Page 1 of Rancher's Healing

CHAPTER ONE

JAKE

Leaving the city was still the best part of my day. I didn’t mind covering for the doctors in the ER, because it kept up my skills and gave me something other than Mr. Joseph’s gout to think about. But the drives home were the killer.

Turning the music up, I ignored everything around me except the road and vast prairie in front of me.

Something was on the road ahead, but I couldn’t make it out. As I grew closer, I saw someone had broken down. It was a fancy horse trailer, with a very familiar flying diamond logo on the back door. Someone from the Flying Diamond 5 was in trouble.

Pulling to a stop, I got out of my truck and headed for the driver’s door. The back door on the trailer was open, and I poked my head in, seeing two horses in their stall. It looked like there should have been three.

“Hello?” I called out, hoping not to startle anyone who might be working on the truck. Making my way around the vehicle, there was nobody. The truck was full of stuff, and the bed had what looked to be a blown-out tire from the trailer. Whoever it was already had it fixed.

“Hello?” I shouted, a little louder this time.

“Jake, is that you?” I heard a woman’s voice call back to me. Turning, I looked behind me to see a woman with dark hair, legs that stretched for miles, and a smile taking up most of her face.

“Tayla?” I didn’t need to phrase it as a question. I knew that woman like the back of my hand. I’d studied her body as much, maybe more than my anatomy textbooks for medical school. She got closer, and I had to fight the blood flowing to my dick. God, she was gorgeous.

Clearing my throat, I focused enough to ask her, “Are you all right?” Frowning, I looked at the horse she was walking.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Rusty here’s a little shit when it comes to loading, and he must feel we’re close to home because he took off.” She walked closer to the trailer, and the horse tried to pull away.

“Here, give him to me.” I reached out for the halter and took him from her. A smirk crossed her face, and I was pretty sure she was quite happy to prove me wrong that I could get the beast in the trailer.

He walked on perfectly for me and I locked him in the stall, taking off the halter she had used. And that’s when I realized why she was smirking.

“I think this is yours.” My voice was as pitchy as a teen boy.

Her bra hung off my finger, and she burst into a fit of laughter. She reached out to grab it, but I hooked my finger so she couldn’t pull it off. “Not the first time I’ve had one of these in my hands.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Those were good times.” Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were sad, now that I was looking at her. I let her slip her bra off my finger, and she crossed her arms over her breasts.

God, Jake, look anywhere else. My brain screamed at me, so I looked into the trailer before looking back at her. “What’s wrong, Tay?” I reached out and brushed her hair out of her face. It wasthe first time I’d touched her in years, but I could still feel her body against mine, what she felt like beside me and how it felt to be... Enough. My brain yelled before I could finish that thought.

“I’m home for good.” She let her eyes fall from my face to the road beneath us.

“Are you okay?” The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and I was ready to pummel the man who’d hurt her.

“I’m fine. Caught him cheating, and that was the last straw.” She shrugged and turned away from me. “Then my tire blows ten miles from home, and that one runs.” She pointed to the trailer.

“Got anything to drink in the living quarters?” I asked. Spending time on the side of the highway wasn’t exactly getting me home, but tonight there wasn’t any reason I couldn’t spend time with her.

“Yeah, the fridge is full.” She nodded. “It’s unlocked.”

I walked toward the door. Giving her a moment to sort the bra situation out, I went to the fridge and grabbed two sodas for us. A beer would have been better, but we both still had miles to drive.

“Follow me,” I said as I walked past her and held out the drink.

“Always the responsible one, hey Doc.” She said as she cracked the can of Dr. Pepper and smirked.

“Do no harm.” I said as I held up my right hand. Dropping the tailgate of my truck, I hopped up and patted the spot beside me. She sat and took a drink of the soda.The early autumn breeze blew the hair off her face, a face I’d memorized at one point in my life.

“I’m a good listener.” Leaning over, I bumped her shoulder with mine. Tayla’s half smile made my heart break. Her brokenness was unlike anything I had ever witnessed. She was outgoing, full of life, and right now I wanted to take her in my arms and get her back to that person'.

I cleared my throat to try again. “I do know a little something about catching your partner cheating.” The spritz of my drink made us both look at it as I opened it.

“Hattie?” she asked, frowning.

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