When it was over and Roe could feel herself slowly falling back to earth, she dug her fingers into his shoulders. She clung to him with every part of her being, breathing so hard she didn’t think she would ever be able to catch her breath again.

  She clung to Christopher for dear life until she was finally able to breathe normally.

  Or at least something close to it.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The space next to her was empty.

  The realization registered with Roe at the same time that her fingers swept around the empty space beside her. It was cold.

  Chris was gone. It occurred to her that he had to have left more than just a few minutes ago.

  Roe’s eyes flew open as she sat up. An emptiness filled her as she simultaneously fought off a feeling of bereavement.

  Instead of calling out for Chris—sensing there would be no answer—she looked around the bedroom.

  There was no sign of him.

  There were, however, her dogs. She remembered having closed the door when she and Chris came into the room. Chris must have left the door opened when he left and her dogs had found their way in.

  They had made their way onto the bed and appeared to now be sleeping. That was, until she opened her eyes and stirred. The moment she did, Lucy and her tiny fluffy partner in crime became exceedingly excited.

  Frowning, Roe swept her hand under the covers and along the bed, just to be sure.

  But it was cool.

  Chris must have slipped out at least an hour ago while she was asleep. Sighing, Roe looked at the two pets.

  “Hey, did you two chase him away?” she asked.

  The expressions on the two dogs’ faces looked as if they were actually trying to understand what she was asking them.

  Roe laughed as she shook her head, dismissing the possibility. “No, I think you actually like him, which is good because with any luck at all, he’ll be back.” At least she seriously hoped so.

  The two dogs snuggled up against her and for a moment, she allowed herself to enjoy the sensation. But then she forced herself to cut it short.

  “Okay, time to start the day,” Roe told her pets as she threw off her covers. Both dogs immediately scampered off the bed and then got out of her way. She looked down at the dogs. “Unless you want to get wet, I’d suggest you continue to stay out of my way for a little while longer.”

  Her pets all but tripped over one another as they vainly tried to move out of her way and to the side. Roe laughed affectionately as she made her way around the two dogs and went into the bathroom.

  Moving as quickly as she could, Roe showered and was dressed even faster than usual. She knew if she slowed down, she would start to think and right now, she knew that thinking wasn’t what she wanted to do.

  Rushing around as she prepared to leave, Roe suddenly saw a folded note lying on top of her bureau. She instantly smiled as she realized the note had be from Chris.

  Roe, the note read, I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, but I didn’t want to wake you, either. Hope writing this note is okay. Last night was beyond anything I could have ever imagined, even in my wildest dreams. Funny how reality could turn out to be even better than your imagination. If I knew back then what I know now, I would have made my move on you a great deal sooner. Hope I was able to make you smile half as much as you made me smile, the note concluded.

  Roe sighed as she folded up the note. Then, holding the paper against her, she smiled. “You certainly managed to do that,” she whispered to the handwritten piece of paper.

  Looking down at the note, she couldn’t help wondering where the rancher was able to find the paper. It wasn’t as if paper was readily accessible or even in sight.

  She glanced toward the two dogs. They were looking at her as if she was imparting some sort of deep wisdom.

  Roe looked at the paper and sighed with relief.

  “Well, at least he didn’t go running for the hills,” she told the dogs with satisfaction. “If all of this goes well, who knows? He may wind up being your master, too.

  “Who would have ever thought all those years ago back in high school we actually made a connection?” Roe said out loud. It certainly hadn’t felt like it at the time.

  Life was really strange, she decided.

  She put out the dogs’ bowls and was just about to leave the house when her cell phone suddenly rang. Taking the phone out, she glanced at the screen. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the call was coming from Christopher.

  Was he calling to apologize for leaving her side so abruptly, or was he calling her for some other reason?

  “Answer the damn phone so you can stop guessing,” she told herself sharply.

  As she opened her cell phone, it occurred to her that maybe there was another reason for his call. Maybe something had gone wrong with his cattle. After all, this had all started with her coming over to his ranch to treat a few of his cows.

  By the time Roe brought the phone to her ear, her heart was pounding wildly and was now all but lodged firmly in her throat.

  Instead of saying “Hello?” she asked almost breathlessly, “What’s wrong?”

  “What makes you think there’s something wrong?” Chris asked her, clearly mystified by her assumption.

  His question, worded the way it was, did not exactly inspire confidence in her.

  “Is there something wrong?” Roe asked.

  “Just that I had to leave your side this morning when all I really wanted to do was stay in bed and go on holding you in my arms.” She heard the rancher sigh wistfully as he spoke. “Maybe someday,” Chris concluded.

  His voice was low and sultry and the sound of it created warm ripples of yearning all along her skin.

  She told herself that she had to focus on the day ahead of her and stop daydreaming. However, she just couldn’t convince herself that the man who had managed to light her fire had just called her for no reason.

  “Are the cattle all right?” Roe pressed. She was, after all, a veterinarian first and the animals’ welfare was her first concern.

  “Amazingly enough,” he told her brightly, “the cattle are all terrific. Rachel has bounced back exceedingly fast to the way she had been,” he told her. “It was the most amazing thing to observe.”

  She could hear the smile in his voice. It was obvious he was deriving pleasure from the information he was imparting.

  “That makes me very happy,” Roe told him.

  The rancher chuckled under his breath. “Well, I’m happy that you’re happy,” he told her, amused. And then his tone changed somewhat. “Well, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to tell you that I had a really great time last night and that I’m looking forward to seeing you at the wedding this Saturday.”

  Roe smiled to herself at his declaration. “Count on it,” she told him.

  “I am,” he responded and then told her, “Goodbye.”

  With that, reluctantly, the rancher forced himself to terminate the call he had made. Although he would have much rather remained on the line, just listening to the sound of her breathing, he knew he had a great deal of work to get to.

  As did, he thought, the woman whom he had called.

  * * *

  Roe tucked her cell phone away. No time to daydream now. To begin with, she had a number of patients to look in on, patients she had already treated and patients she had promised to examine and diagnose.

  This included examining one of her grandfather’s horses.

  It was going to be a very busy morning, and it promised to be an even busier afternoon.

  Roe found herself really envying veterinarians who only treated animals that could easily fit onto the space of a very small examination table instead of horses and cows and the like.

  She saved her grandfather and his horse for late afternoon, knowing that Pop did get tired at that time, preferring to get most of his work done and out of the way in the morning hours.

  So, after getting five patients under her belt, Roe drove to the ranch that she knew better than the back of her hand. Quite honestly, she would have preferred to ride in on a horse, but that would have taken her too much time. Driving a truck there was far more efficient, even though it wasn’t nearly as much fun in her opinion.

  “Hi, Pop,” she called out as she pulled up in front, seeing the man inside the barn stall. “Did you put the patient up in the barn?” she asked.

  Getting out of her truck, Roe walked up to her grandfather and quickly brushed her lips against the man’s grizzled cheek.

  “Uh-oh, someone didn’t get as close a shave as he normally does,” Roe remarked teasingly.

  Her grandfather laughed it off. “They don’t make razers like they used to. I take it that you’re here to see Albert?”

  “Well, I think the medical clinic would frown on my giving you an examination unless there was no way around it and you were in a very bad way, so yes, I am here to give your horse an examination.” She circled around the stallion, petting his nose. “What did you say his problem was?”

  “Other than having a vet who likes to crack wise?” her grandfather asked archly.

  Roe smiled affectionately at the man. “Yes, Pop, other than having a vet who likes to make wisecracks.”

  Pop’s expression turned serious as he regarded the stallion. “Albert seems to have developed a limp,” her grandfather told her.

  Roe nodded as she regarded her grandfather’s stallion. “Okay, let’s see what’s going on with you, Albert,” she said, taking her medical bag and walking into the stall.

  “Slow down,” her grandfather called out to her. “This isn’t exactly a race, Roe.”

  “The sooner I take a look at Albert, the sooner I can get to the root of the problem and start to fix the poor little guy up,” she said.

  “Makes sense,” her grandfather agreed, nodding his head. “As long as you’re not inclined to conduct a foot race. By the way, how did last night go?”

  Caught off guard by the question, Roe all but turned pale.

  “What?” she cried, almost stuttering. She thought she must have heard him incorrectly. Her grandfather couldn’t actually be asking her about last night—could he?

  “Last night,” her grandfather repeated. “You left here with Chris to show him your dogs. How did that wind up going? Did the dogs take to him?”

  She practically breathed a sigh of relief at the way Pop had worded his question. For one uncertain moment, she thought her grandfather was referring to what had actually happened between her and the rancher.

  She should have known better, she told herself. Pop would have never asked her anything even remotely as personal as that.

  “It went very well, Pop. Lucy and Kingston took to Christopher immediately and Chris got a big kick out of them as well,” she confided.

  Roe didn’t think she needed to say any more about her evening than that. Besides, Pop was a very clever, worldly man. He could easily put two and two together and wind up filling in the blanks more than adequately enough.

  Pop sighed as he followed her into the barn.

  “What’s wrong, Pop?” she asked him as she set down her medical bag. She was preparing to do a slow examination of the leg that was obviously giving the horse trouble.

  It took him a moment to put his feelings into words. “I’m going to miss you girls,” he told her.

  Roe furrowed her brow as she looked at her grandfather. “I don’t understand,” she said, confessing her confusion. “Raegan, Riley and I—and mom—are all right here.”

  “Yes, but you’re not the little girls I’m used to having around. Raegan is married and Riley will be all too soon,” he said with a sense of resignation.

  “But I’m not,” Roe pointed out as she slowly began her examination of the stallion, talking softly and slowly to the horse.

  Her grandfather gave her a long, penetrating look that seemed to tell her he saw right through what she was telling him. “Aren’t you?” he asked her.

  “Pop, I don’t even have anyone steady in my life, much less any sort of a pending relationship,” she pointed out.

  The expression on his face told her he knew better. “Things can change in a heartbeat,” her grandfather said with the confidence of a man who had lived through a great many changes in his life.

  “Well, right now my heartbeat is fixated on getting this guy up to par and walking better—and after that, I want to be able to make it through the wedding this weekend. After that,” she said with a wide smile, “we can focus on marrying me off.”

  Mike smiled warmly at his technically last remaining unattached granddaughter as he held onto the young stallion, keeping it as still as he could so that she could work on the animal.

  “Oh, I have no doubts about that at all,” Mike told the girl he still thought of as “Rosemary” in his mind.

  She wasn’t sure what her grandfather was getting at, but for now she focused on the stallion she was treating and made no comment.

  * * *

  Roe was beginning to pack up her medical bag. For now, Pop’s horse seemed to be on the path to recovery. Even his limp seemed a little bit better. She ran her hand along the horse’s muzzle affectionately. “You gave us quite a scare, young man,” she told the horse. “Glad you’re on the mend.” She looked at her grandfather. “He’s going to be okay, Pop.”

  And then she paused, studying her grandfather. His face was drawn and his usual smile was missing. “But you’re not,” she observed. “Okay, out with it. What’s wrong, Pop?”

  “Nothing’s wrong,” he told her evasively, avoiding her eyes.

  Roe put down her medical bag and faced her grandfather squarely. “One of the things I’ve always liked best about you, Pop, was that you didn’t lie. Oh, you tried once or twice—or maybe even three times—but you could never really pull it off no matter how hard you tried. Now tell me, honestly, what’s wrong?” she asked again. “And don’t say ‘nothing’ because there clearly is ‘something’ wrong and I’d appreciate you telling me what it is, Pop.”

  Mike waved his hand at her question. “It’s nothing to concern yourself about.”

  “Which of course is the best way to get me to worry,” she said to her grandfather. “Look, I’m not about to leave until you level with me.”

  “I’ll have Rosa get your old room ready,” he told her cavalierly.

  “Pop,” Roe said to her grandfather in a warning voice. She was prepared to dig in until she got the truth out of him no matter how long it took.

  Mike frowned. “You’ve got enough things to deal with without having this preying on your mind. Why don’t we just forget about it?”

  That was one thing she was unwilling to do. Roe sighed. “Pop, you are one of the most important people in my life and right now, you are really beginning to worry me. Now please, tell me, what’s wrong? I’m not going to stop harping until you tell me,” she told him, pinning him with a look. “You know I won’t.”

  Mike sighed deeply, looking off over her head. “I miss your father.”

  She sensed there was something he wasn’t telling her. “Why more today than any other day?”

  His frown deepened. “Today marks the anniversary of the day your father left home.” Mike waved his hand. “He just walked out and I never saw him again.” Her grandfather turned to look at her. “That friend of yours, Christopher. There’s something about him that reminds me of Ryan—of your father.” He shrugged his shoulders, trying not to dwell on what he was saying. It still hurt. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be such a downer, honey,” he apologized to his granddaughter.

  “You’re not a downer, Pop,” she insisted. “What you are is human. I always suspected that you were. And now here you are, proving me right,” she said, standing up on her toes and brushing her lips against his cheek. “Finally.”

  “Wise guy,” he scoffed affectionately.

  “Well, who made me that way?” she challenged with amusement.

  He looked at her innocently. “I haven’t the vaguest idea,” he told her.

  “Uh-huh. Well, I do,” she said, her eyes meeting his. “Look, let me just put this into the truck and I’ll come back to spend some time with you. We can talk.”

  “You don’t need to babysit me, little girl,” Pop told her.

  “Maybe I want to,” she told him. “Better yet, maybe I just need to talk to you. You were the one who taught me how important it was to share.”

  He repressed the smile that was trying to rise on his lips. “So this is my fault,” he said.

  Her eyes were shining as she said, “Uh-huh.”

  He laughed. “Okay, come to the kitchen. I think Rosa has some dessert lying around calling to us and needing to be consumed. We’ll break bread and talk,” he told her.

  Her smile widened. “You had me at ‘talk,’” she told him.

  Mike paused for a moment. “I’m not keeping you from another patient, am I?”

  “Pop,” she assured him, walking with him to his house, “you can always keep me.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The following late afternoon Christopher was out with two of his wranglers. He was overseeing the cattle herd before it was time to bring them back and sequester them in the barn for the night when Jordan spoke up, calling to get his attention.

  “Hey, don’t look now, boss, but looks like you’ve got company.” He pointed toward the approaching white truck they all recognized as belonging to the veterinarian. “There’s nothing new wrong with the herd, is there?” the wrangler asked Chris.

  The rancher turned his mount around in the direction that Jordan was indicating. “Not that I’m aware of,” Chris answered.