Page 14 of Nashville Cowboy
“We’ll see about that.” With that, he turned and strode out of the kitchen.
“Don’t let him bother you,” Mima said from the kitchen table. “I know my Jackson. He was always the sweetest boy. He’ll get over all this anger.”
But Eve wasn’t so sure about that. If he’d held on to it for years, how would twoweeksmake a difference?
“I need to put in a few hours today over at the clinic, then I’ll be yours and Sadie’s for the next two weeks.”
“I’m so excited! What a wonderful time we’re all going to have.”
Yeah.Wonderful. Eve pulled out a pan and flipped on the gas stove.
There were cowboys to be fed.
Chapter 6
Eve drove her pickup truck straight from dropping breakfast burritos off for Hank and his ranch hands over to the Lone Star Veterinary Clinic where she worked with Annabeth. Her partner at the clinic didn’t have nearly the same affection for Stone Ridge that Eve did. The only thing she loved about Stone Ridge was the abundance of men. They were two very different women, which might be why they worked so well together.
Eve was organized, loved routine and schedules, wasn’t dating anyone, and understood the coffeemaker. She talked to horses and was generally far more intuitive with animals. Annabeth loved details, men, and had a take-no-prisoners attitude with both pets and their owners. She was tall, thin, and wore her spiky, short hair with a streak of purple. She also preferred working with small animals. Eve worked with the large animals mostly, taking the truck and supplies out to the ranches that often called on them.
As soon as Eve made the coffee, Annabeth cornered her. “Are you still going through with this?”
“Sadie’s wedding? Yes.”
Eve was going to enjoy doing one job for a while instead of two. Juggling Mima’s job and hers was beginning to wear on her.
“You should have just kindly bowed out months ago, when you had a chance.”
Disappoint Sadie and make things easier for Jackson? Not a chance. “Sadie’s mybest friend.”
“And the best man is your ex-fiancé. That’s just crazy-times, girl. You’d never catch that kind of thing happening in Austin.”
Annabeth continually compared the two towns to each other. No surprise, she was originally from Austin, and Stone Ridge always came up short.
“If you’re worried about me, don’t be. He just came in last night and we agreed we’re going to do our best to stay away from each other. It shouldn’t be too hard.”
“While staying under the same roof, even?” Annabeth went all squinty-eyed.
“It’s a big enough house.”
“You two are going to shack up while he’s here. He’s going to leave after the wedding, and this time you’ll be one more woman tossed to the side. You better quit while you’re ahead. At least you left him.”
Eve wouldn’t be falling into bed with him anytime soon, or he with her. They were barely going to tolerate being in the same room together.
“You wouldn’t make such a ridiculous statement if you’d seen how mad he is with me. He tried to fire me. He can barely stand to look at me.”
“Good. Keep it that way.”
Eve sighed. “Okay, let’s get on with our day.”
Annabeth rummaged around the desk that would belong to a receptionist, if they were able to afford one, and handed Eve a piece of paper. “There was a message from a Mr. Mansfield.”
“Mr.Mansfield?”
“He’s the new foreman over at Maddox Ranch. Leroy retired.” Annabeth lightly touched Eve’s shoulder. “Are you going to be okay? I could move some appointments around and go with you.”
“No, I’ll be fine,” Eve said, folding the paper and tucking it into the back pocket of her Wranglers.
She’d been out to the Maddox ranch dozens of times. And it wasn’t the first time she’d gone out on a call alone. It’s just that usually she already knew the men. Had known them most of her life and they were like fathers, uncles, brothers.
