use of their barn to house her farrier equipment and work truck, she shod their horses free of charge.
She opened the truck door, allowing Jake to jump over her lap and onto the ground. Every night he ran to her landlord’s door for a cookie, then back to her house for dinner.
Delta slid into her jacket and sat in one of the rockers on the back porch. The brisk January air felt good against her warm skin. Between the nachos and her dinner, she felt a food coma coming on. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes. Garrett’s face immediately came to mind. The sadness in his eyes as he spoke of Rebecca had just about broken her. If she hadn’t left when she had, she never would have made it out of there tear free. Why had she survived when so many others had died? People with families. People like Rebecca. They’d both battled cancer at the same time, yet she—the one with no family—had survived.
A soggy tennis ball landed in her lap, jarring her out of her thoughts. “Ew, Jake!” Delta held up the filthy ball. “Is this the one you lost last summer?” Jake ran down the steps and barked, waiting for her to throw it. “I’ll take that as a yes. One more time then we’re going in.” She stood and threw the ball of crud toward the empty pasture before unlocking the back door. Within seconds, Jake had returned with his treasure. “You’re not bringing that in the house. Drop it.” If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn he rolled his eyes at her. “Yeah, I know. Mean mommy. Now come inside for dinner. I have a date with the TV remote.”
She wondered what Garrett was doing tonight. She imagined him curled up on a couch, reading to his kids. Did they look like him? Not that it mattered. She couldn’t go there. She made a point to avoid any personal involvement with a client. This was still a new business and she wouldn’t screw it up. There wasn’t room or time for dating.
She sagged against the kitchen counter. She’d never missed the touch of a man more than she did right now. And only one man would do. Garrett Slade. The most off-limits man she knew.
The following morning, Jake beat Delta into the Silver Bells Ranch stables. Normally she wouldn’t have minded, but not knowing how Garrett would react, she quickly caught up to her over-curious dog. She didn’t want anything to rekindle yesterday’s tension.
Delta turned the corner and saw Garrett crouched down in front of Jake scratching his ears and talking to him. “Where did you come from?”
“I’m sorry. He’s with me.”
Garrett smiled up at her and then ruffled her pup’s long blue merle fur. “Let me guess.” Her dog panted happily at the attention. “This is Jake.”
“The one and only.” Delta patted her thigh, signaling for him to come to her side. “I hope it’s okay that he’s here. He goes to work with me on most days.”
“It’s fine. Dylan told me. I wish my daughter was here to see him. She would be in love. I keep thinking about getting a dog to help her adjust to the move.” Garrett took off his hat and raked his hand through his thick brown hair before setting it back on his head. “And I’m rambling again.”
“Good morning, Delta,” Dr. Lydia Presley said as she and her assistant exited Lightning Bug’s stall. “I’m glad you could be here today.”
“Hey, Lydia.” Delta was thankful for the intrusion. “No problem. I’m anxious to see how he’s progressing.”
“I just finished taking the x-rays. I got here a little early.” She held out a slender, deeply tanned hand to Garrett. “We haven’t met yet. I’m Lydia Presley, your veterinarian, and this is my assistant, Selena. I hope you don’t mind that we went ahead and got started.”
“Not at all. I’m Garrett, new co-owner of the ranch. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My brother speaks highly of you.”
“Same here. I’ve heard a lot about you, as well.”
Apparently, Lydia had heard more about Garrett than she had. She had known the brothers had partnered but that had been the extent of it. It would have been nice to know something about him before they met, not that anyone owed her that. But the man piqued her curiosity in the worst possible way.
“Garrett, how familiar are you with navicular disease?” Lydia asked.
He shook his head. “I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never had to deal with it before.”
“Let’s begin with the basics, then. It’s a degenerative disease of the navicular bone. Don’t think of it as a disease the horse contracted. It’s more of a syndrome of abnormalities and it’s commonly misdiagnosed, which is why x-rays give a more definitive picture.” Lydia tugged her iPad out of her bag and flipped open the cover. Tapping on the screen, she opened a series of digital x-rays and pointed to a small bone located on the backside of the front hoof. “It also affects the tendon behind it, and this little sac between the bone and the tendon. It’s not something that happens overnight. While many times it’s attributed to incorrect shoeing, that wasn’t the case here.”
“Then what caused it?”
“We don’t know for sure. Quarter horses like Lightning Bug are more prone to it. They have large bodies on small feet. It was probably a trauma of some sort that resulted in an interruption of the blood supply. There’s no cure, but we can manage it with drug therapy, exercise and the use of a nerve block. We’ve already discontinued drug therapy due to his improvement. Today we’re looking to see what adjustments need to be made to his shoe.”
“Which is where I come in,” Delta said. “In this case, I used a light plastic and aluminum glue-on shoe with a foam insert, similar to our own running shoes. It’s critical the hoof angles and balance are correct so Lightning Bug has the correct foot support. That’s why we’re checking to see if any adjustments need to be made since the hoof is continually growing.”
“And you’re sure you can handle all of this?”
Delta ground her back teeth together. She knew he didn’t mean anything derogatory with his question, but somehow she doubted he would have asked it if he had been dealing with her father instead.
“I’ve been handling it,” she answered. “I have quite a bit of experience with corrective shoeing and navicular disease.”
“And we’ve successfully managed it together on several horses.” There was a slight edge to Lydia’s voice. “It’s not that uncommon. We treated one of your sister-in-law’s rescues before Christmas. I want Lightning Bug to continue with daily light exercise to keep him moving. This is not something you want to baby, because stall rest will do more harm than good. I’ll be back to check on him midweek. Since Delta’s modifying the shoe, we like to make sure everything is doing what it should.”
Delta wasn’t upset but she appreciated Lydia’s support. If Garrett picked up on the women’s tension, he didn’t show it. The man had a lot on his shoulders now that he was the ranch’s co-owner. It had to be difficult being a single parent and starting over.
Delta checked her watch. It wasn’t even nine o’clock and she had already emptied her thermos of coffee. She left Lydia and Garrett to discuss the other horses in the stables and headed toward the new lounge area he’d told her about last night over dinner, praying there was a freshly brewed pot.
Delta
