Page 37 of Love Somebody Like You

In the silence he heard a faint tapping. Probably the migraine he could feel forming behind his eyes.

“So you spent a ton of money on a stud bull that fires blanks?” Mitchell asked.

Why had he ever boasted about knowing what he was doing? “The vet doesn’t know why. She thinks it might be an infection he picked up from somewhere.”

“Wow. That’s tough,” Dermott said. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah.”

“Is it treatable?” Ellie asked. “Won’t medicine fix him?”

“She doesn’t think so.”

Jess had said there was a chance that time and yet another round of expensive antibiotics might fix things for poor Brutus—might—but time and money were two things he didn’t have.

“Can she be trusted?” Mitchell asked.

“Whoa. This is Jess we’re talking about,” Cooper protested. “She knows what she’s doing.”

Both Mitchell and Dermott raised eyebrows, as if wondering why Cooper was so adamant. “Does she? Wasn’t she in your year at school?” Mitchell asked.

“So? She’s smart. She knows her stuff.”

“Her dad has treated our animals for years,” Ellie said.

“Yeah, but she’s young, and—”

“Are you saying young people can’t be trusted?” Ellie snapped, her eyes holding fire.

Mitchell released a world-weary sigh. “I’m just saying why don’t you get a second opinion?”

And spend yet more money he didn’t have on vets who’d likely say the same thing? Jackson pressed his lips together.

“I don’t get it. You told us you knew what you were doing,” Mitchell accused. “That we could trust you.”

Jackson glanced at the computer keyboard which held a few crumbs from recent meals snatched while he completed work. Why had he put his hand up to take on the ranch responsibility?

“When was the last time you came home, Mitchell?” Ellie asked, her tone demanding.

“You know I have a busy schedule—”

“I know that you have no idea just how hard Jackson works,” she snapped.

“He’s not the only one.” Mitchell leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

“Yeah? He’s the only one who’s trying to run a ranch and look after Momandhave a life like the rest of you do.”

“What do you mean have a life?” Dermott said.

“Oh, you know, meet people,” Ellie said, as if Jackson wasn’t sitting right beside her.

“Ellie,” he muttered.

“People? Like female people?” Dermott asked.

“Who is she?” Cooper asked. “Do I know her?”

“You know Peter Franklin, the director of the Bible college?” Ellie winked at Jackson. “His daughter—”

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