When Whip walked by the farmhouse, he noticed that Bella’s old blue Highlander was gone. He realized he’d been a jerk, but the mention of siblings had touched a nerve and a part of his past that he wasn’t prepared to open. He carried photos of Johnny and Ellie in his wallet and looked at them every morning and every night, but he sure as hell wasn’t ready to talk about them.
Suddenly, he heard clip-clopping behind him and turned to find his boss on a tall gray Trakehner. Like Galahad, Blue had been bought for stud, to support their nascent dressage program. Blue had been a spirited, fierce competitor, but was now retired. Tom’s favorite, most people assumed that the beautiful warm-blood belonged to him since they were always together.
Tom pulled up alongside him. “Good ride?”
“Nice morning for it.”
Tom hopped off the horse and confronted him. “Not what I asked.”
“All you’re gonna get.”
“What happened? Did she do something?”
“I’m just not great at babysitting novice riders.”
Wrong answer. Tom’s eyes narrowed. “You know damn well my sister’s as competent a rider as you or me. Now what the hell happened?”
“Nothing, boss. I’m just having a crap morning.”
“Because?”
“Because I’m me. Dark moods sometimes happen to me. Nothing to do with Bella.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, fine.” Tom mounted Blue. “But I’m here anytime. I’m no shrink, but I’m a pretty good listener.”
“Thanks, boss.”
Whip watched Tom ride off. “Shit, shit, shit,” he muttered under his breath as he headed down the hill to say hello to Tom’s fiancée, Grace, who was in the first of two round pens working with Dusty.
* * *
Bella arrived Valley Ob-Gyn twenty minutes before her first patient, Ruthie Morgan Langdon. One of her bosses, Dr. Marc Koenig, met her in the hall on her way to her office. “I smell horse,” he said.
Bella’s face dropped. “You’re kidding! I took a long shower.”
The tall, thin senior physician pushed sandy hair back from his forehead as he grinned at her. “Haven’t you heard? I have super olfactory powers.”
“No, I hadn’t heard.”
“Early morning ride?”
“Yup.”
“Lucky you. I get out when I can, but my poor old Skip doesn’t get near enough exercise these days.”
“You have a horse?”
“Three, actually. My daughters ride competitively.”
“Why did I not know this?”
He chuckled. “I like to think I have a few secrets.”
“Where do you keep them? The horses, I mean.”
“We board them at Morgan’s Run now, but I’m on the waiting list at Valley Stables. My girls do dressage, and it would help to have them there for lessons and training. I mean, Maggie and her crew are terrific, but it’s probably the logical next step. It was actually Maggie who suggested it.”
“Did you know I live out there with my brother?”
“Yes, which is one of the reasons I’ve never mentioned it to you. Don’t want any favors. I’ve brought up Maisie and Julie to stand on their own merits. It’s something that was really important to their mom.”
“Good for you. So important,” Bella said, noticing that tears rimmed his blue eyes.
“Well… I won’t keep you. Have a good day,” he said, nodding as he turned away.
“Thanks. You too,” she said.
“Hey, Jacobi,” he called as she reached her office door. “Ignore the horse-smell comment. I actually like it.”
She sat at her desk, pondering the interaction. Was he flirting with me? she wondered as she shuffled through the files for her afternoon appointments and powered up her computer on the cart beside the desk. She knew Marc had lost his wife, Bonnie, a year earlier after her long battle with cancer. She also knew he had kids, but not much else. For the two months she’d been at Valley Ob-Gyn, she’d kept her head down and worked hard, with little time for office gossip. After her last job in Montana, she preferred to keep her distance at work.
She’d become friends with Gretchen Sullivan, one of her fellow midwives, but otherwise, she socialized with townspeople. She’d joined Valley Chorus and the Scrabble Club, both of which Grace, her brother’s fiancée, and Aria Firorelli, Spark Foster’s chef, were regular attendees. Spark was one of the owners of Valley Stables. Grace and Tom encouraged her to come to Scrabble Night, and Aria had nagged until Bella agreed to try the chorus. She’d joined only a few weeks earlier, but she loved it.
Suzie Breen, one of the practice’s physician assistants, popped her head in the door. “Hey, Bella, your one o’clock’s here. I’ve put her in room two.”
“Thanks, Suz. Be right there.”
Bella stood, stretched, then grabbed Ruthie’s file, tucking it under her arm. She draped her stethoscope around her shoulders and wheeled the computer cart out the door. Feels like an appointment with the Queen Mother, she thought as she knocked on the door of Examining Room Two. Wife of Tom’s boss, Harley Langdon, Ruthie was here for her three-month post-birth checkup. Bella opened the door to find her patient perched at the end of the table, texting on her phone.
“Hi, Ruthie.”
“Hi, Bella.” Immediately, the petite redhead with freckles and pale blue eyes tossed her phone atop her pile of clothes lying in a jumble on a nearby chair. “Long time no see.”
“Not too long,” Bella said, smiling. “How are you?”
“Great. A little irritation at the site where I tore, but I’ve been taking lots of baths, and Harley’s been real gentle.”
“And how is your beautiful Pickles?”
“She’s doing amazingly well. This is her first week at the Cottage, and they say she’s settled in like a champ. My mom and Carmela are having baby withdrawal, but they’ll get over it. Besides, there are plenty more babies for them to fuss over.”
“You’re so lucky to have the Cottage and so much support.”
The Cottage was a day care and nursery built, staffed, and financed by the elder Morgans and their dear friend Spark Foster. Free and open to all children of their employees and, of course, their grandchildren, it was a lovely light-filled space with a well-equipped school and playground.
Most Morgan grandchildren spent their first months at the Big House with Granny Leonora and her housekeeper, Carmela. Carmela and her husband, Raoul, manager of the ranch’s livestock, had never been blessed with children of their own, but had raised many Morgan offspring over the years. Penelope “Pickles” Langdon had been with her grandmother and Carmela, along with baby Cora, Maggie and Ben’s third. Cora, who traveled between the Big House at Morgan’s Run and Maggie’s dad’s in town, was still a few weeks away from joining the Cottage crew.
“We sure are.”
Bella pulled the computer cart close and sat beside Ruthie. “Looks like all your vitals are great. Let’s just take a quick peek and then we can chat in my office. Sound okay?”
Bella called Suzie in.
“Everything looks great,” she said a few minutes later as she completed her examination and handed Ruthie her clothes. “I’ll see you when you’re ready, okay?”
Bella went to her office, typed up her notes from the exam and grabbed two waters from the cabinet. She had a rule—no computer work with the patient. Thus, she scheduled extra time to enter notes into the electronic files after the examination or before her next patient.
When Ruthie joined her a few minutes later, she pushed the computer cart aside and came around the desk to sit beside her on one of two office chairs. “So, you’re in good shape and have healed well. I asked Suzie to grab samples of a cream you can put on your scar, and I’ll phone a prescription into the pharmacy, just in case you want more. I’d suggest using it at least twice a day, but definitely after you wash and before and after intercourse.”
“Thanks.”
“They’ll be at the desk when you check out. Now, what questions do you have for me?”
“Not many. Do I just return now to a yearly checkup.”
“Yes, but if you have any concerns or questions, be sure to call or make an appointment before then. How’s the nursing going?”
“You mean the pump-nurse, pump-nurse till my boobs feel like they’re gonna fall off?”
“Are they sore?”
“No, they’re fine. I use lanolin when needed. Pickles is a trooper. She latched on and has never let go. She transitions really well between bottle and breast, thank God.”
“Good baby.”
“So how are you settling in, Bella? Is Valley life suiting you?”
“I love it. Such beautiful country, and the people are so friendly. Most people, that is.”
Antennae up, Ruthie eyed her. “Oh? Have you had trouble with someone?”
Bella smiled, waving her hands. “No, just a weird episode with Whip Kittredge this morning. My brother wouldn’t let me ride alone, so he assigned Whip to babysit me.”
“Smart, with all the cougar sightings lately. So what happened?”
“Everything was going great, then he just clammed up, turned stone cold, and stayed that way for the rest of the ride. It was very strange.”
“No trigger?”
“We were talking about his family, and I asked about brothers and sisters, and boom, that was it.”
“Hmm, I don’t know Whip that well. I mean he’s a great guy and I know Harley and Tom depend on him to keep the other guys in line, but I don’t think anyone knows much about his past. I can ask Harley?”
“No, please don’t. He was probably just in a bad mood. I certainly don’t want to cause trouble.”
“Okay, but I’ll keep my radar up. By the way, we’re having our Friday-night barbecue this week. I hope you and Tom are coming?”
“He hasn’t mentioned it, but I’m sure we’ll be there. Thanks.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, then Ruthie said goodbye just as Suzie popped in to announce Bella’s next patient. Bella decided to put Whip Kittredge and his moods out of her mind as she gathered her notes and headed in to greet a very pregnant Amy Barnes, daughter of Spark Foster. Her husband, Jeb, a wrangler working at Morgan’s Run, was with her. Amy was due any minute.