Chapter 29
CHAPTER
After the violent and stormy night, lit by lightning and punctuated by loud blasts of thunder, Anna walked outside into a world that was as dry as it had been the day before.
Despite the storm, little rain had fallen, and it had soaked into the parched earth, leaving no sign of its passing.
The air still had that harsh, dry feel that promised a scorcher of a day.
She jumped into her car and set off. Her assistant Shea had a day off, but Anna was certain she wouldn’t need her. If anything, this morning’s appointment was one she would rather do alone. She flexed her hands on the steering wheel.
The stud was a good forty-minute drive, and as she pulled off the road through the gate, Anna almost wished it was a little further.
Maybe a lot further. It would have been nice to have a little more time to prepare for this encounter.
But deep down, she knew that all the time in the world wouldn’t really have made her any more prepared.
Wouldn’t have taken away the core of fear that was seated deep inside her.
She parked the car and took a firm hold on her feelings.
She was a vet, and a good one. This was part of the job. She could do this.
‘Hi, Anna, good to see you.’
The last time she’d seen Paul, he’d been bloodied and desperate, lying on a stretcher, begging her to save his bull’s life.
While she’d done that and sent the animal home again, Paul had been recuperating in hospital.
After almost two weeks, he was home again, but walking with a crutch and still moving carefully.
‘Hi, Paul. How are you?’
‘I’m fine. Healing slowly, but I am healing. And as for Freddie, he’s doing even better.’
‘I’m glad to hear it.’
‘He’s out today. Come on. I’ll take you to him.’
Anna followed Paul to a strong, metal-railed fence surrounding a small paddock. The paddock had the only green grass Anna had seen for days, testament to the irrigation pipes she could see nearby.
‘I thought some pasture would be good for him,’ Paul said. ‘It’s not going to last long, and I won’t be doing any more irrigation until it rains. The creek is way down.’
‘Everywhere’s the same,’ Anna answered without thinking.
All her attention was on the big red Brangus bull grazing near the middle of the paddock.
He looked good, a real champion, which she knew he was.
He was recovering well. He looked fit and strong and quite magnificent.
He lifted his head as Paul banged a metal bucket.
The animal obviously recognised the signal, and turned in their direction. And that’s when everything changed.
The bull wasn’t beautiful any more. His left side was a mass of scars.
They were healing, but were still new and livid.
The muscles of his chest were misshapen and he moved stiffly, almost limping.
As he drew closer, more scars became visible.
The skin was puckered and uneven. Anna’s heart clenched.
‘I am sorry there is so much scarring,’ she said. ‘The wounds were so bad.’
‘Don’t worry. I understand. I’m so pleased he survived. And so grateful to you for doing what you did.’
‘You’re welcome. I’m a vet. That’s my job.’
‘It was above and beyond,’ Paul insisted. ‘A lot of vets wouldn’t have done that.’
‘Not my first rodeo.’ The words were out before Anna could stop them.
Paul frowned and studied her face. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Just that I had another bull caught in a similar crash once. I lost him. I wasn’t about to lose Freddie.’ Anna shrugged it off, but had the feeling Paul read more into her words than she had intended.
The bull had ambled over to the fence where they stood and Paul’s son Rick joined them.
After greeting Anna, Rick climbed the rails and dropped down beside Freddie.
He pulled a halter from the bucket and slid it over the bull’s head, then fed him a couple of handfuls of feed pellets from the bucket.
They were waiting for her. Anna knew that.
This was supposed to be her final visit to Freddie.
So far, they had all gone without incident.
She reached for the gate to open it, realising as she did that her hand wasn’t shaking.
She wasn’t afraid. Not any more. The bull finished the food and swung his head to look at her with huge, dark eyes.
There were no wild white rings of pain around them today.
He looked at her with those big brown eyes, and all she felt was sympathy for him, and a little pride that she had saved him.
She stepped to Freddie’s side and stroked his neck.
‘So how are you feeling, big boy?’
The animal didn’t move.
Anna stepped close to his head and crouched to study the healing wounds on his chest. The full examination took a few minutes and it was clear the bull was fine.
There was nothing for her to do. The treatment he’d received since coming home had been excellent.
But even the best care in the world wasn’t going to hide those scars.
‘He’s not going to be winning any more championship ribbons for you,’ she said to Rick as she finished.
‘That’s all right. He’s won more than his fair share. There’s a lot more to him than being handsome. Besides, his offspring can start winning them now.’ Rick removed Freddie’s halter and gave him the remaining pellets.
Anna walked back through the gate to where Paul was standing. ‘He’s fine now. There’s no need for me to come back, unless something changes and you feel I need to.’
‘Thanks, Anna. While you’re here, do you have time to take a look at one of the cows? She’s breeding, and this morning she was struggling to get to her feet. I thought, as you were coming anyway, there wasn’t much point in calling our usual vet. And besides, I think I’d like you to be our vet now.’
‘Thanks, but—’ Anna caught herself. She had been going to say she didn’t do cattle.
Horses and small animals were her thing.
And alpacas, of course. But was that true any more?
She looked back towards the small paddock where Freddie was once again helping himself to the green grass.
She was proud of saving the bull from his injuries.
Not just because of the skill it had taken, but also because of the courage she’d mustered to overcome her greatest fear.
If you beat back a fear once, and beat it hard enough, surely it was gone for good?
‘Thanks. I appreciate the confidence you have in me. I’ll be happy to take a look at your cow.’
***
Happy also described how Anna felt as she drove away from the stud half an hour later.
The cow had been seen to and Anna was certain she’d be right as rain by the next day.
She hummed to herself as she drove into the Ridge and parked outside the grocery store.
As she got out of the car, she caught movement inside Rose’s Alpaca Emporium and her thoughts turned to the knitting club.
She’d really enjoyed her last visit. Maybe she should become a regular.
Time to end her self-imposed distance from this community.
She turned away from Kelly’s store. The groceries could wait a few minutes.
When she stepped into Rose’s shop, the first thing she saw was Justin’s face.
And Ben’s. Smiling at her from the calendar hanging on the wall.
Although she’d seen it before, the photo stopped her in her tracks.
That tricky little thing started up again in her heart, even more exciting than before, because Justin was taking her to the town dance.
It seemed so unlikely that someone like him could want to be with someone like her.
She swallowed, feeling the skin pull taut across her face in its familiar fashion.
The good feeling tried to fall away, but she caught it and hung on to it.
Paul had said there was more to Freddie than just being handsome. Surely the same applied to her? There was a lot more to her than her face. Justin had seen that. He’d invited her to the dance.
A voice tinged with laughter disturbed her. ‘They are rather nice to look at.’ Rose approached from the storeroom at the back of the shop.
‘No. I mean yes … I mean …’
‘I know exactly what you mean.’ Rose chuckled. ‘If I wasn’t old enough to be their grandmother …’
Anna joined in her laughter.
‘Has that Justin finally managed to ask you out?’
‘Um, well …’
‘Aha! I knew it. He’s asked you to the town dance, hasn’t he?’
‘Yes.’
‘About time, too. I assume you said yes. It would be pretty hard to say no to someone who looks like that.’
Anna felt a flash of irritation. ‘Everything’s not about looks, you know.’
‘No, it’s not. And I’m glad you feel that way.
So what can I do for you? I can’t sell you a calendar because that’s the only one I have left.
Kelly might still have some. Between us, we ordered enough for everyone in town, but I didn’t allow for visiting knitters and alpaca walkers. They’ve been buying them too.’
‘It’s all right. Bree gave me one.’ Anna looked around the shop, her eyes pausing on the framed photo of Bree’s twin alpacas on the back wall.
Delivering those rare babies had been one of the highlights of her life here in the Ridge.
She wondered if perhaps it had also been a turning point for her to get beyond her past and the scars it had left.
‘I just dropped in to find out when the next knitting club meeting is. If I can get away, I’d like to join in. ’
A broad smile lit Rose’s face. ‘And we’d love to have you. Normally it’s every second Saturday afternoon and we should be having one this Saturday, but as it’s the town dance that night, we’ve delayed it for another week. I hope you can come. Everyone would love to see you.’
Anna nodded. Her current clinic opening times included Saturday afternoon, but she’d set those times when she’d first arrived in town and didn’t know anyone.
That session was very sparsely attended, even to the point of not bothering with a nurse.
She could easily cancel that clinic every second week.
Or even permanently. She deserved a bit of time off.
To have some fun. And, to her surprise, knitting really was fun.
‘That sounds great. I’ll be there. I still have that kit I started last time I was here. I’ll get it out again and see if I can get a bit more done before then.’
‘And if you need any help, don’t hesitate to drop by. Any time.’
‘Thanks.’
‘And I guess I’ll see you at the dance.’
‘I guess you will.’