Sweet Talking Rancher Read online

  It was weird how he’d instinctively done it anyway. . . .

  Chapter Four

  “I know it’s a lot to take in,” Faith said patiently for at least the fifth time. “But if we all stick at it, we’ll have this new system up and running in no time.”

  The veterinary staff didn’t look quite as convinced as she was. She’d instigated a weekly staff get-together to go over new announcements, deal with any issues, and hopefully bond with her new team. Even with the enticement of Yvonne’s pastries things weren’t going well.

  “If it ain’t broken, why fix it?” Blanche the receptionist who had been with the clinic since it opened repeated. Her arms folded over her chest. “Dr. Ron’s system worked just fine for all of us.”

  Several heads nodded in agreement.

  “I get that, but with this new system, we can hold everything centrally and look up stuff like old patient notes, repeat prescriptions, new animal health guidelines from the state, and all the other stuff that crops up from one screen,” Faith said.

  “Actually, I like the way you can pull up the records before you go into the consulting room and know exactly what’s going on. You’ve got all the past history on that patient right there in front of you,” Trina, one of the vet technicians, spoke up. “It’s organized like my college classes and easy to navigate.”

  Faith offered the youngest member of her staff a grateful smile.

  “Maybe if you’re a youngster,” Blanche said. “It’s all really confusing to me.”

  “I’ll help you.” Trina reached over and patted Blanche’s hand. “It really is awesome once you get your head around it.”

  Faith resolved to grab Trina before she left and ask for her help converting the other members of her skeptical team to the new way of doing things because she was running out of ideas. Most of the staff had worked for her father for over twenty years and, while she loved them all dearly, she was having a hard time convincing them that there were better ways of doing things. Not that anyone wasn’t willing to try; they just all thought everything was fine as it was and treated her and Dave like they were still kids with a lot to learn.

  “Any more questions?” Faith asked.

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “Thanks so much for coming. The new schedule for the Saturday clinic and emergency callout on Sunday is up so please check it out before you leave tonight.” Faith stood up. “And help yourself to the pastries so I don’t have to eat them all myself.”

  Even Blanche laughed at that joke and everyone departed still smiling. Faith spoke to Trina, who had some excellent ideas to get the other members of the team on board. She was just rewarding herself with a chocolate éclair she’d sneaked out of the pink-striped box when Dave came in. She pointed her finger at him.

  “You were supposed to be here, partner.”

  He grimaced. “Yeah, I know, but I got a call from Doug Bryson to tell me two of his calves had died and that I should be ashamed to call myself a vet after all the help I’d been.” He sat on the edge of the table and took out the last pastry. “I was like, what calves, and he was like the two your sister brought back to the ranch, which didn’t help much. Did I miss something?”

  “I told you about this earlier in the week,” Faith reminded him. “You asked me to help Jeff Miller when I was up at the Ramirez place. I took the calves down to Brysons’ and Sue Ellen tore me off a strip, told me to go away and not to dare bill her for breathing the same air as she did.”

  “Oh yeah! I remember now.” Dave nodded. “I called the ranch the day after, and Sue Ellen told me everything was fine, and they didn’t need anything.” He ate his cake in two bites and chewed thoroughly before continuing. “Maybe Sue Ellen didn’t tell Doug what went down.”

  “Sure sounds like it.” Faith sighed. “I hate it when calves die like that.”

  “It happens.” Dave stood up and shrugged. “Should I call Doug back and ask him to talk to his sister?”

  “I’m not sure if that will make things better or worse,” Faith confessed as she rose to her feet and picked up the empty pink box. “Sue Ellen just hates me.”

  “That’s because she’s always had a thing for Danny Miller and he’s never even looked at her.”

  “That’s hardly my fault,” Faith reminded him. “She’s had seventeen years to make an impression on him without me being around.”

  Dave grinned. “That’s the spirit, Sis.”

  Faith followed him out to the back of the clinic where they checked on the remaining animals before closing up the building. One of them would come down at midnight to check again.

  “Any plans for the evening?” Faith inquired as they went into the parking lot.

  “I’m on call, so no.” Dave paused. “Unless you’re offering—”

  “I’m going out.” Faith put down that notion straightaway. “To Morgantown.”

  “That’s hardly out. Are you going to see Nancy? She said she’d graciously decided to talk to you again.”

  “Well, I am going to the Red Dragon,” Faith said. “I’m meeting Red Ramirez for a drink.”

  “Fast worker.” Dave grinned.

  “Me or him?”

  “Both of you. He’s a nice guy,” Dave said as she got into her truck. “Be gentle with him.”

  “We’re not going out or anything,” Faith hastened to add.

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Dave gave her an exaggerated wink. “As I said, he’s a good guy so don’t wear him out. What time are you ‘seeing Red’? Ha ha.”

  As Faith had no intention of telling Dave that she’d also agreed to meet Danny she went with deliberately vague.

  “I’ve got to do some errands in town, so I’ll text him when I’m ready to meet up.”

  “Can you bring me back a pizza?” Dave asked plaintively. “I don’t mind when it arrives. I can eat pizza whenever.”

  “Sure, why not?” Faith agreed. From what she remembered, the pizza place was only a five-minute walk from the bar, and you could order online and pick up. She’d begun to suspect that if she hadn’t been around to nag her brother to share the cooking and eat healthy food he would be living on pizza.

  “Thanks!” Dave grinned. “Race you home! Loser makes the coffee.”

  Dave hared off toward his truck. It was blocking hers in, so she had no chance of winning. She sighed and settled into the seat. At least Dave hadn’t inquired too deeply about the state of her love life, being too interested in securing his pizza. She was way more anxious about seeing Danny than Red. There was a lot to say and no easy way of saying it, which was probably why she’d been avoiding the conversation for seventeen years. She wasn’t proud of that or of herself. She’d convinced herself that not sharing her pain with Danny was actually the best thing to do, but recent events had made her see things differently.

  It was definitely time to woman up and bring him up-to-date.

  * * *

  Danny checked his cell and glanced around the almost empty café. He’d taken a seat at the very back where most people wouldn’t notice him if they came in the main door. Despite reminding himself that he was the one who deserved answers his stomach was still tied up in knots. He’d told Adam not to expect him home for dinner and not to say anything about his absence to their father. He’d seen Faith a couple of times around town over the past week but hadn’t made any effort to talk to her. It wasn’t his style to be confrontational, which was probably why he’d let her get away with not talking to him for so long.

  He looked up as the café door opened and saw Faith come in. She wore jeans, cowboy boots, and a strappy blue top that really suited her dark coloring. Even though she’d hurt him, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. She saw him and offered him an awkward wave as she greeted Lizzie and made her way through the tables toward him.

  “Hey.” He stood up and gestured to the chair that backed onto the rest of the café. “If you sit here, no one will know who I’m talking to.” />
  “Someone will guess.” She grimaced. “It’s hard to keep secrets in a small town.”

  “Yeah, I think we both already know that.”

  He waited until Lizzie supplied Faith with coffee and topped up his own before asking about how she was settling in with the business and making small talk. He really had no idea how to broach the big subject and hoped she was going to do it for him. He felt like he was owed that at least.

  “Okay.” Faith twisted her hands together on the table in front of her and took a deep breath. “We should talk about what happened when I left Morgan Valley.”

  “Sure.” Danny wasn’t in the mood to piss around the issue. “I’d like to know why you didn’t contact me after the baby was born.”

  “I did.” Faith frowned. “I even sent you pictures. I was hurt when you didn’t bother to acknowledge them.”

  “If you did send pictures, I never saw them.” Danny studied her face. “The only thing I was told was that you’d had a baby boy and that you’d called him Marcus.”

  “We chose that name together, Danny. It wasn’t just me, and we had a baby,” Faith reminded him.

  “That’s what I thought, but your family made it very clear that I was to have nothing to do with you or the baby.”

  “I asked one of the nurses at the hospital to mail the letter when my parents weren’t looking,” Faith said. “When I didn’t hear back, I called the ranch and your father answered. He said you weren’t around and not to call back because you didn’t want to talk to me.”

  Danny set his jaw. “That was probably because your father threatened to take me to court because you were only seventeen when you got pregnant.”

  “I don’t believe you.” Faith frowned. “My dad would never do something like that.”

  “So, you’re calling me a liar?” Danny raised an eyebrow.

  “I don’t know.” Faith flung her hands out. “Maybe you misheard him, or he just said it in a moment of anger.”

  “I heard him perfectly, Faith, and so did Deputy Sheriff Rosas, who was standing right next to him at the time.” He met her defensive gaze. “I was seventeen and totally convinced I would be thrown into jail if I didn’t do what he said.”

  “Which was what? Ignore me and your son for the rest of our lives?”

  “I’m not sure why you think you have a right to get angry here, Faith,” Danny said slowly. “When I’m the one who was run off by you and your family.”

  “And you think I went along with it?” she asked.

  “I didn’t hear any different from you.” Danny shrugged. “What was I supposed to think?”

  “So, let me get this straight.” Faith raised her chin. “I’m supposed to believe everything you just told me, but you can conveniently ignore the fact that I sent you a letter you never replied to.”

  “I never got that letter!” Danny only realized he’d raised his voice when Faith winced.

  “And I never ever heard my dad threaten to prosecute you.” She shot to her feet. “I knew this was a mistake. I should never—”

  “Have tried to make things right?” Danny stood too. “If this is your idea of apologizing then maybe you’d better rethink the way you approach things.”

  “Maybe you should take some responsibility here as well, Danny Miller. How the hell do you think I felt being seventeen and all alone in the hospital having a baby?”

  Danny stared at her and finally got ahold of himself. He never lost his temper and he couldn’t believe how quickly he’d gotten fired up. “I can’t imagine. It must have been incredibly tough.”

  “Yes, it was.” She looked away from him. “I have to go. I’m meeting someone.”

  “Right now? You don’t want to finish this conversation?”

  “With you jumping down my throat every time I speak? No, I can’t say that I do.” Her voice trembled and he felt it like a kick in the gut. “I’m not the villain here, Danny.”

  “I know that—look, can we start again?” He sucked in a breath. “It’s not like me to get rattled so easily and we got off on the wrong foot.”

  “When you accused my father of threatening to put you in jail.”

  Danny met her gaze. “It’s the truth, I swear it.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t believe that.”

  “Which is why we’re in this situation to begin with because when it came down to it you always trusted your family more than you did me.”

  “That’s not fair.” Her eyes flashed fire.

  “Life’s not fair, Faith. My father taught me that.” He shrugged. “Maybe this was a mistake and we should’ve left all this shit where it belonged in the past.”

  “Maybe it was. Good night, Danny.” She turned away, but not before he’d seen the glint of tears in her eyes. “I’ll try and keep out of your way as much as possible, okay?”

  He watched her walk out with her head held high, sank back down on his chair, and covered his face with his hands. For someone who prided himself on being the levelheaded member of the Miller family he’d sure gotten angry fast. His father would be proud.

  “Wow.”

  He looked up to see Evan looming over him.

  “God, not you. Go away.”

  “You really screwed that up.” Evan took the chair Faith had just vacated. “And what the hell is this about you and Faith having a kid?”

  * * *

  Faith walked past Lizzie without a word and almost ran back to the parking lot where she got into her truck and locked the door. Not that she expected Danny to come after her or anything. He’d made it pretty clear how he felt about her. Away from his cool, condemning stare she fought the urge to cry. How could he think her father would threaten him like that? Her dad was the sweetest guy she’d ever met apart from Danny himself.

  Although Danny certainly hadn’t been sweet to her earlier. She’d always known he had backbone, but she hadn’t reckoned on dealing with a man who knew his own worth and wasn’t going to allow her to ignore his truth. In their teens he’d been happy to let her boss him around and been a rock when she’d discovered she was pregnant with their child. He’d single-handedly organized the trip to Vegas where they’d hoped to get married so they could return home and make their own little family.

  Of course, they’d gotten that all wrong, and no one in Vegas was willing to marry them without parental consent. And then she’d gone into labor earlier than expected and Danny had to call her parents for help anyway. After that, it had all been a bit of a blur. She vaguely remembered Jeff Miller and her parents having an argument over her hospital bed until a nurse had ordered them all to get out. When she’d finally woken up after the emergency caesarian, they’d been no sign of Danny or his father and her parents had refused to discuss the matter.

  Faith took a deep, shaky breath. She needed to get a grip. Danny was right that she should have left things well alone—except now she knew that both of them had believed the worst of each other. She stared out of the muddy windscreen at the row of lights at the back of Main Street. Was there any way to fix things now? Was it simply too late?

  She jumped as someone knocked on the window and turned to see Red Ramirez grinning at her. His smile faded as she lowered the window.

  “Hey, are you okay? I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “I was just thinking too hard.” Faith found a smile somewhere. “I was just about to send you a text.”

  He studied her for a long moment. “You want a rain check on that date?”

  She nodded. “I don’t think I’d be very good company tonight.”

  “No worries.” He tipped his hat to her. “Call me when you’re ready.”

  “Thanks, Red. I really appreciate it,” Faith said as he walked off toward the bar. He raised his hand in a final farewell as he disappeared between the two buildings.

  She fired up the engine and put on her seat belt. There was plenty of paperwork to get through from the past week and if Dave got too many emergency calls? Then she w
as more than willing to help out. Anything had to be better than sitting around thinking about her terrible meeting with Danny Miller.

  * * *

  “Evan . . .” Danny looked at his brother, who was now helping himself to Danny’s abandoned cup of coffee. “Were you spying on me?”

  “Hell, no. I just came in to get some coffee and ask Lizzie if Adam left his phone at her place. I saw him when he arrived home and he was looking everywhere for it.”

  “That’s why you came all the way into town?”

  Evan wrinkled his brow. “Man, you’re super salty and suspicious today. Anyone would think you’d been hiding great big honking mind-blowing secrets from your own brother or something.”

  “It wasn’t just my secret to keep,” Danny reminded him. “And, if you breathe a word of it to anyone, I’ll know it was you and I’ll kill you.”

  “Like, really?” Evan looked interested. “But you’d make it look like an accident, right? Because otherwise you’d be spending the rest of your life in jail.”

  “I wouldn’t care if you were dead.”

  “Wow, that’s harsh.” Evan sat back. “So, when did this all go down? It must have been when you were both in high school because Faith left for college at the end of the year and never came back.” Evan paused and fake gasped. “That’s why she never came back.”

  “Wow, no shit, Sherlock.” Danny lowered his voice. “Look, you really must keep this to yourself, okay?”

  “Of course I will.” Evan looked pained. “You’re my favorite brother.”

  “Only because I’m the next youngest and we had to share a room, and you imprinted on me like some kind of demented baby bird when Mom left.”

  “Squawk,” Evan said. “What happened to the baby?”