Page 2 of Unyielding (Poplar Springs #3)

TWO

DECLAN

B ack at the practice, I hunted and pecked my notes from Shannon’s appointment into my laptop. Ford snoozed beside me, patient as I finished up my work for the day.

Every time I typed Shannon’s name, my fingertips trembled.

Damn it, I still wasn’t over seeing her again.

I’d tried to prepare myself as I headed down the long driveway at Lost Valley Ranch.

History or not, Shannon and I were meeting for a veterinary appointment, not a social call.

I had to be professional, but what I really wanted to do was talk with her.

Find out about her life. Catch up on the breeding business.

Casually figure out if she was dating anyone.

Whenever Josh and I found time for a call during my years away, Josh would mention his sisters in passing, never picking up on the fact that I always seemed particularly interested in any news about Shannon.

The last time I’d seen her had been at her parents’ funeral.

I’d held her while she cried against my shoulder.

I couldn’t find the right words to console her, so I’d settled for just being there, holding her tight until Josh wandered over.

I still don’t know why I’d pulled away from Shannon at Josh’s appearance.

We were all adults mourning the loss of their family.

I shouldn’t have felt guilty about offering comfort to a friend during a tough time.

At the same time, she was my best friend’s younger sister and while he never warned me away from either of his sisters, there were still some lines that I was reluctant to cross.

Namely, having wild fantasies about my best friend’s sister.

But the truth was, deep down I’d always wished that she was more than just a friend.

I’d kept my feelings buried, except for that one night so many years ago.

Shannon probably didn’t even remember it, but it was a memory I returned to over and over again in my fantasies, wondering how things might have turned out differently for us if I’d been selfish for a change and surrendered to my passion.

I had been caught off guard when Shannon kissed me beneath the mistletoe, and had felt a little guilty that I’d been immediately turned on.

Because of Josh, I’d always considered her off limits.

Then there was the fact that I’d been in a relationship at the time.

Two very good reasons why I shouldn’t have wrapped my arms around her and deepened the kiss, but that was exactly what I’d done.

Shannon’s tentative lips turned passionate, and I felt myself coming dangerously close to the point of no return.

Allowing the kiss to continue would have trashed my relationship with my college girlfriend Amanda, and do God knows what to my friendship with Josh.

I fought off the passion, finally managing to gently push her away.

The dejected look on her face nearly broke my heart.

“Why… why did you stop?” she’d whispered, her sad eyes searching my face. “What’s wrong?”

I sighed and tried to resist sweeping her back into my arms. She’d looked so confused that I’d ended what felt like the world’s best kiss.

All I wanted to do was lean closer and kiss her again, but instead I managed to choke out the words that changed the temperature in the room.

“Shannon, I have a girlfriend. Sorry, but I can’t do this. It’s not fair to her.”

Fair.

It was the core principle of my entire life.

After watching my parents and sister stampede their way through the world, seeming to follow one whim to the next without thought of how it impacted anyone else, I knew that I had to walk another path.

I was never going to be selfish, would never let myself become fixated on what I wanted out of life.

I wasn’t about to make the same mistakes that they’d made.

I realized that I was staring into space, too consumed with the past to pay attention to my very important present.

I had to stay focused, had to keep my eye on the prize, had to convince Ruth Wilcox to sell her practice to me.

I needed this job, not just because it was a perfect fit, but also because my capricious mother had been…

different lately. Still as carefree as ever, but she’d become strangely forgetful, confusing days of the week and retelling stories that she’d already mentioned, sometimes in the same conversation.

My father and sister were always quick to dismiss my concerns whenever I brought up testing her.

Being home would allow me to keep an eye on my mother and help out if necessary.

I’d given notice at the big corporate practice that specialized in large animal breeding I worked for in Salt Lake City, gambling everything on the hope that Ruth and the rest of Poplar Springs would not only accept me back but allow me to build a life and a practice here.

Ruth was always meticulous about her notes, and I knew she’d be checking up on me to review my findings from the appointment with Shannon, so I refocused on what I was doing.

Buying the practice was all that mattered and if I was going to have any hope of doing so, I needed to keep my head down and concentrate on the work.

But the way Shannon looked made it hard to focus.

She’d always been pretty, but she’d grown into a striking woman.

Her little sister, Fiona, was the flashy one, but Shannon had the kind of pure, natural beauty that seemed to get better with time.

She inhabited her body with the confidence and grace of someone who knew exactly what they were capable of.

It was an incredibly attractive quality, and it had turned me into a bumbling fool as I tried not to stare at her during the appointment.

No. I couldn’t allow myself to even think about how she looked or made me feel.

Not only would Josh have my head, but it would be a distraction at a time when I needed to focus.

There was no way I was missing the chance to buy the practice.

Ruth had grown an impressive business over the decades, and she was held in high regard by many of the ranchers in Poplar Springs and the surrounding area.

With her stamp of approval, I’d be set until I decided to retire.

I’d never imagined that I’d wind up back in Poplar Springs, but now that I was home, it felt right.

All I had to do was prove to Ruth that I was worthy. But how?

“You workin’ or day dreamin’?”

I whipped around and saw Ruth watching me from the doorway with a grin. She was still spry and wiry despite her age, with a closely cropped cap of gray hair that never seemed to change.

“Oh, hey. I’m just finishing up my notes from the Cafferty appointment.”

“How’d that go? Everything okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it was a case of Shannon being a little overprotective of her pregnant mare. But Belle’s doing fine.”

“You get why she’s so worried about that horse, right?”

“I do,” I replied. “Belle is twenty, and she’s a living connection to Shannon’s mom.”

“Yes indeed. I was there when Frank and Sylvie brought her home. Sylvie loved that horse so much.”

For a few seconds, Ruth got lost in her own reverie, then seemed to snap out of it just as quickly.

“You done good, kid,” she said. “Your diagnostic skills are right on. But you know that’s not all there is to this business. It’s the humans who pay the bills, so you gotta be just as good with the two leggers as you are with the four.”

Ruth turned to leave the room and Ford hopped up, eager to see if she had any treats in her pockets.

“Yeah, about that,” I said, standing up to walk after her. “Can we talk for a second?”

She paused and leaned down to pet Ford’s speckly head. The cattle dog mix had fallen in love with Ruth almost immediately, much like all of the animals of Poplar Springs. “Of course. What’s going on?”

Ruth stroked the dog’s ears while I tried to collect my racing thoughts.

“You know how much I want to be your successor in this practice.”

She nodded.

“What do I have to do to make it work? I know you’ve had a few other vets trial and they didn’t make the cut, so what can I do differently?”

She tilted her head as she looked at me for a long moment, seeming to evaluate me, and then she nodded. “C’mon, let’s sit and have a cup of coffee.”

She beckoned me to follow her to the tiny staff kitchen at the end of the hall. Her practice had an old-fashioned no-frills vibe that made it clear Ruth didn’t waste money on ambience. She filled the coffee pot while I sat down at the small table.

“Did I tell you anything about why those other applicants didn’t make the cut?” she asked me.

“Not really. You just said they weren’t a fit. I’d like to know more, if you don’t mind.”

Ruth flicked on the coffee pot and sat down across from me.

“They were fine veterinarians. Excellent, to be honest. That last girl might have been the best I’ve seen.

But like I just said to you, this job isn’t just doctoring.

In a community like this, you need to remember that you’re more than just a vet—you’re a marriage counselor, child psychologist, trainer, groomer, farrier, and everything in between.

These people count on you to fix their animals, but they also need you to be there for them .

To help them out in a way that can go above and beyond the job description.

You can’t just pop a dewormer and be on your way.

As tough as it can be, there are days when you have to connect with your human clients even more than with their animals. ”

“The other vets weren’t able to do that?”

Ruth frowned. “The first fellow I had out here tried, but he was as nervous as a fly in a glue pot. Poor kid was terrified of the old ranchers. They could smell it on him, and boy, did they have fun. One time, I sent him out to Walter Briggs’s place.

To this day, I have no idea what happened—he clammed up any time I asked—but when that boy came back, he stunk like a sewer.

And that young lady I mentioned, well, she did okay with folks, but the girl was raised on concrete.

Doesn’t matter how much you know about animals if you don’t understand our way of life.

I’m sure she’d do well in a practice in Denver or Colorado Springs, but out in the country? No. At least, not here.”

I sat up straighter. “Well, I’m not scared of any of the ranchers around here. And I’ve got Poplar Springs running through my veins. I guess that puts me ahead of them already.”

Ruth hopped up to pour the coffee. “Sure, you’d think that…”

My stomach sank. “I’m sensing there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

She bit back a smile as she placed a mug in front of me. “But your family is… how should I say it? Well, y’all are ranch adjacent. Frankly, you’re town adjacent too. You’re with us but you’re not of us.”

I ran my thumb along the mug as I considered what she was implying.

My parents were well known in Poplar Springs for being arty eccentrics, people who lived at the periphery of the meat and potatoes ranching world and never quite integrated themselves into the community.

My father, Bill, often took off for weeks at a time to attend painting retreats on the East Coast, and my potter mother, Linda, never joined any of the wives’ groups in town, preferring to lock herself away in her work shed alone.

Nothing else mattered to them but connecting with their muses, to the detriment of their connection to their neighbors.

My sister, Dahlia, had inherited the same “isolated artist” gene, but to a lesser degree since she’d channeled her artistic passions into a steady job teaching art at Poplar Springs’s elementary school.

To the outside world, the Morris family was a group of artistic misfits with no real ties to the town, despite the fact that we’d lived here for decades.

“How long has it been since you visited with Bob Lumley?” Ruth asked me.

I frowned as I thought about the town’s mayor, a wise elder that everyone respected.

Much like Ruth, Bob was a fixture in town going back decades.

I’d heard through Josh that the older man seemed to be dealing with some health issues, but whenever anyone questioned him, he’d declare that he was “healthy as a horse” and that no one needed to worry about him.

“Can’t remember the last time. But I just got back, Ruth. Folks have to know that.”

“Sure they do. But you know there’s a hierarchy around here, and it would do you well to acknowledge it.

Starts with Bob Lumley, trickles down to the other Bobs—McCall and Jackson—then spreads out to the Cattlemen’s Association folks, and then down to everyone else.

And if you want to get in good with Poplar Springs folks you’ve got to…

what do they say?” She closed her eyes and moved her lips silently for a moment, then held up a finger in triumph. “‘Kiss the ring.’”

I sighed. “That’s a lot of politics. I’m here to work, not run for office.”

“No sir, there’s a lot more to it than just the physical work,” Ruth said sharply, causing Ford to glance up at her.

“If you want to replace me, then you’re here to be the center of the wagon wheel.

Everything in this town pivots around the vets—both my practice and Lett’s—and if you want to have any chance of succeeding here, you have to feel that in your bones.

Sick animals impact bottom lines, it’s as simple as that. ”

I thought back to the time when Shannon’s mom was dealing with strangles among her horses, and how it threw off the breeding schedule for weeks.

As soon as they discovered it, they’d gotten the horses separated and Ruth had practically set up camp at Lost Valley to get her through the worst of it.

A couple of the older mares had developed internal abscesses and Ruth had worked tirelessly to get them drained and keep the infection from getting worse.

“You’re right, I’m sorry for saying that.”

“Don’t be sorry, be better,” she quipped, softening her words with a quick pat on my arm.

“I’m pulling for you, Declan, but I’m not about to hand you the reins just because I like you.

There’s a lot resting on my practice, and I need to make sure my replacement understands that it’s more than just a job. This is a lifestyle .”

I met her eyes with a determined stare. “I understand. And I’m going to spend the next two months proving to you that I’m worthy.”

Ruth gave me a curt nod, hiding a smile. “I expect nothing less.”