parted and went about our separate tasks and after I was done putting together my list of mares I headed back to the main barn to look for a can of WD-40 for that squeaky door. The supply closet was full to the brim with all sorts of things, but I couldn't find a single can of what I needed.
"Of all the damned things to be out of," I said as I pulled out my notebook to add it to my list.
I stopped by the main house on my way to my truck. Pete was in his office working on something on his computer and barely looked up to acknowledge me.
"Need something?" He asked. I could tell he was absorbed in his work.
"I was just going to ask if you needed me to grab anything. I'm on my way into Ashland to run a few errands."
Pete stopped to think and then shook his head. "Thanks for asking though. What are you going after?"
"Just a few things we need for maintenance. And since I'm there I think I'm going to stop in and meet the new vet. I've got the count of the mares we need to have checked, and I thought I'd give her a heads up about what our needs are. Jake tells me it's a lady vet."
Pete raised an eyebrow. "That surprises me."
"Me too. But you know Doc Halloran wouldn't have hired her if she wasn't the best around. I'd like to get a look at her." I said with a grin.
"Behave yourself, please," Pete said with an almost scowl. "We do not need to find a new vet right now. If you could keep your hands to yourself and your dick in your pants that would be great."
I threw my hands up in mock surrender. "I don't know what you're talking about."
My older brother shook his head. "I know you try to act like the twins are the ones with a reputation around here, but you've got one yourself with just about every new woman that moves anywhere nearby, and I would like if we could maintain a good relationship with someone we're going to be engaging with professionally for the foreseeable future. If she sticks around half as long as Doc Halloran, then she'll be here for the rest of her life, so unless you plan on marrying this girl, I want you to keep a wide berth of her."
I laughed. "I think you're taking it a little far. We'll have to see what she looks like first."
I waved to my brother as I headed back outside and over to my truck, starting the thing and speeding down the long road that led from the highway up to the main ranch house.
The drive into town was easy and uneventful, and the street parking in front of McCall's Hardware was nearly empty. I recognized all the vehicles there, save for one of them, and they all belonged to several of the older men in town who passed their time sitting on benches just inside the hardware store, sipping coffee that Mrs. McCall made every morning for her husband and the men who stopped by for what amounted to a gossip session.
"How are you doing there, Alex?" Charlie McCall bellowed from behind the counter as I pushed open the door and stepped inside the store, my arrival announced by the tinkling of a tiny bell overhead. I thought I detected a strange twinkle in his eye, but I couldn't imagine what that would be about unless one of the old codgers on the benches had just told a dirty joke.
"Not bad, just here to grab a can of WD-40 and a roll of twine if you've got the size I'm looking for."
"Good deal, you know where everything is. Holler if you need anything."
I nodded in greeting as I passed by the gentlemen enjoying their coffee and headed down the front of the shop until I found the aisle I was looking for. The lubricants were toward the back of the store, and once I found myself in the corner, I grabbed the can I was looking for and turned to head toward the rope and twine when I ran smack dab into a head full of curly red hair that barely reached the height of my collarbone.
"Sorry about that, miss. I..." I stopped and looked at the face in front of me and tried not to let out the gasp of surprise I felt when I realized I was face to face with Madison Graston, the woman I had thought I was going to marry, for the first time in a decade.
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