She shakes her head, dismissing me. “Please, Ryan. I really do have a lot of work to do.”
I rock back and forth on my feet. There's definitely something going on with her. This is not the Mia that I know, but she’s obviously not going to talk to me about it.
I shake my head, surprised by her tone. "Okay. I'll get out of your hair."
She doesn't say bye or anything. She just gets straight back to work, typing out something onto her computer. I walk out of the office, completely unsettled and a burning in my gut. Something's not right.
Chapter 3
Mia
I grip my fists together. I hate this. I really hate it. It seems like everything is changing, and I don't want it to. I know I need to get over Ryan; he's a confirmed bachelor. Why in the world did I have to fall for the playboy of the brothers?
I let out a deep breath and get back to work. I need to keep my mind off of things, and that's the best way to do it. I focus on the numbers on the screen in front of me. I barely start to get lost in my work and I hear a knock on my open office door. My office is in a private room of the barn. Most of the time there are ranch hands moving in and out of the building, and I have it shut, but it's still opened from when Ryan left earlier.
"Knock, knock. Hey, Mia," Dr. Stone says, peering in my door.
I lean back in my seat. "Hey, Doc, what's up?" He's the vet for Whiskey Valley, and he usually comes out at least once a week to do a roundup and check some of the animals. We got a horse in a few days ago, and I'm sure that's what he's here for today.
"I'm here to check on the new stallion. Is there anyone around that can assist me? I heard this is a wild one."
I push back from the desk and stand up. Usually, the ranch hands are still in the barn, but it's been quiet for a while, so they're probably all out on the ranch somewhere. I could easily call somebody and have them come, but I know that I can help him do what he needs to do. "I can help," I tell him.
He looks at me skeptically. “I don't know if that's a good idea. I can wait on one of the hands to get back."
I roll my eyes. It's amazing how protective all the men at this ranch are. I guess even the town vet is going to be the same way. It's like they hate to see a woman lift a finger. "I promise it will be fine," I say as I walk past him. I walk over to the stall that we put the new stallion in and start talking to him before I even get to the gate. "Hey, buddy, you going to let us check you out today?" I say in a soft voice. As if answering me, the horse nods his head with a neigh, and Dr. Stone and I both laugh.
"Well, I guess you probably can handle it," he says.
I carefully open the stall and step inside, talking softly to the horse the whole time. I pet its nose and then go to the top of its head and down its mane. He butts his head against me, and I scratch behind his ear. "What do you need to do, Doc?" I ask Dr. Stone.
"I just need to check his horseshoes and give him some medicine. It will be quick."
I shrug my shoulders. "No big deal. I’ve got time."
Being around the horses is one of my favorite things about this job. I was raised on a ranch; I know them inside and out, and the animals are always the highlight. Especially the ones that have been hurt before. They always need more attention, at least when they first get here.
The doc carefully moves around the horse and asks me with a soft tone, "Where did this one come from?"
I keep petting the horse, running my hand down its mane. "I guess someone abandoned him at a ranch over in Jasper. Ryan picked him up the other day."
I scratch the horse’s ear and think about Ryan. That's probably why I'm halfway in love with him, because he is always saving animals, bringing them home left and right and caring for them. He definitely has a soft spot for anything that’s been hurt or abandoned.
The doctor moves to the two back legs and is lifting his feet one at a time. The horse grunts a little, but he settles easily when I start talking to him again. There's a sound behind me, and I turn to see Ryan standing there with a fierce expression on his face and his hands on his hips. His voice is soft, and I'm sure it's so that he doesn't scare the horse even more. "What the hell are you doing?"
The doc stands up next to me. "All done," he says.
Ryan is still looking at me. "Get the hell out of there," he says.
The way he whisper-yells it would have me laughing if I didn’t see the lethal stare he’s giving me. His gaze keeps going back and forth between Doctor Stone and me.
Dr. Stone holds his hand out, gesturing for me to go first. I stumble on something under the hay, and he catches me. With his arm around my waist, we walk out of the stall. “You okay?” he asks.
I wipe my hands down the front of my legs. “Yeah, I’m good.”
When I raise up, I’m embarrassed. But not because I almost fell. I can feel the blood rushing to my face the more I think about it. I can't believe Ryan is reacting this way. He has a lot of nerve to belittle me and talk to me the way he is. "I got out because we're done. Not because you told me to," I tell him. A part of me wants to stick my tongue out at him, but I know that would be really immature.
I trail out of the stall with the doctor behind me. Dr. Stone puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. He’s not acting like he can feel the undercurrents between Ryan and me, but I don’t know how he can’t. "Thank you for the help, Mia."