Her Cowboy Dilemma. C.J. Carmichael

you.”

      “You, too, Jackson.” She felt her throat tighten. “Hi, Mom.”

      “Sweetheart.” Olive swooped in and gave Cassidy a hug and a kiss. “How were your exams?” Then, Olive continued without waiting for an answer, “I was saddling Lucky Lucy for a ride this morning when I spotted some nasal discharge. I don’t blame Jackson for not noticing sooner, even though the horses are now his responsibility.”

      “Jackson has a lot on his hands these days besides overseeing the care of the home horses,” Corb said mildly, countering his mother’s implied criticism. “Spring is the busiest time of year for all of us and he’s had four new foals birthed this week alone. Plus he’s busy with the mare breeding program for the quarter horses.”

      Cassidy admired the way Corb managed to stand up to their mother without getting upset. All her brothers—except maybe B.J.—were better at that skill than she was.

      Every time she came home, she did so with the resolve that this time would be different. She wouldn’t let her mother get to her. She wouldn’t lose her cool. But neither would she let her mother derail her. She had her own plans for her own life. And that was that.

      “My exams went well, Mom, but I’m sorry about Lucky Lucy. Is it strangles for sure?” She moved in closer and Farley, who’d been collecting a sample of mucus, now sealed the cotton swab into a vial.

      Then he straightened. For the second time that day he took her measure.

      “I’m pretty sure. She’s got some swelling around the jaw area, as well as a fever and clear nasal discharge.”

      Cassidy shifted her gaze from the vet to the horse. Lucy was gorgeous, and as recently as her last visit home for Stephanie’s baby shower, had been very healthy. She patted Lucy’s flank, then moved in closer.

      “Remember me, sweet thing?” she murmured. “We had a great ride together last February. ’Course there was some snow we had to contend with back then.”

      As if in answer, Lucy coughed, and more discharge gathered in her nasal cavity. Cassidy glanced at Farley, hoping for reassurance. “How bad is it? Is she suffering?”

      “Feel here.” Farley took her hand and guided it to a swollen area on Lucy’s neck. “Her lymph nodes are pretty enlarged. I’m sure it’s causing her pain or she wouldn’t be distending her neck like this.”

      “Oh, you poor thing.” Cassidy gentled her with soft strokes, trying to erase the feeling of Farley’s strong, capable hands over hers. Lucy nickered, voicing her appreciation of the extra attention.

      “I’ll run a test just to be sure,” Farley said. “But for now we’d better assume that she does have strangles.”

      “Crap.” Jackson sounded disgusted. “We’ll have to disinfect everything, won’t we?”

      “Afraid so.” Farley kept a hand on Lucky Lucy as he walked around her, then out to the aisle. “Good thing you keep your riding horses separate from the breeders. Hopefully the quarter horses will be fine. But I’d recommend no sales or purchases until the strangles is under control.”

      Olive made an impatient sound. “Is that really necessary? You said yourself, we have the two operations completely separate.”

      “Just to be sure, I think it is. You’ll have to set up a quarantine area here in the barn. Watch the other horses carefully. Any of them show signs of the disease, then they’ll need to be separated, too.”

      Jackson rubbed his unshaven chin. “This is going to mean a lot of extra work. Frankly me and my men are stretched to our limits right now...and Corb and his wranglers are, too.”

      “Jackson’s right about that,” Corb was quick to agree. “Most of the calves have been born, but we’ve got branding and vaccinating...and soon we’ll need to be moving the herd to higher ground.”

      Suddenly it seemed like everyone was looking at Cassidy. Heck and darn. “You know I’m only home for a couple of weeks, right?”

      Olive frowned at that, but Corb wasn’t deterred.

      “A couple of weeks could see us through the worst of this. If we’re lucky.” He turned to Farley. “What’s involved, exactly?”

      Farley shook his head. “Strangles is incredibly contagious. It can be passed on through indirect contact with buckets, feed, grass, fences and especially water troughs.”

      “I don’t see why our quarter horses should be under quarantine then,” Olive said sharply. “We feed, water and pasture them entirely separately from the riding horses.”

      “The infection can also be transmitted by flies,” Jackson replied calmly. “Still, I have to wonder how Lucy caught this. I haven’t heard of any other cases in the area.”

      “Have you brought any new horses onto the property lately?” Farley placed the vial for testing into his black case, then went to the sink at the corner of the barn and washed his hands.

      Jackson shook his head no, then glanced at Olive. “Didn’t I see you load Lucy in the trailer last week?”

      “That wasn’t Lucy,” Olive said shortly. “I did buy some secondhand tack at auction on the weekend.”

      “That could be your culprit. I hate to say it, but your whole tack room should be disinfected. You’re going to need to stock up on chlorhexidine soap.”

      “We have some,” Corb said, pointing to a gallon by the sink.

      “You’re going to need more. But I have a few gallons in my truck I can give you for now.” He turned to Cassidy. “If you’re in charge of containing this infection, we should sit down somewhere and talk.” He looked as excited as if he’d just sentenced himself to an hour in a dentist’s chair.

      Cassidy felt the same way herself. After a semester of studies, she’d hoped to spend most of her break on the back of a horse—not cooped up in a barn with a bucket and a rag.

      “You two might as well talk in the office.” Olive waved to the door next to the tack room. “I’ll bring out some coffee and sandwiches. I know Corb and Jackson will be happy to get back to work.”

      “Over the moon with excitement,” Corb teased. He gave Cassidy a tap on the shoulder. “We’ll catch up later, okay? Come by tonight and say hi to Laurel and Stephanie?”

      “I did drop in at the café for a visit on my way through town, but I’ll still take you up on that offer.”

      “Better disinfect your arms and hands, if you’ve had any contact with Lucy,” Farley warned as the two men and Olive left the barn. “And your boots.”

      “I’ll set up a boot dip right now.” Cassidy found a plastic tub in the tack room and mixed up a disinfecting solution. She set the tub by the door so that anyone leaving the barn would be able to disinfect their boots on their way out.

      Corb, Jackson and her mother all made use of the new boot dip then headed off to their respective chores.

      And then it was just the two of them in a barn that was suddenly, uncomfortably silent.

      For a second Cassidy considered trying to clear the air between them. But how could she possibly do that? What she’d done had been inexcusable, even if she’d only been twenty-one at the time.

      Instead, she headed for the office, trusting Farley to follow, which he did, along with Sky.

      The border collie settled at her feet when she sat in the oak chair behind the desk. Farley took the upholstered chair opposite, dwarfing the thing with his tall, muscular frame.

      It took a lot of physical strength to be a large-animal vet, and no one could doubt that Farley had that. But it was more than his size that she found intimidating right now. When Farley looked you in the eyes, you could tell he wasn’t one to compromise.

      Or