“No problem. My Sugar and Banjo can’t get enough of him. I swear the three of them together rule the play yard.” A chilly twilight breeze blew between them, causing Anna to pull her jacket tighter across her chest. “The temperature is expected to drop tonight. Why aren’t you wearing a coat?”
Delta glanced down at her flannel-covered arms. “I guess I forgot to put it on. It’s in the truck. I have Jake to keep me warm.”
“Far be it from me to pry, but are you all right? You look kind of pale.”
Delta lifted her gaze to see two sets of blue eyes studying her closely. Jake’s and Anna’s.
“What? No.” Delta hugged Jake closer to her. “I mean yes, I’m fine. I have a lot of work stuff on my mind tonight.”
“If you’re sure that’s all it is. I know Jake’s a good listener but I can lend an ear if you ever need one.”
“I appreciate that. You better get inside before you freeze. I’ll see you soon.”
Delta carried Jake to the truck. He was perfectly fine to walk, but she wasn’t willing to release her hold on him. She needed the comfort only he could provide. Once tucked away in the warmth of the cab, she eased her grip on him, but he refused to budge from her lap. He sensed her hurt and grief and protectively shielded her from the world just as he’d done from day one.
Anna stood watching her from the daycare’s front door. If she didn’t leave now, Delta was certain the woman would knock on her window next. She backed out of the drive and started down the road with Jake plastered to her side. Turning on the radio, she tried to forget her conversation with Garrett. It was impossible when guilt wrapped its icy fingers around her heart. Delta was all too familiar with cancer. She had survived stage IIIb Hodgkin’s lymphoma after it had almost killed her three years ago. That was when Jake had come into her life.
Her father had heard about a litter of puppies from one of his customers. Cute as Jake was, the last thing she’d wanted was an animal to care for. She’d been back living with her parents and couldn’t even take care of herself. But once she looked into the dog’s big blue eyes, her heart had melted. From that point forward, they rarely spent time away from one another. He’d gone with her to the hospital, giving comfort and support not just to her, but to other patients. Once she had kicked cancer’s ass, she worked with Jake to have him become a certified therapy dog. They visited hospitals and nursing homes in Missoula, and still did, whenever she went home. But they’d also continued their routine here in Saddle Ridge.
Jake wasn’t just her dog. He was her best friend and had never let her down.
She pulled down the ranch drive to her small home and parked. She rented the former caretaker’s home on an older couple’s ranch. They were on one side of the property and Delta on the other. In exchange for the use of their barn to house her farrier equipment and work truck, she shod their horses free of charge.
She opened the truck door, allowing Jake to jump over her lap and onto the ground. Every night he ran to her landlord’s door for a cookie, then back to her house for dinner.
Delta slid into her jacket and sat in one of the rockers on the back porch. The brisk January air felt good against her warm skin. Between the nachos and her dinner, she felt a food coma coming on. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes. Garrett’s face immediately came to mind. The sadness in his eyes as he spoke of Rebecca had just about broken her. If she hadn’t left when she had, she never would have made it out of there tear free. Why had she survived when so many others had died? People with families. People like Rebecca. They’d both battled cancer at the same time, yet she—the one with no family—had survived.
A soggy tennis ball landed in her lap, jarring her out of her thoughts. “Ew, Jake!” Delta held up the filthy ball. “Is this the one you lost last summer?” Jake ran down the steps and barked, waiting for her to throw it. “I’ll take that as a yes. One more time then we’re going in.” She stood and threw the ball of crud toward the empty pasture before unlocking the back door. Within seconds, Jake had returned with his treasure. “You’re not bringing that in the house. Drop it.” If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn he rolled his eyes at her. “Yeah, I know. Mean mommy. Now come inside for dinner. I have a date with the TV remote.”
She wondered what Garrett was doing tonight. She imagined him curled up on a couch, reading to his kids. Did they look like him? Not that it mattered. She couldn’t go there. She made a point to avoid any personal involvement with a client. This was still a new business and she wouldn’t screw it up. There wasn’t room or time for dating.
She sagged against the kitchen counter. She’d never missed the touch of a man more than she did right now. And only one man would do. Garrett Slade. The most off-limits man she knew.
The following morning, Jake beat Delta into the Silver Bells Ranch stables. Normally she wouldn’t have minded, but not knowing how Garrett would react, she quickly caught up to her over-curious dog. She didn’t want anything to rekindle yesterday’s tension.
Delta turned the corner and saw Garrett crouched down in front of Jake scratching his ears and talking to him. “Where did you come from?”
“I’m sorry. He’s with me.”
Garrett smiled up at her and then ruffled her pup’s long blue merle fur. “Let me guess.” Her dog panted happily at the attention. “This is Jake.”
“The one and only.” Delta patted her thigh, signaling for him to come to her side. “I hope it’s okay that he’s here. He goes to work with me on most days.”
“It’s fine. Dylan told me. I wish my daughter was here to see him. She would be in love. I keep thinking about getting a dog to help her adjust to the move.” Garrett took off his hat and raked his hand through his thick brown hair before setting it back on his head. “And I’m rambling again.”
“Good morning, Delta,” Dr. Lydia Presley said as she and her assistant exited Lightning Bug’s stall. “I’m glad you could be here today.”
“Hey, Lydia.” Delta was thankful for the intrusion. “No problem. I’m anxious to see how he’s progressing.”
“I just finished taking the x-rays. I got here a little early.” She held out a slender, deeply tanned hand to Garrett. “We haven’t met yet. I’m Lydia Presley, your veterinarian, and this is my assistant, Selena. I hope you don’t mind that we went ahead and got started.”
“Not at all. I’m Garrett, new co-owner of the ranch. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My brother speaks highly of you.”
“Same here. I’ve heard a lot about you, as well.”
Apparently, Lydia had heard more about Garrett than she had. She had known the brothers had partnered but that had been the extent of it. It would have been nice to know something about him before they met, not that anyone owed her that. But the man piqued her curiosity in the worst possible way.
“Garrett, how familiar are you with navicular disease?” Lydia asked.
He shook his head. “I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never had to deal with it before.”
“Let’s begin with the basics, then. It’s a degenerative disease of the navicular bone. Don’t think of it as a disease the horse contracted. It’s more of a syndrome of abnormalities and it’s commonly misdiagnosed, which is why x-rays give a more definitive picture.” Lydia tugged her iPad out of her bag and flipped open the cover. Tapping on the screen, she opened a series of digital x-rays and pointed to a small bone located on the backside of the front hoof. “It also affects the tendon behind it, and this little sac between the bone and the tendon. It’s not something that happens overnight. While many times it’s attributed