Page 5 of Just (Fake) Married (Calloways vs. McGraws #1)

TWO

ETHAN

“I only need a day or two, Dr. Xio.” I said, as I turned onto the long driveway up to the Swinging D, passing under the elaborate steel and bone ranch sign.

While everyone assumed the Swinging D’s name had something to do with our ancestor’s dick size, it was actually given its name because this was where Duncan McGraw first hanged a man for challenging his claim to the land.

That man’s name had been Doogan. Hence, the Swinging D.

The McGraws loved a good hanging. Unless it was us that were getting strung up. Like I was the other day.

“Nonsense, son. Your father has passed. You need to take the time to grieve with your family,” my mentor said, with the compassion that made him an excellent mentor.

But he didn’t know the McGraws. We were not a grieving kind of family. Not over our father, anyway.

“Thank you. But I don’t need to grieve. I need to get back to work. I would like another chance to speak to the committee.” I sent a quick prayer up to all the gods in charge of surgeons and disciplinary committees.

“Son, that is not a good idea. Not after the other day.”

Damn it.

I’d gotten the call about Dad just as I was heading into a disciplinary meeting, and, frankly, it wasn’t my finest moment.

“I’ll apologize for my outburst.”

Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure what I had said. Dr. Matthews, who headed up the department, had been there unexpectedly. Since he was a giant, infected boil of a human who lived to suppress any talent besides himself, I might have blacked out for a second and said something I shouldn’t.

“You called Dr. Matthews, the head of your department, a publicity seeking asshole,” Dr. Xio reminded me. “Among other things.”

“Tell me I’m wrong,” I said, knowing Dr. Xio shared my opinion of the man.

“You’re not, but the meeting to discuss your behavioral issues was not the place or the time to mention it.”

I rubbed my forehead. This headache was only going to get worse the closer I got to the ranch house. Outside, the wind blew so hard it whistled around the car. I forgot how insane this wind could be.

I’d forgotten Wyoming. Period.

“I know,” I said. “I fucked up.”

“I’ll explain to the committee what happened with your father,” my mentor said. “Tell them you weren’t thinking clearly, and perhaps they’ll reconsider.”

I wanted to protest. My father’s death had nothing to do with the fight that was happening between me and Dr. Matthews. Our battle started the minute he got the head of thoracic surgery position and decided I was a threat to him.

“I need to do something to fix this,” I said.

“You are. You’re letting me handle it. You have to understand, you broke the rules of Sinai West-”

“I saved that woman’s life,” I said.

“The Shah family understands that and is grateful. Unfortunately, Dr. Matthews is not so forgiving, and the committee has seen you a few too many times to just disregard this.”

“He’s trying to get me fired,” I said.

“You said as much. Several times.”

Matthews and I had never gotten along. He’d called me up in front of the disciplinary committee a few times over the years over bullshit – and frankly, the committee had always sided with me.

But even I could admit I’d crossed a line this time.

“Your father just died. You need to take some time.”

“My father and I…we weren’t exactly close,” I admitted for no good reason. But Dr. Xio was that kind of man, the kind you admitted things to for no good reason.

“Hmm. Then you’re about to find out his death will affect you in ways you won’t understand. Such is the nature of an unresolved relationship.”

More excellent mentoring from Dr. Xio. His kids were lucky. They would not have any unresolved relationship issues with him when he passed.

“But, sir…”

“No buts. I will let you know what the committee’s decision is in the next few days.”

“What is the worst case scenario?” I asked him.

“Worst case scenario is Matthews has you fired.”

“Jesus Christ,” I breathed. “What’s the best case scenario?”

“That the committee suspends you. A month, maybe as many as six.”

“But that’s not-”

“I’ll call you,” Dr. Xio said, cutting me off. “Trust me. Go be with your family. You’ll see you’ll need them now more than ever.”

He hung up and I gaped at the snow-covered world outside my car.

Being fired would be problematic. My reputation was strong enough that I would get hired someplace else, but if you wanted to work in thoracic surgery, doing the kind of surgeries that Matthews attracted, Sinai West was the place to be. It was the best. The most cutting edge.

It was where I belonged.

Damnit.

“I’m sorry,” the voice of my car said, in a lilting Irish brogue that sounded like Cillian Murphy for some unknown reason. “I didn’t catch that. Here is what I found on the internet….”

“Stop! Stop! Please, Cillian. Stop.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. Here’s what I found on the…”

I yanked the cable out of the phone.

“I’m sorry-”

I turned the volume off. Enough. This day was already surreal. I crested the top of a small hill and the road in front of me was full of animals. I braked so hard, the car shuddered to a stop inches in front of a wide-eyed, cheerful looking camel?

What the hell was I looking at? A llama? No, what were the smaller ones? An alpaca.

When the fuck had Carter gotten alpacas?

Coming up behind the cluster of animals was a woman in a dark blue coat and a bright yellow knit cap. I didn’t have to see her face to know who it was. The wild red curls blowing around her face were all I needed to see.

A Calloway.

My spidey senses told me it was Harmony.

The pantry puncher.

That single event made the rest of my time in high school a shit show.

Not just because everyone made fun of me.

They did. But because she went from being rather forgettable, to being an absolute menace.

She stuffed my locker with ping pong balls one time.

I was also pretty sure she took the spark plugs out of my truck, ruining my prom night.

She was diabolical. And very…very interesting. There was something about her animosity that made the air crackle around her.

She never told me what I’d done to deserve the punch and all her anger, but it must have been bad, because after that night Harmony Calloway made it clear:

I was the enemy.

And it wasn’t just the bullshit feud. Or the blanket way all the Calloways and McGraws hated each other. It was personal.

She hated me for me.

Which, in our fucked up family dynamics, was kind of special.

It killed me that I didn’t know why she’d punched me.

Why we were even in that pantry. I’d had a lot to drink, trying to erase a giant fight I’d had with my father earlier in the night.

I’d done everything I could think of to get her to tell me what happened, but her lips were sealed.

Maybe she’d been the asshole and just punched me. Just pulled my drunk self into that pantry and let me have it. It seemed unlikely, but stranger things had happened between the Calloways and McGraws.

I put the rental car in park and pulled my hat on my head before opening the door. The bitter wind blew right through my not-thick-enough jacket and found all the sensitive places on my body. My nipples and armpits. The back of my neck. The tops of my thighs.

This was how hypothermia started, I thought as I approached the alpacas, who were clustered in the middle of the road.

“Hey!” Harmony’s voice floated through the snow and wind and over the animals’ heads to my ears. Beneath my coat, the hair on my arms stood on end, a primordial warning of danger. “Sorry about this. The alpacas found a weak spot in the fence and staged a break out.”

She didn’t recognize me yet. Didn’t see my face under my hat.

Cautiously, I approached her and the animals as she pushed on their backsides to get them moving in the direction she wanted.

“Hi, Harmony,” I said.

Across the backs of a dozen animals, her eyes flew to mine. Green as the grass in the high meadows. You would think all these years later, those eyes wouldn’t slice through me the way they did. Or wouldn’t have the power to make me check my chest for open wounds.

And yet…here we were.

“Ethan,” she said, her voice as cold as the wind blowing the snow across the highway.

“Please don’t hit me?” I put up my hands as if she was going to punch me.

She rolled her eyes so hard she nearly fell over, and I let myself smile, which only made her frown. Honestly, I’d forgotten how fun it was to bother her. How easily she let me under her skin. We had a poisonous kind of chemistry.

A border collie stood beside her, barking in the wrong direction.

“What’s wrong with your dog?” I asked.

“Nothing is wrong with Jenny,” she said.

“She’s barking at nothing.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe she’s barking at something only she can see.”

That would be exactly like Harmony to have a dog that saw ghosts.

From out of the snow came a white goose with one wing flapping, honking defensively as if I was the one who didn’t belong here. I took a step back and she settled next to Jenny, glaring goose daggers at me until the dog settled down and stopped barking.

“What’s the deal with the angry goose?” I asked.

“Her name is Bruce.”

“You have a female goose named Bruce?”

“She came with that name.”

“Okay, but why do you have her?” I asked.

“She’s an emotional support goose.”

“For who?”

“Jenny.”

“Jenny, the dog?”

I felt like I’d been dropped down a rabbit hole. A really, really cold one.

“I’ll just be moving these guys along,” she said, softly clucking and pushing the alpacas back across the driveway.

“I can help,” I offered.

“No need. They’re my problem,” she said. “You can get back in your car where it’s warm. I’ll have the road cleared in a few minutes.”

I wasn’t in a hurry to get up to the ranch and the drama that waited for me.