Stephanie pulled on fresh medical gloves and took a deep breath. He remembered what she said about the procedure being dangerous.
She nodded at him. “Keep her steady.”
Hell of a lot easier said than done. She made a small, quick incision. Clint gagged as a nauseating odor escaped from the cow’s stomach, practically suffocating him. It was as bad a smell as any he’d experienced in Afghanistan. He held the cow’s legs tighter. He might not be able to do a lot of things, but, by damn, he could hold on to a cow. Hardy, a man twice his age and more, was doing just fine with his knee on the cow’s abdomen.
Stephanie palpated the heifer’s stomach, then sutured the wound before standing. She nodded to Hardy and turned to Clint. “You can let her go.”
As he did, the cow scrambled up, and before Clint could move out of the way, it stepped hard on the instep of his left foot. He fell, sprawling in the hay as his foot exploded in pain. “Damn!” The cow relieved herself on Clint’s leg, mooed indignantly and ambled away as if nothing had happened.
Hardy looked on in horror. “I’m real sorry, son. I’ve never known Isobel to kick. She’s a pretty docile heifer.”
“Can’t say I wouldn’t have kicked, too, if I was tackled, held down and had someone messing with my stomach,” Clint said. “Isobel, huh? I’ll have to be sure to avoid females named Isobel in the future.”
Stephanie looked stunned. “Dang,” she said. “Josh is going to kill me when he finds out what happened to you.”
Despite the pain, Clint started laughing. Two chopper crashes, several bullet wounds and a car crash, and he was ultimately felled by a cow. A heifer at that. No little irony here.
Unfortunately, it followed the current trajectory of his life.
STEPHANIE WAS APPALLED at the sight of her charge clutching his foot in the hay. His obviously new clothes were stained with cow urine, the last indignity the cow bestowed on him. The fact he was laughing made her inwardly groan. Laughing.
It was deep and rumbling, and that was the last thing she’d expected or wanted. He had to be the world’s best sport, and that annoyed her to no end.
Josh was not going to be happy with her. To be honest, she wasn’t happy with herself. Fine. She had to admit she’d felt a certain satisfaction in enlisting him to help. She and Hardy probably could have managed alone, although there was no question that her passenger had helped.
She sighed. Warning bells had sounded when she first saw him, standing alone on the street, a duffel next to him. Tall and lean with short dark hair, he had a definite presence.
Those bells really pealed when he’d grinned and said she was pretty. She was familiar with charm, too familiar, and this man had it written all over him. It had been in his smile, as well as the compliment, in the warmth of his voice even though she had been late picking him up, smelling like cow and dressed like a ranch hand. That charm scared her as little else did.
That was of no consequence now. Guilt weighed heavily on her, and she didn’t often feel that particular emotion. He had come here directly from a military hospital. He experienced blackouts, which was why he had needed a ride. Her friend Josh was reticent about what had happened to him, but then he was about everything. Maybe that’s what she had expected when she’d volunteered a ride: someone like Josh.
This man was nothing like Josh.
She knelt beside Clint and helped him remove his boot. Having experienced the same injury several times, she knew how painful it could be. His body tensed, and his lips pressed tightly together. He released a long breath when his foot was free, but no other sound escaped. He looked directly at Hardy and quipped, “If Isobel is usually docile, I would hate to see one of your cows that isn’t.”
Hardy chuckled. “You’re all right, boy,” he said.
Clint removed his sock and studied his injured foot. It was red and already swelling, but the skin hadn’t been broken. He touched the skin, feeling around, as he’d had some medical training.
“I’m really sorry,” she said, truly contrite now. She stripped the soiled gloves from her hands and pulled on clean ones from the bag, then she knelt next to him and examined his foot. “We’ll stop by the doctor when we reach Covenant Falls...” Her voice faltered. She was close to him, too close. His eyes were a rich, dark brown. Almost black. Challenging. Too challenging.
“No need,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”
She shook her head. “I want X-rays,” she insisted, trying to keep her voice steady. “I might lose two good friends if I don’t take care of you, and so far I haven’t done very well.”
“I’ve had a lot worse injuries,” he said. “Maybe not as humiliating. I have met the enemy, and it is Isobel.”
Stephanie couldn’t help but grin.
“You do smile,” he said.
“Occasionally,” she replied. “Can you stand? I’ve been stepped on several times. It’s an occupational hazard. I know how much it hurts.”
“But obviously not fatal.”
Dang, but he was getting to her. No. No. No.
She held out her hand. He took it, and heat ran through her like an electrical charge. He rose easily, even gracefully, although he gritted his teeth as he put weight on the injured foot. He took a step and nearly buckled, his face draining of color.
His clothes were filthy. Hay tangled in his hair and dirt smudged his face. He smelled like the wrong end of a cow.
Yet, he looked far more attractive now than he had standing in new clothes at the bus stop. The rueful half smile was all too beguiling.
Didn’t make any difference. She’d worked too hard to get to where she was today. She was a terrible judge of men. Twice, she’d allowed outward appearances to blind her. A third would prove her the fool she’d felt at the end of both of her marriages. Now she ran like hell when her body tingled with even a little initial attraction.
She couldn’t run right now. She had agreed to pick up Clint Morgan and now she felt responsible for what had just happened. Hell’s bells, she was responsible. Josh was not going to be pleased, and he and his wife were among the few people whose opinion she valued.
She inwardly shuddered as she thought about telling him. Josh planned to be waiting at the cabin. Now the meeting would be at a doctor’s office.
Hardy had watched with concern. “You’re welcome to come inside and clean up a bit,” he said.
Clint inspected his clothes, and his eyes lit up with mischief.
“I’m good,” he said. “Dr. Phillips and I will be a matched pair.”
She groaned. She looked almost as bad as her charge. “We’ll stop at the doctor’s office just to make sure nothing is broken.”
“Nothing
