Read Online Medicine Wheel by Ron Schwab - Free Book Online Page B

for wanting the north quarter . . . it’s the buttes.”
    “You’re serious, I think.” She cocked her head to the side, looking at him quizzically.
    “I’ve spent some time at the top of one of the buttes over the years . . . a breathtaking view. I always thought I’d like to own it.”
    “That doesn’t make business sense, but, of course, you’re not telling me most of the story, whatever it is. But I’m pretty sure it’s none of my business. I wouldn’t mind seeing it sometime, though.”
    Thad was non-committal. If Kirsten Cavelle wanted to see the view, she was on her own.
    “So,” Kirsten asked, “will you work with me on this deal if you can take the north quarter? I’m getting the parcel I want. I just want grass to fill up with Red Angus. My pastures are overstocked right now.”
    “Have you discussed this with Cam?”
    “I mentioned it. He thought I was insane to be even thinking about this right now. And he said it wouldn’t look good if it came out I was buying land right after I supposedly murdered my husband.”
    “That thought had occurred to me.”
    “I’ve got a plan.”  
    Thad wasn’t certain he wanted to hear it. This woman was moving way too fast for him. She was beyond strange. He sighed—she seemed to leave him sighing a lot, he noted—“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s the plan?”
    “You buy the entire half section. When this is all over, I’ll buy the south quarter from you. I’ll advance the money for my half. It will be a loan, and you can give me a note”
    “I can’t give you a mortgage if the bank makes the loan, and you don’t want anything on the public record. You won’t have any security. You’re taking quite a chance. How do you know you can trust me to pay the note or sell to you later?”
    “You’ve seen what happens to men that mess with me.”
    He looked at her in disbelief.
    “Oh shit. Don’t look at me like that. I’m joshing. You take things too seriously.”
    “I need to think about this. I don’t have any cash, and I’d have to find a lender. I assume you have your money lined up?”
    “Yes, I’ve got some inheritance from my dad left, and then I was going to have to sell off more cattle than I wanted anyway to pay your brother some up-front fees. Makes me wonder if he thinks I’m going to be around to pay his bill when they’re done with me.”
    Thad didn’t say so, but he wondered if she was going to be around to finish her part of the land deal and what would happen if she was not.
    “Well, I have to look into all of this. Give me a few days and I’ll let you know either way . . . are you certain Rickers will sell the land to me?”
    “As long as he knows I’m out, he’ll sell to you. He just wants to get the deal done.”
    “You will run this by Cam?”
    “Yes, first thing in the morning. One more thing.”
    “What is it?”
    “How’s Henry?”
    Thad smiled. “He’s fine, but he’s taken over my office. Thinks he’s in charge. I can’t sit down or he’s settled on my lap.”
    “Bastard. He’s loyal to his next meal.”

15

    T HE NEXT MORNING Thad was rousted out of bed before five o’clock with a pounding on his door. One of Jasper Shortridge’s young hands informed him that a first-calf heifer was having trouble calving over at the Circle JS. He lifted Henry out of his bed in spite of the cat’s protests, fed him a hunk of sausage, and then tossed him outside. Thad figured he could do some mousing the rest of the day and earn his keep. He didn’t seem inclined to abandon the place.
    Thad kept a half dozen saddle bags in his home office, each stuffed with supplies for specific veterinary tasks, and he grabbed the obstetrical bags before he saddled Cato and joined the cowboy, whose name he learned was Luke, and headed for Jasper’s. He was not all that pleased when Luke told him the heifer was calving in one of the pastures about five miles southeast of his ranch house but was relieved to learn that the patient