Hometown Hearts

“Daddy, Tomasina’s better.” Julianna bounced away to hold out her hand to one of the nearby dogs. “Cheyenne says she has a good chance. If she lives, we can put her back in her nest.”

“Her mother won’t take her now,” he blurted out, realizing too late what he’d said. He prayed his comment wouldn’t remind the girls of what they’d lost. A mother who had only part-time interest in them.

“Actually, that’s not true.” Cheyenne Granger looked all too happy to correct him. “Julianna knows where the nest is, so we should be able to return the baby to her home. Once Tomasina is back with her siblings, she should be just fine. They are probably looking around the nest wondering where she is.”

“Or saying she shouldn’t have misbehaved, which made her fall out of the nest in the first place,” Jenny supplied with a faint grin. “I have a lot of experience with siblings.”

He ruffled Jenny’s hair. “That’s a relief. Under no circumstances are we keeping a bird in the house.”

“It wouldn’t be right to keep her locked up,” Julianna informed him. “God meant for her to fly in the sky. She would be sad in a cage.”

“That’s right.” Cheyenne’s gentleness drew his attention.

There was something luminous about her and he had noticed it before. When he’d seen her last, she had been wearing a bridesmaid’s dress at the family wedding he’d attended a while ago. He couldn’t forget the way she’d stood out to him above all the other women in the room. He was not so good with words, which had been one of Stacy’s greatest complaints about him. His lack of words became a problem again as silence settled in, but the beautiful veterinarian didn’t seem bothered by it. She knelt to catch Julianna’s chin with both of her slender, gentle hands, a show of affection that surprised him.

“You keep right on helping animals. You call me anytime, got it?” She was at ease with his daughters, sharing a smile with Julianna and then with Jenny.

“Okay, I will. Animals just find me.”

“More like you find them,” Jenny corrected and shared an understanding smile with Cheyenne. He appreciated her kindness to his girls.

“Adam, this visit is entirely on me. You won’t be billed.” She opened and held the door for them. “Julianna and Jenny did a great job of rescuing Tomasina and getting her here safely. They saved her life. You must be proud of them.”

“I suppose I’ll keep them. For now.” He caught each girl with one arm and drew them outside into the sun and heat. He should thank the lady for her help and her gentleness to his daughters, but he wasn’t sure how that would sound. Too grateful, too familiar—would it open himself up too much?

Silence settled between them. He couldn’t ignore the wall he put up between himself and women. It was a gut reaction he didn’t know how to stop.

“Saving lives must run in the family.” Cheyenne raised a hand to shield her eyes.

“I don’t save anyone.” The words came out harsher than he meant them. Again.

“What do you mean? You saved little Owen’s life. Last winter you didn’t have to get involved when he was having problems breathing at the diner. You could have gone about your dinner, minding your own business, but you got involved. Since Owen is about to become my nephew at the end of the month, my family thinks mighty highly of you.”

“That’s because they don’t know me. Give them time and they will change their minds.” The girls broke away from him to scamper off to the car.

“You’re mighty humble for a big-city doctor.” Cheyenne squinted up at him.

“I’m not so big or humble. I do what I can, just the way you do. Life matters. That’s why I work hard at what I do.”

“Me, too.” Their gazes met and locked. Finally, she’d gotten an almost smile out of him. Adam Stone towered above her at an impressive height; he had to be about the same six foot three as her dad.

Handsome would describe him, but remarkable would be a better word. His granite face was a tad too rugged to be classically handsome, but he could outshine George Clooney and all the doctors on any medical show she’d ever watched. He wore all black from his tie to his dress shoes. Since Wild Horse was a casual place, Adam Stone was as out of water as a fish could get. He didn’t look like a kindred spirit, yet they had this in common. They both valued life; they both fought for it.

“I like making a difference and knowing I can ease suffering.” She walked with him to his door, squinting in the sunshine. “Is that why you decided to become a doctor, too?”

“I’m in it strictly for the money.” The promise of a smile dug into the corners of his mouth, dazzling enough to light up his deep brown eyes. “That’s why I came out here for the rest of the summer. Manhattan wasn’t lucrative enough.”

“Yes, and I can see Wild Horse is.” She had patients waiting, but did her feet take her back down the walkway? No. They remained stuck to the concrete, immovable. “Your workday must be a lot more leisurely here.”

“I had three appointments all day, which gives me plenty of time to get to know my new patients. It’s a change of pace.”

“I already know my patients before they walk in the door.”

“You are one of those animal people, aren’t you? You can’t walk past a furry creature without stopping to get acquainted.”

“You have no idea.” The man radiated the emotion of a mountain—solemn, somber, closed off—except for his dark eyes. Sadness lived in them, veiled and shadowed but there all the same. She didn’t know why she could read all of that. “I’ve been this way for as long as anyone can remember. Dad tells stories of me helping him doctor the cattle when I was barely old enough to talk.”

“Medicine was all I ever wanted to do, too.” He stared at the keys in hand and shrugged wide, dependable shoulders. “Best get the girls home. Thanks for, uh, saving Tomasina.”

“Anytime.” She jammed her hands into her white jacket, feeling oddly sad for the man. Everyone heard how his wife had left him and his daughters for his best friend, a fellow doctor who shared his former practice. How hard that had to have been for him, she sympathized, remembering how shattered her father had been years ago when her mother had left him for another man. Adam Stone didn’t look shattered. He seemed invincible, as if no tragedy could ever touch him.

She wanted to say something of comfort or reassurance, but she didn’t know what would possibly be appropriate. They were strangers. She knew his daughters but not the man, who managed a craggy half smile in lieu of a goodbye.

“This isn’t over yet.” She backed away, waving through the sun-streaked windshield to the girls buckled up inside the sedan. “You are invited to our family’s Fourth of July bash tomorrow.”

“Apparently there’s no getting out of it.” His wry tone held the hint of a smile although his face betrayed no emotion. He angled behind the wheel and shut the door.

That was it. No goodbye. No looking-forward-to-seeing-you-again comments. Just the hum of a finely tuned engine rolling over. She watched the luxury car sail away, the vehicle at odds with the practical pickups and four-wheel drives in the lot, out of place just like the man.

She headed back inside where her next furry patient awaited her, but she couldn’t get Adam Stone out of her mind.

“You’re a little late for supper, girl.”

She looked up at her dad’s comment, her feet dragging on the pathway from the garage to the backyard. An old maple spread broad-leafed shade over the picnic table set up on the lawn, where her family was eating. Signs of preparation for tomorrow’s bash were already up. Strings of lights hung from the porch eaves and stretched to wind around the maple’s lowest branches. A fire pit had been dug in the gravel at the edge of the lawn, stacked with wood and ready to burn.

“Long day.” Exhausted, she dropped her bag on the lawn. “Three emergencies, a packed schedule and a couple drop-ins that I worked in after hours and a rescued baby finch.”

“Tomasina?” Cady Winslow grabbed the iced tea pitcher and filled a plastic cup.

“So you heard.” Cheyenne dropped onto the seat beside her sister Addison and reached across the table to accept the iced tea Cady offered.

“Even I know who Tomasina is,” Dad quipped as he popped a barbecued potato chip into his mouth. “Julianna told me all about it when I picked Cady up just a bit ago.”

“Poor Tomasina,” Addy sympathized as she poked at her hot dog, adjusting the bun. “Is she going to make a full recovery?”

“She was doing much better when I left. Ivy volunteered to take her home. So far her prognosis is good.” She lifted the paper plate serving as a lid over her meal. The smoky scent of barbecued hot dog made her stomach rumble. The generous scoops of their housekeeper’s potato salad made her mouth water. “Mrs. Gunderson spoils us. I hope she never leaves.”

“I just gave her a raise to make sure of it.” Dad chuckled as he polished off the last of the potato salad on his plate. “I’m going in for seconds. Anyone want more?”

“I do.” Cady’s gentle green eyes softened when she focused on Dad. Honest love made her even more radiant. She rose from the bench with grace, taking her plate with her. The sun shone in the soft waves of her pretty brown hair and her sandals didn’t seem to touch the ground as she crossed the grass.

The way Dad watched the woman’s approach made Cheyenne’s vision blur. She loved that her dad had found someone to treasure him the way he deserved. It was sweet when he drew Cady toward him and they walked the rest of the distance together. The couple’s happiness lifted on the temperate breeze like the low, merry murmurings of their conversation.

“I’m glad Dad found Cady.” Addy sighed a little, too. “I’ve never seen him this happy.”

“No, neither have I. She’s good for him.”

“They are good for each other.”