had made him testy. “I disagree. If anyone behaved badly, it was Yvonne. She invited me out there to buy horses, then she didn’t want to sell the one I liked.”
“It’s her business. She can do whatever she wants. Had I been the owner, I’m not sure I would have sold the colt to you either.”
“Why not?” Gil couldn’t understand Mattie’s change of attitude. She’d been cold and standoffish ever since lunch. Not the sweet, sensitive-natured woman he’d grown fond of, but more the uptight female she’d been when he first met her. “What did I do that was so terrible?”
“For one, you were arrogant. You told the woman you didn’t need her help. Big mistake.”
“But I don’t need her help. I know exactly who my target customers are and how I’m going to attract them.”
“Okay . . . okay.” Mattie raised her hands in the air. “I’m just saying, you could’ve handled the situation more gently, and Yvonne might have sold you the colt.”
“That’s not the way I do business. With me, it’s all or nothing.”
Mattie sniffed. “Natalie Adams certainly gave you all of her attention today.”
Gil’s neck twitched. Was that jealousy in the doc’s voice? “She found my objectives interesting if that’s what you mean.”
Mattie eyed him with the aloofness of a thoroughbred.
“Fine, let’s stop talking about the horses. What about my retirement party? What’s your answer, will you go? I need to buy our plane tickets.”
She shook her head and stared out the passenger window at the darkening sky. “Right now, the only place I want to go is home.”
“You mean my home?”
Mattie visibly bristled. “I mean, your dad’s home.”
THIRTY-THREE
TEN DAYS LATER, MATTIE TUCKED INSIDE HER OFFICE DESK DRAWER the wedding invitation she received. Just what she needed, another wedding in the family — another chance to catch the bouquet and listen to the old hens whisper behind her back.
No thanks.
There had to be more to life than falling in love and letting your mate drag you wherever he wanted to go. Like California — and who would want to go with an oaf like him, anyway? Gil was so full of himself he couldn’t see past his nose to what really mattered.
She forced the man from her thoughts and went back to punching the calculator. Her puppy snuggled in his usual spot right next to her feet. How would she ever make enough money to rebuild her clinic? Even if her business flourished, she’d have to save for a year before she’d have enough to afford the down payment.
Lord, is this what you want for me? To keep trying?
The McCrays had offered her so many kindnesses. Allowing her to live in the cabin and operate her clinic on their ranch, and Gil furnishing her clinic supplies.
All gifts from God.
Gil was like two men — the stubborn, hardheaded guy and the thoughtful, caring man she couldn’t erase from her mind. She considered his retirement party.
You ought to go with him. What harm could it do?
What harm could it do? Going to California with him might endanger her heart. She’d already been tempted beyond her restraint — felt her resolve weaken every time he touched her. When it came to Gil, her mind went blank whenever her heart fluttered — just like Clara warned.
I will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, I will also provide a way out.
Right . . . and her way out was not to go to California. She couldn’t traipse off from the clinic for an entire weekend, anyway. Dusty needed her. His rehabilitation was moving forward, and she resolved to keep it that way.
Now all she had to do was inform Gil of her decision.
GIL ROUNDED THE CORNER OF THE BARN AND CAUGHT MATTIE resting her head on Dusty’s neck. He stopped, not wanting to intrude on what looked like an intimate moment and watched as she smoothed her hand over the chestnut’s back. His heart clutched at the soothing words she spoke to his horse. This was the doc he knew, the woman who put her heart into everything she did.
Since their outing to the Chappell Ranch, she hadn’t talked to him unless answering a direct question. It made no sense. Could his buying tactics have really been the cause of her change in attitude? He’d walked away from the Chappell’s with one fine mare and a three-year-old filly on the condition that they wouldn’t sell the Six colt without first contacting him.