he got out.”

“Why was he in jail?”

“He ran a bookie operation.”

“Gambling?”

“That’s it.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.” The cold tone of her words could’ve frozen a side of beef in the middle of summer. “I’ve seen the destruction caused by it, so I’ll make sure Kevin doesn’t get his hands on Hope or Lady.” Ethan was surprised by the vehemence of her reaction. Obviously, she had had some sort of run-in with a bookie.

“Don’t try to take Kevin on. I can’t guarantee he won’t be violent. If it comes to your life or the horse’s, you’re more valuable.”

The expression in her eyes mellowed. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

Would she thank him if she knew why he knew that truth about Kevin? But there was no reason for her to know. His past mistakes wouldn’t make a difference in their professional relationship, and that’s the only kind of relationship either of them seemed to want. No doubt that was for the best. Anything else would only lead to disaster. He’d been down that road before and didn’t like where it led.

* * *

The tiny town of Los Rios sported a beautiful courthouse, constructed in the late twenties, built in the Southwestern style using adobe and giant crossbeams.

Ethan had plenty of time to admire it as he sat beside Tessa and they listened to Mary Jensen summarize what they’d found at the ranch. Tessa had finished her testimony. When Mary was done the Moores’ lawyer argued that the family had fallen on hard times. They hadn’t meant to starve their animals.

The judge told them he would be back with his verdict in a few minutes. When he returned, he addressed the Moores.

“Doris, this is not the first time you’ve been before this court. But, this case is judged on its own merits. Seeing the pictures and listening to Dr. Grant, I’m awarding all the horses to the Rescue Society.”

“You can’t do that,” Doris yelled, jumping to her feet.

The judge glared at her. “My ruling stands.”

“What about the foal I sold?” she shot back.

“You’ll have to pay the buyer back. If they aren’t happy with that solution, have them file with the court for relief.” The judge left the chamber.

The older woman turned, glaring daggers at the opposition table.

Tessa leaned close to Ethan and whispered, “Is she going to be trouble?”

“I don’t know. She doesn’t take defeat well.”

Tessa looked at William, whose face had lost all color. “What about her son?”

Ethan didn’t answer immediately.

“What do you think?”

“I hope he’ll accept the verdict.”

Tessa didn’t like the sound of that.

“We’ll just see,” Doris muttered to herself. With a final defiant glare, Doris left the courtroom with William trailing behind her.

Ethan walked to the prosecution table and talked to Mary. From their body language, it was an awkward exchange. Mary Jensen was tall, probably five-ten, slender, with long blond hair and deep blue eyes. She was just the right height for the tall rancher who stood over six feet tall. With dark hair and steel-gray eyes, Ethan looked perfect with the golden woman. They were both smart, capable, cared strongly for the same causes. Tessa could see why they would have gotten together. So what had gone wrong?

“You ready to go?” Ethan asked, coming to Tessa’s side.

Tearing her mind from her speculation, Tessa gathered up her notebook and purse. “Sure, I’m ready.”

They left the courtroom, heading for the elevators. Mary stayed inside the courtroom, packing up her briefcase.

After Ethan pushed the elevator button, he looked down at his watch. “I ate at six this morning and the cantina across the street has a great lunch special. You want to join me?”

Tessa opened her mouth to refuse when her stomach growled. She flushed.

“That’s a yes if I ever heard one.”

She was still tempted to refuse, but her stomach growled a second time, drowning out her pride. She’d eaten her breakfast earlier than Ethan and was hungry.

“Lead the way. But it’s just a business lunch. We go dutch.”

Ethan nodded. “Absolutely.”

It was what she expected and demanded, so why did she feel disappointed he gave in so easily?

Chapter Four

“I couldn’t believe Doris thought she’d get her horses back.” Tessa reached for another tortilla chip and popped it into her mouth.

Ethan watched Tessa down the chips. The cantina stood directly across from the courthouse in the southwest corner of the square. As they’d walked across the street to the restaurant, he’d explained the Wednesday special was flautas, and they were some of the best he’d ever eaten. They’d both ordered the special.

Tessa picked up another chip and dipped it into the house salsa. “How she thought any judge would give her back those starved horses is beyond me. She had some prime horseflesh, an Arabian and a retired thoroughbred, and she starved them.” She punctuated her comment by waving her chip around. A bit of the salsa landed on the table in front of Ethan.

Tessa stared at the blob. “Uh, I’m sorry.”

“No problem.” Ethan wiped the spot with his napkin, holding back a smile. The lady had a passion for horses and he liked it. And shared it.

“If she wanted to sell Hope, why not take care of the mare? What she did makes no sense.”

He shrugged. “Doris didn’t much care for her two children, neglected them, so why would she care for her horses?”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” William and Shanna had often showed up to school in torn and dirty clothes.

Tessa fell silent.

The waitress appeared with their lunches. Ethan watched as Tessa tasted her food. After she swallowed, she grinned. “Okay, I have to agree with you. These are good.”

As they ate, Ethan discussed how he’d notify the different ranchers caring for the horses that their organization now had legal custody. “I’ll leave Lady and Hope with you, of course.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

He could tell something was on her mind. “Is something wrong?”

His question snapped her out of her musings. “No.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes.

He continued to study her. “Are you sure? Were you afraid I’d want to house Lady and Hope somewhere else?”

“No.”

“It seems like something—”

“It’s nothing.” She waved off his concerns.

That was the worst denial he’d ever heard. “You might as well spit it out.”

She thought about her question, pursing her lips. “There just seems to be a tension between you and Mary. And with what Kevin blurted out the other day—” Her cheeks flamed.

Well, he’d asked for it. Why not tell her? Everyone in this part of the country knew of his embarrassment, most people probably witnessed it. “Well—”

“Don’t worry about it,” she hurriedly added. “It’s not my business.” Her weak smile tried to smooth over her gaffe.

She’d touched a raw spot. But with Mary back here, the talk would be everywhere and Tessa would hear about what happened sooner or later. He’d rather be the person who told her. “I was engaged to Mary.”

“People break off engagements every day.”

“True, but they don’t leave the other person standing at the altar. Mary did.” Well, you certainly softened that, didn’t you?

“Oh.” She turned a deep shade of red.

“All the people in this area were in the church that morning and witnessed it.”

“I didn’t mean to—”

He shrugged. “It was years ago. We were young and thought we were in love.” He recalled with stunning clarity that humiliating morning, when he stood in the church with all his friends and neighbors gathered, waiting for the bride. After thirty minutes of waiting, her maid of honor showed up. She announced Mary wasn’t going to show and handed him a letter.

Standing before all the people he knew and had grown up with, he remembered reading those devastating words. Mary had written that she loved him, but not enough to marry him and spend the rest of her life with him. She felt she was too young and didn’t want to get married. Besides, she wanted to go to college and see the world outside their little area of New Mexico.

Growing up on neighboring ranches, he and Mary were always at the same local events. They began to hang together and slowly became best friends after Mary’s brother ended up face-first in a mud puddle at a local barbecue. They laughed at the same things and shared similar views. Everyone in the community thought they were a couple, and they were comfortable with the label.

He was a year older than Mary, and when he graduated from high school, he went straight to college. He didn’t know if it was his going away and talking with other girls or that Mary had found someone new, but he noticed distance between them that first Thanksgiving he came home. He thought to solve the problem by proposing to her, which he did at Christmas.

The wedding had been set for the weekend after her high school graduation. Looking back, he realized Mary’s calling off the wedding was one of the best things that could happen to him. He just wished she’d done it in a less humiliating way.

“Lot of people thought Mary and I were a perfect couple, but we were so young. I don’t think we really knew what we wanted. Everyone told us we were in love, and we didn’t know any better than to believe them.” Looking back now, he could see that they’d just convinced themselves that they loved each other enough to marry.

“It must’ve been hard.”

Something in her voice alerted him. He felt she understood his mortification. “Yeah, I took my share of licks here at home. Luckily in college, no one knew. And on the bright side, it certainly made graduating from college much easier without a wife to care for.”

“I understand that. A couple of my classmates were married, but they were men. Their wives worked to help them through school. One guy was working and putting himself and his wife through school. He had to drop out for a year because of exhaustion.” She fell silent, but he saw her thinking about something.

“Did you leave behind any special someone?”

“No.” She said it with a vengeance.

“So, what’s the story behind that ‘no’?”

Her head came up and her shoulders tensed. “What do you mean?”

He raised his brow and his mouth turned down, letting her know he’d told the truth, now it was her turn.

She thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “My senior year in college, I got engaged. We both applied for scholarships. I got one, he didn’t. His solution to that was that I continue with the vet I was working for and support us while he went to law school. When he got his degree, he’d put me through veterinary school.”

Ethan wanted to laugh, because he could guess what her reaction to that proposal would’ve been. “I assume you didn’t take him up on his offer.”

Her mouth twitched. “I considered it, but when I saw my fiancé having coffee with another woman, holding her hand and looking like a lovesick schoolboy, I knew what the score was. He was simply looking for someone to fund his law degree. And it wasn’t going to be me.” She toyed with her fork, pushing around her flauta. “It kinda took the bloom off the rose for me. After that, I was too busy in veterinary school to date. With my scholarship, I wanted to keep up my grades. I guess you could say I was single-minded on graduating.”

He could understand her attitude. At least Mary hadn’t tried to use him.

“Once the guys in school knew I was there for an MD and not an MRS, I didn’t have problems with them wanting to date. They still wondered if I could cut it, along with my professors, but they watched, observed, then were okay with me.”

He wondered if she lumped him in with that group of uninformed males.

The waitress appeared and they paid their checks. He walked her back to her car parked before the court building.

“Thanks for the help, Dr. Grant.” He flashed a big smile.

“I think you can call me Tessa.”

As she drove away, Ethan was surprised by Tessa’s reaction to his being-left-at-the-altar story. She hadn’t offered any platitudes, and no wonder. His experience with a broken engagement had been bad, but Tessa’s experience was worse.

He found himself admiring Tessa. She fought for what she wanted and believed in and was even stronger after her broken engagement.

She might be only five feet tall, but she threw a mighty big shadow. And he felt himself responding to that amazing woman. With his history, though, he doubted she’d be interested in him. And oddly enough, that saddened him.

* * *

“How’d things go at the hearing?” Dr. Adams asked as Tessa walked into the clinic office. He sat at the rolltop desk, reviewing file folders. Doc still preferred the handwritten files that he wrote himself. None of his records were electronic.