LITMIR.BIZ

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seemed to appease Holt.

      “Yeah, I know what you mean. Same here. Sorry about that. Guess my baby is having an influence on me when it comes to the kitchen. She pitches a fit if everything isn’t cleaned up,” he said with a shrug.

      Although he wanted nothing more than to turn the tables and rag on Holt for his newfound domestication, Shilah’s mind was divided between concern for the ranch and what, if anything, Ellie had to do with it.

      He ran back through their conversation in his mind. When he’d first asked her the reason for her return to the ranch, he’d wanted to bite out his tongue, seeing the laughter flee from her eyes, replaced by the somberness that she often seemed to carry around her like a stone weight.

      After that, he’d managed to bring the smile back to her face, making her laugh outright a few times, and he’d been happier than he should have been. She was just a girl from his past, he reminded himself, and immediately his inner voice mocked him with the memory of how good she’d felt … how right she’d felt against him when she’d stumbled and he’d pulled her close for a moment.

      No. She was a woman from his past, one he hadn’t seen or thought of for years, and nothing more.

      “Yeah, well, anyway, our little Ellie has grown up and is working for the USDA. And apparently she’s the vet they assigned to come and investigate.”

      “Wait a minute … back up. Ellie is investigating us?” When his brother stared at him as though he had grown two heads, Shilah realized that he must have lost a thread of their conversation, his mind on Ellie.

      “Uh … yeah. We just talked about that. USDA is sending out their own investigator about the report?”

      “Yes, I got that part. I missed the part about what Ellie has to do with that. How exactly … when …did she get involved with the case?”

      “Now, that I don’t know. But I’m sure Nate will fill us in when he gets back home.” A glance at his watch and Holt cursed. “Damn, I was supposed to leave ten minutes ago to pick up Yaz from town.”

      With that he bolted out of the kitchen, leaving Shilah with his thoughts.

      Left alone, Shilah thought back to his conversation with Ellie. Each time he’d been set to ask her about what she’d been doing, somehow the conversation had turned and he’d been doing the talking. A seed of doubt crept into his mind. Had she been so absorbed in him … in the conversation, to distract him away from asking what she was doing at the ranch?

      He shook his head. No, not Ellie. Besides, she wouldn’t do anything to harm the ranch, he reasoned. She loved it as much as any of them did.

      But why hadn’t she told him why she was on the ranch? The question nagged at him as he left the house, turning over in his mind Ellie’s reason for not mentioning her role with the ranch.

       Chapter 4

      “Is that you, baby girl?”

      No sooner had Ellie walked inside her parents’ house, than she heard her mother calling out to her.

      With a tired sigh, she placed her bag down on the hallway table and walked farther inside, spying her mother in the kitchen, an apron tied around her ample hips.

      “Is Dad home?” she asked.

      “No, he got a call from the Petersons. Seems one of their prize goats has gone into a difficult labor,” her mother replied, casually.

      Ellie laughed. To any other person that would have seemed like an odd statement, but she’d learned it all in stride, having grown up with a father who not only worked as the veterinarian for the Wilde Ranch, but also served as a veterinarian to farm animals and pets … and goat farmers. Although many of the local farms and ranches had been sold to major corporations, her father maintained a thriving practice.

      She walked into the kitchen, leaned over her mother’s shoulder and inhaled.

      “Hmm … that smells great, Mom. What are you making?”

      “Oh, just a little something I threw together.”

      Ellie opened the refrigerator, pulled out a can of cola and grinned at her mother.

      “Something you just threw together, huh?” she asked, seeing the small smile playing around the corners of her mother’s mouth.

      “It’s your favorite—pot roast. It’s not every day my only child returns home,” she quipped. Although it was said lightly, Ellie frowned. She opened her mouth to remind her mother that she didn’t know how long she’d be home, but just as quickly closed it.

      That was just it. She herself didn’t know how long that would be.

      Her return home had come at a time when she was deciding the next course in her career, her life.

      Instead of joining her dad in practice after graduating, Ellie had chosen to do an extended study in animal husbandry at an overseas tertiary institution. Although her parents had been proud of her, having been chosen among thousands of applicants, she knew her father had also been disappointed that she hadn’t joined him in his practice.

      But, as much as she loved her parents, appreciated them, after the accident she’d suffered as a child and the looks of pity she’d come to abhor as she’d grown older, Ellie knew that she had to leave Lander, the home she’d grown up in.

      Even if that had meant leaving her parents, and the community, the only home she known for all of her life.

      Completing the extended study, she’d elected to remain for a period of time as an associate professor as well as vet for the small rural community she’d come to love. But, after her last visit home, she’d been struck by how much her parents had aged despite their active lifestyle, and decided it was time to come home.

      Not only for her parents, but for herself, as well.

      A ghost of a smile graced Ellie’s mouth as she watched her mother fussing over the food she’d prepared. Ellie had been home for almost a week, and every day her mother had “thrown together” something special for her for dinner. And breakfast, as well as anytime Ellie walked into the house.

      She glanced around the immaculately kept home. Nothing was ever out of place. From the crocheted doilies set on the highly polished kitchen table that her father had made when he’d first married her mother, to the cherrywood floors and every knickknack in between, everything was neat and orderly.

      Her mother turned toward her, a small smile on her face, “It’s good to have you home, baby. We’ve missed you.”

      A wealth of emotion passed along the older woman’s features and Ellie paused before moving toward her mother near the stove.

      “Have a seat, Mom. Let me do that,” she said softly. But when she tried taking the plate from her mother’s hand, she was gently, but firmly, moved away.

      “You go sit down and tell me how your day went. I told you … I enjoy doing this,” her mother replied. Ellie shook her head, but lifted her cola can from the counter and sat at the table. Her glance went over the table set with silverware. In the middle of the table a basket was filled with bread, a large bowl of salad nearby.

      “How’d the first day go? Did you get to talk to the boys?” Leandra Crandall asked, as she went about filling two plates before walking to the table and placing them down. Immediately she walked to the refrigerator and removed a pitcher of tea and brought it to the table.

      Running a critical eye over the table, making sure she hadn’t left anything out, finally Ellie’s mother sat down next to her.

      Ellie reached over to remove a roll from the basket, her stomach growling. Her mother’s sharp tap on the back of her hand and scowl stopped her from taking a healthy bite. Ellie bit her lip to prevent a laugh at the silent admonishment.

      “Oops, sorry, Mom,” she mumbled, and bowed her head

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