The Trouble With Mini Cows (Fidalgo Island Book 1) Read online

  Sitting down at the computer, she looked through how much of the script she had reasonably completed, and came to the uncomfortable conclusion that with less than ten percent complete and a final deadline less than a month away, it just wasn’t going to happen. Switching over to email, she let the book’s author know that, and gave her a few names of people that might be able to jump right in. This one she’d taken on spec, so there was no money she’d have to refund.

  Hopefully she wouldn’t get a reputation for backing out. She’d been stellar about meeting deadlines up until now. She felt bad, but relieved at having one less thing to worry about. Now she could focus on the cows and Gran, and hopefully get everything sorted out quickly. Then maybe she could get back to worrying about how and where she was going to live. She got up to get herself a celebratory bowl of ice cream, but when she got it out of the freezer the cartoon cow on the side of the carton grinned back at her. Her appetite for ice cream dissipated immediately. She put the carton back and fished around in the cupboard for a piece of chocolate instead. She sincerely hoped that her ability to eat dairy products wasn’t completely disabled by her current overexposure to cows.

  Although… it could be a fabulous new diet plan, and maybe she could make millions. A resort spa where everyone got up at four in the morning and milked mini cows all day, yogurt facials—the possibilities were endless. Tess had an uncomfortable realization that she really was related to Gran, who would probably get behind this idea with a great deal of enthusiasm but very little practicality. She reminded herself that she didn’t actually want to run a spa. She wanted to get back to writing.

  Daisy gave one sharp bark outside the door to indicate she was ready to come in, so Tess got up and opened the door. A brown package lay neatly centered on the doormat. Where had that come from? And how had it been delivered without Daisy making a racket? Maybe she was going deaf as well as crazy with the cows…

  The dog pushed past her to go check the status of her food dish, and Tess picked up the package and placed it on the counter. She rummaged around in the drawers to find a knife to open it, and found a small key in the back of the drawer. It was an older-style brass key, big enough for a padlock but not a door. Turning back to the package, she noticed it was addressed to her and not Gran. There was no return address.

  It hadn’t been particularly heavy. She slit the top carefully and pulled back the tissue paper. It was a paperback book. There was a large pink sticky note on the cover that read, Thanks a bunch! Love, Gran. She pulled it off to reveal the title You and Your First Dairy Cow, Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your First Cow Healthy and Happy. Tess sat down in the kitchen chair and put her hands over her face.

  This was how Nate found her when he knocked on the open door. She briefly looked at him through her splayed fingers before closing them again.

  “So, you’re really getting into this, then, huh?”

  “Read the note.”

  “Oh. I brought it up from the drive when I was coming in, but I had no idea it was from Callie. Steve—the mailman—was headed this way, so I saved him the trip. I was just out checking the barn before coming to find you.”

  Tess pulled her hands down to see why he was rambling so much.

  “Looks like you’re getting the hang of it.” He opened the book and shook it. Nothing fell out. “No other note or return address?”

  “Nope.”

  “She’s not in nearly enough trouble for this much skullduggery.”

  “She isn’t?” Hope briefly entered the room.

  “Well, not by my ruler, but I’m sure she feels differently. If she gets rid of the cows, we’re just talking fines and not jail time.”

  Hope fled the room in a hurry. “Jail!” Tess stared at him, aghast, but he remained unruffled.

  “It’s in the law for last resort, for people who don’t feel like paying fines and keep dragging out actually following the law,” he drawled, with a bit of a biting edge.

  “Save it for Gran. What are you doing here?”

  “I heard I might need to do a bit of damage control.”

  “I heard you called dibs.”

  Nate looked a little nervous.

  “On me. Do you have any idea how offensive that is? Heck, do you have any idea what century we’re in?”

  Nate spread his hands wide in a placating gesture. “You’re your own woman, I get it. I was just letting Mike know I had a vested interest. Maybe not in the most mature, politically correct way, but it was effective. Mike is all wrong for you anyway.”

  “Is he? And what does that have to do with anything? Is there some other local ordinance I need to worry about, that being single is against the law?” She pushed out of her chair and went to stand in front of him.

  “Apparently. I can’t find it in the Washington State Administrative Code, but you couldn’t tell that to people around here. Even my own mother put money in the pool.”

  “Whatever. I’m not your girlfriend and I’m not going out with you!”

  “I didn’t ask,” he said with mock haughtiness. “I know better than to prod an already-goaded dragon.”

  “Now I’m a dragon?”

  “I didn’t say that. Bad metaphor. Why don’t I just go away now?”

  “I’d love that, but you haven’t said why you came in the first place.”

  “Ah, yes. Perhaps I should save that for another time. When you might be less annoyed. Or breathing fire,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Just spit it out. I guarantee my annoyance will only grow with each passing hour.”

  “In that case”—he took a deep breath—”I’m the foster placement for the cows… and you.”

  “You! If you have room for the cows, how come you didn’t just take them in the first place?”

  “Because I had my fill of cows twenty years ago, even cute ones, growing up on a dairy farm. I am not a dumping ground for pets that people can’t deal with responsibly.”

  “And you want me to live with you? Is that really about the cows, or do you think you’ll get me into bed that way?”

  “No strings.” He held up his hands in surrender. “But if you ever change your mind, my bedroom door is always open.”

  “You’d better keep it shut if I’m going to stay there. If you’re going to wander around naked, I’ll stay in the barn with the cows.”

  “Who said anything about being naked? Why Ms. Calhoun, have you been letting your imagination run wild?”

  Tess could feel the blush starting, and turned her face away so that hopefully he’d miss it. Had someone repeated what she’d said at the bar? Of course they had. She couldn’t wait to get out of this town.

  “My next-door neighbor has a smallish cattle truck he said we could borrow. How’s a week from Sunday? It will probably take two trips to move them all, but can you be ready first thing in the morning?”

  She nodded. She wasn’t at all happy with this solution, but didn’t have a better one to offer. “Can you give me your address? I need to let people know where I’ll be. And will my cell phone work there?”

  “Does it work here?”

  She shook her head.

  “Then probably not. Here, I’ll jot down the house phone for you. Feel free to use it. I do most of my calls on my cell; it’s just easier that way.”

  Great. One more person who didn’t have any coverage issues. Maybe if she could actually get some work done and get paid, she too could upgrade to something with better range. “And Nate?”

  “Yeah?”

  “In all seriousness, I’m not moving here. So I’m definitely not sleeping with you if we’re living together.”

  “But you would if we aren’t living together?” He started walking toward her.

  “No.” She held up her hand like a stop sign. “I mean, even if I were tempted, which I’m not, to have a summer fling living together just makes things too messy. Too much like playing house, so we keep it to platonic roommates. Deal?” She held out her hand.


  He took it, but instead of shaking and releasing it like she expected, he used her hand to pull her closer. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. Just that brief touch and Tess felt little bubbles of excitement start to rise in her stomach. The hint of so much chemistry took her by surprise. She leaned in to him to explore it further just as he pulled back, leaving her wanting more. Now.

  “No deal.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Even though she had virtually nothing to pack, moving day crept up on Tess with amazing speed. Nate arrived on time Sunday morning with a medium-size trailer hitched to his truck. He backed it all up the drive and turned the engine off. Jumping out, he grinned at her. “Ready to move to your new house?”

  “Not really. But I’m packed, if that’s what you mean.”

  Nate was different today. He seemed more relaxed, more outgoing—looser somehow.

  “You’re hard on a man’s ego, you know that?”

  “I doubt it very much.”

  He sighed dramatically and headed toward the barn. “Come on, I’ll show you how we do this.”

  They quickly had the trailer fully loaded, but still had several cows left over.

  “Want to ride with me on this trip? We still have at least one more load, so you can follow in your car then.”

  “Sure, why not?” She hoisted herself into the passenger seat of the massive truck and buckled her seatbelt, curious to get a look at where she’d be living for the next few days—weeks? She frowned.

  Nate finished securing the trailer and got in. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, just thinking about how much longer Gran is going to be in hiding. I didn’t bring summer clothes with me.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. If we have to set a court date, she’ll either appear for that or face a warrant. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.” He grinned at her slyly.

  Tess rolled her eyes. “You probably won’t say that after you taste my cooking.”

  “You’re going to cook? Damn, someone may win that pool even sooner than I thought.”

  “It seems only fair if you’re giving us shelter, but don’t get too excited. I’m betting you’ll change your mind about wanting to keep me around any longer than necessary. I’m a really bad cook,” she said proudly.

  “That bad, huh? Good thing I know all the delivery joints in the county”. He smirked back at her—point, counterpoint and match.

  Nate turned the truck down a bumpy dirt road that had a small blue sign with white numbers on the fence post where it left the paved road. That was the only thing that distinguished it from all the other dirt roads leading off of the paved one. There was nothing but grassy meadows and evergreens as far as Tess could see. At the crest of a small hill, she looked down into a valley with a stream meandering through the trees and a quaint old farmhouse. A fresh coat of brilliant dark blue paint set off the white trim nicely. A few older barns lay beyond, but they were still in the original scraped paint look.

  “Eventually I’m going to take the barns down and put in a Christmas tree farm.”

  “Really? Christmas trees? That seems so quaint for a guy that can’t be bothered to have a cat.”

  “Quaint? It makes perfect financial sense. They don’t need constant work, just some occasional pruning, and when they’re ready people will pay for the romantic experience of cutting them down instead of me having to do it. Just good economics.”

  “Ah.”

  “Come on, help me get these ladies unloaded. I put fresh hay down yesterday, but if you can get the hose around the corner you can fill the watering troughs while I unload them.”

  Tess got out of the truck and headed around the barn to try and find the elusive hose. She found it, an industrial-sized black one that took all her ability to drag back into the barn. Then she had to return outside to actually turn on the water. They finished up their respective chores about the same time.

  “Want to see the house now or later?”

  “Later—let’s get everyone moved and I’ll clean up before going into the house.”

  “You are awfully good at attracting the muck, aren’t you? How do you do that?”

  “I have no idea,” she said with asperity. “How do you keep it away?”

  He nodded thoughtfully, and they drove back to Gran’s house.

  With a little squeezing, they got everyone into the second trailerful. Tess ran into the cottage and took a quick shower and changed before bringing Daisy out on her leash and locking up. Daisy strained at her halter when she saw Nate, but reluctantly allowed herself to be herded into the back seat of Tess’s car. Nate started up the truck and pulled out to the head of the drive to give Tess room to back up and turn around. When she caught up to him, he pulled out, and she followed him carefully, trying to sight landmarks along the way so she could find her way back. She might need to stay at his house to take care of the cows, but she didn’t see why she shouldn’t do her laundry and things here. Besides, what if Gran called?

  She pulled into the yard right behind Nate and went around the cattle truck to park closer to the house. The absence of any kind of flowers or landscaping was noticeable, especially after Gran’s. The lack gave the yard a barren look, like nobody spent any time in it, despite the fresh coat of paint on the house. An old white lilac tree was just starting to bloom on the far side, but that was about it.

  Nate waved her toward the house. “You go ahead and unload your stuff—I’ll take care of the cows.”

  “Thanks, where’s my room?”

  “Upstairs, second on the left.”

  She nodded and slung the first bag over her shoulder while holding Daisy’s leash.

  “Come on, Dais, let’s check out our new digs.” Even though she was dying to look around the living space, she headed upstairs first, dropping her bag on the bed in a pale blue room with white eyelet curtains. She poked her head into the next room and frowned. If this wasn’t Nate’s room, she’d eat Daisy’s leash. She went down the stairs and out to the barn at a determined pace. Nate looked up from where he was settling a calf into the new enclosure.

  “Everything okay with your room?”

  “Fine, except its proximity to yours. That is your room at the end of the hall, right?”

  “Yep.” He smiled like a predator about to pounce. “Tell you what, you look around, and if you find a bedroom you like better, you can have it and I’ll even make up the bed for you.”

  “Great!” She breathed with relief and turned to go back to the house. Nate was already back with the cows, whistling a perky Cajun dance tune. That could only mean trouble.

  She headed back upstairs and started opening doors. The door between her temporary room and the stairs was a bathroom. Then the blue room and Nate’s room. Across the hall the door didn’t open, and she headed into Nate’s to see if there was a reason. Sure enough, that room had been renovated to be an en suite bathroom—with a Jacuzzi tub, no less—and the door to the hall was sealed shut. On the other side of the hall were three smaller bedrooms, any of which would do fine, except that two were under construction. The wall plaster and the flooring had been ripped out, with sheets of plywood covering the joists. The third was clearly his home office. A long desk took up the entire wall under the eves, with two computer screens. Bookcases filled with massive law books took up all the remaining wall space. The dirty bastard.

  It felt planned—there was no way any of this was an accident—but she couldn’t imagine where he’d found the time to arrange it all. She wondered if she should feel flattered. No, it was all just too much like a game. If he won, he’d get bored quickly and move on, leaving her to pick up the pieces of her pride and self-esteem. She wasn’t going down that road again.

  She headed back out to her car at a much slower pace. After grabbing the last of her bags, she stopped to drop the one with dog food in the kitchen before going back up to the blue room. It was a sweet room, and if it had been at a B&B she were visiting on one of t
he San Juan islands, she’d have been charmed. At least she didn’t have to share a bathroom with him.

  She headed back downstairs to check out the kitchen more fully. The old fridge was virtually empty in the main section, but overstuffed with organic premade meals in the freezer. She eyed them and the space-age microwave on the counter with trepidation. Maybe she’d let Nate fix lunch and she could run into town before dinner. She put that plan to him when he came in from the barn and was washing his hands. He nodded assent. “But you don’t have to, you know. I’m happy enough to pick up something on my way back home if you don’t mind waiting. My hours can get a bit irregular, but I’m usually home by seven.”

  “No, really, I’ll get some real food and cook. It’s a lot cheaper than that stuff or takeout. Anyway, why didn’t you renovate the kitchen when you did all that work in the living room?”

  Nate looked uncomfortable. “I was dating a designer—that’s as far as she got.”

  “Ah, when was this? Didn’t she have time to finish the bedrooms?”

  “We broke up over the bedrooms.”

  He didn’t seem prepared to offer more, so she dug in. “What happened? You parted company over paint colors?”

  “Naw, she wanted to turn one into a nursery—had the crib delivered and everything.”

  “And you didn’t want children?”

  “It wasn’t that. As far as I knew, we were just having some fun—it’s not like she was living here or anything.”

  “How long ago was this?”

  “Two years, give or take.”

  “Those rooms have been left unfinished for two years?”

  “Easy, counselor. I didn’t have a need to get them finished, so they’ve been at the bottom of the priority list. Any more questions?”

  Tess burned with them, but was afraid of showing too much interest if she kept asking. Daisy barked to go out, so Tess took her for a tour of the yard, keeping an eye out for things where Daisy might get into trouble if unsupervised, but didn’t find anything obvious.