Page 2 of Healing Her Cowboys (Silver Creek Ranch #6)

Chapter Two

B rik waited in the secluded room of his physical therapist’s office wishing he was anywhere else but there. The room was so damn sterile and bland that it made him want to cut himself so he could remember what colors looked like.

Most of all, he hated how his left leg swung off the medical examination table. It always hung at an awkward angle, reminding him of the right leg he’d lost.

The door swung open, and Jason came in with a hurried rush. “What’s up, Brik?” he asked, smiling like a seagull with a French fry.

“Same old thing. Just like the last time you asked me.”

“How’s the leg?” Jason asked, scribbling something on his tablet as he sat down as close to Brik as possible.

“Still missing,” Brik said with a smirk.

“Oh, we got more jokes today?”

“An accurate one.”

Jason didn’t seem amused and went back to scribbling. “Let me be specific then. How’s your leg since doing the new exercises with the prosthetic?”

“It is what it is.”

“Are you even doing them?”

Brik shrugged. “I get in what I can. You know running the ranch takes most of my time.”

Jason put his pen down and stared at Brik. “I get that, but your condition won’t improve if you keep putting it off.”

“I doubt an amputated leg is a condition, Doc.”

Jason ignored his sarcasm as he washed his hands and removed the dressing to reveal the healed stump where Brik’s right leg used to be.

“It doesn't look like the new prosthetic is irritating when you wear it. Focus on your mobility and endurance with it. That’s the only way you’ll regain equal usage of both sides.”

Brik groaned. “Like I told you, I do more than enough work on the ranch to keep me busy. I don’t need more physical therapy.”

“I know you don’t want to make the extra trips here, so what if I found a solution that worked for both of us?”

Brik took in Jason’s confidence and didn’t trust it one damn bit. “What snake oil are you selling?”

Jason’s laugh was so hard, it came out as a snort. “This isn’t some one-off thing. May and I think we have the perfect person to help you get on track with your therapy. No, we know she’s perfect for you. She’d come to the ranch and help you follow the plan I created for you.”

“No one’s perfect,” Brik muttered under his breath. He had first-hand experience in that area. Anyone from friends to strangers could betray you. “I don’t need a stranger coming into my space and fussing over me. I’m not a helpless child.”

“You can fight all you want, Brik, but the ranch work will weaken that leg and make it harder to get chores done. It may not feel like it now, but it’ll wear you down.”

Brik didn’t like for anyone to be in his space. He had a routine, and he stuck to it. The last thing he needed was new people coming in and out of his existence.

“She could get you to where you need to be. After all, she is a professional.”

“And what’s this professional’s name?”

“Her name is Reese, and we trust her. May was college roommates with her at William and Mary.”

“Is she a local?”

“She grew up not far from here if that’s what you mean.

She’s from the Norfolk area. Plus, she knows what she’s doing.

She’s a nurse with a background in rehabilitation therapy.

She also knows how to deal with hardheads like you.

I’d say that makes her qualified in more ways than one. Why don’t you give her a chance?”

Brik looked out the window, considering his options.

If he did nothing, Jason and May would never leave him alone.

He also hated to admit it, but he was starting to get some sharp pain in the hip where his leg used to be.

Phantom pain still nagged at him too. It wasn’t enough to stop him from working, but he didn’t want it to get to that point.

What would his ranch partner do without him?

“Fine,” he finally said. “But if she does anything to piss me off, she’s out of there.”

“Try not to show her that you’re a ray of sunshine right away,” Jason teased.

Brik scoffed. “No promises.”

***

“You need a hand with that, Atlas?”

Atlas turned to see one of the newest ranch hands running over to him. “Thanks, Tony. You can help me unload the rest of it.”

“Happy to help, Atlas,” Tony said. He took up another bale of hay before following Atlas inside the barn. Tony had only been with them a couple of months, but he was one of the most motivated workers they had.

A new load of hay had been delivered. It was just in time too since one of their horses was due to have her foal any day.

He wanted the horses to be comfortable in the stall they’d prepped for the birth.

Brik thought Atlas was overdoing the preparations, but this was going to be their first birth since opening the ranch.

It was a hot day, even for October, but the duties for the ranch were never done.

Atlas used his bandana to dab at the sweat dripping down his face.

Although the nights were a little nippy, you couldn’t tell it was autumn with the lingering summer heat pouring down on them during the day.

He pulled his Stetson hat down more to block out the rays of the sun.

“Did you ever work on a ranch before coming here?” Atlas asked Tony as they moved the rest of the bales.

“No,” Tony said, “but my older brother and I used to hear stories about grandfather’s younger days working on a farm and bull riding. It sounded exciting enough to want to give it a try. I don’t think I have the bull riding gene in me.”

“Well, the only bull riding we have here is of the mechanical variety down at Rocky’s, but if you keep working as hard as you do, all of this will pay off in the end. You’ll see.”

Atlas appreciated the new help that stumbled their way. It was only two years prior that he and Brik founded Colonial Hearts Ranch. They had decided to open it together after meeting at Silver Creek Ranch, a place where veterans were invited to heal after military service.

He still appreciated the hand-up he received from Andy Harvey. He’d been a mental wreck after being discharged from military service. They said he was unfit for duty. It wasn’t the discharge that messed with him. It was the fact that he had been in charge when his squad walked into an ambush.

He still recalled every one of their faces and names because they had been his brothers, and it was his fault that they were dead, and he was still living.

Although working the land had eased some of his guilt, that one bad decision lingered with him every day and haunted him every night.

The harder he worked, the less time he spent on that bad decision.

That was why he was so motivated to start Colonial Hearts Ranch. A portion of everything they made went to the families of his men. The money wouldn’t bring them back, but it could at least help their families move on to something better without them.

Everyone, including therapists, tried to convince him that he wasn’t at fault, but what they said didn’t matter when the scene replayed in his head every night.

He had gotten a little more used to the restless sleep.

At least he wasn’t screaming himself awake at night like he did when he first got back home. That was something.

“Is Lori close to giving birth?” Tony asked him, pulling him out of his memories.

“Very soon, I imagine,” Atlas said. “It’ll be the first horse to birth on our ranch, so it should get everyone on their toes.”

“Can I see her?”

“Sure, but be careful. She’s been a little skittish these last few days. It only makes me think she’s closer to having the little one.”

They walked to the back of the stables where Lori had been separated from the other horses to keep her from being startled by them and other loud noises of ranch life.

She peeked out at them, taking in their appearances.

“Hey, girl,” Atlas said. “Are you comfy back here?” He scratched behind her ears, which she always seemed to enjoy.

When Tony reached for her muzzle, she pulled back.

“Whoa, girl,” Atlas said in a calm voice. “Easy now.” He glanced over at Tony. “You got to be careful since she gets spooked easily these days. You can’t just go in to pet her. You have to talk to her before you approach. That way she knows you have no bad intentions.”

“Hi, Lori,” Tony said, trying to mimic Atlas’s soft tone. “I won’t hurt you.” Before he could touch her, she reared back into the corner. “What did I do wrong now?”

Atlas watched Lori closely and caught the sight of her water breaking. “It’s not you, kid. She’s going into labor.”