Page 14 of The Convict Gets His Girl

Jewel sighed, hoping maybe she'd made a friend already. After they left, Jewel followed Gemma into the back. Henry joined them, flipping through the stack of files on the customers they'd seen today. When the vet tech, Jordan, went into the room to meet with the next customers, Henry glanced at them.

"So you're telling people about Destini already?"

Jewel frowned. "What do you mean?"

Henry shrugged and frowned, the perpetual disappointment clear on his face. "Just figured you'd want to talk to Hunter first. Would hate for him or his family to hear about her before he does."

Jordan came out of the room with the little pug shaking in her arms. Henry took over and did the fecal and blood samples before taking the dog back into the room.

Gemma leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "You know he's right."

Jewel sighed and rubbed her neck. "I know, I just hate how he says things."

Gemma chuckled. "Straight up, no chaser isn't for everyone, that's for sure. Why do you think I'm still single and living at home?"

Jewel sighed as Gemma went to the second patient room to meet with another customer. Jewel took a breather and drank some water. She wouldn't be able to stay with Henry for long. They'd never really gotten along.

Gemma was a daddy's girl, but Jewel had always been closer to their mom, taking after her in personality too. After Mom died, Henry hadn't known how to handle Jewel or her emotions. It was one of the many reasons she'd moved to Houston after high school and never looked back.

Jewel pulled out her phone and scrolled the home buying app once again. There were several cute houses under contract and several available out of her budget. Her vet school loans wouldn't be paid off for another two years, and with thousands going to that per month, her housing budget wasn't the best.

She wasn't looking forward to sharing a room with Destini, and neither was her daughter. She had to find something this week, because it'd be best if she could get into a new place before Destini moved to town.

ChapterSix

A ringing woke Jewel from a fitful sleep. She yawned as she reached for the emergency vet phone Gemma had given her before she'd left for Dallas.

"Hello?" Her voice was rough and groggy, her eyes not even open.

"Gemma? It's Chase." The deep voice made Jewel shoot straight up in bed to a sitting position, the phone falling in the scramble.

With a shaky hand, she picked it up, and he was still talking. "But the foaling isn't going that great. Mom and Hunter are both worried. Can you come help?"

She licked her lips and croaked, "Yeah."

"Great, see you soon. Thank you." The phone clicked, and it was several seconds of dial tone before she lowered it and turned it off.

Her heart raced, and her eyes were wide open. Darkness filled the room, and she had to blink several times before her eyes adjusted. The clock blinked two in the morning, but she couldn't hear anything over the beating of her own heart.

It was happening. She had to face not only Hunter, but Chase too. Why the fuck hadn't she come home while Chase was still in prison and talked with Hunter like a mature adult? Why had she waited so long?

Now she had to face them both, and she was panicking.

Maybe she could talk to one of them first, then the other. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. They were all sixteen years older now.

Chase's words echoed in her head, and she flung off the covers to get dressed. Before anything else happened, she had to solve the problem with the mare and foal.

She fixed her messy bun and washed her face, slathering on a quick concealer and foundation and brushing her teeth. Jeans, A&M t-shirt, and her cowboy boots, and she was out the door, shutting it softly behind her so as not to wake up her dad.

He was cranky enough without the sleep interruption. She snorted, thinking that was perhaps the only thing they had in common.

She shook a zero-sugar, cold-brew, mushroom-based coffee in the glass container and then popped the top to sip as she drove. Music crooned softly in the background, and she focused on regulating her breathing and emotions.

She was going to help save their horses. Then she'd have the conversation she'd dreaded for over fifteen years. It would be fine. They'd sort through this mess and talk like the adults they were.

When the truck was parked, she grabbed her vet bag and hopped out on shaking legs. Looking around, the place hadn't changed much. Same old giant farmhouse with a wrap-around porch faced the big red barn, vehicles parked between the two. If she followed the dirt track past the low, single story bunk house, she'd eventually end up at the big sale barn and the hunting cabin.

She sighed at the fond memories. This ranch was one place she'd spent most of her childhood, especially after her mom had died.

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