The Doctor's Choice (25 page)

“That sounds better.”

He took her hand in his and kissed her fingers. “Are you ready to let these people know that you agreed to be mine for eternity?”

She
glanced around and nodded.

He
caught his father’s eye and gave him a wink.

Zachery clinked a spoon against his glass to get
everyone’s attention.

“Friends, my son, Breck and I invited you here
, not just because you’re our neighbors, but because we like you and we wanted to share some good news.”

There was a general murmur among the crowd. Zachery held up his hands to quiet them down before continuing.

“I think you all know how proud I am of my son, Breckenridge. He’s taken a big step and asked Miss Cami Carmichael to be his bride and she agreed. Please join me in toasting their happiness.”

The murmur became a din of excited voices. Zachery poured champagne and when everyone held a glass of something liquid, he raised his glass. “To the happy couple.”

“When’s the wedding?” Reba asked.

Cami looked at Breck. “Next year.”

“Next week,” he said.

She
giggled. “How about September? That’s six months.”

“How about June? That’s three months.”

“Three months! I can’t possibly get everything together in three months. Are you crazy?”

He grinned and brushed a kiss across her nose. “I thought we’d already established that.”

Zachery motioned to Breck. “Come on, son. Help me take the ribs off the grill.” He opened the French doors leading out to their patio and Breck followed him. Zachery opened the lid of a large smoker and held a platter while Breck piled racks of mesquite smoked ribs and sausage links on it.

As Breck turned toward the house, he cast his gaze across the wide expanse of pasture land between the Ryan ranch and Moonshadows. What he saw caused his breath to catch in his throat.

“My god! Moonshadows is on fire!”

#

A string of men in pick-up trucks raced to Moonshadows. Breck tried to leave her with the other women.

Cami refused to stay behind.

A knot of fear gripped her as they neared the column of smoke spiraling into the dusky sky. She could see flames billowing skyward as they turned off the highway onto the graded caliches road to the house.

Breck swerved into the circle drive and skidded to an abrupt stop, followed by Frank and T-Bone. Others ground to a stop behind them and ran to the site.

The Victorian house was untouched by the blaze but the barn and stables were ablaze.

Her stomach clenched as though a giant fist
had snatched it. “The horses,” she gasped.

Frank grabbed an axe and ran to the far side of the stables and began to heave the blade into the wooden structure. Breck and the other men joined him, tea
ring away the shattered boards.

Cami could hear the frightened horses screaming and Red kicking his stall. A sickening fear settled in her gut. Breck and Frank ran inside and loosed the horses. All but Red. Breck emerged coughing and hacking as fl
ames shot out of the structure.

“What about Red?” Cami demanded.

“Cami, his stall is in the back. That part of the stable is already engulfed in flame.”

“That’s right Cami,” Frank said. “We couldn’t get to him.
He’s out of control. He’d kill anyone who even tried to get close to him now.”

The shriek of s
irens approaching from the town of Langston could be heard over the roar of the blaze.

“Come away now, Cami.” Breck held out his arms to her.

“No!” She broke away from him and ran inside the stable.

Thick black smoke filled the q
uarters. She heard Breck yell, but she couldn’t go back. Red screamed and kicked his stall. All she had to do was open it and get him out.

Her heart thudded in her ears
. She covered her mouth with her arm and tried to breathe as best she could. Groping her way toward the sound of Red’s frenzied screams, she tried to stay low. The back part of the stable was bright with flames and the air was hot. She stumbled against the door to Red’s stall just as he kicked it from the inside.

A blast of intense heat shot out from the wall adjoining the barn and she heard
a crash as part of that structure collapsed.

Her
fingers were numb as she struggled with the latch to Red’s stall, finally throwing it open. She stepped back, expecting him to run out, but he shied, keeping to the back of the stall, rearing up on his back hooves.

“Easy Red. Easy big fellow. It’s just
you and me now.”

He stopped rearing and danced a l
ittle, his eyes wild with fear.

Cami grabbed his reins hanging inside the stall and slipped them over his head.
Her lungs burned with the acrid smoke. She tried to speak in a soothing manner, in spite of her terror. “Come on, boy. Let’s go for a ride.” Tears rolled down Cami’s face.

A
flaming beam collapsed overhead. Landing with a loud crash nearby, it ignited the straw underfoot.

Cami gazed at the height of Red’s back. Without a saddle to grab on to she was at a loss as to how to mount the huge animal. She cast about, l
ooking for anything to stand on so she could climb on his back. She saw a niche in the side of the stall and managed to get a toehold to heave herself onto Red’s broad back. She slapped his neck with the reins. “Let’s go!”

Red
reared once and then jumped over the fallen timber to burst out of the flaming stables and into the night with Cami on his back. She caught a glimpse of Breck being restrained by several men as she rode by.

She
gasped, took in huge lungfuls of the cool night air and tried to expel the smoke that still burnt her insides.

Red was running wild. She couldn’t rein him in.
She heard another horse coming up from behind but couldn’t turn to look. The hoof beats grew stronger as the big appaloosa Frank rode drew even with her, but instead of Frank, it was Breck on his back. As he rode along side her, Red’s pace began to slow and she was able to control him with the reins.

When they finally drew to a stop, Breck dismounted and reached up to pull her to the ground. He held her gripped tight against him before taking a deep breath and expelling it roughly. “What were you thinking? You could have been killed. I could have lost you tonight.”

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she pressed her face into his chest. “I’m sorry, Breck. I just couldn’t let Red burn to death. I’ve lost too much already.”

“The whole
structure collapsed. The barn, the stables. It’s all gone.”

“But we got the horses.” She gazed up at him.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Yes, we got the horses.”

CHAPTER NINTEEN

Cami felt small under Breck’s glare. He was still mad that she’d gone after Red.
He had used Ryan Ranch horse trailers to transport her stock to his stables.

He raked his fingers through his hair. “The
Fire Chief said it was arson.”

She cleared her throat, still raw from the smoke. “Then it probably was.” She sounded like a frog. She
stifled a yawn. It was almost two o’ clock in the morning.

“I want you to stay here with me.”

She met his gaze. “I should go back to Moonshadows.”

“No, I want you here.
” He fixed her with stern glare. “Frank and T-Bone are keeping everything under control at your place and the Sheriff assigned two deputies to guard the site until the arson investigator comes from Amarillo tomorrow.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and rubbed the tense cords holding her head onto her neck.

Her shoulders drooped as the tension melted under his touch. “Alright, I give up.
I don’t want to argue with you. Where do I sleep?”

“In my bed.”

“What will your father think?”

“He already knows how much I love you.”

“But, still”

“Cami, you almost got yourself killed tonight and I’m very angry that you put yourself at risk. At least let me hold you. Don’t deny me this.”

She managed a weak smile. “You can have what’s left of me.”

#

The next morning, Breck was silent as he drove her to Moonshadows.

Cami tried to stifle the
feeling of dread building within her. She’d known from the first sight of smoke rising from her property that it had been no accident, just as she’d known Silky’s death was murder. What kind of sick, evil person would take the life of an elderly woman and try to burn horses alive? She suppressed a shudder.

Breck glanced at her and reached across to wrap his fingers around the top of her thigh. “Cold?”

She shook her head. “Just sad and scared. Who would do this?”

“With everyone at our party, your place was vulnerable. Anyone could have driven right up and torched everything.”

“But, why the stables? Why would someone want to kill horses?”

“I think they were after Red. If anything is left of Silky’s spirit it’s in that horse she loved so much.”

As they turned onto the road to her house, she saw that very little of the barn and stables were left standing. Breck pulled into the circle drive and they sat for a few minutes, staring at the still smoldering remains.

Frank and T-Bone st
ood with a strange man at the periphery of the cordoned off fire scene. Inside the area, two other men poked through the embers.

She
heaved a big sigh and looked at Breck. “We might as well get this over with.” She put her hand on the door handle, but he stopped her with a sharp glance.

He
got out and opened the door for her. When he reached for her, there was something in his expression that warmed her from within. Something in the steady gray eyes told her that she wasn’t alone.

She slipped her hand in his as they
approached the man speaking with Frank and T-Bone.

“Miss Cami” T-bone remov
ed his battered felt hat. “This here is Mister Bell with the arson investigatin’ folks.”

She
shook hands with the man.

“You’re the property owner?” The man’s eyes were so dark she couldn’t see the pupils. “I understand from your men
here, that you were at a neighboring ranch, and that the two of them were there at the same time?”

Cami nodded. She and Breck answered questions for the
investigator. She stated that she didn’t know who might have reason to commit such a heinous act against her property.

He made notes on a clipboard and then went to poke around with the other two men inside the cordoned off perimeter.

She shivered and Breck wrapped a protective arm around her.

Frank reached out to Breck.
“I never had a chance to congratulate the two of you last night on your engagement.” He shook hands with Breck as did T-Bone.

“Are we going to rebui
ld anytime soon?” T-Bone asked.

Breck nodded. “I already called the insurance company early this morning. They’re sending someone out today.”

Thank goodness Breck was in her life. Cami had never undergone anything like this and had no idea what to do. She slipped her arm around his waist and gave him an unobtrusive little hug. He acknowledged it by a warm glance and a lifting of one side of his mouth.

“In the meantime, your animals will stable at my ranch un
til you have a place for them.”

“When y’all git married, will y’all be combining your ranches?” T-Bone glanced from Cami to Breck anxiously.

Another thing she’d never considered. She lifted her gaze to meet Breck’s.

“No reason to do that. Moonshadows is Cami’s separate property.”

T-Bone and Frank both looked relieved.

“Let us know if the
investigators need anything from us.” He nodded to both men and turned Cami toward the house. Once inside he gathered her in his arms and kissed her tenderly.

“I didn’t know that would be so difficult,” she sa
id.

He
looked grim. “It’s hard to think that one of our neighbors would sneak over here and try to burn you out. I’ve known most of these people my whole life. I can’t conceive of someone destroying your property and trying to kill your animals.”

She couldn’t either.
“I’d like to change out of these clothes and wash my hair. I smell like smoke.”

“You go on up,” he said. “I’ll wait down here in case the insurance adjustor comes early.”

She climbed the stairs and ran a tub full of lavender scented bubbles. She undressed and tossed her clothes in the hallway as the smoky odor was at cross purposes with the lavender scent.

As she sank into the depths of the claw-foot tub she could only see one face in her mind’s eye. E.J. Kincaid. He was the one with the missing tire iron, and he was city born and bred.
She couldn’t imagine that Eldon Kincaid would have the heart to kill horses. But perhaps, his Jaguar-driving son wouldn’t hesitate to start a fire intended to destroy property and valuable livestock.

But why? Was it a warning? Was it some sort of ret
ribution? Had E.J. been so angered by her engagement that he would set a fire to get back at her? He’d been pretty upset with her when she’d left him on the highway.

Cami washed her hair and rinsed off quickly.
Wrapping her robe around her, she tied the belt before reaching for the hair dryer. When she tiptoed across the hall she heard voices downstairs.

Breck’s deep voice had an edge to it. “I don’t know of
anyone who could do something like this.”

The other voice was muted and she couldn’t
hear the reply.

“They better hope I never find out.”
More muted conversation ensued.

Cami closed the door to her room behind her and searched for something to wear. A few minutes later she stepped into the hall and gathered the smoky garment
s before descending the stairs.

Breck was standing on the front porch. She tossed the clothes into the washing machine and started it. When she stepped onto the porch,
he was watching the group huddled around the fire scene.

His face looked grim. “The Arson Investigator said they’d recovered a gas can. The arsonist went into the barn and poured gasoline against the wall adjoining the stables. The hor
ses were the target all along.”

The churning in her stomach felt like a coffee grinder. She
slowly shook her head. “That makes no sense. Why would someone want to kill my horses?”

He
pulled her against him, his lips set in a firm line. “Don’t know, but if I find him, he’s toast.”

#

Later that afternoon, the insurance investigator arrived and met with her before spending time with the Arson Investigation team and the Sheriff’s men stationed around the property.

He took a statement from Cami and from Breck
. Then he questioned Frank and T-Bone before leaving. He promised to follow up with her in the next few days.

Reba called to see how she was doing and ask if she was c
oming into town to hold clinic.

“I don’t think there’s anything for me to do here except stand around and be sad.
I’ll be there by three this afternoon.”

“Good enough,” Reba said. “Loretta cancelled most of the routine patients but Nick Jessup is bringing Sara Beth and the baby in for their first post-natal check ups.”

“That sounds like fun,” she said. “What else.”

“Milita is bringing her father in for his post-surgical exam. She said she was bringing someone else you worked on too but she didn’t give me a name. Some minor office procedure?”

Cami nodded. “I know the one. I’ll be in shortly.’

“You’re going in to town?” Breck sounded amazed.

“I have a couple of patients I really need to see.” She flashed him a grin. “Isn’t this what you wanted? For me to take over Doc’s practice and become involved with the people here in Langston?”

He took a wide stance and planted his fists on his hips, gazing down at her with a smirk. “Absolutely.”

“So, you got what you wanted. I’m here. We’re engaged to be married and I’m seeing patients. The plan you and Silky hatched has come to fruition.”

He reached out to touch the side of her face with his fingertips. “It wasn’t such a bad plan, was it?”

“I guess not, but how could you know you’d even like me?”

“Silly girl! I was intrigued by you
, but that’s all. Believe it or not, you didn’t make such a great first impression.”

Cami raised her brows. “Neither did you.”

“But you grew on me. I got to see little fragments of the girl Silky adored and I fell in love with you bit by bit.”

She
stepped closer to him, grazing her fingernails over the front of his shirt. “Thanks for being such a bully, Breck. I really didn’t understand that you were trying to take care of me.”

“You intoxicated me with the first kiss. I had to have more.” He leaned down to de
monstrate an intoxicating kiss.

She
slipped her arms around his neck as he lifted her to his level. The dizzying experience was always the same, taking her breath away, filling her with yearning.

“You
really don’t have to drive into town, do you?”

“Gotta fulfill my commitments. Can’t let Doc down.”

“Be careful. I’ll wait here for the arson investigation team to leave. Don’t stay late.”

“I only have to see four patients
and then I’ll come right back home.”

She saw the grin spread across his face. “We still have a ton of food at my place. People didn’t
return after they raced over here to help fight the fire.”

“Let your dad know I’m coming.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She drove the Lincoln into town and parked in front of Doc’s c
linic. There was a pick up parked close to the door. Cami thought she recognized it from the Jessup’s place. She peeked inside but saw no car seat for the baby, but then, realized they could have carried it in with them.

Reba and Loretta greeted her warmly, asking questions about the
fire and the property involved.

A tightness
gripped her chest when she tried to speak of it.

Reba and Loretta exchanged a look.

Loretta handed her a chart. “Here’s Mister Rios chart and I have a blank one for the other man. They’re both in exam room one.”

“Cozy.
” Cami flashed a grin.

Milita sat on the chair while Mister Rios sat on the table and the patient with the sliced hand stood silently in the corner. Reba checked Mister Rios’ vital signs and charted them while Cami unwrapped the other man’s dressing. She noted that there was no redness and the wound appeared to be healing well. She was concerned that the hand might not be as functional as before the accident and tried to manipulate the
fingers. The man winced.

Cami turned to Milita. “Could you ask him to rotate his thumb?”

There followed a rapid exchange in Spanish and the man attempted to comply.

Cami redressed the wound and turned to Milita.
“The wound is healing, but he needs to flex and rotate his hand and fingers to ensure full use. Can you make sure he does that?”

Cami washed
and sanitized her hands before taking Mister Rios’ chart from Reba.

“How’s
he doing, Cami?” Milita asked.

“Everything looks normal. Would you like to step out while he puts on a gown? I want to look at his surgery site.”

Milita and her father exchanged a quick glance. “My father feels a little uncomfortable, being examined by a woman.”

Cami looked at Reba and tried not to break out with a laugh in response to her expression. “I see. Well the alternative is to drive to Amarillo and have the emergency room doctor check him.

Milita spoke to her father again in Spanish, accompanied by hand gestures and a rise in the timbre of her voice. Mister Rios responded in low tones.

Reba made a noise in the back of her throat.
“No sea un idiota! No deseamos ver su cuerpo. Pare el perder del tiempo del doctor. Saque sus ropas inmediatamente!” She turned on the rest of the people in the room. “If you people would all step out, I’ll help

Mister Rios with his clothes.”

Cami nodded and shooed Milita and the other patient from the room.

“What did she say to him?”

Milita was shaking with laughter. “Reba told him not to be an idiot and that you didn’t want to see his body. She told him not to waste your time and to disrobe immediately.”

Cami grinned at her. “I wish it was always this easy.”

Milita and her employee were seated in the outer waiting room and Cami leaned against the wall for a full five minutes until Reba stuck her head out.

“You can come in now.”

She stepped inside the exam room to find a much chastened Mister Rios lying on the examination table with a gown open to the front and a sheet draped over his lower body. Cami donned a fresh pair of gloves and pulled the drape back to expose the reddened surgical site. She noted that the wound seemed to be infected and cultured the site.

“Well,
that’s not pretty,” Reba said.

“Send this to the lab and let’s operate on the assumption that it’s positive for st
aph. What injectible antibiotics do we have on hand?” She pulled a couple of stitches so the wound could drain and gave him a shot of a strong antibiotic. She dressed the wound and left Reba to assist the patient with his clothes.

Looking through the supply of samples, Cami found a blister pack
containing a week’s supply of a different antibiotic, but wrote a prescription for the oral form of the same one she’d injected. She wasn’t going to take any chances with an infection.

Motioning Milita into the office, she explained her father’s condition and g
ave directions for the medication administration.

“Bring him in
Wednesday for another look. I may have to put him back in the hospital if we can’t clear this up. And absolutely do not allow him inside the restaurant until I give him a clean bill of health.”

Milita left with her two charges and a grim expression on her face.

Reba gave Cami a shake of her head before busying herself with stripping and sanitizing the room, readying it for the next patient.

Loretta handed Cami a sheaf of papers. “This is
Sara Beth’s chart and I made up a new one for the baby.”

Cami nodded and entered examination room number
two with Reba on her heels.

Nick
whirled around and around on the swivel stool. He arose looking sheepish.

S
ara Beth sat on the table with her legs dangling. The baby was wrapped in a blanket in Sara’s arms.

“Where is your car seat?”
Cami looked from parent to parent and received a blank stare from each in return. “You have to have a car seat. You can’t drive around without one. It’s against the law.”

“Shame on you!” Reba said.

Sara Beth blushed. “We just haven’t been able to afford one yet.”

Cami turned to Reba. “There are several of the ranch accounts open around town. Have Loretta call around and find out who sells infant car seats and ask her if she will go pick it up.”

Sara Beth started to protest.

“Consider it my
gift for the baby,” Cami said.

Reba stepped
out to take care of the errand.

Cami unwrapped the baby girl
from her blankets. “What’s her name?”

“Camryn Jessup.” Sara Beth grinned at her. We both think it’s about the prettiest
name we could come up with.