Stevie held up a palm. “I will be fine. If we hadn’t gotten stranded, and if my house hadn’t flooded, I would be living alone and taking care of myself. Sonny needs you, and besides, you will understand what the specialists are saying about him. I just hope that the report is a good one.”

“I really do admire your strength, Stevie, as well as your brains,” Cody said.

“Thanks for that. I don’t feel very strong right now,” she admitted, “but Mama was right, it helps to have friends and family.”

“And to have a Dr. Cowboy in your life?” He parked in front of the bunkhouse and turned off the engine.

She cut her eyes around at him, and almost smiled. “Yes, love…even a Dr. Cowboy in my life.”

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

To drive from the bunkhouse to the barn on a bright, sunny day seemed more than a little bit silly, but the ground was still soft from all the melted snow, and crutches would sink with every step.

Cody had kissed her on the forehead at the crack of dawn that morning just before he walked out the door with his duffel bag and briefcase. “See you sometime tomorrow. Addy says to feel free to come up to the ranch house if you get bored.”

“Be safe,” she had said.

Stevie parked the car as close to the tack room door as she could get, and then got out and crutched her way inside. She had planned to go straight to her van and take stock of what was in there since she would be driving it for the first time the next day when she went to check on Raymond’s horse. But her phone rang as she started across the room, so she sat down on the wooden bar stool and leaned her crutches against the worktable.

“Hello, this is Dr. O’Dell,” she answered.

“Oh, Stevie!” Gracie Langston moaned. “My Fifi just had two puppies, and I didn’t even know she was expecting. What do I do? She’s had them in my laundry basket on top of my towels, and they’re all messy.”

“You gently remove the top towel and wash it. Are the new babies nursing?” Stevie asked.

“Yes, they’re fat little things, but how did this happen? I never let her out of the backyard, and I even had it fenced just for her,” Gracie whined.

“Evidently, a male dog dug underneath your fence about two months ago and bred her,” Stevie said. “If you don’t want puppies a couple of times a year, you should have Fifi spayed.”