Page 5

CHAPTER 5

Lorissa sighed in relief when she parked beside Tom’s truck, and she waited until the man she’d been cold to stepped out of his truck. The drive over had given her time to reflect on how she had reacted and realized that she might have been in the wrong for snapping like she did. She was intent on apologizing until she met Tom at the front of their vehicles.

“Let’s see if you know what you’re doing with this horse,” Tom said by way of greeting, and immediately regretted his words when he saw her expression. Before he could apologize for being a dick to her, the owner of the ranch arrived.

“Jared, hi,” Tom said as he shook the rancher’s hand. “Jared Coleman, this is Lorissa Gibson. Not the farrier I mentioned to you yesterday, but I’m sure she’s good at her job.” The second he started talking he knew he messed up and shook his head. He saw the anger come over Lorissa’s face and knew he’d fucked up.

“Hello, I’m Lorissa Gibson,” Lorissa said as she stuck out her hand turned her back so she wouldn’t punch Tom in the face like she wanted to.

“Jared Coleman, welcome.”

“Thank you, can you tell me what’s wrong with your horse?”

“I don’t know if he picked up a stone or what, but he’s limping and Tom was here yesterday, when he looked at the wound, he pulled a stone out of the hoof.”

Lorissa immediately turned to Tom and stared at him in shock. “Did you find any infection?”

Tom shrugged, “I couldn’t really tell. I’m not a farrier.”

“Seems to me like you’re a piss poor vet too,” she said through gritted teeth and turned back to the rancher. “Please tell me you at least kept him inside for the night.”

“I did do that, let me show you.” He turned and led the way into the barn, leaving Lorissa and Tom standing there. Before she followed she turned a glare onto Tom.

“Do not talk to me. I’m here to do a job, as far as I’m concerned, you are no longer needed here.” She turned on her heel and strode away.

“Shit,” Tom whispered and shook his head. For some reason, when it came to this woman every time he opened his mouth, he stuck his foot in it. Because he was the vet on record, he refused to leave, but followed slowly behind her. As he approached the stall the stallion was in, he saw Jared Coleman standing outside the area, and heard soft mumbling coming from within. He stood beside Jared and watched as first Lorissa soothed the horse, then was able to examine it. He didn’t know if it was necessary for her to check all the legs and hoofs before she reached the one that was obviously hurt, but he ground his teeth to keep his mouth shut.

“There’s swelling up the leg, we’ll address that, but right now do you have a place I can work? If you can get him to that area, I’ll go get my equipment.” She turned on her heel and when Tom started following her, she shook her head at him. “I don’t need you.”

Tom turned back to Jared and flipped the man off when he chuckled at Tom’s dilemma. He knew he could get away with it because they had known each other since they were in diapers, and considered the other a friend.

“What did you do or say?” Jared asked as he went into the stall to take ahold of the stallion’s halter.

“What makes you think I did anything wrong?”

Jared laughed. “Because I know you, you are the most respectful man I’ve ever met, and you always, and I mean always treat a woman with respect. Besides, the tension between the two of you is so thick I would need a chainsaw to get through it. ”

“Yeah, I might have fucked up. Lorissa is a vet and a farrier. When I went to her place this morning, I thought I was getting Old Man Atherton’s granddaughter, Shelly.”

“Naw, she sold her spread to Erin Riceman a few months back. She met the requirements of the old man’s will, and when it was done, she sold it to Erin.”

“What were the requirements?”

“That his grandchildren had to stay and operate the ranch for two years after his death. They even had to live there. If they didn’t, then the entire five thousand acres was to be donated to a developer. I don’t know whether this was luck or not, but there was only Shelly.”

“Shit, that’s right, her brothers were killed while serving in the military.”

“Yes, and Shelly didn’t want the land to be turned into condos, so she went to Erin to see if she wanted to buy it. She did, and the transaction was completed a few months back. I thought you knew this.”

“No,” Tom said as he helped tie the lines to the halter of Thor, the stallion. He ran his hands down the sides of the stallion and admired him. “This is some fine horseflesh you have here.”

“Thank you, but you had a hand in his birth, if you recall, I took his mother over to Erin’s a few years back to be bred with one of her stallions.”

“That’s right. Jesus, I seem to be forgetting everything lately. ”

“Maybe you should take a vacation,” Jared said and looked up when he saw Lorissa approaching. “Or get laid,” he laughed at Tom’s expression and grinned when he saw his friend whip his head around to spot Lorissa as she approached.

“What’s his name?” Lorissa asked as she joined them. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask earlier.”

“Thor.”

“Hey, Thor, I’m going to get you fixed up, so you’ll feel better in no time.” She ran her hand down his chest, his front flanks, and down both his legs. Again, she picked up the uninjured leg and began to work on that hoof.

“Are you fucking blind, woman?” Tom demanded as he practically shouted at her, causing Thor to act up.

Lorissa dropped the hoof and turned her wrath on Tom as she used her finger and the tool she’d been about to use on the horse to drill into his chest. “Back the fuck off right now, Stolls. I don’t know how you work with horses, but this is my way. From what I’ve seen so far, you’re doing a piss poor job. I’m working on the other hooves first to prove to Thor that it’s not painful to have his feet worked on. Once I get to the sore one, maybe by then he’ll trust me to know what the freak I’m doing. Unlike you, I listen to the animal. Now shut the hell up, or get the hell out. This is my area of expertise, not yours.” She slammed her fisted hands on her hips and glared at him .

Tom held up his hands and backed up three steps. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t leave either. Instead, he only looked at her with a raised brow and watched as she turned and got to work. Two hours later, with three hooves done he held his breath as he saw her reach for the bad one. He stood there and stared in shock while Thor allowed her to pick his leg up, put it in the holder, and begin to work. He wrinkled his nose when he saw what he thought was a bad spot, and then a lot of blood and puss started oozing out as Lorissa continued to trim the hoof. He didn’t know how she did it, he would have puked if he was that close to it, but she didn’t even flinch as she worked. By the time she was done, Thor had his head on her shoulder, and he would have sworn on a stack of bibles that the horse was in love with the human. He had an instant steak of jealousy flash through his system.

“All done,” Lorissa said as she let the hoof down, rubbed the leg all the way up to his flank. When Thor actually kissed her, she laughed. “You’re fine. You were a good boy, and deserve a treat.” She reached into her pack and pulled out a small container that held carrots and gave several of them to the horse. As the horse munched, she looked at Jared.

“He’s going to be fine. He’ll be sore for a few days, that stone Mr. Stolls said he pulled out yesterday must have caused a little infection, because it leaked puss and blood. I got it all, and treated it. To be on the safe side, I’d leave him in his stall for a couple of days, but after that, he’s good to go in and out.” She had been packing up her tools, and sweeping up the mess as she talked. When she was done she turned fully to Jared. “If you agree, I’d like to come back out in two days to check on him.”

“Absolutely, thank you so much. Do you have a business card I can keep on file here?”

Lorissa handed it to him, and they agreed that when she returned she would have an invoice for him to pay for her services. Once she was done, she nodded as she picked up her tool bag. “I’ll get out of your hair then, I’ll see you in two days.” She shook Jared’s hand with a smile, then turned to Tom. He quickly noted the smile was gone, and a cold expression came across her face.

“Mr. Stolls, until the next time.” She didn’t shake his hand, only gave him a curt nod, and strode away. Neither of them said a word until she climbed into her truck and started driving back down the driveway.

“Shit,” Tom said, and blew out a deep breath. “I think I fucked up.”

“Yep, I think so too, my friend.” He laughed and shook his head as he unhooked Thor and walked him back to his stall. That was when Tom noticed the horse wasn’t limping any longer. After Thor was happy in his stall, Jared turned to Tom. “You know, if I wasn’t already engaged to Pam, I might have called Lorissa Gibson up and asked her out on a date.”

“Christ don’t get me started on that shit,” Tom said and told Jared about his two bad experiences in the last week. When he was done he shook his head sadly. “I’ve sworn off dating for a while.”

“Not all women are like those two,” Jared said. “Somehow I don’t think Lorissa is that way, she kind of reminds me of my Pam. Too bad you fucked up that opportunity.”

“Yeah, too bad,” Tom said as he turned to look at the empty area Lorissa had driven away from them, and shook his head. “Yeah, I guess I’ll head back into the office to catch up on paperwork.” He shook Jared’s hand and went to his truck to drive back to the office. It wouldn’t be until days later that he realized on the drive back to town he’d been planning on how to get into Lorissa’s good graces after messing up the way he had. He knew it was going to take a lot of groveling to get where he wanted to be with her.