“She hurt you, Son.”
Danny smiled. “I was seventeen. It was a long time ago. She probably doesn’t even remember me.”
“I doubt that.” His dad hauled himself to his feet. “I’m going to take my walk out to the barn. If I don’t come back within the hour, you have my full permission to come look for me. If you start fretting before that, don’t expect me to be pleased to see you.”
Danny took out his phone. “I’m going to text Mom back about dinner and then I’ll be busy getting that started, so I sure as hell won’t be worrying about you.”
“Good.”
Danny waited until his father slammed the back door behind him before he let out a long breath.
Faith was coming back.
He scrolled through his contacts until he found his mother’s name.
In a place as small as Morgan Valley it was inevitable that they would bump into each other sooner rather than later—especially when the McDonalds were the Miller family’s vets.
He tried to picture what she might look like now and couldn’t even guess. They’d parted on such bad terms that even after seventeen years he still wasn’t sure he’d be able to face her, or how she’d react to him. He reminded himself that they were both older and wiser, and that her defection had helped make him the man he was now, something he couldn’t regret.
He half smiled as he started texting his mother.
Maybe Faith really wouldn’t remember him.
Perhaps that would be a blessing,
After receiving detailed instructions from his mother about exactly how to cook dinner, Danny was just about to put his phone away when he paused.
If he had to meet Faith again, he’d prefer to do it away from curious eyes and ears. He thumbed through his contacts and started to type. He was no longer a shy teenager who sat back and let things happen to him. Maybe it was time to make sure Faith knew that as well.
* * *
Faith McDonald suppressed a sigh as she looked around the ramshackle veterinarian’s hospital. After building a separate house on the property twenty years ago for his growing family, her father had left the original homestead entirely for the use of the practice and hadn’t made any effort to improve it since. It was a far cry from the modern offices she and her partners had occupied in Humboldt.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a shithole,” her brother Dave remarked from his position propping up the doorframe behind her. “I’ve been asking Dad to improve it ever since I qualified, but he wouldn’t listen. What’s new?”
“Sounds just like Dad.”
Faith swung around to regard her younger brother. They had the same dark hair and blue eyes as their mother and had both gone into the family business along with their cousin Jenna, who now worked and lived up at Morgan Ranch.
“It’s not entirely his fault.” Dave shrugged. “It’s not easy making money out here.”
“I know, but there are things we could do to improve that and stop people having to go to Bridgeport for specialized veterinary care. We both have the skills. Dad’s given me carte blanche to get the place up-to-date.”
“What does carte blanche mean exactly?” Dave frowned. “Sounds like some kind of cake. And where are we supposed to get the money to make these changes happen?”
“You don’t have to worry too much about that if you don’t want to,” Faith rushed to reassure him. “I managed our practice in Humboldt. We had twelve staff members including six vets and I dealt with all the financials.”
Dave shuddered. “You go ahead. I like the ‘being a veterinarian’ part and hate the bookkeeping. It nearly killed me passing my finals.” He jerked his finger toward the back off ice, which was basically a huge pile of papers. “Have you seen it in there?”
Faith came toward him. “If we are going to be partners, Bro, you’re going to have to deal with some of this stuff. I can’t make decisions that will affect both of us all by myself. We will need to talk things through.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Dave hesitated. “Can I be honest here?”
“Sure.” Faith nodded. “Go ahead.”
“I’m, like, not sure you’re really going to stick around,” Dave said in a rush. “I mean, I want you to, but seeing as you haven’t been near this place since I was in middle school, I have some doubts.”
Faith made herself meet his skeptical gaze. “I understand how you feel. All I can tell you is that I really want to stay here and build up the practice. I promised Mom and Dad that if they ever needed me to come back I would do so without question.”
“Why would I believe that when you’ve avoided it for so long?” Dave asked.
Faith blinked. Wow, her little brother wasn’t pulling his punches.
“Because I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep?”
She tried not to think of all the promises she’d made to Danny Miller and subsequently broken. She’d promised to write, to keep in touch, to let him know when she’d be coming home . . .
She forced her attention back to her brother. “I will do my absolute best to make this work, okay?”
He still didn’t look convinced, but there was nothing she could do right now except work as hard as she could to prove him wrong.
“There are some people in Morgan Valley who don’t remember you in the most favorable light,” Dave said slowly. “I’m not saying that to be mean, I just want you to know what you might be up against if you decide to stay.”
“Still?” Faith raised her eyebrows.
Dave shrugged. “Folks have long memories out here. You left, and Danny Miller stayed, so they’re bound to be more sympathetic to him. And, he’s a nice guy.”
“Yes, he is,” Faith agreed. “Hopefully, once I start working here and they get to know me again, they’ll change their minds.”
“I guess so.” Dave didn’t sound very optimistic as he straightened up and walked out into the office. “I’m just going to check on my two patients out back. I’ll meet you out front.”
“No problem.”
Faith went into the main reception area, which was painted a pale blue and green. There were cheerful posters on the walls, and someone had attempted to set up a puppy play corner, but the whole area looked desperate for a makeover. The rest of the staff had gone home while she and Dave were taking stock of their new venture. If Faith agreed to take on the practice, her father and mother would be off on their long-anticipated golfing tour of Europe. Given the choice, she wasn’t sure they’d ever come back to stay for good. But, as they’d helped pay for her to attend veterinary college, supported her decision to stay away from Morgan Valley, and never made her feel bad about any of it, the least she could do was help her brother maintain and develop the family business.
If she got it up and running and financially secure, in a year or two Dave would be able to handle it himself if he took on another vet to replace her. It was always good to have options and a backup plan.
She glanced out the window toward the parking lot and the spectacular view behind it. Leaving Morgan Valley had been a terrible wrench, and some small part of her, the little girl who’d grown up wild and free in the fields, was delighted to be home. The rest of her—the part formed by her decision to leave—wasn’t so sure.