Page 68 of Soldier Cowboy
“Yep, the one and the same.”
“Weren’t he and your wife married at one time?”
“In what had to be one of the shortest marriages in history. But I’m lucky because if she hadn’t come to Stone Ridge to visit Jackson, I may never have met the love of my life.”
That was sweet and certainly not what Jennifer expected to hear from a rugged cowboy. Refreshing. Riggs led them to the area where Eve would be vaccinating. He introduced Jennifer as Colton’s fiancée.
“Hi, there!” Eve said with a wave. “Y’all are my first visit since my long break.”
“How did Annabeth do without you all these weeks? She had to come out here for a colicky horse last month and looked pretty fed up,” Riggs said.
“She’s fine, but in answer to your question, she was a bit overwhelmed. She’s gone to Austin for a couple of weeks. Anything that happens, I’m your person, day, or night.”
“We’ll try not to bother you much what with a newborn,” Riggs said. “I know what that’s like.”
“It’s fine. Jackson is great, really stepping up to take care of our baby girl.”
“Oh, you have a daughter,” Jennifer said.
Eve smiled as she set up her station, pulling out vials, syringes, and plastic gloves. “Lillian Pearl after Jackson’s grandmother. We call her Lily.”
“Do you mind if I take some photos as you work?” Jennifer tapped her camera. “I’m just trying to keep busy.”
“Jennifer is fromLos Angeles,” Riggs said, as though he still hadn’t quite forgiven her for that faux pau.
“Sorry,” Jennifer said under her breath.
Eve answered, holding up a syringe. “Flash away.”
Jennifer snapped photo after photo for the next hour as Eve, Colton and Riggs worked with her to get the calves all vaccinated and then led to another area. It was an impressive operation from the perspective of someone who’d never seen this before. Eve was a true professional, great with the animals, at ease with what she did.
As she was wrapping up, Eve asked to see some of the photos and Jennifer showed her the shots she’d taken through her digital camera window.
“These are great,” Eve said. “You’re really good.”
“Oh, I’m just an amateur.” Jennifer shrugged. “But it’s fun.”
“No, you captured the angles and lighting so perfectly. We actually need some updated photos for our website. Annabeth was complaining about that a few days ago. I’m going to make an executive decision. Would you come down to the clinic and maybe take a few more of our office so we can put them on the website? I’ll pay you.”
When Jennifer stared blankly, Eve said, “Oh, we have Wi-Fi at the office. It’s downtown.”
Jennifer suspected Eve was just trying to be nice. And Colton might not be okay with this because he’d want to come with her. With Sean gone, he’d be busy every day.
“Well…I’ll have to ask Colton. He’s going to be so busy I doubt he can take me for a while. Maybe when Sean comes back.”
“I can take you,” Riggs said. “Or you can take one of our trucks.”
Great. Should she pretend she couldn’t drive one of those “big, manly trucks”? Nope, Jennifer couldn’t bring herself to give him one more lie.
“No rush,” Eve said. “We probably don’t get much business from the website, mostly from word of mouth. But I’ve been told to keep up appearances. We want to join the new millennium.”
“Yes, that’s smart.”
Jennifer wished she could rush downtown with Eve right now and do a special podcast for their clinic. In case people were still listening to her or waiting for her return. But no, that part of her life might be over. Forever. The emptiness that realization had conjured up a month ago, the utter sense of hopelessness and loss, didn’t seem as wide and deep anymore.
Colton hadn’t plannedfor the chores to take him this long, but once he knocked off around five o’clock, he headed to the cottage sweaty and filthy. He should probably take a shower even before he took Jennifer to the river’s creek to swim.
He found her sitting at the table with her camera and laptop opened.
