Chapter 7 #3
“I don’t imagine you expected to be in the middle of unrest, though.”
“No. That wasn’t the plan. But it happened.”
They sat in silence for a moment. “My dad always hoped that at least one of us boys would follow in his footsteps.”
She glanced over at him. “And you’re regretting that it wasn’t you? Lyle, for goodness sake, your calling is definitely with animals.”
“I know. But, I’d give anything to turn back time. Spend another day with my dad. Soak up his wisdom without automatically thinking every conversation was a carefully veiled lesson in what I should be doing rather that what I’d chosen to do.”
She scooted closer to him, bumped his knee with hers in compassion.
“I have family in Montana, too,” he reminded.
“My sister, Dora, is there. I went for a visit after she married Ethan Callahan, got pressed into service when the town’s vet left, and ended up really liking it there.
I was able to take over the previous doc’s practice, and the business grew like crazy. ”
“Who’s taking care of your patients while you’re here?”
“I’d already hired another doctor, Mark Sanyo, because things had gotten so busy.
” He chuckled. “There’s a group of four old guys who consider themselves matchmakers.
One of them, Ozzie Peyton, is actually a really good friend of my grandfather’s.
They were in the service together. Anyway, those four guys have pulled some pretty crazy shenanigans over the past couple of years and the town is suddenly booming. ”
“Matchmakers, huh? How did you escape that?”
“Lucky, I guess. Although if I’d stayed, I imagine they might have taken a shot at me.”
“Would that have been so bad?”
He shrugged. “I’d rather be in charge of my own love life. But there was something about seeing my sister and her husband together that got me thinking about settling down. Not that there was anyone I was interested in dating in Shotgun Ridge.”
“So, you’ve never been in love?”
He pushed the hair off her shoulder, exposing the puppy still snuggled in her neck. Maybe with a tag-along young girl who just happened to be my best friend’s little sister, he thought, then immediately pulled back. Where had that thought come from? He’d barely noticed her as a kid.
But he certainly noticed her now. There was something about her that drew him as no other woman had. She was good with Charlotte. They made a good team.
And that’s what he admired so much about his sister and Ethan’s relationship. They were a solid team. He was starting to think that Heather could be that for him.
But he was probably getting ahead of himself, and he surely didn’t want to cause her pain.
Because things were still a little raw and up in the air in his life.
Was it fair to drag someone else into his chaos?
And would she even want to explore a relationship with him?
He knew there was something in her past that she didn’t talk about, something that had changed her.
He wondered if she would ever trust him enough tell him about it.
“No,” he finally answered. “I’ve dated a lot, but I’ve never been in love.”
“Will you go back to Montana?”
“I’m still finding my way with Charlotte right now. I do have a house and the veterinary practice in Shotgun Ridge. I’ll need to go back at some point and handle that, make some decisions. Hopefully before Charlotte starts school this fall.”
“What about here in Bear Valley. Didn’t you have a practice?”
“Not my own. I was part of a team of veterinarians. That’s what the draw was in Shotgun Ridge. The business was my own. I called the shots and wasn’t in anyone else’s shadow.”
“What’s stopping you from recreating that here? You seem to be busy enough.”
He shrugged. “I can’t really make any decisions about another business until I settle the first one.”
“I think your brothers are happy to have your help here on the ranch.”
“Yeah. I like what they’ve done here—turning the place into a guest ranch. It’s good for Charlotte.”
“Well, if you don’t mind my saying so, I think it’s good for you, too. You’re lucky to have such a great support system around you.”
“Yeah. Those brothers of mine have a way of growing on you.”
She laughed. “I hear you. Mine’s kind of special, too.” She leaned over and placed Sherry back among her litter mates, pleased when none of them stirred. “I better get out of here before the sunrise catches me.”
He stood, ran a hand from her shoulder, down her arm to her fingertips. “You could stay till sunrise,” he said softly, suggestively.
“Oh my gosh, you’re a dangerous man.” On impulse, she rose on tiptoe and pecked a kiss to his cheek. “Good night, Lyle.”
“Don’t forget about our date.”
As if she could. She was finding herself hanging on every word this man uttered, searching for every excuse just to be in his presence, yearning for the smallest touch. She ought to pull back, guard her heart a little better.
But she’d offered to be his moral support at church, and she wouldn’t go back on that promise.
“Sunday, nine o’clock. I’ll be here.