Blue touched her shoulder. "Can't you call Big Mac?"
"He's out golfing. He'll never get here in time." She sighed. "It's going to have to be me whether Mark likes it or not."
"I'll come with you."
She looked up into his implacable face. "You don't have to do that."
"Yeah, I do. I'm not having you dealing with Mark if things go wrong."
"Okay."
He raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to argue with me?"
"Not this time."
"Good." He turned back to the door, suddenly all business. "We'll take your truck. I'll just go and tell Ruth where we'll be."
Chapter Eleven
"I'm sorry, Mr, Lymond." Jenna pushed her hair out of her eyes and held the enraged rancher's gaze. "There's nothing more I can do."
"There must be something! You get a proper qualified vet down here right now, missy, and quit pretending you know what the hell you're doing."
"Mr. Lymond. The mare was already weakened from lack of proper nutrition, which means that the foal was already compromised. We told you this earlier today when we suggested you bring the mare into our clinic where we could keep an eye on her."
"You said no such thing. You're just protecting your ass." Mark shoved a finger right in her face. "This is your fault!"
Blue stepped up alongside her. "Mark, she's right. Leave her alone."
"What the hell do you know, Morgan? Just because she's got a pretty face doesn't mean she's competent at her job. She killed that mare and foal."
"That's complete bullshit," Blue snapped. "Now, do you want me to help bury the horses or are you going to send for Smedleys?"
"Get off my ranch, both of you." Mark threw his gloves onto the ground and stalked off, muttering obscenities.
Jenna exhaled. "The poor guy."
"He should've taken better care of his horses." Blue gripped her shoulder hard. "You're not the responsible one here."
"Thanks, Blue, but I still feel bad." She stripped off her gloves and turned wearily back to her truck. "If the mare had been at the clinic, we might have been able to do something about that blood loss, but here? I just couldn't stop it."
"Come on, grab your stuff. I'll drive you back to the ranch and you can take a shower there."
She could do little but nod and follow him out. To her amazement the sun was still shining and it wasn't that late. She'd thought she'd been in that stall for days fighting to keep the mare and foal alive, but time had passed slowly. Blue covered her passenger seat with an old rug, so she sat on that and let him drive her back to the ranch.
She looked out of the window as the sense of failure dragged her down. She hated losing an animal, and particularly a mother and foal. That just sucked so hard. One of the reasons she'd left the high-tech world of the horse racing stables was to work with a community who loved their horses and didn't just see them as financial assets to be destroyed on a whim. She'd forgotten that a lot of ranchers also had financial concerns, albeit different ones. Did it always come down to money? Did no one really care about their horses anymore?
As the truck bounced down the drive, she mentally reviewed every medical decision she'd made, and couldn't think what she would've changed. But that didn't mean that Dave or her uncle wouldn't have done a better job.
"You okay?"
"Not really." She didn't look round. "I need to write up my notes while everything is still fresh in my mind."
"Have your shower first."
She looked down at her bloodied jeans and shuddered. "Definitely."
There was no one in the ranch kitchen as Blue showed her the shower in the mudroom and provided her with pink shower gel, shampoo, and a towel that she was pretty sure belonged to January. She took her time under the spray, trying to ease some of the tension out of her muscles, and contemplated what she needed to do next.
When she emerged from the shower, she found some of January's shorts and a navy T-shirt with "Marines" on it that she suspected might belong to Blue. The rest of her clothes had gone.
In the kitchen, Blue had made coffee and was sitting at the table with his phone out texting someone.
"Hey, I put your stuff in to wash. I hope that was okay. Should be ready by the time you go home."
"Thanks." She took the seat opposite him, conscious that she wasn't wearing any underwear and that he knew it. "Is it okay if I write my notes?"
"Sure, I brought your bag in." He passed the heavy bag over the table to her one-handed without any apparent effort. "Dave texted me asking where you were, so I gave him the short version of what happened. He says he'll see you at home and you can run it by his dad."
Jenna groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Great."
"You did the best you could, right?"
"Yes."
"With the best of intentions and all your current knowledge?"
"Yes."
He sat back. "Then that's all anyone can ask of you."
She managed a wobbly smile. "Thanks, Gunnery Sergeant Morgan."
He gave her a casual salute. "You're welcome."
* * *
The back door opened, and several voices speaking over each other disturbing the peace of the kitchen made Blue smile. "The family's back."
Ruth came in with Maria, Chase, and January. From the look of them, they'd been to town and bought up the whole of Maureen's store.
Ruth smiled at Jenna. "You here for dinner? I saw Nate in town. He says he's coming out here, too."
"I'd love to stay."
"Good, because I've been practicing my nut loaf recipe."
Blue and Chase made identical gagging noises and Ruth scowled at them. "It's very good, isn't it, Maria?"
"Yes."
Blue winked at Maria. "Then I'll have to try it. Did you help Ruth?"
"Yes." Maria looked away at Ruth. "Can I take my things upstairs now?"
"Sure, and please hang everything up, okay?"
Maria gathered up most of the bags and went up the stairs.
"What exactly did you buy her?" Blue asked, his fingers tapping on the table.
Chase shrugged. "Just some riding gear and ranch clothes."
Blue stopped tapping. "That's my job, Chase."
"For God's sake, BB, it was just a fun thing to do with her."
"But I wanted to do it, and more importantly, I want to pay for her stuff. Let me know how much you spent, and I'll reimburse you."
Chase sighed. "Okay, maybe you've got a point. I'll total it up, all right?"
"Good." Blue nodded.
"Except for her hat." Ruth put on her apron and washed her hands. "I'm buying her that, so you can just suck it up."
Blue blinked. "Did you just say I should suck it up? Who's teaching you that language?"
Ruth rolled her eyes. "I watch TV. I get the lingo."
"What the hell does that mean?" Chase muttered, when Ruth turned her back. Blue grinned at his brother and the tense moment was over just like that. Things had gotten a lot better between him and Chase over the past few months-once he'd let go of the past and his brother had gotten rid of the stick up his ass.
"What's in the washer?" January asked as she came back in and dropped a kiss on Chase's head before sitting down. "And have you been using my shower gel again, Chase?"
"That was all me." Blue held up his hand. "Jenna needed a shower, and I put her clothes on to wash. She was at Mark Lymond's place attending to his mare in foal."
Ruth studied Jenna's downcast face. "I take it that didn't go well."
"I couldn't save them. He wasn't happy."
Blue reached over and squeezed Jenna's shoulder. "She did her best. He left it too late to get help."
"Still hurts to see an animal die, though," Ruth said gently.
Jenna nodded. "Would it be okay if I go into the parlor and write my notes? I want to make sure I get everything down correctly."
"Why?" Chase sat forward. "Do you think there might be a problem?"
She shrugged. "It's standard procedure to get as much information as possible, and I have to share what happened with Dave and Uncle Ron. They might want to go and follow up. I'm not a partner at the practice, so everything I do reflects on them and their reputation in the county."
"You go ahead, Jenna. Dinner will be ready in an hour," Ruth called out from her position by the stove. "I'll send Blue to let you know when it's time to sit down."
"Or send Nate," Blue suggested. "I know Jenna will want to speak to him."
She gave him an exasperated look, picked up her bag, and left the kitchen.
"Here you go." Chase turned his laptop around so Blue could see the screen. "Here's the total."
Blue blinked at the final column. "Jeez, Chase, next time remember we're not all loaded like you are, won't you?"
"You can pay me back in installments if you like."
Blue glanced at his brother and realized he wasn't joking. "Or you could start paying me a salary for my work here and take it out of that."
"I'm supposed to pay you now?"
"That was the general idea. I'm out of the military soon, which means I'm technically unemployed."