Page 26 of Falling For Her Cowboy
Ridge shook both of their hands then left. He shut the door and made his way back toward the surgical suites. He paused at his phone buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out and read a message from his father asking for him to come check in on a new calf that was born today with a deformed snout. He quickly responded and continued on. After his surgery, he could head out to the ranch.
It had been two days since his dinner with Melah, and she hadn’t been far from his mind. The kiss they’d shared had done something to him. Her soft lips and the sound of her moan when he’dbacked her up against the truck had replayed in his mind repeatedly.
Well, if you want to do it again, you can.
Her words echoed in his head. He wanted to do more than kiss her. What he wanted may even scare her. He could see the slight hesitation in her. He wasn’t sure what had happened to her, but he’d have to be careful, let her set her own pace with them.
And there would be a ‘them’.
Her desire for him was evident. She felt the connection between them. There was no doubt with the way she’d initiated their first kiss.
Ridge entered the suite. Heath had everything set up for him. Unfortunately for Jimbo, there would be no endoscopy procedure to extract whatever it was he’d eaten. That would have been ideal if the object had remained in his stomach. Ridge was going to have to open him up to get the object out.
“I’m going to go ahead and bring Jimbo back,” Heath said.
Ridge figured he’d do a little work while Heath grabbed Jimbo. He quickly logged in and answered a few emails. Pretty soon, Heath had Jimbo in the room and up on the surgical table. The poor pup whimpered, and Ridge’s heart went out to him. This was what he had always dreamed of when he was akid. Helping sick animals had always been close to his heart. He moved over to the table to help Heath get an IV line placed so they could administer fluids and the medication that would sedate the animal while Ridge worked.
Once the pup was asleep, they quickly began. Surgery didn’t take long, and Ridge had to chuckle when he pulled the foreign object out of the pup’s intestines.
“Well, Jimbo, your mother is going to be shocked when she sees what you ate.”
Jimbo had consumed a woman’s small underwear—a thong to be exact.
“Oh my.” Heath laughed.
He shook his head and offered a sterile silver bowl for Ridge to drop the underwear in. They’d bag it up and give it to the family later if they wanted it. Some families liked to keep the items removed from their pets as keepsakes, and Ridge was sure they also used them for conversation starters.
“Can’t say we haven’t seen this before. I just hope it’s the mom’s and not anyoneelse’s.”
Ridge drove on the Silver Creek Ranch and inhaled sharply. The fresh air flowing through the open windows gave him his second wind. Fatigue had set in, but he was going to have to ignore it for now. After discussing the outcome of Jimbo’s surgery with the parents, he’d had to see two more patients before he’d been able to leave to go out to the ranch.
He called his father to find out where the new calf was located so he could go check him out.
“Hey, Ridge. Are you on the ranch?” Andy’s gravelly voice came onto the line.
“Yeah. I just got here. Where is the calf?” Ridge ran a hand along his face and grimaced from the amount of stubble that greeted him. At the rate he was going, he should let it keep growing and see what he looked like with a beard.
“He’s out in the southern pasture. Melah is with him. The momma rejected him and tried to hurt him,” Andy said.
Ridge sighed. It was always a trying case when the new mommas rejected their babies. It could be because of the deformity or just the momma didn’t bond with the calf when it was born.
“I’m on my way.” Ridge disconnected the call and increased his speed. He wasn’t sure if it was to get to the animal or to see Melah. Just the thought ofbeing near her again sent his heart racing. His grip tightened on the steering wheel as he guided the vehicle in the direction of the pasture Melah and the calf were.
He slowed down a bit and drove along the dirt road, trying to catch sight of Melah. He finally spotted her sitting on the ground with a black form in front of her. He killed the engine and got out. He went around to the back where his bag was and snagged it. He wasn’t sure what to expect but wanted to take his travel supplies with him. There were plenty of times he’d had to do impromptu procedures on the ranch.
He stalked toward Melah, and his heart stuttered. She reached up and wiped her face with the back of her arm.
Was she crying?
Had the calf died?
He picked up speed.
She turned and glanced over her shoulder. A small smile came to her lips. “Hey there, Doc.”
“Is everything okay?” Ridge immediately dropped next to her and placed his bag down. The physician in him assessed the calf the moment he laid eyes on him. Its body looked normal. Sizing was good. He appeared healthy except for his face. Hissnout was tilted to the side, and there was a gap between his lip and the inside of his mouth.
“Yeah. I just got really emotional watching the mom kick and push him away. She wouldn’t allow him to nurse.” Another tear slid down her face as she rubbed her hand along the calf’s neck. She lifted the half-empty bottle. “I figured I’d try to get him to eat something.”
