Page 59 of The Doctor's Irreplaceable Love

Ashton gave him a small smile.“Yeah.We don’t need to talk about that—especially when Mom’s around.She still gets mad at me.”

Travis laughed.“What’s the story?”

Trip mimicked zipping his lips shut and winked at Ashton.He wasn’t about to share when Ashton had just asked him not to talk about it.

Ashton laughed.“It’s okay, Uncle Trip—Uncle Trav’s cool, we can tell him.See, I was in the old storage shed and I cut myself.Dad took me to Uncle Trip for a booster shot.”His little eyebrows drew together.“Tetanus, right?”

“That’s right,” Trip confirmed.

“And stitches, too,” added Ashton.“Seven of them.”He tugged at the leg of his jeans, and Ford reached up to grasp the kid’s waist so that he didn’t fall.Trip noted that although Ashton was wary ofhim, he trusted Ford absolutely to keep him safe.

When it became clear after a few more tugs that his jeans weren’t going to cooperate and allow him to show off his scar, Ashton straightened up and shrugged.“It’s a really cool scar.”

Travis chuckled.“Yeah, Uncle Trip’s pretty handy with a needle and thread.He’s stitched me up a few times over the years as well.”

Ashton swung his head to look at him.“Did it hurt?”

Travis winked at the kid.“Like a bitch!”

Trip threw his head back and laughed, not knowing if he was more amused by the guilty look on Trav’s face or the gleeful one on Ashton’s.

“Right?”Ashton nodded emphatically.“He said it wouldn’t hurt, but he lied!And when he did the shot, he held my arm and said it would just be a little sting—that wasnotalittlesting.”He gave Trip an accusing look as he added that last part, before turning back to Travis with a grin.“That hurt like a bitch!”

They all laughed, but even as he was still smiling, Ford reached up and tapped Ashton’s arm.“Watch your language, bud.It’s okay to joke around with the guys, but don’t get in the habit of it, okay?You ready to come check on the calves with me?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”Ashton grinned at Trip and Travis.“Don’t worry, I won’t drop you in it, but I figured if you could say it in front of me, I’m okay to say it in front of you.”

Trip shook his head with a smile as they watched Ford walk away with Ashton riding on his shoulders.He and Trav chuckled when the kid flapped his legs and called, “Giddy-up!”and Ford broke into a jog as he headed toward the barn.

“Never thought I’d see Ford grinning like that over a kid,” Travis said.

“Me neither.To be fair, though, he seems to have come around more and more these last few years.Ashton taking to him the way he has just tipped the scales.”

“Yeah.Whatever brought it on, it’s good to see him happy.”

“You think something else might be the reason he’s opening up?”

“Not so muchsomethingassomeone.”

Trip frowned.“Who?I haven’t heard a thing about him having a girl in the last few years—and you know how gossip works around here.If he were seeing someone—hell, even if he’d just spent the night with someone—we’d all hear about it.”

“Yeah, I didn’t say hewasseeing her—just that there’s something there between them.”

“Who?You’re going to have to fill me in.And how do you know?I’ve been back here in the valley for years and I have no idea—meanwhile you haven’t been back long and you’re already clued in.”

Travis chuckled.“Nah.It’s not from being back here.I’m talking about Amelia.”

Trip frowned.“Amelia?The girl who works with Cash and Mav?The comms expert?”

“Yeah, although she’s more than just a comms expert.She’s like one of those tech geniuses.There’s no system she can’t get into and no one she can’t trace.”

“Right.But how does Ford even know her?”

“You don’t remember?She’s Sierra’s friend.She was with Sierra when she had that trouble with her ex—the time he ran them off the road.”

“Oh!I remember now.I treated them both afterward.Sierra was battered and bruised, and her ex had almost asphyxiated her.”He shuddered at the memory of the finger-shaped bruises around Sierra’s neck.“And I treated Amelia for a knife wound—luckily, it was relatively superficial.He held the knife to her throat and he broke her nose when he punched her.”

“Yeah.She wasn’t happy about that.”