Page 118 of Roping Her In

Ready. You have fifteen minutes.

He probably should’ve told Carson ten minutes, but his phone blipped out the sound that said the message had been sent, and he couldn’t change it now. Instead, he hurried after Hailey and arrived at her side only a moment later.

“Guess what I got?” he asked.

She glanced over to him, and she hadn’t seemed to notice the few extra seconds he’d taken inside. “What?” she asked.

“The Patient Care app,” he said.

Her eyes widened even as she grew a little brighter. “Did you really? Are you just making fun of me?”

“No, I really got it,” he said. “And in fact, I want you to come out to Three Rivers and show Kami and all the vet techs how to use it.”

Her step slowed. “Really?”

He chuckled. “Yes, it’s so much better than my lame document that everybody has to fill in, and I have to read through. This creates a patient care sheet with the animal name, tag number, weight, everything.” He spoke as if she wasn’t the one who’d told him about the app and that it was so much more than dictation.

She got walking again and nudged him with her hip. “Are you going to dictate into your phone today, cowboy?”

“No, ma’am,” he said, and a soft scoff fell out of her mouth. He grinned at her. “I’m going to dictate into yours. He’s your patient, right?”

Hailey giggled. “Sometimes I don’t know what to do with you, Jake.”

He burst out laughing, and he almost blurted out the proposal right then and there. Thankfully, he didn’t, and they came upon the field where the miniature donkeys grazed. Hailey had put up temporary fencing for the one she was worried about, keeping him close and separated, but still near enough to his herd to not cause him stress.

Jake ducked into the paddock with her and the donkey, and he set his bag down as she cooed, “All right, Marvin Gaye. You’re okay.” She looked over to Jake. “This here’s Jake, and he is so much smarter than me.”

Jake laughed and shook his head. He moved over to the donkey too and stroked one hand down the front of his nose. “His eyes look good.”

Hailey pulled out her phone and tapped a few times to get to the Patient Care app. She had a clip on her phone, and Jake took it from her and attached it to his collar.

“Today is July eleventh, and this is Doctor Jake Ahlstrom. We’re here today with Marvin Gaye, a donkey of the miniature variety, who’s presenting with some odd symptoms that his regular owner and brilliant vet tech Hailey asked for my consultation on.”

Jake went through his normal exam, checking the donkey’s eyes, teeth, mouth, ears, and joints. “Temperature’s normal,” he said when he reached the back of the animal. “Honestly, the only thing I can think of that would be causing Marvin to gain weight, slow down, and be a little bit sick is…pregnancy.”

He looked across the donkey to Hailey, whose mouth fell open and a soft grunt fell out. “Gaye’s a girl?” She laughed. “We knew that already, didn’t we, Gaye?” She met Jake’s eyes again. “But it’s not breeding season.”

“They’re together, aren’t they?” Jake knelt down on the ground and started to get out a syringe. “I can’t confirm it without an ultrasound, but I’ll draw blood and send it out. It won’t take long to get an answer from the lab.”

He glanced over to Hailey. “Will you hold her?”

She did, and Jake got the blood sample he needed. He handed it to Hailey. “Will you go put that in your mini-fridge?” She kept one in the barn nearby, and she turned to leave.

Jake stayed right where he was, though the exam had finished. He still had her phone clipped to his shirt, and he kept his eyes glued to her back as she headed toward the fence. “This is Doctor Jake Ahlstrom. Start a new file.”

“New file started,” the app said to him.

“Name it Hailey Winters, with a species of gorgeous veterinary technician.”

It seemed to take an agonizingly long few seconds before the app said, “File started, you may begin dictation anytime.”

Hailey had reached the fence, and it was probably only another thirty yards to the stable, and he couldn’t still be standing here. He bent over his bag in case she looked over her shoulder. Then she’d see him putting away his equipment.

“Height five-foot-four,” he dictated. “Weight, oh, probably one hundred twenty, one hundred thirty. Temperament: feisty, brilliant, patient, kind, loyal, hardworking.”

He drew a deep breath, realizing he should’ve written himself a script. “Initial assessment: I was attracted to Hailey the very moment I met her. But I found her irritating and frustrating at the same time. Stunningly gorgeous, of course, which threw me off my game, and so much chemistry between us that I almost ruined everything with an accidental kiss.”

He chuckled, knowing she’d hear that. “Thankfully, my feelings weren’t one-sided, and every day with Hailey has been a new adventure. I wake up craving to be near her, just to see what the day will hold. I love how she’s a friend to everyone she meets, especially the animals who come into her sphere of care.