Chapter 3
Chapter Three
HUDSON
“ S end him around again.” Harry stands on the bottom rail, arms resting on the top rail, spouting orders as usual. I toss the lariat behind the colt, and he takes off around the round yard. He has learned go, stop, and come to me. Quick learner, this little guy.
“Good. Should have him running along in a few weeks.” Harry slips from the rail and walks toward the homestead. “Oh, Hudson, the vet will be here in half an hour. Take him to the mares for their monthly workup, then I want that fence line sorted out. Reed can help you.”
“Yes, sir.”
I send the colt again before stopping in the center of the yard. Letting the rope loosen, I wait for him to come to me. He slows and, after a quarter way ’round again, he turns and walks to where I stand. “Good boy.”
I rub a hand up his forehead and over his eyes before pulling a treat from my back pocket—a couple of slices of carrot I stole off the counter while Ma was chopping vegetables for tonight’s supper. He gently takes them from my flattened hand.
A dusty Cherokee pulls into the drive at the homestead. Not the usual vehicle Dr. Randall brings. Must be a rental. And he’s early... Unless my half-an-hours have shrunk?
I lead the colt back to his paddock, let him loose, and turn back, shutting the gate. A woman steps out of the car. I stop short. Definitely not Randall. Her curly light brown hair whips around her face in the breeze. After hauling a large bag from the trunk, she walks to the front door.
Who on earth is that? Some friend of Reed’s? The only thing my brother likes better than his shiny machines is a pretty girl. Maybe she has come to move in—serves him right. I chuckle and make my way back to the house to wait for the vet.
The woman stands just inside the doorway, bag still in her hand. For one of Reed’s girls, she looks a little too smart. Her curly brown hair sits around her shoulders, the morning sun turning it golden brown. She glances at me when I move further into the room. Her brown eyes find mine.
Holy fuck.
A smattering of freckles sits over her cheeks as she smiles at me.
And... my gut flips. My mouth gapes. I snap it shut and clear my throat. Pa’s gaze alternates between her and me.
Harry shakes her hand. Something doesn’t add up. Why is he shaking her hand?
“Thanks for coming out, Dr. Howard. Hudson here will show you up to the mares.”
Argh. Jesus.
Hudson, you fucking idiot.
“Please, call me Addy. And that would be wonderful. I can’t wait to meet them all.” Her face is lit up with the brightest smile.
Goddamn, she’s beautiful.
Harry grunts, dismissing her. Ma stands at the kitchen counter, glancing between Dr. Howard and me. Oh no, Ma, don’t you even think it. I clear my throat, desperate to get out of the house before my mother starts trying to make plans neither of us want. “We can take my truck.”
I walk out the back door, not waitin’. Ma says something to Addy, but she excuses herself. The back door bangs behind me a moment later. “Hudson?”
I keep walking. “Yeah.”
“Ah, how far along are the mares?”
I turn back, and she almost slams into my chest but grips the bag in front of her instead and takes a step back. I tilt my head. “They are due late November.”
“If you have an accurate due date, that would help.”
I fold my arms. She frowns but schools it to a polite smile a heartbeat later.
“Third week of November; that’s as accurate as it gets around here, Dr. Howard.”
“Okay, great. And please, call me Addy.”
“Whatever you say, Dr. Howard.”
I turn and walk to my truck. She sighs but follows me. I’m being an ass, but that beautiful face, those brown eyes have caught me off guard. And I’m not sure I like the heady feeling I’m getting, being so close to her. Get your shit together, Hudson. Jesus.
I open the passenger side door and lean on it. She steps into the space, and I take the bag from her hands. My mother’s ways are ingrained into my brain, even when I don’t want them. I put the bag in the back of the truck. Brushing past me, she climbs in, and the scent of apples and spice tangles through the air around me. Clearing my throat, I shut the door and count to ten as I walk around the back of the pickup and take four long, steady, and deep breaths.
I jump into the truck and fire her up. Addy is looking around, her focus on the horses in their paddocks. Her gaze finds Silver and stays there. A small smile pulls up on her lips. I grip the wheel tighter and slide the stick into drive. “You’re new at the clinic, I take it.”
“Yeah, got in yesterday. You guys are my first visit.” And there is that pretty smile. I swing my eyes back to the road. We head toward the mares.
“It’s so stunning out here,” she says, turned toward the window. Her hair shifts over her shoulders, her waist pulling in above her low-cut jeans. One fine, elegant hand rests on her thigh, the other over the rolled-down window of the truck.
“Yep.”
She chuckles and turns back to me. “Gosh, you are so lucky to live here.”
When I don’t reply, she stares at the road ahead. The gateway up ahead is closed.
“I can get that,” she offers.
Nodding, I slow the truck. She pushes the door open and jumps out, wandering to the gate. Her ass sways in those tight jeans, the button-down shirt only just covering a leather belt. I can’t take my eyes off her. Fantastic, Hudson, ogle the new vet. Absolutely what she needs, I’m sure. But something about her has me unable to pry my attention from her.
Addy follows the gate around as it opens, but she’s not looking back at me. Her focus is on the twelve mares that graze in the paddock. I drive the truck through, and she closes it behind me, and I shut off the engine. Adjusting the hat on my head, I suck in a breath and step out of the truck and round the back, pulling out her bag. She meets me, taking it from my hands. “Thanks.” Her smile beams.
I nod, not trusting my stupid words right now.
“So, I am going to make each mama her own chart. No mix-ups that way. I don’t want to miss anything.”
“Okay.”
No other vet has bothered with that before. Then again, no other vet has been excited to meet my horses or referred to them as mamas. I lean on the truck, and she frowns. “You don’t want to be with them when I check them out?”
Is she serious? Course I do, but most vets, most male vets, get weirded out when owners are babying their animals. But these girls are no mere animals. They are my legacy, my life’s work. My girls. I push off the truck, and she walks toward the first mare. Vanity raises her head and nickers as we approach.
“Hey there, Mama. How are you doing?” Addy says, offering out her hand. Vanity stands, chewing. She lowers her muzzle to Addy’s hand and sniffs before going back to eating. The woman clearly knows her way around a horse, and—by the soft words and touch she has with Vanity—loves them as much as I do.
Addy gets around Vanity. Checking her over, she listens, prods, touches, and does an internal exam. She pulls the long plastic glove from her arm and tucks it into a rubbish bag and grabs up a manila folder and flips it open, filling out information and her findings. She drops it back into the bag and grabs the bag up, brushing a stray curl behind her ear. “Who’s next?”
“Whimsy. You been doin’ this long?”
I walk toward the mare, and she files in beside me. “I finished an internship at the New York Equine Veterinary Clinic last week. But I’ve been around horses my whole life.” She smiles, but it’s forced. What’s that about? The life with horses? The internship? Clearly, she loves horses, choosing the equine clinic. Maybe the last part, the part where she has been around horses her whole life. What happened to this girl to make her sad to talk about horses in her life?
“I’ve heard of the clinic. Must have been an experience.”
“You could say that.”
We stop at Whimsy, and she goes through the motions again. Talking to the mare and taking her time, like they are old friends. Making it impossible not to like her. And when those brown eyes meet mine after she finishes the last set of notes and packs up her bag, I have to shuffle to rearrange myself in my jeans.
I excuse myself and make my way to the truck. She follows, looking around, her face lit up by wonder and happiness. I think of anything other than the sway of her hips, the curves of her chest, those pretty, dark eyes, and the bounce of her curls.
Raking horse shit.
Getting tossed off a yearling and hitting the rails.
Taxes . . .
Nothing helps.
Fuck me.
She opens the door and slides onto the seat. The bag must be in the truck bed already. I look back, and it sits in the tray. “Oh, I got it in there okay.” She sweeps the hair from her neck. I force my gaze onto the closed gate behind us. I start the truck and turn it around. She moves to get the gate.
“Nope, my turn,” I say, my voice gravel.
Shit.
Throwing the Chevy into park, I fly out of the seat like it’s on fire. Needing distance between us. Us. You idiot, Hudson. She is absolutely unaffected by the proximity to me. I roll my eyes at myself and unlatch the gate. I give it a shove and let it swing open and walk somewhat slower back and climb in. Holding the door half shut, I drive through and park, jumping out to shut the gate. When I climb back in, Addy is on her phone, texting.
“Everything okay?” I know it’s not my business, but the words leave my mouth before I have a chance to shut them down.
“Yep. Talking to my boss. You know him?”
“Justin? Yeah, we went to high school together. He treatin’ you alright?”
“Ah, I haven’t actually met him in person yet. I came out here first thing.”
Justin Morley makes Reed akin to a saint. Probably the reason the last female vet they had a few years ago left, if you believe rumors. Which I don’t. But with Addy now on his team, I might pay closer attention. So, I simply nod, remembering she asked me a question.
“He seems nice.” She locks the phone and pushes it back into her back pocket.
I pin my stare on the road ahead.
“What? He’s not?”
“Never said that.”
“You didn’t not say it, either.”
Clever girl. “Nope, didn’t.”
She frowns. Crap, now I have her thinking there’s something wrong with her new boss. Great job, Hudson. “Justin has a reputation. A warning, is all.”
“Thanks,” she drawls, and it’s the first time she has given me anything but sunshine. Sore topic? This girl is beginning to feel more and more akin to a detailed work of fine art that can only be understood with time and care. Go figure.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to ruin your day.”
She huffs a little laugh. “You would have to do much better than that to ruin my day, Hudson Rawlins.”
A stone grows in my throat, thick and fast. I snap my eyes to the road. We pull up at the homestead. I hear him before I see him. Charlie. I rush from the truck, wanting to intercept him before he realizes she’s in the truck and growls or snaps at her. The way he does with everyone. My family included.
I round the front of the truck. The passenger door slams. The truck is empty. I jerk to a halt. Addy is squatting on the gravel.
“Hey there, little man. Oh my goodness, look at you,” she coos. The front half of Charlie is in her lap. She is rubbing him up, playing with his ears and belly. And that little traitor is loving every single second of it. She falls onto her butt, and a very happy Charlie laps at her face. She giggles. My gut flips for the second time this morning.
“Charlie.” He ignores me.
With a whistle from me, he bolts from her lap and skulks behind me like he got scolded. I offer her my hand, and she slaps hers into it, pulling herself up. Her fingers slide from mine before she dusts off her jeans and straightens her shirt. When her gaze meets mine, it’s pure fucking sunshine.
I force a smile and breathe past the stone that has turned to a boulder. “Sorry, he’s not usually a people person—I mean, people dog.”
“He’s the sweetest thing.”
I stare at her in utter disbelief.
“Oh, good, you’re back. How’re the mares progressing?” Harry interrupts the awkward moment that hangs between us like electricity. At least on my end.
“They are thriving. You are taking brilliant care of them,” Addy says.
“Hudson’s mares, Dr. Howard. His touch, not mine.”
“Oh”—she turns back to me—“you’re doing a fine job.”
I grunt.
Charlie trots around me and sits at her side.
“Will you look at that. Lucifer has made a friend.” Harry chuckles, glancing between the two of us. “Who’da thought.”
Addy bends down and pats him. He jumps up.
“Charlie,” I growl.
He pops down to the ground and slinks behind her. I raise an eyebrow, shaking my head, and he whimpers.
“Hey,” Reed says, appearing beside Pa. “See you made a fool of my big brother’s dog here. I’m Reed.” He holds out a hand, and she shakes it before returning to Charlie.
“Nice to meet you, Reed.” Unlike every other woman on the planet who melts when Reed Rawlins walks in the room, she pays him no heed and rubs Charlie up some more. When he rolls over, she pats his belly before pushing back up. “Well, I better be off.”
“Before you go, I wanna make sure you’re on board for the winter roundup. Around seven weeks’ time. We always have our vet ride along with us,” Harry says.
Addy stiffens. Something like fear flashes in her eyes before she meets Harry’s. “Ah, sorry, I don’t ride. But I can check if another vet can go along?”
“Hudson?” Pa asks.
I raise my hands. Not up to me. “It’s her call, Pa.”
Harry shakes his head, giving me a pointed look. “Actually, it’s mine. You will ride with us.”
“I—” Addy’s eyes widen a little, and she shifts on her feet.
“Obviously she doesn’t want to, Harry,” Reed says.
“Why not?” he snaps.
“I haven’t—I mean, I don’t ride.”
“We got that part. Why not?” The old man folds his arms, settling in for an argument that I know she can’t win.
Fuck.
I feel like I should be defending her, waving a white flag or something. I know exactly how my father is going to take this. Badly. And it won’t end well for her.
“You need to get back in the saddle. Hudson can help you back onto a horse. You have seven weeks.”
“Pa.” I step forward, brows drawn, hands by my sides.
“I wasn’t askin’, Hudson. You can start Saturday. I assume they give you weekends off, Addy?”
“Yes.” Her voice is light, shallow. A shell of the vibrant woman that was loving up on Charlie a moment ago.
Goddamn, Pa.
“Hudson?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s sorted, then. Reed, I need a hand with that fence line, son.”
Reed winces and offers a sympathetic smile before waving and following the old man.
“You can say no, you know,” I offer, but the words don’t fit right. And for the first time since she got here, she squares her shoulders to me, eyes searching my face.
“Like you did?” A heartbeat later, she walks back to her car and puts the bag in the trunk.
Charlie trots after her, and I resist the urge to call him back. Poor girl. She should transfer back to New York. But for some reason, that twists like barbed wire in my veins. I should be mad on her behalf for Harry’s particular brand of tough love, but I can’t get past the fact that my old man gave me a way to see her again.
Well, fuck.