Fresh-Start Ranch. Leann Harris

      “It’s nothing.” She waved off his concerns.

      That was the worst denial he’d ever heard. “You might as well spit it out.”

      She thought about her question, pursing her lips. “There just seems to be a tension between you and Mary. And with what Kevin blurted out the other day—” Her cheeks flamed.

      Well, he’d asked for it. Why not tell her? Everyone in this part of the country knew of his embarrassment, most people probably witnessed it. “Well—”

      “Don’t worry about it,” she hurriedly added. “It’s not my business.” Her weak smile tried to smooth over her gaffe.

      She’d touched a raw spot. But with Mary back here, the talk would be everywhere and Tessa would hear about what happened sooner or later. He’d rather be the person who told her. “I was engaged to Mary.”

      “People break off engagements every day.”

      “True, but they don’t leave the other person standing at the altar. Mary did.” Well, you certainly softened that, didn’t you?

      “Oh.” She turned a deep shade of red.

      “All the people in this area were in the church that morning and witnessed it.”

      “I didn’t mean to—”

      He shrugged. “It was years ago. We were young and thought we were in love.” He recalled with stunning clarity that humiliating morning, when he stood in the church with all his friends and neighbors gathered, waiting for the bride. After thirty minutes of waiting, her maid of honor showed up. She announced Mary wasn’t going to show and handed him a letter.

      Standing before all the people he knew and had grown up with, he remembered reading those devastating words. Mary had written that she loved him, but not enough to marry him and spend the rest of her life with him. She felt she was too young and didn’t want to get married. Besides, she wanted to go to college and see the world outside their little area of New Mexico.

      Growing up on neighboring ranches, he and Mary were always at the same local events. They began to hang together and slowly became best friends after Mary’s brother ended up face-first in a mud puddle at a local barbecue. They laughed at the same things and shared similar views. Everyone in the community thought they were a couple, and they were comfortable with the label.

      He was a year older than Mary, and when he graduated from high school, he went straight to college. He didn’t know if it was his going away and talking with other girls or that Mary had found someone new, but he noticed distance between them that first Thanksgiving he came home. He thought to solve the problem by proposing to her, which he did at Christmas.

      The wedding had been set for the weekend after her high school graduation. Looking back, he realized Mary’s calling off the wedding was one of the best things that could happen to him. He just wished she’d done it in a less humiliating way.

      “Lot of people thought Mary and I were a perfect couple, but we were so young. I don’t think we really knew what we wanted. Everyone told us we were in love, and we didn’t know any better than to believe them.” Looking back now, he could see that they’d just convinced themselves that they loved each other enough to marry.

      “It must’ve been hard.”

      Something in her voice alerted him. He felt she understood his mortification. “Yeah, I took my share of licks here at home. Luckily in college, no one knew. And on the bright side, it certainly made graduating from college much easier without a wife to care for.”

      “I understand that. A couple of my classmates were married, but they were men. Their wives worked to help them through school. One guy was working and putting himself and his wife through school. He had to drop out for a year because of exhaustion.” She fell silent, but he saw her thinking about something.

      “Did you leave behind any special someone?”

      “No.” She said it with a vengeance.

      “So, what’s the story behind that ‘no’?”

      Her head came up and her shoulders tensed. “What do you mean?”

      He raised his brow and his mouth turned down, letting her know he’d told the truth, now it was her turn.

      She thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “My senior year in college, I got engaged. We both applied for scholarships. I got one, he didn’t. His solution to that was that I continue with the vet I was working for and support us while he went to law school. When he got his degree, he’d put me through veterinary school.”

      Ethan wanted to laugh, because he could guess what her reaction to that proposal would’ve been. “I assume you didn’t take him up on his offer.”

      Her mouth twitched. “I considered it, but when I saw my fiancé having coffee with another woman, holding her hand and looking like a lovesick schoolboy, I knew what the score was. He was simply looking for someone to fund his law degree. And it wasn’t going to be me.” She toyed with her fork, pushing around her flauta. “It kinda took the bloom off the rose for me. After that, I was too busy in veterinary school to date. With my scholarship, I wanted to keep up my grades. I guess you could say I was single-minded on graduating.”

      He could understand her attitude. At least Mary hadn’t tried to use him.

      “Once the guys in school knew I was there for an MD and not an MRS, I didn’t have problems with them wanting to date. They still wondered if I could cut it, along with my professors, but they watched, observed, then were okay with me.”

      He wondered if she lumped him in with that group of uninformed males.

      The waitress appeared and they paid their checks. He walked her back to her car parked before the court building.

      “Thanks for the help, Dr. Grant.” He flashed a big smile.

      “I think you can call me Tessa.”

      As she drove away, Ethan was surprised by Tessa’s reaction to his being-left-at-the-altar story. She hadn’t offered any platitudes, and no wonder. His experience with a broken engagement had been bad, but Tessa’s experience was worse.

      He found himself admiring Tessa. She fought for what she wanted and believed in and was even stronger after her broken engagement.

      She might be only five feet tall, but she threw a mighty big shadow. And he felt himself responding to that amazing woman. With his history, though, he doubted she’d be interested in him. And oddly enough, that saddened him.

      * * *

      “How’d things go at the hearing?” Dr. Adams asked as Tessa walked into the clinic office. He sat at the rolltop desk, reviewing file folders. Doc still preferred the handwritten files that he wrote himself. None of his records were electronic.

      “The Society was awarded custody of all the horses.” She put her briefcase on her desk. “Ethan said he’d notify the different ranchers caring for the horses of the decision.”

      Doc turned in his chair. “Well, Lady and Hope are getting stronger every day. I expect that with good care and feed, the other horses should do as well.”

      “I hope so. Those horses were in bad shape. It might take a month to six weeks to get them in any type of shape to adopt.”

      Leaning back, he replied, “I agree,” then asked, “How did Doris take the verdict?”

      “She wasn’t happy. I expect we might have trouble from her.”

      Doc sighed. “I don’t doubt that. The woman is the most stubborn individual I’ve ever seen. Once she gets something in her head, she’s like a dog with a bone. We’ll need to be on our guard.”

      “I don’t doubt that from her reaction in the courtroom. Her son had to drag her from the court.”

      “Sounds