Sweet Talking Rancher (The Millers of Morgan Valley #5) - Kate Pearce Page 0,3

could do was help her brother maintain and develop the family business.

If she got it up and running and financially secure, in a year or two Dave would be able to handle it himself if he took on another vet to replace her. It was always good to have options and a backup plan.

She glanced out the window toward the parking lot and the spectacular view behind it. Leaving Morgan Valley had been a terrible wrench, and some small part of her, the little girl who’d grown up wild and free in the fields, was delighted to be home. The rest of her—the part formed by her decision to leave—wasn’t so sure.

She let out a breath. Somewhere out there, after a hard day on the ranch, Danny Miller was probably about to have his dinner. From the snippets of information dropped by her parents and friends over the years she knew he hadn’t left home. Like her, he’d had big plans to leave Morgan Valley. Had what had happened between them stopped him from going to college? Faith sighed. Another thing to feel guilty about, like she didn’t already have enough.

“You coming, Sis?” Dave said from behind her. “Mom’s cooking her famous vegetarian lasagna for dinner, and Jenna and her family are coming over to join us.”

“Yes.” Faith cast one last glance over in the direction of Miller Ranch and then turned to her brother with a smile. “I can’t wait to finally meet Jenna.”

“She’s awesome.” Dave’s affectionate grin was more relaxed than it had been earlier. “She specialized in horses so she’s a perfect fit for their dude ranch.”

“So, she doesn’t take work away from us?” Faith waited as Dave checked all the doors and locked up.

“Not at all. Actually, we kind of work in tandem. Sometimes I’ll help out up there with the rest of the livestock, or she’ll inoculate cattle for me on the other ranches. When we get to calving and lambing season, we are both flat out covering the whole valley.” He winked at her. “Which is why I’m glad you’re back because Dad made me take all the night shifts.”

“You think I won’t make you do the same?” Faith asked sweetly.

“Didn’t you just say that we’ll be equal partners?”

Dave walked across the parking lot to his bashed-up truck, reminding Faith that she needed to get her own form of transport as soon as possible. Her all-electric car wouldn’t work on the rocky slopes and unpaved roads of Morgan Valley.

Just before they left, Dave took a last look around and then whistled for his dog, Lilo, who bounded out of the encroaching darkness and leapt nimbly into the back of the truck. The family house wasn’t that far from the original homestead, but it was uphill all the way. Faith had walked down, but was glad Dave was bringing her back in the truck. The copse of pine trees behind the new house swayed in the breeze. Faith had forgotten how cold it could get in the evenings after the sun disappeared behind the mountains and wished she’d worn her thicker coat.

Light flooded out from the stone and wood structure her father had designed as his new family home. Having grown up half in the cramped century house of the clinic and half in the expansive new one, Faith had nothing but good memories of the place until her senior year had crashed and burned so unexpectedly. When she got out of the truck, she stood still for a moment to take in the scent of pine and some kind of blue flower her mother had planted along the pathway to the house.

There was an unfamiliar truck parked alongside her electric car that she guessed belonged to Jenna and her husband, Blue Boy Morgan. She remembered BB from school as a sweet-talking daredevil and hadn’t been surprised to learn that he’d gone straight into the military. From what she’d heard about her cousin Jenna she couldn’t quite imagine how their relationship worked, but she’d learned to her cost that marrying someone just like you didn’t always work out either.

“Is that you, Faith?”

She looked up to see her mother, Amy, silhouetted against the light streaming from the open front door.

“Yes!” Faith fixed on a smile and started walking up the steps. Dave had taken his dog around the back. “I’m just coming.”

Her mother gave her a quick hug and an equally assessing gaze. “You doing okay?”

“Well, it’s still strange to be back, but it’s also great