Chapter 7
MATHEW
“It’s dead in here.” Aiden sighed, leaning against the nurses’ station.
“You can’t say that,” Mathew said quickly, his eyes darting toward the nearest ER rooms. “This is literally the emergency department.”
“What? It’s not morbid. It’s a figure of speech.”
Mathew groaned and shook his head at the nurse. “It’s the principle of the thing. Don’t talk about death when you’re in my department.” He whispered the word and glanced around again.
“I don’t know what you think is going to happen. I told you. The place is—”
“Don’t say it.”
Aiden rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “It’s so slow today. Maybe you should cut out early. You were only supposed to come in for that consult a few hours ago, anyway. I’m sure the rest of us can handle things.”
“I’m not leaving.” There was nothing for Mathew to do at home. It was too quiet. And after he’d started building that chicken coop for River, he couldn’t shake the itch he had to keep moving. He was enjoying having a project he could work on with his hands.
And he’d made excellent progress. There were a few more things he wanted to add to the structure.
Like the little accessories the birds would need.
He also wanted to paint the wire black, so it’d be easier to see the chickens inside the coop.
He wasn’t sure of the science behind it, but he’d watched plenty of videos on the subject and it worked.
Maybe that was the problem with his headspace today.
He was antsy because he wasn’t busy. He needed to be doing something so he didn’t dwell on the thoughts that constantly plagued his mind. The feelings of inadequacy. The fact that he’d been married but couldn’t keep his wife, whereas his father managed to keep his mother.
No, he needed to stop his mind from going there.
Immediately.
“Staffing okay everywhere else?”
His friend rolled his head to the side and stared at him. “You don’t work in those departments, Klein, and you know it.”
“If they need the help—”
“Not gonna happen. Just… go home, will you?”
Mathew glowered at the glass doors where patients normally came in every few minutes. Aiden was right. Something was off about today. Where were their patients? Right about now, he was regretting moving out of the city.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out. Then his heart hammered to an uneven rhythm.
Aiden leaned closer. “Everything okay?”
Mathew glanced down at the message, then slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Yeah. Just my cousin’s friend. She asked if I could come by the farm and help her with something.”
Aiden stared at him, curious. Questions flickered in his eyes, but before Mathew allowed him to voice one, he shoved the phone in his pocket.
“I’ll check with Jones and then leave. You’re right. I wasn’t even supposed to be on deck today.”
His friend’s mouth fell open and he sputtered a few things that Mathew didn’t hear. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was going. Curiosity, maybe. Or maybe it was the fact that when River asked for help, something in him had a hard time saying no.
By the time Mathew pulled up at the farm, his eyes found River almost immediately. He put the car in park and leaned over to grab his sweatshirt, but before he could climb out, she opened the passenger door and slid inside.
He blinked at her. “What’s going on?”
A smile tugged at her mouth. “So you did come.”
His brow furrowed. “You asked me to.”
Something warm flickered in her expression, like she hadn’t been completely sure he would. “I thought there was a chance you might say no.”
He studied her for a moment. “You were awfully mysterious about what you needed help with.”
Her mouth twitched. “I didn’t want to give you too much time to come up with an excuse not to come.”
That nearly pulled a smile out of him, but he managed to hold it back. Barely.
“So,” he said, turning slightly toward her, “now that I’m here, you going to tell me what you need help with?”
She fidgeted for a second, then straightened her shoulders and smiled brightly. “I thought today we could go pick out some pullets.”
“Pullets?” He wrinkled his nose. “What are pullets?”
Apparently, pullets were chicks. Well, slightly matured chicks. They were definitely not as cute as chicks, but they weren’t the larger, scary dinosaur-like birds that roamed freely and pecked at the earth either.
“Aren’t they so cute?” River gushed, crouching down to get a better look at the teenage monstrosities. Yeah, he definitely wasn’t an animal person. But when River turned her face upward so he could get a good look at her smile, every hard edge in him softened.
“Yeah, cute.”
She tossed back her head with a laugh. “Come on, Doc. Help me pick out a few. They’re flock animals. That means they’ll get lonely if we don’t get enough.”
We.
Why did that single word sound so… special? She was including him in this adventure and… he was so here for it.
Pinching at the fabric of his pants, he crouched down and stared at the beady-eyed gremlins. “That one.” He pointed, and she followed his gesture.
“Yeah, I like her, too.”
After picking out chicks and getting all the accessories that the little darlin’s—River’s words, not his—could ever need, they were back on the road and headed for the farm.
He stayed long enough to watch River get the babies acclimated to their new home.
But when he made a move to leave, she caught him by his wrist.
“Not yet. We’ve still got work.”
He frowned. “Work?”
River’s mouth curved like she had a secret. “Sprinkler system’s gone wonky, and I could use an extra set of hands.”
He blinked. “A sprinkler system.”
“Yep.” She gave his wrist a quick tug. “Come on, let’s go.”
His brows pulled together. “And this requires the ATV?”
A grin tugged at her mouth. “It’s out in the field, so yes.”
Before he could say much else, she led him toward the hangar and the ATV parked beside it. She motioned him toward the driver’s seat. “You’re driving.”
Mathew looked at her. “Why am I driving?”
River adjusted the brim of her cap and gave him a look. “Because you’re probably better behind the wheel than I am, and I’d rather not get bounced into next week.”
That pulled the corner of his mouth upward. “Good to know.”
“Are you driving or not?”
He shook his head, climbed in, and started the ATV.
River let out a whoop that made him laugh under his breath, and before long they were bouncing down the trail toward the far field. Every few seconds, he found himself glancing her way. Wind tugged strands of hair loose beneath her hat, and the smile on her face was impossible to miss.
She caught him looking and smiled wider.
Something in his chest shifted at seeing her smile like that, so he pressed the gas a little harder and let himself enjoy the ride.
The field they were headed to was currently set up with a tall sprinkler system. It was newer and automated. He wasn’t sure how it worked, beyond the fact that it operated through an app, so the farmer could move it without being in the fields.
Back when his father worked on a farm, this sort of thing wasn’t readily available. Or maybe his father simply didn’t want to depend on anything but himself. He was a proud man. Stubborn. Set in his ways.
And he’d passed on those traits to his sons.
While River worked on the system, Mathew scanned the fields. He hadn’t grown up in Copper Creek. They’d had a farm in another part of Colorado. But this felt similar. Between the mountains and the rolling hills, it was the same.
A twinge in his chest was the only indication of how much he missed the open spaces. He’d never regret going into medicine. He loved his job and everything it entailed. The fast pace. Big stakes.
But this?
It was nice. It felt good to be out in the open air. He was starting to understand why his dad insisted on manual farm labor over working indoors.
His gaze landed on River.
He couldn’t help but wonder if this happy feeling also had something to do with her.
At that very moment, she glanced in his direction and smiled.
Yeah, it definitely had something to do with her.
They took the scenic route back to the farm. And maybe they came in too fast.
They were definitely pushing the ATV harder than they should’ve, judging by the sounds it made when he took one corner too fast. Still, he loved the squeal of laughter spilling from River.
“Mathew Harrison Klein.”
The sound of that growl had Mathew’s shoulders hunching up to his ears. They’d only just pulled the ATV to a stop, but he hadn’t noticed his father. That was the mistake. Not being aware of their surroundings.
His father looked absolutely livid. His face was flushed, sweat shining along his hairline, and his hands were clenched tightly at his sides as he stalked toward them.
“What do you think you’re doing?” his father demanded. “Do you have any idea the trouble you could have caused if you damaged that piece of equipment? Your uncle can’t afford—”
“It’s my fault.” River immediately jumped down from the ATV. “I goaded him on.”
His father scowled at her for a moment, not appearing to recognize her. Then his expression shifted—subtly at first, like his focus had snagged on something far away. The color began draining from his face, and Mathew’s stomach tightened.
His dad blinked a few times, too slow, too deliberate. He pressed his fist to his chest, then dragged in a breath that didn’t seem to go all the way down. A sheen of sweat broke out along his temple, the kind that had nothing to do with heat.
“This might be your uncle’s farm,” his father said, voice rougher than it should’ve been, “but this is still a place of business.” He shuffled a step, as if steadying himself, and blinked again.
“Dad?” Mathew moved in fast. “You okay? Are you having chest pain?”
“Son, what are you going on about?”
Mathew cut a look to a concerned River. “Call an ambulance.”
“What?” His father practically hollered. “I’m fine. It’s just indigestion.”
“Dad,” Mathew said, keeping his voice calm even as his pulse spiked, “it’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”
His father opened his mouth like he had another argument locked and loaded, but instead he sucked in a shallow breath and pressed his fist harder to his chest. His knees flexed, just slightly—like his body had forgotten how to hold him up.
Mathew lunged forward, catching him by the elbow.
“River,” he snapped, “now.”