Cowboy M.D. by Pamela Britton

Author:Pamela Britton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

And so that was how Ali found herself camping out at the Prinville Rodeo grounds in a borrowed tent, the kind made out of netting and that you could lay on your back and see the stars through the black material. Nick had arranged it all, asking her brother to go out and buy supplies for them—food and what-not. He’d also done something else, something that had melted Ali’s heart just a little more.

He’d brought her Mr. Clean.

“One of the stock contractors in Los Molina was heading this way with a load of steers,” he explained after depositing the cat carrier in her arms. “I asked him if he would mind stopping by my mom’s place.”

“Oh, Nick,” Ali said, touched that he would go to such lengths for her. “That’s so sweet.”

“Actually, I first called the guy to see if he could give you a ride back, but he’s heading out to another rodeo after this.”

“It’s okay,” she said, gently setting Clean down, much to the cat’s dismay. “I don’t mind staying.”

“I asked my mom if she could send one of the ranch hands, too, but she said they were all busy.”

Ali laughed. “I bet they were.”

“I gave up,” he said. “But I did try. I even asked if any of the competitors were headed that way. But any who live out that way are staying the weekend.”

“Well, I appreciate you trying. And I appreciate you arranging to have Clean brought to me.”

Clean howled from his carrier.

“Even if he doesn’t,” she added.

He nodded, giving her a small smile.

As night began to fall, Ali sat on a borrowed air mattress and blankets. Through the tent’s drawn-back door, she could see the town of Prinville. Situated in a natural valley, one that swept toward the base of brown-green mountains still topped with snow, there wasn’t much to it; just a few buildings and a store. Given the size of the place, she was amazed at the size of the rodeo, but Nick had explained that the cool mountain air and large purse drew some of the best riders in the nation. Conversely, rodeo fans enjoyed traveling to the hills for the weekend, which meant the place was packed.

Nick had set up their tent in a pasture off the back of the rodeo grounds, a grove of oak trees providing shelter. Not that they needed it. The sun was just setting, the sky the colors of the underside of a shell: soft pinks, orange and gold. In the distance, horses neighed to one another, cows bayed and, as Ali stared around her, she realized that for the first time in ages she felt really…good.

Meow.

Okay, so maybe Mr. Clean didn’t feel that way.

“I’d take you out,” Ali said, the bed shifting as she crawled toward his cage. “But with my luck you’ll pop the mattress and send yourself into orbit.”

“I think that’d be okay with him as long as it took him out of that cage.”

Nick.

And Ali’s heart leaped. Well, okay, so it

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