Not that I would have done anything violent.
The point is, I should take the same advice I’ve given my brother Archie and stand up for myself instead of running.
My mobile buzzes as we reach Flamingo’s, and I slow to take it from my purse while gripping Junie’s hand. I open the message from Flo.
Go around back. People here asking about you.
My eyes dart to the big picture window I’m standing in front of. The one with the neon Flamingo’s sign. A dozen pairs of eyes stare back at me. Fingers point. Mobiles pop up.
My plan was to change out of my Flamingo’s uniform once I had Junie. Now, though, thanks to the TikTok Brianna showed me, instead of a disguise, my uniform gives me away.
One of the people inside stops pointing and rushes for the door. I scoop up Junie and dash for my car. That’s when I remember Cal left Junie’s car seat in Flo’s office.
Even if I had time to go through the fifty-step, highest safety standard instructions Cal gave me for installing the seat in my car, Junie wouldn’t be safe from anyone who might try to follow me.
“Are we going to Fingo’s?” Junie asks, bouncing up and down on my hip.
“Yeah, love. But we’ll go in through the secret entrance,” I answer as I turn away from the parking lot and down the alley leading to Flamingo’s back door.
“But then we go home, okay?”
“We’ll see. We might have to change plans.”
My words come out halting and staggered. My lungs burn. Junie’s tight grip around my neck chokes me. But I don’t stop until I reach Flamingo’s back door.
Being found in Serenity Cove was bound to happen sooner or later. Honestly, I got lucky that it’s happened later than I ever expected. I’ve stayed under the radar for over two years now. I’m grateful for that.
But now I’ve got to decide if I’m going to keep running or face the demons I thought I’d escaped.
Chapter 6
Cal
By the time I arrive at the leased pasture where Donna’s grazing her herd, she and Wes have sorted the infected cows and their calves into a temporary corral of heavy steel panels. Setting up a temporary pen, makeshift alley, and squeeze chute is physically demanding, but takes less time and is easier on the infected cows than herding them back home.
Besides, these cows have already been pastured at Donna’s ranch this season, so the grass is too low. She’d have to supplement their feed—which is expensive—if she wants to keep her organic label.
The familiar smell of manure and hide greets me as I grab my antibiotic kit from the back of my truck and hurry to the pen. A quick count confirms only a couple dozen of Donna’s hundred-head herd need treatment. For now, anyway. Once IBK—pinkeye—is in a herd, it doesn’t stroll—it runs. Flies do the legwork.
We haven’t had rain for a couple months. My eyes waterfrom the dust, and the flies grow thicker the closer I get to the pen.
“This all of them?” I ask Donna when I reach the gate she leans on.
“I hope so.” Donna says in a resigned breath.
“Bennett and the folks are checking ours,” Wes says from where he’s perched on the top rung of the alley. “I’ll help you get started, then I’d better head to our place. Hope you’ve got enough meds for ours, too.”
I nod. “Hope none of ours need it.”
I scan the penned cows, then point. “Bring me the red and her calf. We'll treat the worst first.”
Wes jumps off the fence, and he and Donna go to work, pushing the cow and her calf toward the alley and into the head squeeze. As soon as the chute clangs shut, immobilizing her head and separating her from her calf, the docile cow comes alive. She hits the side panel with her shoulder and bawls almost as loud as Junie when she can’t find her favorite stuffie.
I lean in just long enough to confirm my fears. One eye pinched nearly closed. Tears cut clean tracks through the dust on her face. The cornea is faintly milky at the edge. “SQ is the best treatment for her,” I say to Donna.
Her mouth tightens, the way it always does when antibiotics are the only solution. “That means she’s out of organic.”
“Yeah. And she keeps her eye.” I grab a syringe from my case, tent a fold of loose hide high on her neck and slide the needle under it. In and out. Clean and fast.
