Page 47 of Clearly Charmed

‘This is my home, George. Always has been. Always will be.’

‘Your grandfather would have been proud of you.’

Those few words shook me. It was in moments like this that the loss of him felt the most painful. ‘Thank you. That means a lot,’ I said, blinking away tears.

He gave a sharp nod and moved back to the pen, watching the newest addition to his farm with a careful eye.

I slid the strap of my equipment bag over my shoulder, and Bryce picked up the rest of my gear. We walked in silence but it was hard to ignore his intense gaze as we ambled back toward my truck.

‘You need to stop staring that way. It’s beginning to freak me out.’

‘I just…’ He bit into his full lower lip. Studied the darkening sky like somehow he’d find the words he was looking for in the deep gray clouds. ‘Is it weird to say that what just happened was magical?’

‘While I wouldn’t mind taking credit for that kind of magic, it’s purely nature,’ I said as I secured my gear in the tailgate of the truck. ‘Farms are teeming with the cycle of life. Older animals come to their natural end, while new creatures begin their journey. As a vet, you get the privilege of being part of that circle frequently. It’s a gift many people don’t get to see.’

I held out a jug of water, and together we washed our hands and arms. Once I was toweled off, I pulled on my brown canvas jacket. The clinic’s name was stitched across the front right pocket in bright yellow thread. Jessa and Bree had been so proud when they’d given it to me on the clinic’s fifth anniversary.

I climbed into the truck and he joined me in the cab. A slow rain tapped against the windshield. We headed down the rural farm road back in the direction of Harvest Moon. The potholes and rough patches bounced us around, and Bryce had to reach for the handle above the door to stay steady.

‘Now I understand the need for four-wheel drive out here.’ His voice rattled along with the truck. ‘I’d bet it’d be easy to get stuck, especially when it’s snowing.’

‘Snow is bad but rain is a thousand times worse, because this road can become a muddy bog pretty quickly.’

Bryce clung to the door as we bounced and shifted in the cab again. ‘What did George mean by the town giving you reasons not to return?’

I gave the truck more gas. The windshield wipers moved at a frantic clip, doing little to help with the rain that was morphing into blinding sheets. ‘You’re a smart guy who’s researched the town; you can probably figure out the answer.’

‘The whispers about magic?’

It was a lot more than just whispers, but that was not information I was about to give him.

‘It’s something like that.’

‘There’s more to the story but you’re not going to tell me, right?’

Damn straight.

‘How does it feel now that you’ve seen your first live animal birth?’

He smirked at my not-so-smooth change of subject. ‘Is it weird that all I want to do is call and tell my mom about it?’

‘No. Didn’t you say she was a nurse?’

‘Yeah. She works in pediatrics, but she started in labor and delivery. When I was a kid, she’d come home glowing. Tell me about all the babies that were born that day. How the mothers she took care of were brave and strong.’

A dull ache knocked against my chest at the affection in his voice. What I wouldn’t give to speak about my mother that proudly.

We were only a hundred yards from the gate between the farm and the main artery that led into town when the road grew rougher, tossing us around like a bad carnival ride. The truck’s frame shook and the display on the dash lit up with a bright red light.

‘Crap,’ I said, easing off the gas.

He leaned over to look at the dash, the heat of him pressing into my side.

God, he smelled good.

‘The pressure reading for the back passenger tire is dropping quickly,’ I said.

‘Did we run over something sharp?’ Instead of sliding back to his spot, he stayed close to my side like he knew it was sending small zaps of warmth through me. We inched toward the gate with the tire pressure plummeting faster than the rain overhead.