Vanessa shielded her eyes and squinted at the weathered “Wolff Equine Center” sign. It was so bright that her sunglasses did nothing to reduce the glare bouncing off the old roadway. Nervous and excited, Vanessa mentally ran through the various professional greetings she'd developed on the drive over; she was going to meet her first client.
She’d only moved to Ridge Creek a few days before to work with veterinary legend Hank Mueller and had yet to unpack her bags. The job offer had come out of the blue, and while the prospect of leaving her familiar Los Angeles stomping grounds had not been enticing at first, the cold honest answer was that she needed to break away from her old life and start over. Seven months of wretched existence on the tail end of a breakup had beaten her into a rut—she needed a fresh start. What better way to start over than to move across the country to a small farming town where no one knew her business? The thought made her smile.
Vanessa drove up a winding driveway that dipped and rose through lush pasture. Hank said that a good client, Gabriel, had a problem with his newest intake of horses. Hank had prompted her to check the facility, specifically mentioning to not make ‘girlie-eyes’ at the client; in his gruff kind of way, Hank was a reassuring presence. As for the case, colic was a common equine problem; Vanessa imagined this would be a quick stop-over with pain killers, and then onto the next job.
She bounced in her seat as she rolled further down the driveway, instinctively slamming the brakes when a stunning wood and stone-clad lodge broke through the tree line. Looking like a set prop from a frontier movie, the house sat on a hill of lush lawn and had a sweeping porch that overlooked the rolling valleys that surrounded the property. Further back, Vanessa saw a gigantic barn which seemed like it could house the stables and training area. Wow! This place must have cost a fortune, she thought as she brought the car to a halt.
She parked in front of the house and took a deep breath, addressing her steering wheel as if it were a piece of her, “There is no reason to be nervous. I’m trained for this, and while it’s been a few years since my last equine patient, I know what I'm doing…I think.”
Vanessa got out of her car, pulling her medical bag with her. The tinkling of glass and rustling of plastic spoke of a newly-stocked bag of vials, syringes and tools. She also grabbed her laptop bag and slung the strap over her shoulder. She was in no way afraid to admit if she needed to research symptoms, and with one of the largest veterinary databases just a click away, it seemed silly to not use it.
Slamming the door shut, she pushed her sunglasses on top of her head and made her way up the path toward the house. A large, rugged man opened the door before she even made it up the porch stairs.
“You’re the vet?” he asked, calling down to her. Vanessa looked up at the man’s broad flannel-clad chest; she was too short to quite make it to his eyes without stepping back off the steps.
“I am. Sorry I’m a bit late.” She didn’t like being late, especially to her first job in a new town.
He waved a hand at her. “Ah, no big deal; it always happens to people the first time they come here. I reckon the driveway puts another 10 minutes on the clock,” he said as he jogged down the stairs, reaching for her laptop bag as a gesture of goodwill. “Let me get that for you Miss—?”
Relieved of the cumbersome bag, Vanessa smiled. “Thanks. My name's Dr. Vanessa Burke, but please—call me Vanessa.”
He nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Vanessa. I’m Gabriel Wolff, but you can call me Gabe.” He motioned to the barn, “Let’s get straight to business. I’ve recently accepted a new batch of former racehorses from Benny Diamond for retraining—”
“Benny Diamond? As in, the Benny Diamond who bred the most successful two-year-old racer, Whisper Free?”
Gabe chuckled, “Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. I’ve been retraining his horses for a while now. The only thing is, three days ago, they all started getting lethargic. Yesterday, one of them looked really unsteady on her feet. I haven’t seen this before.”
“Is your core business retraining ex-racehorses?”
“Yes, mostly. Even though racehorses are often then most unflappable because of their exposure to loud and unusual environments, a lot of trainers don’t have the time or patience to reschool horses to become showjumpers, dressage horses, trail horses, even pony clubbers, and there are lots of people and parents who will fork out good money for a decent horse. I pick them up from the auctions, or trainers send them to me directly. I’d love to fill my pastures with every broken horse I ever find.”
Vanessa had never seen a man so endeared by horses before. Without thinking she placed her small hand on his arm and squeezed, her hand cupping Gabe’s workman’s bicep by accident. He tensed under her touch, but didn’t say anything. “I’ll do my best to figure this out. But you’re going to have to fill me in on their routines, and you can’t leave anything out. The tiniest thing can be the cause.”
A rare grin cracked Gabe’s sullen face, “Hank picked well; I wouldn’t expect anything less. I have a few ranch hands that you can talk to as well. Jimmy is my number two, but today’s his day off. You know, I can grab his number for you before you leave if you need more information—that is, if you don’t need to come back later or tomorrow.” His eyes trailed down Vanessa’s body and she blushed. “But I’m around most of the time.”
Vanessa wasn’t sure if it was the shadow of the barn in the heat, or the way Gabe’s eyes lingered on her curves, but her skin rippled with goosebumps. A man hadn’t looked at her like that in a long time—hell, she wasn’t even sure if her ex ever had in the five years they were together. Gabe held the door to the barn open and motioned for Vanessa to go in first.
They stepped into what looked like the administration area of the barn. The large barn doors were closed and a huge sign was propped on the lock: Closed for Quarantine. Vanessa nodded; Gabe took his business very seriously. Gabe closed the side door and led the way into the stables.
Following his body was hypnotic. Even under his thick shirt and jeans, she could tell he was a walking slab of muscle—even his scent of a hard morning’s work was damn sexy. Better still, he hadn’t merely deemed her as a walking pair of boobs, which was more than she could ever say about her ex and his friends.