"Half a dozen at first. Two bedrooms and a shared bath in between them."
"Sounds good." Blue fought not to turn his head as a prickle of awareness crept up his spine. "So basic, but not too basic."
"Exactly." January looked up from her clipboard. "Hey."
"Hey, January."
Roy touched the brim of his cowboy hat. "Morning, Miss Jenna. Have you come to see the pigs?"
Blue turned then and looked down at the diminutive new vet he'd last seen at the spring branding. She wore a blue hoodie, jeans, and big work boots. Her reddish brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, making her look about twelve, although local rumor had it she was in her mid twenties.
"Hey."
She briefly met his gaze. "Hi." And then she looked over at Roy. "I'd be happy to see the pigs if they need me. I actually came out to talk about the horses. Do you have time to do that?"
Roy pointed at Blue. "Talk to this guy. He's going to be dealing with most of new horse stuff. I'm going to concentrate on the ranch hands and all the 'magic'"-Roy made bunny ears with his index fingers-"that happens in the background to keep everything rolling along."
Blue nodded at Jenna. "I've got plenty of time to talk."
She looked him up and down as though he was a less-than-satisfactory specimen. It didn't faze him. He'd been stared at by the best the Marines had to offer, and he'd never backed down from a challenge.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Jenna asked. "Ruth said you had a concussion."
"I did. I'm fine now." He wasn't, but he was tired of being asked about it and more than ready to just get on with the job of separating from the military and moving forward with his plans for the ranch.
"He's not fine," January chimed in. "He's got busted ribs, but he's too much of a hero to mention them."
Blue gave her his death glare but she just grinned. She really was becoming like a sister to him.
"Roy and I are going back to the house to show Ruth the potential location for the cabins. I'm sure you and Jenna can deal with the horse thing?" January looked expectantly at him.
"Sure. Where do you want to talk?" Blue gave his attention back to Jenna. "We can go back up to the house, or you can check out the horses I've already added to the string."
"I'd like to see the horses first." Jenna picked up her medical bag, which was almost as big as she was. Blue instinctively went to take it from her, but she stepped swiftly out of his reach. "I've got this."
He held up both hands in mock surrender, which she didn't notice because she was already moving ahead of him. January snagged the hem of his T-shirt, holding him still.
"Be nice to her, okay?"
"I wasn't planning on being anything else," Blue muttered. "She's the one with the problem. Not me."
"She's just new here and shy. Give her a break."
"As I said, not a problem for me." He detached her fingers from his dark blue T-shirt and returned them to her. "I'll be as sweet as sugar."
January snorted. "I'd like to see that." To his relief, she winked at him and started back up the slight slope to the house with Roy, leaving him with nothing to do but follow the new vet into the barn.
She was standing in the center aisle, her bag at her feet.
"I see Sugar Lump, Sunflower, Messi, and Nolly, so who's new?"
Blue pointed at the three stalls farthest away. "I put them over here so you could check them out before I let them mingle with the others."
"Cool." She stripped off her gloves and tucked them in the back pocket of her jeans. "Where shall we start?"
* * *
A while later, Jenna put down the horse's rear left foot and straightened up.
"There's a stone in there."
"Do you want me to get it out?" Blue produced a wicked-looking knife. He'd spent the last hour or so propping up the wall, answering her questions and obviously keeping an eye on her. He wasn't openly keeping a score sheet, but she was pretty darned sure that she was being judged.
"It's okay. I've got it." She readjusted her grip, picked up the affected foot, and used the tip of her hoof pick to ease out the small pebble wedged between the metal shoe and the hoof. "That's it. I'd get her reshod if I were you. That gap's going to cause problems."
"Good catch," Blue said as she wiped her hand on her jeans. "I'll get that done as soon as possible."
The sun had risen overhead, and inside the stable it had gotten warm enough for her to start sweating. Apparently Marines didn't sweat, and the dark blue T-shirt stretched across Blue's muscled chest looked remarkably wrinkle free.
Jenna straightened her spine and waited as Blue made a note on the horse's chart.
He looked up. "Are we finished here?"
"I've just got to draw some blood." Jenna reached for her bag only to have Blue get there faster and offer her the sealed sampling kit.
"Here you go."
"Thanks."
She concentrated on her task, all too aware of Blue's assessing gaze on her. She swabbed the horse's neck. "I'm quite competent, you know."
"So I've been told."
She looked over at him. "Then you don't have to watch me all the time."
He raised an eyebrow. "I'm watching because I like to learn new things. If I was caught out here on my own with an emergency, I'd like to be able to handle it."
Now she felt like a heel. "You can do the last blood test if you like. It's not hard, and it is a good skill for a rancher to have."
"Sure."
He eased away from the wall and came to stand beside her, bringing the scent of warm man and citrus to add to the peppery smell of the horse.
She finished capping the blood sample. "I meant for the next horse."
"Ah, okay." He didn't retreat, but began to stroke the horse's neck. "Everything looking good so far?"
"Yes."
Her gaze followed the rhythmic stroke of his long, scarred fingers, and she almost dropped the tube.
She cleared her throat. "I think we're done with this one."
"Only one more to go, then."
"You can take the blood sample first if you like and then leave me to it," Jenna said quickly.
His hand went still. "As I said, I'd rather stick around, if that's okay with you."
She stowed the sample in her bag and picked it up. "I just meant-"
"That you don't like me hanging around. I get it. But I'm the one who is ultimately responsible for these horses, and I want to make sure I picked good ones."
"I understand that."
"Then what's the problem?"
She met his gaze. "It feels more like you're waiting for me to mess up."
His frown deepened. "I have a right to expect the best veterinary care for my animals."
"And you don't think I'm good enough, right? Let me guess. You'd prefer a man."
"I have no problem with you being a woman. But I guess I'd prefer someone with more experience." He didn't look away his blue gaze cool.
Wow, well, that was direct. She raised her chin. "I spent two years dealing specifically with horses at a racing stables after I left college. I'm knowledgeable about all the latest treatments and I graduated first in my class with honors. Would you like to see my references?"
"Yeah, actually I would."
She blinked at him. Her uncle hadn't asked to see anything. "Then I'll look them up for you. Would you prefer Dave to come up here until you're satisfied I'm competent?"
"No, we're good." He gave the horse one final pat and walked toward the door. "Ready for the next one?"
She hastily closed her mouth, picked up her bag, and followed him into the end stall. He certainly didn't believe in beating around the bush.
"This one's my favorite." Blue rubbed his knuckles over the quarter horse's brown nose and was almost knocked over as the horse responded with a head but. "He's a sweetheart."
"Geldings usually are," Jenna murmured as she found her stethoscope. "There's a lesson in there for mankind, don't you think?"
His crack of laughter surprised her. "So it's not just me? You're just generally down on all males?"
"I'm . . . not down on you."
"Right, you haven't forgiven me for telling you how to do your job at the spring branding yet, have you?"
"That's not true. You apologized and-"
"You blew me off."
Jenna sighed. "Look, you have no idea how hard it's been for me the last six months. Every time I go out on a call I'm asked when Uncle Ron or Dave will be coming out to give their seal of approval to my silly newbie feminine medical decisions. I'm getting kind of tired of it."
"It's hardly my fault if most ranchers are idiots."
"They aren't idiots."
"You're defending them now?" Blue asked.
"I'm trying not to whine and think the whole world is out to get me."
"Out here it takes a while for people to accept new things."
"So I've noticed."
"Which means you have two choices. Stick it out and prove them wrong, or run back home. Where is home, by the way?"
"Los Angeles." She shuddered. "I don't want to go back there."