Page 4 of Unyielding
Fair.
It was the core principle of my entire life. After watching my parents and sister stampede their way through the world, seeming to follow one whim to the next without thought of how it impacted anyone else, I knew that I had to walk another path. I was never going to be selfish, would never let myself become fixated on whatIwanted out of life. I wasn’t about to make the same mistakes that they’d made.
I realized that I was staring into space, too consumed with the past to pay attention to my very important present. I had to stay focused, had to keep my eye on the prize,hadto convince Ruth Wilcox to sell her practice to me. I needed this job, not just because it was a perfect fit, but also because my capricious mother had been…differentlately. Still as carefree as ever, but she’d become strangely forgetful, confusing days of the week and retelling stories that she’d already mentioned, sometimes in the same conversation. My father and sister were always quick to dismiss my concerns whenever I brought up testing her. Being home would allow me to keep an eye on my mother and help out if necessary. I’d given notice at the big corporate practice that specialized in large animal breeding I worked for in Salt Lake City, gambling everything on the hope that Ruth and the rest of Poplar Springs would not only accept me back but allow me to build a life and a practice here.
Ruth was always meticulous about her notes, and I knew she’d be checking up on me to review my findings from the appointment with Shannon, so I refocused on what I was doing. Buying the practice was all that mattered and if I was going to have any hope of doing so, I needed to keep my head down and concentrate on the work.
But the way Shannon looked made it hard to focus. She’d always been pretty, but she’d grown into a striking woman. Her little sister, Fiona, was the flashy one, but Shannon had the kind of pure, natural beauty that seemed to get better with time. She inhabited her body with the confidence and grace of someone who knew exactly what they were capable of. It was an incredibly attractive quality, and it had turned me into a bumbling fool as I tried not to stare at her during the appointment.
No. I couldn’t allow myself to even think about how she looked or made me feel. Not only would Josh have my head, but it would be a distraction at a time when I needed to focus. There was no way I was missing the chance to buy the practice. Ruth had grown an impressive business over the decades, and she was held in high regard by many of the ranchers in Poplar Springs and the surrounding area. With her stamp of approval, I’d be set until I decided to retire. I’d never imagined that I’d wind up back in Poplar Springs, but now that I was home, it felt right.
All I had to do was prove to Ruth that I was worthy. But how?
“You workin’ or day dreamin’?”
I whipped around and saw Ruth watching me from the doorway with a grin. She was still spry and wiry despite her age, with a closely cropped cap of gray hair that never seemed to change.
“Oh, hey. I’m just finishing up my notes from the Cafferty appointment.”
“How’d that go? Everything okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it was a case of Shannon being a little overprotective of her pregnant mare. But Belle’s doing fine.”
“You get why she’s so worried about that horse, right?”
“I do,” I replied. “Belle is twenty, and she’s a living connection to Shannon’s mom.”
“Yes indeed. I was there when Frank and Sylvie brought her home. Sylvie loved that horse so much.”
For a few seconds, Ruth got lost in her own reverie, then seemed to snap out of it just as quickly.
“You done good, kid,” she said. “Your diagnostic skills are right on. But you know that’s not all there is to this business. It’s the humans who pay the bills, so you gotta be just as good with the two leggers as you are with the four.”
Ruth turned to leave the room and Ford hopped up, eager to see if she had any treats in her pockets.
“Yeah, about that,” I said, standing up to walk after her. “Can we talk for a second?”
She paused and leaned down to pet Ford’s speckly head. The cattle dog mix had fallen in love with Ruth almost immediately, much like all of the animals of Poplar Springs. “Of course. What’s going on?”
Ruth stroked the dog’s ears while I tried to collect my racing thoughts.
“You know how much I want to be your successor in this practice.”
She nodded.
“What do I have to do to make it work? I know you’ve had a few other vets trial and they didn’t make the cut, so what can I do differently?”
She tilted her head as she looked at me for a long moment, seeming to evaluate me, and then she nodded. “C’mon, let’s sit and have a cup of coffee.”
She beckoned me to follow her to the tiny staff kitchen at the end of the hall. Her practice had an old-fashioned no-frills vibe that made it clear Ruth didn’t waste money on ambience. She filled the coffee pot while I sat down at the small table.
“Did I tell you anything about why those other applicants didn’t make the cut?” she asked me.
“Not really. You just said they weren’t a fit. I’d like to know more, if you don’t mind.”
Ruth flicked on the coffee pot and sat down across from me. “They were fine veterinarians. Excellent, to be honest. That last girl might have been the best I’ve seen. But like I just said to you, this job isn’t just doctoring. In a community like this, you need to remember that you’re more than just a vet—you’re a marriage counselor, child psychologist, trainer, groomer, farrier, and everything in between. These people count on you to fix their animals, but they also need you to be there forthem. To help them out in a way that can go above and beyond the job description. You can’t just pop a dewormer and be on your way. As tough as it can be, there are days when you have to connect with your human clients even more than with their animals.”
“The other vets weren’t able to do that?”
