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It had been two days since the accident and Damon wanted to go over to Martha’s place to make sure that Valerie had any assistance she needed, but he forced himself to focus on the task at hand. She would call if there was something he could help with. Though he knew the stubborn streak that ran in her, so maybe that wasn’t entirely true. He hoped she would reach out, even if it was something small. For now, he had to deal with what he had in front of him.
They had a small outbuilding, a shelter in one of the horse pastures that the animals could go into if they wanted to get away from the weather, that had been torn down during the powerful storm. The sun dog, their term for a rainbow that circled the sun—and one he’d gotten teased about from the new hands that weren’t used to the old terminology—promised more bad weather was rolling in. The weather station also agreed that another storm was brewing, and he wanted to make sure all the buildings had the maintenance and structural support they needed so he wouldn’t be stuck rebuilding another one. None of the animals had been nearby when it blew down and, for that, he was grateful. The building had only three walls and a roof so the horses could crowd together under it and probably wouldn’t have injured any of them too badly, but he was relieved he didn’t need to call Jason over to take a look at them.
A truck drove toward him through the pasture, and he squinted at it. “Speak of the devil.”
The truck stopped, and Jason stepped out.
“You look like you’ve been run over,” Damon greeted his friend.
“Appreciate that.” Jason pulled his hat off and swept a hand through his hair. Sweat beaded his forehead. “I’m at least glad one of us got to sleep last night.”
Truthfully, Damon had slept fitfully, worried about Martha and Valerie and his herd acting so strangely. He hadn’t heard any wolf howls lately, but the nervous energy of knowing a predator was nearby kept coming to him.
“What happened?” he asked.
“A bear attacked the Chelsky horse herd. Got a couple of them pretty good, but didn’t take them down.”
Damon stared at the crazy man.
“You do realize that bears are in hibernation, right?”
Jason met Damon’s gaze. “Not this one.”
Damon rubbed his jaw, looking out over the pasture toward the west. That explained a lot. “I had a couple guys say they thought they saw some bear tracks and that would have explained why my bison were so worked up, they tore a hole in the fence, but my foreman and I dismissed it because of the time of year.” What a fool he’d been.
Jason nodded. “It’s rare, no doubt. I’ve called Fish and Game and reported it. They’ll have to deal with it and, hopefully, soon. If he’s out of hibernation, it’s most likely because he didn’t get enough food before winter started, and he’s starving.”
“That makes for one dangerous predator.” The thought disturbed Damon to no end. No one in the area was safe.
Nodding tiredly, Jason ran a hand over his face.
“Did the horses survive?” Damon hated the thought that his neighbor and friends would have lost the animals they loved and relied on so much.
“So far, they’re stable. I’ll keep checking on them, and Kenzie had her bedroll in the barn to keep an eye on them constantly.”
“Sounds just like her.” The tiny ranch girl wasn’t afraid of dirt, work, or anything else.
“Just keep an eye out. I’m heading home for, hopefully, some sleep.” He eyed the fallen building behind Damon. “Do you need me to look at any injured animals while I’m here?”
“Nope. My horses weren’t anywhere near this when it was blown down.”
Jason grunted in what could have been thankfulness and waved before getting back in his truck. Damon hoped no more emergencies woke him from what seemed to be a much-needed rest.
Speaking of which, he should warn Valerie. Martha kept a loaded shotgun behind something or other in the arctic entryway in case of emergencies, like a bear attacking her animals. And while they all had sturdy shelters, she had a lot of animals that would be more than tempting to a normal grizzly, let alone one that had come out of hibernation and was groggy because of that, as well as starving.
Waving over a couple of his guys who’d started offloading two-by-four beams from the truck to recreate the structure, Damon relayed the information he learned, warned them to keep a sharp lookout, and let them know he needed to go and tell a neighbor about it as well.
He got in his truck and turned it in the direction of the house. As tempted as he was to just go over there—to make sure Martha’s animals were safe, not because he wanted to see Valerie again, he told himself—he had responsibilities and, if she was on the alert, she could call if anything suspicious happened. Plus, she could board up the animals that usually had access directly from the barn to their pastures and pens, so that they stayed within the protection of their respective shelters.
At the house, he grabbed the phone in the kitchen and dialed Martha’s number. As the phone continued to ring, worry crept in. What if something had already happened? Or if Valerie was dealing with the bear? He hung up the phone and turned. “I’m heading over to the neighbor’s to make sure things are alright.” He spoke to Patti, who was dusting the living room while conversing with Josiah about physics. Apparently, they’d suddenly become experts in the field after reading a couple of articles.
“Would that neighbor happen to be Valerie?” Patti looked over at him with mischief in her eyes
“Valerie isn’t a neighbor. She’s staying with a neighbor.”
“Semantics,” Josiah called after him as he stepped out and firmly shut the door.
The road was mostly clear. The strong wind had whisked it swept most of snow off the road, but a layer of ice still remained underneath and glinted a warning against driving fast as the pale light of the day peeked through the clouds. He had to use caution, reining in his desire to put his foot down and fly to the farm. He reminded himself that it was more than likely she was busy with the animals or sleeping. He doubted she’d gotten a good night’s rest after he’d left, or even the next night, with how much stress had suddenly been thrust on her. It was hard to believe what had transpired just two days before.
Damon found himself nervously scanning the willows and trees on the sides of the road, wondering where that bear was and hoping that nothing had occurred at the little hobby farm. Valerie didn’t need any other devastating events, and Martha certainly didn’t need to come home to her animals eaten by a bear.
He scanned the area as he drove up the long driveway, relief hitting him as he saw the ponies calmly munching on hay in their pen. They wouldn’t be acting this way if a threat was around, and their powerful noses would be able to tell if a predator was nearby before he got there.
He shut off the truck and jogged up to the house. A huge pine wreath with red berries, ribbon, and pinecones decorated the door. Valerie had been busy.
No answer came to his knocks and, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets, he turned and surveyed the area around the house. Maybe she was in the barn.
Snow crunched under his heavy boots as he followed the path through the snow. It glinted and sparkled in the bright sun, as if there wasn’t even the possibility of an impending storm or an extra-aggressive predator stalking about. Even with his polarized sunglasses, the light being reflected off the snow was blinding. It seemed fair, given that there was such a short window of light during the winter days, anyway.
Getting closer to the main barn, he saw both outer doors were open and he hastened his pace, a little zip of excitement flashing through his chest. He didn’t want to feel like this, especially about someone who’d already broken his heart once. But he couldn’t help the deep well of feelings that Valerie’s presence here had brought to the surface. He would be happy to see her.