She ran. There was no other word for it. She skedaddled like prey that had miraculously escaped being eaten. She wasn’t proud of herself but seeing him again so unexpectedly had jumbled up her emotions and she was terrified of saying the wrong thing.
By the time she reached the safety of her father’s truck she was regretting her flight and already anticipating what she was going to say when they met again. Next time she would come prepared with her facts all in a row and, having seen him once, she wouldn’t be so bowled over again. Just the shock of him, the reality of him after years of wondering and regretting had temporarily seized up her brain.
* * *
Faith rushed out the door like Danny was chasing her and he let out a low whistle. She probably thought he was stalking her, but he’d just come in to pick up a couple of new matching bandanas for Roman, Lizzie’s son, and his new puppy, Splat.
The horror on Faith’s face when she’d looked up at him had almost made him want to laugh until the emotion trapped deep inside him had welled up, and he’d been unable to say anything at all. She was still beautiful. She’d cut her dark hair short and had her ears pierced in multiple places. Funny all the things you noticed when you were desperately trying to take everything in at once, in case someone ran out on you again.
“Well, that was fun,” Nancy piped up. “Almost like something from a rom-com.”
“Definitely a comedy,” Danny murmured. “She certainly hightailed it out of here fast.”
“She followed me into the store to apologize for ignoring me for seventeen years.”
“And did you forgive her?” Danny asked as he wandered over to the stand covered in bandanas.
“Kind of.” Nancy lined up a set of jeans. “I mean it was all so long ago I can barely remember it, and she sounded sincere. It’s not like we have to be best buds or anything. I can definitely deal with her being around.”
Danny was impressed by Nancy’s ability to forgive. Weird how he remembered every painful second of his and Faith’s last few months together to this very day. But Nancy hadn’t known all of it and hopefully she never would. Faith would need friends in Morgan Valley and he certainly wasn’t going to stop anyone from coming around to her.
“She’s really pretty,” Nancy said as she strolled over to check out his selection.
“Yeah.” Blue was Roman’s favorite color, so Danny focused on that.
“I like her short hair.”
“Hmm.” Danny compared a Hawaiian-themed bandana with one with dog bones on it. “Which one do you think Roman would prefer?”
“You’re no help, Danny,” Nancy sniffed. “You could at least gossip with me.”
“Not happening,” he said firmly.
Even though Faith had said she’d get back to him about meeting up, he was beginning to wonder if she meant it. If she hadn’t bothered to pick up the phone for seventeen years, why would she suddenly want to talk to him now? Why hadn’t she come back to Morgan Valley and met him face-to-face over the years? What had changed?
Nancy was watching him way too closely. He reminded himself that she worked at the local bar and had an outstanding ability to spread gossip. He picked up the two matching bandanas and turned to the exit.
“Thanks, Nancy. I definitely think I’ll go with the bones.”
Chapter Three
Danny looked up as his big brother Adam came striding into the barn where he was carefully walking Applejack. Two weeks had passed since Andy had put on the new shoe and his favorite horse was almost ready to ride again. He still hadn’t heard back from Faith, but he guessed she was busy getting up to speed with the veterinary business.
“Bryson wants his cows back,” Adam said.
“Yeah, I know,” Danny said. “He wanted them two weeks ago and Dad told him to come and get them himself.”
“Evan just went by there and some of them are calving right in our field.”
“Shit.” Danny frowned. “That’s not a problem I want to have to deal with.”
“Me neither. Will you help me get them back on the right side of the fence? We’ll have to take it down again to get them through, but it’s easier than taking them all by road.”
“Sure.” Danny nodded. “Let me put Applejack away and find another horse.”
Ten minutes later, Danny was astride his backup horse, Joe, following Adam up the slope to the topmost fields of their ranch. After the torrential spring rain, the grass was tall and green and the terrain muddy. Adam whistled to his dogs and gathered them together as they approached the last field that currently held a mixture of Miller and Bryson cows.
“Where was the breach in the hedge?” Danny asked.
“Between those two trees.” Adam stood in his stirrups and pointed toward the far boundary. “Evan just restrung the wire fencing so it shouldn’t be too hard to get it down again. I’ll start sorting the cows while you get on with that.”
Danny put on his work gloves and wrestled with the fencing while Adam and the dogs worked together to separate the cows. He’d just about made a big enough gap when Adam called his name and he went over to join him.
“Two calves down here. Both Brysons.” Adam frowned. “Do you want to call him and let him know he’ll probably need to take these two back to the barn?”
“Sure.” Danny took off his glove and found Doug’s number as Adam started moving the pregnant cows back toward the newly created gap.
“Bryson.”
“Hey, Doug, two of your cows have calved in our field. We’ll drive the rest back through to your land, but you’ll need to come pick these two up.”
“I don’t have time.”
“Well, you can’t leave them here. We’re clearing this field and bringing our pregnant cows closer to home so we can keep an eye on them.”
Danny waited but apart from some heavy breathing Doug didn’t appear to have anything useful to say.
“Just push them onto my land and I’ll come by and take a look later. Thanks.”
Danny tightened his grip on the phone. “Doug, the calves have just been born. You can’t just ignore them.”
“Listen up, whichever Miller you are, I don’t have four brothers backing up my every move. If I say I can’t get to them today, I can’t, so do whatever the hell you like.”
Doug ended the call leaving Danny staring speechless at the blank screen.
“He’s not coming?” Adam asked, his incredulous expression mirroring Danny’s.
“Nope.”
Adam cast a distracted glance back at the two calves who were lying at their mother’s feet.
“We can’t just leave them here. Doug might say he doesn’t want them, but I’m sure as hell he’ll try and sue the pants off us if we let them die. He’s just that kind of guy.”
“Let’s get the rest of his cows back on his side of the fence, first,” Danny suggested. “Maybe if we move the two calves over as well, the mothers will follow them?”
Adam rubbed a hand over the back of his neck as the rain started up again and dripped off the brim of his Stetson. “That’ll probably work, but the calves still aren’t going to thrive outside in this weather.”