Page 10 of Tom's Chance
“You’re married?” Tom asked in shock, surprised by how much the idea of this woman belonging to someone else bothered him.
“No. I moved here with my mother and Nana.” She turned to him and frowned at what she thought she saw as relief come across his features. “I took over the big house, Nana has the doublewide over by the greenhouses.” She looked at him with a grin. “In her old life back home, she ran a garden center.”
“Ah, so the greenhouses would be perfect for her.”
“So, she says. My mother, and Duane live in the other doublewide. Mom’s not here right now, she had to go back to New York for something to finish up her life there. She should be back in the next couple of weeks, because that’s when her rehabilitation class starts.”
“Duane? As in Duane Manchester?”
“Yes, do you know him?”
“I do, we share an office over at Erin’s Way.”
“Oh, oh, you’re that Tom.” She looked at him in shocked glee. “Erin told me I had to hook up with you.”
“Really?”
“Yes, not only am I farrier, if this matters I’m AFA Certified, but I also hold the title of DVM.”
“No offense, but are you even old enough for all that?”
“I’m twenty-seven, but I did a couple of years of high school together and got out early. One summerbetween classes, I visited a schoolmate and they turned me on to being a farrier. I finished and received my DVM, then went to learn to be a farrier. I figured I could do both. My last job required me to do both. Here I’m the farrier, but I don’t know whether Erin talked to you or not, but she thought if I saw something that needed done, and it wasn’t major, I could do it. She said she hates to call you in all the time.”
“We’ll have to sit down and talk about it.”
“Okay, I can do that. Now, not to be rude, but I need to get this shoe over to Broken so I can put it on Misty.”
“Do you mind if I tag along?”
“Not at all, is that the reason you’re here?” Lorissa walked away and started loading her tools into a bag. She looked at him with raised brows.
“No, I have a year-old stallion that needs a farrier. I patched him up yesterday as best I could, but he’s going to need work done.”
“Where is this place?”
“On the other side of Fool’s Gold. If you want, you can follow me over there after you work on Misty.”
“I can do that.” She agreed as she loaded up more tools. When she was ready, she only nodded at him and told him she’d meet him at Broken.
Tom stood there and watched her walk away, and it took several minutes to get his heartbeat undercontrol. “Holy hell, what a beautiful woman, and a vet to boot. I can’t wait to work with her.” He shook himself and got into his truck to drive over to The Broken Wheel.
He waved at Duane as he drove by, but instead of ignoring him, he stopped and gave him an update on how the arrest went down, and why he was there. By the time he arrived at the barn, Lorissa had Misty all set up and was putting a shoe on her. Tom watched her work and was fascinated by it. Don’t get him wrong, farrier work had always fascinated him, especially if someone else was doing it. He knew his way around a hoof, but preferred not to work on them like a farrier would. As she finished, he laughed along with her when Celine, Lydia, the two donkeys, and Maxine went to Misty to see if she was okay.
He stood back and watched them, then walked over to the gate and called them over. As soon as he had Maxine’s halter in his hand, he took the pen light from his pocket and shone it into her eyes. He nodded and did it again. After he released her, he looked over at Lloyd as he approached. “Is Maxine’s eyesight getting better?”
“We think so, Lorissa started putting salve on her eyes after they’re in their stall for the night, and it seems to be improving.”
Tom looked at Lorissa and demanded harshly, “What did you do? What right did you have to evenexamine these horses? Are you even registered in this state?”
Lorissa stiffened her spine, slammed her fisted hands on her hips, looked down her nose at him, and told him in a cold voice, “I examined her eyes, and saw conjunctivitis in them. Don’t worry, I did the test. I put eye ointment on them, and made sure she wore a hood at night so the flies wouldn’t get to them. If you don’t believe me, you can look at her file in Naomi’s office. I wrote it all down. And yes, not that it’s any of your business, because you areNOTmy boss, I am licensed to work as a DMV in Colorado. Again, not that I owe you any explanations, but I am also licensed and registered as a farrier in this state, along with the former state I lived in.” She paused as she crossed her arms over her chest as she continued to glare at him, while tapping her foot. “Is there a problem?”
“I don’t know,” Tom said honestly, then sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just that when Maxine came here she was blind. I thought it was because she was malnourished and dehydrated.”
“That can cause temporary blindness, but I thought I saw signs of conjunctivitis and did some tests of my own. I have a mini lab set up over at my place. It was positive, so I’ve been putting the salve on at night.”
“What’s that conjunctive stuff?” Lloyd asked inconcern. He wanted to defuse the situation unfolding in front of him. It was like a train wreck, he couldn’t look away, but he didn’t want Lorissa pissed off at the vet. From where he stood, the ranches needed them both. He didn’t know whether Tom would quit, or if Lorissa would refuse to even look at a horse if they kept at each other like this.
“It’s basically pink eye in horses,” Tom said. He shook his head. “I never would have thought that in a million years given the condition she was in when she arrived here.”
