Vexed in Vermont (Yours Truly: The Lovelorn Book 12) Read online

  The birds in the trees were squawking something fierce and almost deafening, which matched the sound of the horse’s hooves on the hard ground. He’d forgotten about this stretch of road. As a boy, he loved chasing through the woods as he played with his older brother. They tried to hide from each other through the trees. They also were competitive to who could climb the fastest or the tallest tree. Adrian’s brother, Jacob, usually won.

  Suddenly, the birds took flight in unison and their squawking disappeared. He slowed his horse, holding his breath. He and Lottie weren’t the only ones in the woods, apparently. Why else would the birds act that way?

  An eerie feeling crawled over him. He quickly scanned what he could of the area, but the sun’s glare made it hard to see everything. Something wasn’t right, and he didn’t want to stick around just to find out why he felt this way.

  “Adrian?” Nicolette whispered. “I think we need to get out of here—”

  The exploding rifle and the pierce of a bullet in Adrian’s arm, jerked him into motion. He kicked the horse and took off, leaning over Nicolette since it was his first instinct to protect. He tried to block out the burning pain searing through his arm, but he’d only experienced being shot once before, and it was difficult not to wonder how much blood he was losing.

  Behind him came shouting. Adrian couldn’t tell how many men there were, but he didn’t care. All he knew was that he needed to keep riding. The twisting in his gut intensified as he tried to think of why they would be after him – and why would they want to shoot him? Had he upset someone? Yet, he’d been gone all this time, so who would he have upset all those years ago that was still bent on revenge? Besides Nicolette, anyway.

  “Adrian,” she said in a tight voice, “turn the horse right.”

  “Right?” He couldn’t be hearing her correctly. There wasn’t anything that way except trees and hills.

  “Turn now, Adrian.” She grasped the reins, pointing the animal in that direction.

  He tried to get back the reins, but the pain in his left arm increased, and he was slowly losing strength.

  “Trust me,” she continued. “There’s a place we can hide. If we go fast enough, they won’t be able to find us.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “Give me control over the reins. I’ll get us there.”

  Adrian had no choice. His left arm grew weaker by the second. He dropped his arms and circled them around her waist as she took over. Since she rode astride, she was also using her heels to urge the horse faster, just as he was doing. It surprised him how well she could lead the horse around trees.

  He took the moment to glance over his shoulder, hoping to get a glimpse of the men after him. The men were too far away for Adrian to recognize any of them, and most of the time their faces were either blocked from the tree’s or the sun’s glare. There were three of them, and all three were riding fast. Then again, once Nicolette had taken over the reins, his horse had picked up speed, too. He had no other choice but to hold on tight and pray she knew what she was doing.

  The way she maneuvered the horse around trees and up and down slopes was very impressive. But he wouldn’t tell her. Not yet. He needed to see how much she’d changed first. However, it was obvious that someone had taught her how to ride a horse. Dare he admit she was better than most of the men he was friends with at the military academy?

  She turned sharply and headed down a steep slope. He sucked in his breath and gritted his teeth against the pain. What in the blazes was she doing? Did she have any idea the kind of hills that were here in this section of Woodstock?

  Nicolette turned the horse again and then suddenly brought them to a halt. She tore his arms away from her and jumped down in front of the foliage covering one side of the hill they had just been on. She grasped handfuls of the vegetation, moving it to the side, and in the process, the opening appeared to be... a cave.

  She yanked on the horse’s reins, and limping, she pulled them into the cave fully. She then turned and quickly placed the foliage back over the opening, sealing their hideout.

  The thundering horse’s hooves from the other riders pounded on the roof of the cave. She placed her hands on the horse’s muzzle and jaw to keep him calm. Adrian withdrew his revolver, ready for the men who were after them to find the hideout. Yet, as he listened to the pounding hooves from the other riders, he realized they were getting further and further away.

  Nicolette released a heavy sigh and her shoulders relaxed. She turned, looking up at him with wide eyes. It was hard to see her expression since the cave-like hut was too dark to see much of anything.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  The surprised hideout had momentarily taken his mind off his bullet wound, but now that he was thinking about it again, he realized he was losing a lot of blood. His shirt and uniform jacket were sticking to the left side of his body.

  “I’ve been shot.”

  Gasping, she reached up to him. “Let me help you down off the horse.”

  Adrian really didn’t want to accept her offer, but under the circumstances, he had no other choice. Using his right arm, he grasped the saddle horn and slowly dismounted – with the guidance of her hands.

  “Stay right there,” she told him before leaving his side.

  Still not being able to see much of their hideout, he did as she instructed and leaned against the horse. He could hear her uneven footsteps on the dirt because of her limp, and he felt like he should be the one helping her. Then again, he had no clue what was inside this cave. Her footsteps stopped and he heard her shuffling things around. Seconds later, he smelled kerosene just as a light grew around him.

  Nicolette limped toward him carrying a lantern. The light illuminated her pretty face and especially her worried expression as she looked at him.

  “Where were you shot?”

  “In my arm.” He motioned to his left side. “But don’t worry about it. You need to get off your sprained ankle.”

  “Nonsense. I can deal with my injury, but you cannot. Let me help you.” She held out her hand. “You’ve got to trust me.”

  Instinctively, he barked out a laugh. “Trust you? Given the situation of our childhood, do you think that will ever happen?”

  “Adrian, you have two choices here.” Her expression changed and she became stern. “You can either bleed to death, or you can swallow your egotistical male pride and let me help you.”

  “And tell me, dear Lottie, how exactly do you plan on helping me when you can hardly walk yourself?”

  “I’ll deal with my foot, but I can stop the bleeding in your arm.”

  “How exactly?”

  She motioned behind her, and his gaze followed. He hadn’t noticed until now how the cave had somehow transformed into an office. There were shelves with books and medicine cabinets lining the walls of the make-shift room. It shocked him to see a cot with a pillow and blanket, along with an office desk and chair.

  “What is all of this?” he wondered.

  “This is what I’ve been doing a lot of the time you’ve been away, Adrian.”

  His gaze narrowed on her serious face, and he slowly shook his head. “And what exactly have you been doing?”

  She pulled her shoulders back and puffed her chest proudly. “I’m a Veterinarian.”

  The shout of laughter that came from him was instantaneous and unable to control. She shot him a glare.

  “I’m sorry, Lottie, but that’s rather difficult to believe. Women cannot be Veterinarians.”

  “And why not? Women can be nurses, and what else is a Veterinarian except a doctor or nurse?”

  Adrian’s head began to spin, and he knew he had to sit down. The loss of blood was evident, and even though he didn’t trust Nicolette, at this moment, he didn’t have a choice. He would either die from loss of blood... or die from her hand. Yet, he didn’t want to die at all.

  “Prove it,” he rasped as he stumbled toward the cot.

  She rushed to him,
wrapping her arms around his waist as she helped him move to the cot. With her head not far from his face, he could smell her flowery scent, and with her body so close to his, he realized she was definitely curvier than he remembered. Somehow the childhood pain-in-his-backside had become a woman. A very alluring woman.

  Closing his eyes, he shook the indecent thoughts out of his head. If he lived through this, he couldn’t be thinking of her that way. Perhaps once he was on his feet again, he’d help his father and stepmother by finding Nicolette a husband. That would be the only proper thing to do. She would be married and out of his hair, and he would be able to start his new life without worrying about her trying to ruin it. Old habits were hard to break, and he feared she’d fall back into the same unruly girl he used to know.

  Hopefully, she had matured and that her attitude had changed, as well.

  THREE

  Nicolette would prove it to him, and she would make him apologize for doubting her. Of course, right now she needed to stop the bleeding. His whole left arm’s sleeve was soaked with his blood.

  After helping him on the cot, she proceeded to assist him in removing his uniform jacket and then his shirt. It was extremely difficult not to see how much he’d changed since he’d been a rotten young man who constantly picked on her as a child. Military life had made him into a man... in all aspects of the word. But she couldn’t focus on that. Instead, she needed to concentrate on his bloody arm.

  Once she had him on the cot, lying on his side with his injured arm up, she rushed with a limp to the medicine cabinet and gathered some of her supplies. She couldn’t think about her swollen ankle right now. Not when a man’s life was at stake.

  Over the years she’d been slowly building up her Veterinarian practice, even if she had to hide everything in the hillside until she was ready to confess to the world that she’d been studying to become a Veterinarian. She’d found this little cave and knew it was the best place to keep her secret while learning to care for animals.

  As she cleaned his wound with alcohol, he let out a painful groan. Slowly, she removed the blood from his skin, which helped her to see the wound better. The bullet had passed right through his arm, about an inch above his elbow, leaving an exit wound on the other side. No wonder he had lost so much blood. She placed bandages on both wounds, applying pressure. It was painful for him, which was evident by his tight expression.

  “I’m sorry for hurting you,” she told him, “but I’m trying to stop the blood flow.”

  Hissing through his teeth, he nodded.

  “Just breathe through the pain.”

  “Yes, I know,” he grumbled.

  She studied his face and wondered about his life in the military. He said he knew, so did that mean he’d been shot before? “Adrian? Has this happened to you before?”

  He blinked his eyes open and met her gaze. “Yes, once.”

  “Where was the injury?”

  “My leg.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  He shot her an impatient glare. “No.”

  She shrugged. “It might take your mind off your pain now.”

  He inhaled deeply and then his breath slowly slipped out of his mouth. “It was right after I’d joined. My unit was sent to clear some land for the military to set up another fort. But the unwanted men on the land didn’t want to give it up so easily.”

  She gasped. “Was anyone killed?”

  “Two men. One of them was a friend of mine, and the other man was an outlaw.”

  She frowned and her heart clenched. She remembered at age twelve when one of her best friends had died from pneumonia. She’d mourned for the longest time. Even now, she missed Elissa. They had both loved animals and had wanted to become Veterinarians. Nicolette was sure Elissa would be proud of her for what she’d accomplished.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” she whispered.

  “Thank you.”

  Silence grew between them as she continued to apply pressure to both wounds, but even if there wasn’t anything being said, his gaze bore into her as if he was trying to peer deep into her soul. He’d always had the most amazing hazel eyes, and now that he was much better looking, she found his eyes to be dreamier than she had remembered. He had probably made many women swoon over the years. Thankfully, she’d never become one of his victims.

  After a few minutes, she lifted one of her hands to see if his wound had stopped bleeding... and breathed a sigh of relief when it had. She checked the other wound and was happy to see her pressure had helped stop the flow. She took a needle and thread, and then proceeded to clean them with alcohol in preparation for sewing him up.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked in a gruff voice.

  “You know very well what I’m doing. It’s the same thing that was done to you when you were shot in the leg.”

  “But you don’t—”

  “Adrian,” she stopped him, nearly growling out his name, “I have been studying this for several years. I’ve even helped some animals, and I can tell you that none of them died. So, I assure you, you’re not going to die under my care, either.”

  “But I’m not an animal.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “That’s debatable, however, whether or not you are an animal is a topic we can discuss at a later date.”

  The side of his mouth lifted as if he was trying not to grin, but moments later, his scowl was back. “I think I’ll be just fine if you bandage me, instead.”

  She shook her head. “No, you won’t. Your wounds are still open. I need to close them before you lose more blood.”

  “Lottie,” he said in a warning voice.

  “Look at it this way.” Impatience gnawed on her already frazzled nerved. “If you were taken to a hospital to have surgery, would the doctor cut you open without closing you back up? No, he would not, and I’m not going to do that, either.”

  With his good hand, he grasped her elbow, stopping her. She met his glare, ready to challenge him to anything. “Adrian, you wanted me to prove to you my ability, so kindly let me do it.”

  His nostrils flared with each intake of air. Finally, he nodded. “Then keep the stitches small.”

  It was difficult not to grin in victory as she stitched him up. She would definitely keep the stitches small, because showing him that she could really do it was worth all of this hassle and frustration. Of course, she also couldn’t wait to hear his apology since that was something he never gave her when she was a child.

  She finished both wounds before bandaging his arm, winding the gauze carefully around him in order to cover both gunshot wounds. After she had done this, she stuffed a pillow behind him to keep his side propped up. That, too, would help stop the flow of blood.

  “How are you feeling?” She stood and limped carefully to the back of her office where water trickled inside from the nearest stream. She used this as her washbasin.

  “Better.”

  She stood from the water and shook the liquid off her hands. “Would you like something to drink or eat?”

  One of his eyebrows arched. “You have food here?”

  “I have a little, mostly candy. As you can see,” she swept her hand around her office, “I can’t exactly live here.”

  His gaze moved around the space before he looked back at her. “I’m impressed.”

  She sucked in a breath. A compliment? Indeed, it must be the end of the world. Either that, or pigs were flying somewhere. “You are?”

  “Yes. I can’t believe you single-handedly put together this makeshift office and kept it a secret for all these years.”

  So, maybe he wasn’t quite giving her a compliment just yet. “It took me nearly a year to sneak things out of the house in order to make this place. After that, I started studying books to be a Veterinarian.”

  He stared at her for the longest time without saying a word. It made her nervous. It also made her remember her childhood because he seemed to be always plotting ways to tease her and irritate her
.

  “I think I just figured something out,” Adrian said.

  She moved closer to him. “Oh, let me guess. You finally figured out that you were wrong and that I was able to prove to you that I could be a good doctor?”

  Slowly, he shook his head as a grin stretched his mouth. “No, that’s not what I figured out.”

  “Well? Are you going to tell me?”

  “I just realized why you’re not married.” He chuckled lightly. “You don’t have time to make yourself available for men to court you.”

  She rolled her eyes and snorted a laugh. “How wrong you are, Adrian. I’ll have you know many men have courted me. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Eugene Dickson asks for my hand in marriage.”

  Inwardly, she scolded herself for the outlandish lie that easily rolled off her tongue. But, she didn’t want Adrian to know how close to the truth he really was.

  Adrian laughed. “The mayor’s son?” His laughter grew. “Lottie, I’m afraid that kind of man wouldn’t be able to make you very happy.”

  She lifted her chin stubbornly. “What makes you think to know me – or him for that matter?

  “I remember him when we were boys in school, and he’s a weakling. Anytime there were rough games to play, Eugene never participated. He slunk away, complaining of having a sick stomach.” Adrian nodded toward her medicine cabinet. “If Mr. Rich Pants ever saw your little office, and especially how you use your supplies, you’ll be giving smelling salts to him after he passes out.”

  “You are not very humorous, Adrian.” She bent and picked up her mess on the floor near the cot. “Eugene Dickson is a very sweet man. Any woman would be lucky to have him. Besides,” she looked up at Adrian, “he’s not the boy you remember. The years have changed him into a man, just as it has changed both of us.”

  “Really?” His eyes widened. “You are a man?”

  She huffed. “You know what I mean. We all have changed.”

  “You have changed, too?”

  Her temper boiled. If he wasn’t already injured, she’d punch him in the arm. “I’ll have you know that you can no longer hurt me with your words or your actions. Whatever you dish out, I’ll return it with more force.”