Montana Desire

Chapter 5

Cori

The Pearson ranch was the last place I wanted to be driving to right now.

Guess that was what happened when your boyfriend’s father became a client and then that same boyfriend dumped you in the cruelest, most vicious way imaginable.

It had been three days, and every time I thought of it, everything in me still burned with shame. Which meant I was pretty much constantly blushing because I couldn’t stop replaying that awful night over and over again in my head.

How had I not seen that coming?

Should I have been able to?

Joel never struck me as the kind of person that could be that angry. It was a side of him I’d never seen before, but now that I had, and the immediate pain of losing the one steady thing in my life had dulled a fraction…I was glad.

All Joel had to do was say no, that it wasn’t really his thing. That maybe we could find a different thing that interested both of us. If his reaction was that bad over something that small, who knows what else could have set him off?

I hated the small voice in the back of my head that questioned whether it really was small. That maybe I was all those things he said and that the fantasies I had made me some kind of deviant, bad person.

That wasn’t true. I knew it wasn’t. But it was hard not to think it when the person you should be able to trust most told you that you were. Not to mention what Grant must have thought of me after hearing all that.

God, Grant.

I’d had to avoid him like the plague over the last few days. I was grateful for what he’d done, but also mortified. The thought of seeing him again and seeing the pity in his eyes made my soul shrivel. Or worse.

Grant was a good guy. He probably felt exactly the same way Joel did and was just too kind to say it. I would have to face him eventually if I didn’t want to move, and I loved my house enough that I wasn’t planning on it.

But I wasn’t ready to see him yet.

The only saving grace was that Joel hadn’t repeated what I’d asked him about loud enough for Grant to hear. So even if he’d heard more than when he stepped out onto the porch, he still wouldn’t know what I’d asked for. That was good.

My gut flipped as I pulled into the Pearson ranch. Please let Joel not be here. Please let Joel not be here.

I hadn’t gotten any furious calls from my family yet, so I assumed he hadn’t followed through on the threat to tell them about my fantasies, or the fact that we’d broken up at all. That was fine with me. My parents were already too involved in my business anyway.

The last three days had been so emotional that I wasn’t any closer to a decision on the whole trust fund thing. Thankfully I still had a little time, though I was sure my parents were chomping at the bit waiting for a response.

Relief flowed through me. Joel’s truck wasn’t here. Only his father’s. Graham Pearson wasn’t the friendliest man in the world, but he paid me well and I thought he was polite enough not to fire me because his son had decided we couldn’t be together anymore.

Parking the truck, I grabbed my vet bag and headed toward the stable. This was a routine trip, and I didn’t expect to see anyone. I’d be sending an email to Graham and his trainer later, regardless.

But when I walked into the stable, Graham was waiting. He looked like the classic idea of a cowboy. Suit and boots, hat and cigar. That hat tipped in my direction. “Cori.”

“Afternoon, Mr. Pearson.”

He smiled. “How many times have I told you to call me Graham?”

“It still feels too strange to me,” I said with a laugh. “Didn’t expect to see you out here. Everything okay?”

“Not exactly.” He gestured for me to follow, and I did down the long length of the barn. “It’s Sunrise,” he said, stopping in front of a stall that contained a beautiful dappled brown horse. Of course I was already familiar, and I reached out to touch the horse’s neck.

“What’s going on?”

Mr. Pearson shrugged. “Damned if I know. She’s been sluggish, lying down more often than not. But she’s not showing any other signs that something’s wrong. Shoes are all good. She probably just ate something that disagreed with her, but since you were coming out anyway, figured I’d let you know.”

“Thank you. I’ll do an examination and update you.”

“Sounds good,” he said, turning on his heel. Before he disappeared around the corner, he turned back. “Oh, and I just wanted to say that I’m sorry you and Joel didn’t work out.”

I smiled wanly. “Thank you.”

“If you ever change your mind, I’m sure he’ll take you back. Poor boy is heartbroken. But I understand that sometimes you just need something else.”

My mouth dropped open, and I stared at him. Joel had told him I was the one who ended it? I shut my mouth and blinked. “Yeah,” I said. “Thank you.”

What else was there to say about that? He left without another word, and I turned back to the horse. “This, Sunrise,” I said, “this is why animals are easier than people.”

The gentle horse whickered in response and nudged my arm with her nose. “You okay?”

Of all the horses in the stable, this one was usually a ball of joy. Energy and jitters and prancing in place. She seemed strangely subdued.

I made my rounds with all the other horses, and all of them were fine. I was monitoring a sprain in the foreleg of one, and the pregnancy of another. They all passed with flying colors. It took forever, because if there was one thing the Pearsons had, it was horses. This was the biggest stable I’d seen outside of an actual racetrack or stud farm.

When I’d finished with the rest, I came back to Sunrise so I could spend more time with her, and just like Mr. Pearson had mentioned, she was lying down.

“Hey, girl.”

I did an examination, but other than a racing heart, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong that I could diagnose externally. If I brought her to the clinic, I could figure out what was wrong a lot faster.

“We’ll find out what’s wrong with you. Okay, sweetie?”

Because something was wrong. I felt it with the gut instinct that years as a vet had given me.

Mr. Pearson was sitting on his porch smoking another cigar when I came out to my truck. “You were right, Mr. Pearson. There’s definitely something up with Sunrise. Nothing wrong that I can see, but if you can bring her by the clinic, I’d like to do some tests.”

He shrugged. “I’m sure she’s fine. If you can’t see anything wrong, then there’s no point in wasting a trip.”

“Still,” I said. “I’d like to do some blood tests. Maybe some X-rays.”

“She got out of the fence a couple days ago. Probably ate a weed that disagreed with her. She’ll be fine.”

I frowned. If he didn’t want me to actually treat the horse, then why had he bothered to draw attention to her condition in the first place?

“Okay,” I said. “But I plan on coming back in a couple of days to see how she’s doing.”

That horse was sick, and I wasn’t going to let her wither if the man didn’t want to bring her to me.

“Fine.”

We both waved, and I pulled out of the ranch with an odd sense of relief. I was glad Joel hadn’t been there or arrived while I was still in the stable. After the other night, I wasn’t sure I would be able to remain calm around him, and I sure as hell didn’t want to find out what kind of reaction he would have.

It was late enough that I didn’t have to go back to the clinic, and I was tired. Coffee. I needed coffee, and Deja Brew was on the way home.

Lena was behind the counter when I pushed through the door, and she lit up. “Well, hello. Long time no see.”

“I know,” I said. “I’ve been busy.”

She looked me up and down. “Or something’s wrong, and you’re lying to me,” she said.

My heart stopped. Grant. The Resting Warrior guys were all in here. Could he have told Lena out of concern? Or to let her know that the breakup had happened?

“He told you?”

“Nobody told me shit, but you just did.”

Damn. “I walked right into that one.”

“Yes, you did.” She came out from behind the counter and flipped the sign on the door from open to closed. “Evelyn! We’re closing early.”

My other friend peeked her head around the corner. “What’s up? Oh hey, Cori.”

“You really don’t have to do that,” I said. “I’m fine.”

“Bullshit, woman,” Lena said. “What do you want to drink? We’re having a dish session, and I’m not taking no for an answer.”

I couldn’t help but smile. That was who Lena was. She was a tornado wrapped up in kindness and coffee. We shared a love of fun hair colors, and she’d been one of the first people to make me feel comfortable when I’d moved to town. “I just came in for coffee.”