Josh looked at his watch. “We should probably go.”
As if on cue, their server appeared. “Dad said there’s no bill this time,” she said. She turned to Clint. “Welcome to Covenant Falls.”
* * *
STEPHANIE AND EVE met for their weekly luncheon.
“What do you think of him?” Eve asked.
Stephanie shrugged. “He dresses like an Easterner.”
“You used to dress like an Easterner.”
Stephanie tried to think of something bad to say. She couldn’t, and that was really annoying. He was annoying because he wasn’t annoying. Stephanie took another bite of her patty melt, one of her few food weaknesses. “What does Josh think?”
“You know Josh doesn’t say much, especially if he doesn’t know someone well.”
“He had to say something.”
“He went over to see him today, took Amos with him. I haven’t talked to him since. Nick is beside himself with excitement. A real live helicopter pilot. I kinda feel sorry for Clint Morgan.”
“Believe me, he can take care of himself,” Stephanie said.
“Do I detect a note of disapproval?”
“No. Yes. Maybe.”
“Are you the Stephanie I’ve known for five years?”
“That incoherent?”
“Yeah,” Eve said. “I can’t wait to meet someone who affects you this way. Josh is inviting him over for supper tomorrow night. You’re invited, too.”
“Why?”
“To protect him from the motley crew,” Eve said.
“I think he can handle himself,” Stephanie retorted.
Eve raised an eyebrow.
“Josh told you about the cow?”
“He did. He said Mr. Morgan called it a close encounter with the bovine kind. He’s still chuckling about that.” She let a few moments go by, then added, “I heard from others, as well.”
“Damn. What did you hear?”
“A bull attacked and crippled him.”
“Good lord!”
“Obviously, that is not correct or Josh would be more upset than he was last night.”
“He didn’t say anything to you?”
“You know Josh. He doesn’t say much. He considers a person’s privacy as inviolate.”
“I don’t.” Stephanie said. “We were rolling a heifer. Clint helped hold the hind legs. When he released them, the cow stepped on him. It’s happened to me a number of times. He has a bruise, nothing more.”
Eve’s eyes bored into her. She hadn’t meant to sound defensive, but she knew instantly she did.
Eve’s smile told her that much. “What about supper?”
Her friend was daring her. To refuse would only serve to raise Eve’s antenna higher. “Sure,” she said, hiding her misgivings. “Can I bring something?”
“Yourself is just fine. Josh is grilling steaks. I’m just popping potatoes in the oven and making a salad.”
“Sounds good.”
“Try not to have an emergency.”
That was exactly what Stephanie was planning: an emergency.
“Why me? Why not invite, say, my tech? She can’t wait to meet him.”
“Because he’s already met you,” Eve explained patiently.
“Why have anyone in addition to you and Josh? I would think the fewer the better. You know how Josh was.”
“If you don’t want to come, you really don’t have to,” Eve said. “I just think he probably needs as many friends as possible here.”
She was being played, and she knew it. Eve had been her champion from the moment Stephanie had appeared in Covenant Falls. Not everyone had wanted a woman vet. Some of the ranchers refused to use her and sent to Pueblo for a vet of the masculine variety. The West, particularly the rural West, was set in its ways.
Eve had browbeaten reluctant clients into going to Stephanie, as well as recommended her to everyone within a fifty-mile radius. Fine. She could do this dinner for Eve. One evening. Clint Morgan would be gone soon. Covenant Falls would be too quiet for him. He needed a large city with buses and taxis and people to charm.
“Okay. Unless there is an emergency.” She took a deep breath. Maybe yesterday was an aberration. “But I might be late. It’s super busy since I won’t be here this weekend for my Saturday hours. I’m participating in a search-and-rescue certification.”
“Whenever you can get there,” Eve said.
The devil danced in her friend’s eyes. Blast it. They had bonded over their aversion to marriage, although each had very different reasons for that aversion. She feared that since Eve had succumbed to the call of love, her friend had her sights on Stephanie. Hell, no.
“Have to go,” Eve said. “We’re still looking for a police chief, and I have an interview this afternoon.”
“Promising?”
“Unfortunately, no. But Tony took the job temporarily and has already stayed longer than he wants.” Eve paid her bill and stood. “See you tomorrow night.”
Stephanie rose with her. She had a heavy appointment schedule this afternoon, plus a meeting later with three people interested in search and rescue. She doubted they would be as enthusiastic after learning the particulars, but if she enlisted one, she would be happy. Training both handler and dog could take as long as two years, never mind the fact they were volunteers and incurred a lot of expense along the way. It was a calling, often without rewards when the result was bad. But those moments of success were worth every minute of time and every dollar spent.
