Circle on Home (Lost in a Boom Town Book 5) (14 page)

She turned to see him lounging in the chair, watching her with a crooked smile.

“You never used to be clumsy.”

That was because she always felt like she had the upper hand where he was concerned. Now that she was back, well, she may have had her adventure, but she was unsure of herself where Noah Braun was concerned.

“I don't have my legs under me yet,” she admitted.

“It was your choice to come home.”

“I know, but I guess I thought the landing would be easier, that I’d slide right back in. So much has changed since I left.”

“You don’t have to stay.” When she didn't answer right away, he lifted a dark eyebrow. “Do you?”

“No. I won’t go back to New York, but I don't have to stay. I just…want to see if there’s a place for me here.” She bent her head and let her hair hide her face when she said those words, and kicked herself for her own cowardice. She cuddled the kitten in her lap and curved a hand over it. The kitten curled contentedly and purred beneath her touch.
 

Noah sipped his coffee, and she almost jumped out of her skin at the knock on the door. The kitten dug her claws in before leaping off her lap and running between the counter and the refrigerator.
 

“That’s the internet guy,” she said, rubbing at her injured thigh through her jeans and standing. “Finally, I’ll be able to do some work from home.” She went to let the technician in, and when she returned to the kitchen after pointing out where they’d decided they wanted the drops, Noah was rinsing his cup out in the sink.

“I’d better get on,” he said. “I’ve got a few other stops to make before I pick up Selena from the Coyote.”

“I thought you said your dad was taking that over.”

His expression darkened. “Turned out I couldn't count on him. Go figure.”

“What happened?”

He glanced toward the doorway where the cable guy was working and shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. Lesson learned. Relearned, anyway. You don't want to hear about all that drama all over again. I’ll get out of your way and you can get some work done, once you’re connected to the world again.”
 

His attempt at a smile broke her heart. She remembered being his sounding board before, alternately glad he’d had her to get all that off his chest, and being resentful that he had so much in his life that took his attention away from her.
 

“Thanks for coming by,” she said.

“Hey, Jason,” he said to the tech when he walked through the living room to the front door.

Jason. The bartender from the Coyote. Miranda had recognized him, but honestly, thought she recognized most people from some place or another in Evansville. She didn't know if it was someone she’d gone to school with.
 

“You’re Allison’s friend? I thought you worked at the Coyote?”

“Part-time. Not a lot of work for a cable guy, so I make up for the rest at the Coyote.” He angled his head. “Allison going to be staying here, too?”

The laugh popped out of her before she could stop it. “No. She’s not working.”

“She has her real estate license. I have to say her timing is bad. Not a lot of people buying now that the boom is done.”

Wow, sad that she didn't know that about her own sister, and once again she wished they could be closer. “That’s just her luck.”

He chuckled. “No argument there.”

“So what made you decide to move back to town? Have to be a lot more opportunities in New York.”

“Maybe too many,” she murmured. She’d been overwhelmed by the choices she’d had to make, every day. She was happy to be home where her choices were limited.
 

Home. Had she really thought that since she’d been back?

*****

Miranda stood in the middle of the upstairs office between the salon and the antique store, and put her hands on her hips, considering the space. The previous tenants had left a few dusty boxes in the corner, and the meager shelves that wouldn't hold a fraction of her books were dusty, too. She wondered just what she’d had to wait for, if the room wasn’t at least clean and painted. The place appeared as if it had been vacant longer than a few weeks, and she didn't see the repairs she’d been promised. The wall paper was still in place—and hideous it was, and a couple of leak stains marred in the drop ceiling. The linoleum was cratered under her feet, and the one bookshelf wasn't going to hold all of her law books.
 

If they ever got here.
 

She had some work to do here. She wondered who she could hire to get it done for her. She wondered who she could ask who she could hire. Maybe Riley’s contractor knew of someone.

She closed the door to the office with a sigh and walked across the street to the Sagebrush Saloon. She was pretty sure the place was closed, but the crossover vehicle with the car seats inside told her that Sage McKenna, the owner and her landlord, was present.

She tried the door and found it open. Sage sat behind the bar, a playpen in the corner, a baby seat next to the computer Sage now studied.
 

“Hi, Sage, how’s it going?”

Sage looked up from the laptop on the counter, which she’d been staring at, one hand propping up her chin, the other rocking the baby seat.
 

“Sorry, didn't hear you.” The statuesque blonde straightened, and her shirt fell over what looked like another baby bump. But Miranda wasn't going to mention it. She didn't deal with children much, so kept her distance, especially since she felt grimy after being in the office.

“Hey, I was just over at the office and it’s kind of a mess. I thought it would be cleaned up, at least, if not painted. And there’s clearly a leak.”

Sage made a sound of disgust. “That’s unacceptable. I’m so sorry. I should have inspected it myself but I haven't had the time so I sent Flynn over there. Don’t worry. I’ll get Tyler over there to get it fixed up. It will be ready in no time. It will be good to have you back in town, a young lawyer who cares about something other than personal injury cases and liability suits against the oil companies.”

Miranda laughed at the reference to Albert Casillas, a man in his middle sixties who had been old even when he was young. “I hope there’s enough business in town for both of us.”

Sage’s smile slipped into a grimace. “I hope there are enough people in town for the both of you. You should have been here last year.”

“Is business that bad?”

“Down, but I have enough locals who like to hang out here, and Flynn has enough fans that people will travel to see him and spend the night in the inn. The oilfield guys usually preferred Garcia’s, anyway. But it was nice when people had more disposable income.”

Sage turned her attention to the baby in the seat on the bar and Miranda moved closer to give her attention to the children.

“Wow, they really took after you, didn't they?”

“Flynn says it’s a good thing,” Sage said with a soft laugh, lifting the chubby infant from the seat and setting her—him?—on her shoulder and patting her back. “I wouldn't mind for this one to look like him.” She tapped her belly briefly.

Miranda bit her tongue against the temptation to say, “Another one?” She wasn't the one who had to raise three little ones under the age of five. Apparently Sage knew what she wanted. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

“I’ll get Tyler over there to get it fixed up for you. It’ll be ready by the weekend. Is that okay?”

“I have my desk being delivered day after tomorrow.”

“We can work around it,” Sage assured her. “It will be taken care of, I promise. Come in any time,” she called after her.

*****

Noah checked the locked medicine cabinet again, just outside his office door. Clindamycin, Erythromycin, Novobiocin. But not Ketamine Hydrochloride. He was anal about keeping all his medications on hand, since a delay in treating an animal could mean life or death, but he couldn't find even the empty bottle in his to-be-ordered stack. He popped open his laptop and scrolled through his orders, kept in a file on the desktop. Yes, there it was, ordered in September, and he knew without looking he’d only used it once since.
 

So where the hell was it? Had he left it at the Valadez place the last time he’d used it? No, he was very careful with his medication, especially since it wasn't cheap.

Had someone taken it? He knew the drug had the ability to cause hallucinations in humans, and had been the news because of that. He wasn't sure if he should call the sheriff yet, or maybe check a few more places, but he knew himself well enough to know he didn't have it anywhere else. But he didn't know when the medicine would have gone missing. He hadn't used it in weeks.
 

He would make a note to order more, and go back by the Valadez ranch just to double check.
 

But maybe he needed to be more careful about his medications, lock them up more securely. He didn't think his father would steal from him, but he’d be better not to leave the temptation there for him. He’d have to get a new cabinet. He checked the lock and couldn't see any tampering. No, he needed a new cabinet, one more secure.
 

His two techs, Kayla and Lisa, and his receptionist Janie, were getting ready to go home for the day.

“When is our next order going in to the vet supply? We need to place another order for Ketamine.”

Janie blinked at him. “We order on Friday, but I thought we just got some of that not long ago.”

“Three months.”

“You don't have a
 
patient who goes through it that quickly.”

“Yeah, I’m aware.” She waited for him to expound but he didn’t. “Just make a point of getting another order of it. Do we have anything on the schedule here for tomorrow?”

“Nothing we need you for,” Kayla said with a toss of her ponytail.
 

Right. He deserved that. He had office hours only twice a week, and the girls ran the place the rest of the time. He was out making calls most days anyway, but they called him in if they needed him.
 

“All right. I’ll see you on Thursday, then.”

During the height of the boom, he’d thought about hiring a second vet, but the population was thinning again as the rigs closed, and he couldn’t guarantee a longterm position, and the girls were just fine on their own.

He’d try to get Miranda to come in on Thursday, get the kitten her shots, see about getting her fixed. He didn't like to spay until the kittens were about four months old, but he knew some vets did it as early as eight weeks. He thought Miranda’s kitten was about three months.
 

He clicked on the hands-free option on his phone when he got into his truck, a device he’d come to depend on since he spent so much of this time driving around. He had to repeat Miranda’s name twice before the software recognized it, and then the phone was ringing and he was inexplicably nervous.

She answered with some hesitation and he wondered if she had his name programmed into her phone.

“I checked my schedule and I have room to get your kitten her shots on Thursday, if you want to bring her in.”

“Um. What time?”

“Whatever time you want. It won’t take long.”

“Ah, okay, I guess. Mom has a committee meeting that day and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of running around getting ready for the festival.”

The thing is, he could have just sent her into the office any time. Lisa and Kayla were perfectly capable of giving her cat shots, and he’d already given the kitten an exam. But he wanted to see her again.

He was such a coward. If he wanted to see her, he should just call her and not make up excuses.
 

If only the rest of his life wasn't in so much upheaval. And she hadn’t just left a relationship, and hell, her whole life. Timing was everything.

“I’ll be here whenever you’re ready,” he said before disconnecting.

Chapter Eight

All the festivals were alike, and ran together in Noah's mind. The Bluebonnet Festival had a parade, food and rides. The Fourth of July Festival had a parade, food, rides and fireworks. The Fall Festival had food and hayrides, and the kids paraded around the square in their costumes and got candy from the trunks of townsfolks' cars. Now the Christmas festival, which had food, arts and crafts, and Santa. At least the white lights strung everywhere made it pretty.