An Accidental Mom. Loree Lough

dad has a ranch? With horses and cows and stuff?”

      Lily smiled again. “He sure does.”

      “Man, I’ve never been on a real-live ranch before. They don’t have ’em in Chicago, y’know.”

      She glanced at Max. He’d grown up in cattle country; why hadn’t he taken the boy to see his buddies’ homes during visits to his mother?

      “Are you a vettin-air-yun?”

      “No, Nate, but I do work very closely with one.”

      He crossed both arms over his chest. “I’m gonna be a vettin-air-yun when I grow up, ’cause I like animals.”

      “Do you, now? Do you have a cat or a dog?”

      Nate shot his father a less-than-friendly look. “Dad says I’m not old enough to be ’sponsible for a pet.”

      “Well, maybe you’d like to come out to our ranch sometime, see my animals.”

      Nate gasped. “Really? I could do that? Cool! What kind of animals!”

      “Oh, a raccoon and a wolf cub, an eagle, some hawks, three monkeys and—”

      “Monkeys! Way cool! Dad, I wanna—”

      One look into his father’s stern face was enough to silence the boy. Lily couldn’t help but wonder why Max would have a problem with Nate visiting River Valley. It was the most natural thing in the world for a city boy to get enthused about the prospect of seeing animals up close, especially if his only prior contact had been at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo!

      Lily knew that if she didn’t get out of there fast, she’d likely say something she’d regret. “Where should I sign?” she asked Georgia, pen poised above the cast.

      Georgia pointed, and Lily scribbled Get Well Quick! above her signature. “I’d love to stay and chat,” she fibbed, handing Georgia her pen, “but I have a million things to do.”

      “You got any kids?” Nate asked.

      “No,” Lily told him. “But with two jobs, I don’t have time to properly take care of children.” She didn’t tell him that not being able to make her “wife and mommy” dream come true was one of the most disappointing and heartbreaking facts of her life. The lump that formed in her throat surprised her.

      And before any of them could say another word, she headed for the door. “Bye,” she called over her shoulder. “See you all later.”

      Not! she tacked on as the door hissed shut behind her. At least, not if she had anything to say about it!

      During the drive back to the ranch, Lily’s cell phone rang. “There’s a dog doing its best to keep from drowning in Lake Meredith,” her sister said. “I heard two small-craft pilots talking about it, listening to my CB radio. They’ve been hovering overhead for a couple minutes. Don’t know how long the poor thing has been down there. If someone doesn’t do something for it soon, one of ’em is gonna put it out of its misery—with a rifle!”

      The mental picture of a dog paddling like mad to stay afloat, while sharpshooters zeroed in on it, made Lily’s heart flinch. Ordinarily, she didn’t specialize in household pets but this was hardly an ordinary circumstance. “Okay, all right, calm down before you fall down,” Lily said, making a quick U-turn on Route 40. “I’m on my way. Meanwhile, get back on that CB of yours and see if you can reach those guys. Tell the trigger-happy one to keep the safety on his weapon. I’ll be there in less than an hour.”

      She’d witnessed situations like this before, and knew that unless the dog had been injured, it could stay afloat for an amazingly long time. Over the years, people had taken to calling her Snow White because of her talent for communicating with animals. She hoped the gift would help her coax this poor pup to the shore before…

      Taking the exit onto Route 136 and heading north to the small town of Fritch, Lily forced the horrifying image from her mind. Lord, get me there fast, she prayed. “Say, Vi…”

      “Hmm?”

      “I’ve always wondered…why do you have a CB radio in your shop?”

      Violet laughed. “Well, originally I got it to keep track of deliveries. If a deliveryman called to say he was stuck in traffic, I’d know within minutes if he was telling the truth or feeding me a line of baloney. Didn’t take long to weed the dishonest ones from those I could trust.”

      Grinning, Lily waited for the “other” reasons.

      “I realized pretty quick it’s also a great place to catch up on local gossip. And I find out when a bus-load of tourists is rolling in at Georgia’s. One quick trip to the diner, one quiet mention of all the good deals across the street at my boutique, and I have all the business I can handle ’til the bus rolls out again.”

      Lily couldn’t help but smile. “So much for the ‘dumb blonde’ adage. You’re one of the savviest businesswomen I’ve ever known.”

      She listened to the heavy silence for a few seconds before saying, “Vi? You there?”

      “Yeah. I was just thinking about that poor dog.”

      Nodding, Lily said, “Me, too. But don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can to save it.”

      “’Course you will. Why do you think I called you as soon as I heard about it!”

      “I only hope the mutt is wearing tags, so I can reunite him with his owner fast as I can. This whole ordeal will be traumatic enough without being separated from loved ones.”

      “Well, a customer just walked in. Call me later, let me know how things turned out.”

      Lily hung up, hoping that when “later” came, she wouldn’t have to tell her sister she’d been forced to take the dog home. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d taken in a lost dog or cat, and experience had taught her it wouldn’t be the last. Whether bringing the animal back to its former healthy state took months or days, every situation lasted only long enough to roust out a good family to adopt the pet. But regardless of how much or how little time and energy she invested in the creatures, Lily always experienced a period of mourning while she adjusted to life without the furry critter.

      Nate Sheridan came to mind, with his big brown eyes and mop of dark curls. If she managed to save the dog and couldn’t find its owner, maybe…

      Of course, that would require direct contact with Max. Lily’s heart beat double time at the mere thought. Clucking her tongue, she whispered through clenched teeth, “Get a grip, girl.” Because, really, what could happen between them in the few minutes it would take to get his permission to introduce Nate to the rescued dog?

      “You’re getting way ahead of yourself, Lily.” She had no idea what kind of dog was splashing around for its life, no clue what condition it might be in by the time she reached it. A glance at her dashboard clock told her she’d been on the road less than fifteen minutes; it was nearly an hour’s drive to the entrance gate at Lake Meredith.

      It dawned on her suddenly that she hadn’t asked Violet where the pilots had seen the dog. Acres of water made up this stretch of the park.

      She reached for her cell phone, punched in her sister’s code. “Hey, kiddo…it’s me,” she said when her sister answered. “I didn’t think to ask earlier, but did those pilots mention where they spotted the dog?”

      “I remember something about the boat dock. They thought maybe the dog had fallen off a sailboat or something.”

      “But who’d go boating at this time of year?”

      “I know I wouldn’t want to waste a nice day like this if I’d sunk a hundred grand into a sailboat.”

      Violet made a good point, Lily admitted. The weather had been remarkably balmy for October, these past few weeks. “Did you manage to raise either of them on your CB?”