Cowboy Seeks a Horse Whisperer by Marley Michaels
Kendra
Desperately needing to spend to catch up on admin and just be seen at the clinic for a full day after spending a portion of almost every day out at the ranch these past few weeks, it’s mid-morning by the time I get a chance to run out to the diner for a coffee and something to eat.
When I return and walk back through the front door to find we have an empty waiting room, I don’t even try to hide the bakery box under my arm. Our receptionist, Molly, has been keeping the clinic running like a well-oiled machine while I’ve been seeing to Buster, so at the very least she deserves her favorite sweet treats.
“If you’re trying to butter me up with baking, doctor, you’re going the right way about it. Especially if that box contains bear claws from Betty’s Diner…” There’s no missing her hopeful tone.
I shoot her a wink as I hand over the goods. “Lucky I called ahead and pre-ordered before they sold out then, right?”
“Ymmf arf a gmdsund,” she mumbles around a mouthful of pastry and icing, tasting the food more important than answering me straight away.
Shaking my head, I giggle at my newest—and self-appointed—Kinleyville bestie. She’s short and cute and everything you’d imagine a born-and-bred country girl to be, with a head full of dirty blonde hair hanging in two long braids, bright hazel eyes full of energy and mischief, and a smile that’d make even the surliest of clients—human or animal alike—melt. She's a total cutie and just looking at her, you’d never imagine the weight of responsibility she carries on her shoulders.
You see, Molly is twenty-three and the sole caregiver to her three siblings aged from eleven to seventeen. Her father died suddenly from a heart attack a few years ago and her mother had passed away from the big C just after her youngest brother Cody was born. She hasn’t had an easy life, but it doesn’t stop that smile of hers lighting up the room at any given moment. To put it in a nutshell, Molly is sunshine on a rainy day, and I don’t know what I’d do without her.
It was over a bottle of wine after a particularly hard day with a few losses at the clinic when Molly claimed me as her ‘person’ and we spilled our secrets. And honestly, I don’t think I'd want it any other way. She’s one of the most selfless, dedicated, and hardworking women I’ve ever met, and although her home life is far from stress-free, she rarely lets her reality make her gorgeous smile falter.
She’s also the reason why I’ve managed to settle in so quickly into my new role as the head of a traditionally male-centric vet clinic, with clients who—at first—made it very clear that they much preferred dealing with the old vet who Molly and I refer to as Dr. Cranky-Pants. A month in though, and I’m fairly certain I'm wearing everyone and their opposition down. This ‘young filly of a vet’ is working hard to prove that I do know what I’m doing—and I might even have a few new ways too.
I round the desk and take a seat at the computer station next to her, letting her eat while I check through the mail, grateful for the chance to sit down for a moment.
“So, are the treats to butter me up, or are they to distract me from asking you about all the time you’ve been spendin’ at the Barnes brothers’ ranch, hmm?”
My head slowly turns her way, my lips twitching as I lift a shoulder. “Bit of column a, bit of column b. But first, tell me, how did Cody’s baseball game go last night?”
At the mention of her eleven-year-old brother, her eyes soften. “He got two hits and even got his first-ever run. He was bouncing off the walls for the rest of the night.”
“That’s awesome, Molls.”
“Yeah,” she says as her face falls. “But I know he was wishing Dad could’ve been there to see it. Baseball was their thing, you know?”
“Yeah. But having all of you there watching it probably meant just as much. You’re doing a good job with them, Molly. You’ve gotta take credit where it’s deserved too, you know?’
She nods. “Thank you. And I know all of that, it’s just hard to take stock of the boons when the hits keep coming.”
“I know.” I wrap an arm around her shoulder, giving her a reassuring hug. “You’ve got me whenever you need me though. Just holler and I’ll be at your door faster than you can say—”
“Eagle Mountain Ranch?” she says, her voice laced with laughter. “C’mon, don’t think I didn’t notice you trying to change the subject, Doctor Archer. So before anyone else gets here, first thing’s first. How is Buster?”
“He’s doing really well. Putting on weight and enjoying his walks in the corral.”
“That’s awesome! So is he going to need ongoing work?”
I nod. “Yeah. He’s definitely still a work in progress, but I’ll be visiting less and less going forward. He just needs steady and extensive physical therapy to get him back to full physical health. He’s a horse on a ranch, so obviously we need to get him to a point where he’s workable.”
“And mentally?”
I screw my nose up. “I’ve got his trust, and he’s getting closer to Jesse too. But we need to get him to the point where he can take instructions from anyone, not just us two.”
“Speaking of Jesse...”
A resigned sigh escapes my lips. “Yes?”
She eyes me skeptically. “C’mon, Kendra. You can’t expect me not to ask you about those four fine cowboys. I mean, have you seen them? Of course, you’ve seen them. You’re just spent the last three weeks with them. Tell me.” She leans forward and rests her chin on her fist, the bear claws all but forgotten now that we’re on the topic of the Eagle Mountain ranchers.
“They’re good people.”
“Uh huh… and…”
“And they’re very accommodating and open-minded. Jesse seems to get the whole idea of horse whispering and is genuinely interested in what I might be able to do with Buster. In just the time I’ve been working with him, his reaction to me being around has been night and day. He actually responds to me now.”
Molly quirks a brow. “We talkin’ ‘bout Buster, or we still talking about Jesse Barnes? Cause you know that man has a reputation, right?”
My head jerks and I frown at her. “Let me guess, he’s the most eligible cowboy in all of Eagle Mountain?”
“Pfft. All of those cowboys are as hot as Hawaii and could have their pick of the buckle bunnies who hang around the feed store when the rodeo isn’t in town, hoping to hook themselves a hulk of a rancher. No one can believe those men are all still single. But, I mean they’re all work and Jesse is definitely happy to play. From what I’ve seen, I don’t think any of those men are thinking of settlin’ down anytime soon, if ever.”
“Buckle bunnies, aye? Are there a lot of them around these parts?” Being around horses most of my life has also meant doing house calls to ranches including rodeos in both Alaska and Canada. And yep, I’ve seen more than my fair share of women who want nothing more than to grab themselves a cowboy or a bull rider and never let go. As if their profession and their status all but makes the man. I’m more about the person and who they are inside, as long as they do something that makes them happy and fulfilled, that’s all that matters. Happy soul, happy life, and all that.
“There’s a few around. I should take you to the Lion’s Lair one night. Then you can see the cowboy mating ritual in person,” she says, putting on her best David Attenborough narrator voice. “I can tell you that all reports say that up until a year ago, Jesse Barnes was known to enjoy his downtime at the Lion’s Lair, boot-scootin' and the like.” She waggles her eyebrows and there’s no missing the connotation.
Snorting at her—and yeah, maybe wanting to avoid the thought of Jesse and his boots knocking with anyone, even if it was a year ago—I distract myself by checking the schedule, seeing my first appointment for the morning is Mrs. Murphy and her gorgeous malamute, Doug who’s due his annual check-up. I push up to my feet, reaching over Molly and snatching a pastry of my own.
“You’re trying to escape. You know I won’t let this go. Three weeks with the Barnes brothers—in particular, the justifiably delectable Jesse—and you’re all tight-lipped and closed up tighter than a nun’s habit. Cmon, Kendie. Tell your person, your Molly, if there’s any hope that those men might give up their bachelorhood and start searching for their one and onlys?”
I shrug, kind of enjoying the way she’s so desperate for info and me having the power to share it or not.
“They’re just good, honest, hardworking men. I can see why they’re so respected in this community.”
“They’re all of that. They’re also loyal and open-minded, and they don’t hesitate to act when misdeeds are being done or—in Buster’s case—when they hear of animals being mistreated. Old man Farris has been needing an intervention for a long time but Dr. Cranky-Pants was too lazy to do something about it. It’s just sad it took so long for someone to speak up about Buster and the other horse.”
“Yeah. But it sounds like they were the last two horses left there, so Buster may have a long road to recovery ahead of him, but at least he was rescued in time to be saved.”
“Absolutely.” She tilts her head, narrowing her eyes as she studies me. “I still think there’s a bunch you’re not telling me. I mean… if Jesse isn’t your type. There’s always Randy, or Sawyer, or Beau?”
I can’t help but giggle at Molly’s attempts to play matchmaker. “Look. All I can say is that they’re lovely people, they’re definitely all about the animals and the land and they take the responsibility and their ranch very seriously. Ellie-Mae is a treasure who seems to adopt anything and anyone that comes onto the ranch, and Jesse was a lot more thoughtful when it came to Buster than I could’ve ever imagined. He’s even slept out there at night to make sure the horse knows someone was there with him and that they had his back. It was so sweet and sensitive to the animal’s needs.” I feel myself going a little gooey inside at the thought of Jesse, probably not what I need when I’ve got a day full of back-to-back appointments today. “He’s very—”
“Here,” Molly breathes, snapping me out of my reverie.
“What? Molls are you OK?”
“I am now… and you’re about to be in three...two… one…” Still completely lost as to what the hell she’s going on about, I realize her eyes are glued to the clinic’s front door. Turning around, my body goes still as two big, strapping, and still quite intimidating bodies walk toward the clinic, the wide warm smile curving Jesse Barnes’ lips dazzling me mute and motionless, something the amused giggle coming from Molly tells me she doesn’t miss.
Damn.