A Cold Creek Noel (The Cowboys of Cold Creek) Read Online Free

hotel room go up in smoke. He had become pretty used to
the cot in his office lately. Whatever would he do without Mrs. Michaels?
    “Someone will be here with him. Don’t worry about that.”
    A look of surprise flickered in her eyes. He couldn’t figure
out why for a moment, until he realized she was reacting to his soft tone. He
really must have been a jackass to her.
    “I’m sorry about...earlier.” Apologies didn’t come easily. He
could probably thank his stiff, humorless grandfather for that, but this one
seemed necessary. “About not letting you come in during the treatment, I mean. I
should have. And about what I said just now. I’m usually not so...harsh. It’s
been a particularly hard day and I’m afraid I may have been taking it out on
you.”
    She blinked a little but concealed her emotions behind an
impassive look. For some reason, that made him feel even more like an idiot, a
sensation he didn’t like at all.
    “You were able to save his leg. I thought for sure you would
have to amputate.”
    “He wouldn’t be much use as a ranch dog, then, would he?”
    Her look was as cool as the December night. “Probably not.
Isn’t it a good thing that’s not the only thing that matters to me?”
    So she wasn’t like his previous client, who hadn’t cared about
his injured dog—only dollars and cents.
    “I was able to pin the leg for now, but there’s no guarantee it
will heal properly. We still might have to take it. He was lucky, if you want
the truth. Insanely lucky. I don’t know how he made it through a run-in with a
bull in one piece. His injuries could have been much worse.”
    “What about where he was gored?”
    “The bull missed all vital organs. The puncture wound is only a
couple inches deep. I guess the bull wasn’t that serious.”
    “You would think otherwise if you had been there. He definitely
was seeing red. After I pulled the dog out, he rammed the fence so hard he
knocked one of the poles out of its foundation.”
    She pulled the dog out? Crazy
woman, to mess with a bull on a rampage. What was she thinking?
    “Looks like he’s coming around,” he said, not about to enter
that particular fray.
    The dog whimpered and Caidy Bowman leaned down, her dark hair
almost a match to the dog’s coat. “Hey there. You’re in a fix now, aren’t you,
Luke-my-boy. You’ll be all right. I know it hurts now and you’re confused and
scared but Dr. Caldwell fixed you up and before you know it you’ll be running
around the ranch with King and Sadie and all the others.”
    Though he had paperwork to complete, he couldn’t seem to wrench
himself away. He stood watching her interact with the dog and winced to himself
at how quickly he had misjudged her. By the gentleness of her tone and the
comforting way she smoothed a hand over his fur, it was obvious the woman cared
about her animal and was not inexperienced with injuries.
    Next time maybe he wouldn’t be quick to make surly comments
when he was having a miserable day.
    She smelled delicious, like vanilla splashed on wildflowers.
The scent of her drifted to him, a bright counterpoint to the sometimes
unpleasant smells of a busy veterinary clinic.
    It was an unsettling discovery. He didn’t want to notice
anything about her. Not the sweet way she smelled or the elegant curve of her
neck or how, when she tucked her hair behind her ear, she unveiled a tiny beauty
mark just below the lobe...
    He caught the direction of his thoughts and shut them down,
appalled at himself. He forced himself to move away and block the sound of her
low voice crooning to the dog.
    He had almost forgotten about his technician until she came out
of the employee changing room, shoving her arms through the sleeves of her
parka. “Do you mind if I go? I’m sorry. It’s just past six-thirty and I’m
supposed to be at my Bible study Christmas party in half an hour and I still
have to run home and pick up my cookies for the swap.”
    “No. Get out of here. I’m