LITMIR.BIZ

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won’t be a next time. Right, Tanner?” Wade said sternly. “You’ve learned your lesson about roasting marshmallows—or anything else—by yourself.”

      Tanner sighed. “I guess. I don’t like havin’ a burn.”

      Jake straightened. “You were really brave while I was looking at it. I was proud of you, bud. Now you have to be a big kid and make sure you take care of it right. You can’t get the bandage wet and you have to try to keep it as clean as you can, okay? Listen to your dad and do what he says.”

      “Okay.” Tanner wiggled off the exam bench. “Can I go ask Carol for my sucker now?”

      “Sure. Tell her a big brave kid like you deserves two suckers.”

      “And a sticker?”

      Jake hammed a put-upon sigh. “I guess.”

      Tanner raised his bandaged hand into the air with delight then rushed out of the exam room, leaving Wade alone with his younger brother.

      Unlike old Doc Jorgensen who had run the clinic when they were kids—with his gnarled hands and breath that always smelled of the spearmint toothpicks he chewed—Jake didn’t wear a white lab coat in the office. The stethoscope around his neck and the shirt pocket full of tongue depressors gave him away, though.

      Wade watched his brother type a few things onto a slender laptop computer—notes for Tanner’s chart—and wondered how the little pest in hand-me-down boots and a too-big cowboy hat who used to follow him around the ranch when they were kids had grown into this confident, competent physician.

      This wasn’t a life Wade would have chosen, either for himself or for his brother, but he had always known Jake hadn’t been destined to stay on the ranch. His middle brother was three years younger than he was and, as long as Wade could remember, Jake had carried big dreams inside himself.

      He had always read everything he could find and had rarely been without a book in his hand. Whether they’d been waiting at the end of the long drive for the school bus or taking a five minute break from fixing fence lines, Jake had filled every spare moment with learning.

      Wade had powerful memories of going on roundup more than once with Jake when his brother would look for strays with one eye and keep the other on the book he’d held.

      He loved him. He just never claimed to understand him.

      But there was not one second when he’d been anything less than proud of Jake for his drive and determination, for the compassion and caring he showed to the people of Pine Gulch, and for coming home instead of putting his medical skills to work somewhere more lucrative.

      After another few seconds of pounding the keys, Jake closed his laptop.

      “Well, I’d tell you happy birthday but it sounds like it’s a little too late for that.”

      Wade made a face. “You can say that again. It’s been a hell of a day.”

      “And just think, it’s only noon. Who knows what other fun might be in store.”

      Wade sighed heavily. Noon already and he hadn’t done a damn thing all day. He had a million things to do and now he had a little wounded firefighter who couldn’t get his bandage dirty to think about.

      His mother ought to be here, blast her. He was no good at the nurturing, sympathy thing. Did she ever stop to consider one of the kids might need her to shower kisses and sympathy?

      “So what do you suggest we do about Mom?” he asked.

      Jake leaned a hip against the exam table, and Wade thought again how he seemed to fit here in this medical clinic, in a way he’d never managed at the Cold Creek.

      “What can we do? Sounds like the deed is done.”

      “We don’t have to like it, though.”

      “I don’t know. She’s been alone a long time. It’s been eighteen years since Hank died and even before that, her life with our dear departed father couldn’t have been all roses. If this Montgomery guy makes her happy, I think we should stand behind her.”

      He stared at his brother. The finest education didn’t do a man much good if he lost all common sense. “What do you mean, stand behind her? She doesn’t even know the guy! How can we possibly support her eloping with a man she’s only corresponded with through e-mail and clandestine phone calls? And what kind of slimy bastard runs off with a woman he’s never seen in person? He’s got to be working some kind of scam. He and the daughter are in it together.”

      “You don’t know that.”

      “They’ve got to be. She trolls for unhappy older women through this life-coaching baloney, finds a vulnerable target like Mom, and then he steps in and charms them out of everything they’ve got.”

      “You’re such a romantic,” Jake said dryly.

      “I don’t have time to be a romantic, damn it. I’ve got a national television crew coming to the ranch in six days. How can I possibly get ready for this video shoot when I’ve got three kids underfoot every second?”

      “You could always cancel it.”

      He glowered at Jake. “You’re not helping.”

      “Why not? It’s just a video shoot.”

      “Just a video shoot I’ve been working toward for almost a year! This is huge publicity for the ranch. We’re one of only a handful of cattle operations in the country using this high-tech data-collection chip on our stock. You know how much of an investment it was for us but it’s all part of our strategy of moving the ranch onto the industry’s cutting edge. To be recognized for that right now is a big step for the Cold Creek. I don’t know why Mom couldn’t have scheduled her big rendezvous after the news crew finished.”

      “So what will you do with the kids?”

      “I’m still trying to figure that out. You’re the smart one. Any suggestions?”

      “You could hire a temporary nanny, just until after the video shoot is over. Didn’t Mom’s note say she’d be back in a week?”

      He started to answer but stopped when he heard Cody wailing from the reception area, something about a “stick-oh.”

      Wade sighed and headed toward the sound, Jake right behind him.

      “Right. A week. Let’s hope I’m still sane by then.”

      Cody fell asleep on the six-mile drive from Jake’s clinic in Pine Gulch to Cold Creek Ranch. Tanner, jacked up by the excitement of the morning and probably still running on adrenaline, kept up a steady stream of conversation that didn’t give Wade a minute to think about what he was going to do.

      Tanner didn’t even stop his running commentary during the phone call Wade took on his cell from Seth, who informed him glumly that the shop in Rexburg wouldn’t have the part they needed for the baler until the next day. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to bring the hay in, which meant they might lose the whole damn crop to the rain.

      “I’m almost home. I’ll get the boys some lunch and then try to come down and see if we can jury-rig something until tomorrow.”

      The clouds continued to boil and churn overhead as he drove under the arch that read Cold Creek Land and Cattle Company, and Wade could feel bony fingers of tension dig into his shoulders.

      Sometimes he hated the responsibility that came from being the one in charge. He hated knowing he held the livelihood of his own family and those of three other men in his hands, that his every decision could make or break the ranch.

      He couldn’t just take a week off and play Mr. Mom. Too much depended on him meeting his responsibilities, especially right now.

      But who could he ask for help? His mind went through everyone he could think of among their neighbors and friends.

      His

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