“I’ll take it in my office,” Mike said, with the enthusiasm of a sloth.
“I wouldn’t keep her waiting too long if I were you,” Suzie said. “You’re trying to make a good impression, remember?”
The button on his phone was winking like a roadhouse sign as Mike settled at his desk. He vented frustration with a powerful exhalation of breath before lifting the receiver, pressing the button and identifying himself.
“Dr. Calder? Samantha Curry. Thank you for taking a call so late in the day,” purred a beautifully modulated female voice.
Mike’s spirits lifted appreciably. Maybe the call was just what he needed to take his mind off Mrs. Winters and her bald tires and her big-eyed daughter. “No problem,” he said. “I was just getting ready to lock up.”
“I wanted to run the details of the vaccination day past you, but first, let me say how much I appreciate your volunteering to man one of our stations.”
Mike had saved the lives of nearly dead pets and not heard as much gratitude in the voices of their owners as he heard in hers. “It’s my pleasure,” he said magnanimously. Then, for good measure, he added, “After all, rabies vaccination is important.”
“I’ve assigned you to the Palm Isle Shopping Center. Our volunteers will be setting up on the sidewalk near the cinema. It’s not far from your clinic. Do you know where it is?”
“Yes.”
“Our volunteers will do the paperwork and put tags on collars, so all you have to do is show up and start shooting.”
She paused, and Mike, hearing her intake of breath, imagined a female chest rising. Mrs. Winters’s appealing female chest, to be exact.
Damn it!
“Dr. Calder?” The purr of his name through the receiver snapped him back to the conversation.
“Just show up and start shooting,” he said amiably. “It sounds simple enough.”
“I’m going to put the details in a letter, but if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to call.”
“I won’t,” he said, suddenly firmly convinced that he’d have at least one question that would necessitate his getting in touch with the sultry voice on the other end of the line.
“Great. And thanks again for agreeing to give up your Saturday for us. We need to get these pets protected, and I know we’re going to have a great turnout.”
“I hope so.”
“If I don’t talk to you again, I’ll see you next month.”
“You will?”
“Yes. I’ll be making the circuit from site to site throughout the day so I can thank our volunteers in person.”
“I’ll look forward to meeting you, then,” Mike said quite sincerely. If there was anything to be learned from his encounter with Mrs. Winters, it was that he was far overdue for a little male-female interaction.
Man was not created to be solitary—or celibate.
With that thought in mind, he went into the boarding room to check on the animals who were spending the night at the clinic. The postop patients were drowsy, but none showed any sign of infection, and his only other boarding patient, an aging collie, was showing signs of improvement. He was giving the collie a little extra attention when he heard Suzie’s voice, muffled by the walls that separated the boarding room from the reception area.
Hoping no emergency had cropped up to prolong his workday yet again, Mike went to the reception area to check it out and arrived just in time to see Suzie hang up the phone.
“Any problem?” he asked.
“Just seeing if Inez is ready for bingo night.”
“It is Thursday, isn’t it?” Mike said. Suzie took her mother-in-law to play bingo every Thursday. “Is Inez all charged up for a big game?”
“She’s raring to go. She found a new button for her jackpot hat, and she’s convinced it’s lucky.” Suzie put a plastic cover over the computer keyboard and took her purse from the bottom drawer of the desk. “By the way, Mrs. Winters said to tell you thank you for helping with the tire.”
“All in a day’s work,” Mike said.
“She’s a nice lady,” Suzie said.
“Hmm,” Mike agreed cautiously. Suzie was using her up-to-something tone of voice.
“Pretty, too.”
“I didn’t really notice.” Much.
“Hmmph!”
“I was changing a tire!”
“Uh-huh.” She paused. “She’s divorced, you know.”
“Yes, Suzie,” Mike said. “Divorced, with a fatherless waif and bill collectors at the door.”
“Her little girl was adorable.”
“Hmm.”
“She sure was proud of that puppy.”
“Yes. She was.”
“Too bad.”
Mike knew he’d be sorry for swallowing the bait, but he knew Suzie well enough to know that if he didn’t snap at it, she’d cram it down his throat. “What’s too bad?”
“She left her backpack with her schoolbooks in the reception area.”
“She’ll be back for them tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Suzie said with a meaningful sigh. “It’s just—”
“Out with it, Suzie. What’s your point?”
Suzie tilted her head sheepishly. “One of the books looks like a speller, and tomorrow’s Friday.”
“So?”
“Don’t you remember elementary school? Friday is test day. She probably needs her book to study her words.”
“If she’s a good student, she probably knows them already. And if she’s not a good student, she probably wouldn’t learn them, anyway.”
“Well, that’s a fine attitude.”
“I can’t help it if she forgot her book the night before her spelling test.”
Suzie frowned. “Maybe not, but—”
“But what?” Mike growled.
“If I didn’t have to pick up Inez for bingo, I’d drop her backpack by their house. But it’s in the opposite direction.”
Mike realized where the conversation was headed. “Which means it’s in the direction I’ll be going.”
“It’s just a few blocks away. I checked. It wouldn’t take you five minutes to detour and drop off the backpack.”
A few blocks out of his way. It seemed simple enough—until Mike remembered Mrs. Winters’s figure. And her bald tires. And her big-eyed waif of a kid. And his resolve not to play the knight to women with great cleavage, bald tires and waifish children.
“I don’t do house calls,” he said.
“We’re not talking about performing major surgery,” Suzie said. “You’d just be doing a good deed.”
“I’ve already earned enough merit badges for two lifetimes,” Mike said. And I have the emotional scars to prove it.
“Okay, I’ll take them!” Suzie said sharply.
“You’ll be late to bingo!”
“Yes. And Inez will get in a royal snit because she won’t get a lucky seat, but—”
“Fine, I’ll take the damn books to the kid!” Mike said.
“I drew a little map when I looked up the address,” Suzie said, cagily picking up a piece of notepaper from the counter and handing it to him.
“Have I fired you lately?”
“Not this week,” Suzie replied evenly. “But there’s one more day left— Think you can find it?”
Mike shrugged. “Like you said, it’s just a few blocks away.”
Suzie turned serious suddenly. “All you have to do is ring the doorbell and give whoever answers the door the books.”
“Her tires were bald,” Mike said absently. “I tell you, Suzie, I feel guilty charging a woman like that just to look at a puppy and give it a shot.”
“You don’t have to lose too much sleep over it,” Suzie said. “She got the ‘new puppy special.’”
“New puppy special?”
“Basic puppy exam and shots, five bucks,” Suzie replied wryly.
“Five bucks?” he exclaimed incredulously, but his mouth twitched with a smile that grew into a laugh. Ne
w puppy special! Leave it to Suzie!
* * *
“WHO WAS AT THE DOOR, Lily?” Angelina asked, hearing Lily enter the kitchen.
“Princess’s doctor,” Lily said.
Distracted by the cream sauce she was stirring, Angelina was slow absorbing what Lily had said. When the information clicked, she spun around. “Princess’s—”
The rest of the question ended in an inhaled shriek as she discovered Dr. Calder standing not five feet away. He shrugged apologetically and held up Lily’s backpack. “She forgot her books. My office manager thought she might need them, and...well, Lily had her hands full when she came to the door.”
The veterinarian was in her kitchen! Angelina couldn’t believe it. She was barefoot, and she was wearing a T-shirt that said, If You’re Rich, I’m Available, over a pair of hopelessly faded shorts. The cereal bowls from breakfast were still in the sink and the veterinarian was in her kitchen.
The drop-dead handsome veterinarian who’d changed her tire for her. “I—” She broke off, too tongue-tied and addled by his unexpected presence to speak coherently. “I was stirring the sauce and...the sauce!” Whirling, she lifted the saucepan from the burner and stirred frantically before the sauce scorched or turned lumpy.
Having averted tragedy—or at least tragedy with the sauce—she replaced the pan, sprinkled a layer of shredded cheese atop the mixture and resumed stirring. Gently.
“Sorry about that,” she said, stepping to the side of the stove so she could see him as she worked.
“That...uh, looks complicated,” he observed. “You must be a gourmet.”
“A gourmet?” She laughed, a bit nervously. “It’s just cream sauce. It’s not complicated, but you have to stir...you can’t leave it...untended. That’s why I couldn’t answer the door.”
“It smells delicious,” he said.
“That’s the cheese melting,” she said. Scintillating conversation, Angelina. Why don’t you give him the whole recipe and really impress him! He’s only a vet— And he was still holding Lily’s books.
“Lily,” she said sharply. “Put Princess down and take your backpack from Dr.—” Holy cow! She couldn’t remember his name! Dr....Dr....Doc— “Calder!” she said, hoping he hadn’t noticed the long hesitation.
Refocusing her attention on Lily and the issue at hand, she asked, “Why are you carrying Princess around, anyway?”
“She tried to run out the door, so I had to hold her,” Lily said matter-of-factly.
“We wouldn’t want a nice dog like Princess getting lost,” Dr. Calder said.
“Well, she’s not going to get lost in the house,” Angelina said. “Lily, put her down and take your books.”
Lily exhaled an aggrieved sigh and gently set the puppy on the floor.
“Wasn’t it nice of Dr. Calder to bring your books to you?” Angelina said.
“Uh-huh,” Lily said, taking the backpack from him.
Angelina held her breath, hoping that Lily would thank him without additional prompting, and released it when Lily said politely, “Thank you for bringing my books.”
“This is the last of the cheese,” Angelina said, sprinkling the grated cheese into the pan. “I’ll walk you to the door as soon as it’s melted.”
“No hurry,” Doctor Calder said. Crossing his arms, he leaned against the counter casually. Familiarly.
Something changed at that moment. Something fundamental. Something elemental. Something...electrical.
Awareness surged through her like a current, transforming all her perceptions of him. He was no longer the veterinarian, no longer just a nice person doing her daughter a favor. He was male, large and hulking. He was a man. And he was in her kitchen.
Turning her back to him, Angelina frowned as she stirred the sauce, willing it to reach the boiling point so she could escort him out. Out of her kitchen, out of her house and out of her mind.
She wouldn’t call what had just happened between them attraction, but it came close enough to make her uneasy. She didn’t know anything about him except that he was a veterinarian, he knew how to change tires and he was thoughtful enough to bring a little girl’s schoolbooks to her. He probably had a little girl of his own, she decided. Or a little boy. He probably had several children. And a wife. Which meant the sooner she got him out the door and on his merry way home, the better.
“Do you know anything about raccoons?” Lily asked.
“Raccoons?” The vet voiced the question just as the significance of it registered on Angelina.
“You don’t have to bother Dr.—” Why couldn’t she ever remember the man’s name? Angelina sucked in a breath. “Calder with that, Lily. We’re going to the library tomorrow night, remember?”
“But he’s a veterinarian,” Lily said. “He probably knows lots about raccoons.”
“They’ll have plenty of books about raccoons at the library,” Angelina said firmly.
“Miss Thornton said we can interview someone who knows about animals. She says they’re called an authority, and that’s the same as looking in a book.”
“What’s all this about raccoons?” the vet asked. “Is it homework?”
“Uh-huh,” Lily replied. “I have to do a report.”
“I treat raccoons occasionally.”
“Then I can interview you.”
“Lily!” Angelina said.
“Miss Thornton said we could interview authorities,” Lily persisted.
“Dr. Calder’s already taken the time to bring you your books,” Angelina reminded her. “He may be in a hurry. He probably has a family waiting for him.”
Involuntarily, her gaze met his as she anticipated his response.
“I’m not in a hurry,” he said. “And there’s no one waiting for me except my dog.” His smug male smile told her that he knew she’d been fishing for information.
Serves you right for being so obvious! Angelina chided herself silently, averting her eyes. She hadn’t meant to blurt out the comment. She sounded like a desperate woman in a singles bar.
“What do you need to know about raccoons, Lily?” he asked solicitously.
“You really don’t have to—” Angelina said.
“I really don’t mind,” he said, winking at her mischievously as she turned just enough to see his face. “It’s not every day that raccoon authorities get the respect they deserve.”
“I need my binder,” Lily said exuberantly, opening her backpack. “I have to take notes!”
At least Lily was excited about her schoolwork, Angelina thought as her daughter and the veterinarian settled at the breakfast nook table for the interview. Lily’s teacher was right—Lily was interested in anything that centered on animals.
At last the sauce was ready. Angelina gratefully turned off the burner and poured the sauce over the linguine she’d cooked earlier and the chopped turkey she’d thawed. After mixing the casserole and sliding it into the oven, she glanced at the table where her daughter and Dr. Calder were seated.
Lily was writing with fierce concentration and the vet was idly petting Princess who, after some pestering, had wound up in his lap. Satisfied that she would not be missed, Angelina stole out to her bedroom to brush her hair and put on a fresh coat of lipstick.
Impulsively, she dotted her wrists and the hollow of her neck with the expensive perfume she hoarded for special occasions. After recapping the small bottle, she paused, surprised at what she was doing and contemplating the whimsical impulse that had led her to put on the fragrance. Finally, with a resolute sigh, she placed the bottle back on the vanity and rolled her eyes at her reflection in the mirror. “You need to get out more!” she said aloud.
She was tempted to change her T-shirt. It was a gag gift from her best friend. Angelina never wore it in public, but it was big and comfortable and great to schlepp around the house in. But as embarrassing as it was to be caught in the garish thing, changing it would be too obvious, an admission that she had something to be embarrassed about. She did
, however, slip on some flats. She might be stuck with If You’re Rich, I’m Available on her chest, but she refused to run around barefoot in front of a man she hardly knew, especially one who’d looked at her the way the man sitting at her kitchen table had.
“Raccoons do something a little unusual,” the vet was explaining when Angelina returned to the kitchen. “They wash their food before they eat it.”
“Like Mommy washes fruits and vegetables?”
“Well, they don’t have sinks like your mother has in her kitchen, but if there’s water around, they’ll dunk their food in it.”
“I hate to interrupt,” Angelina said, “but all this talk about raccoons must be making you thirsty. Would you like some milk or juice?”
“Juice!” Lily said.
“You might try ‘please’ along with that,” Angelina coaxed, and Lily complied.
“That’s better,” Angelina said, turning her attention to Dr. Calder.
“I’ll have juice, too,” he said, and added, grinning, “please.”
Angelina nodded and walked to the refrigerator. As she reached inside for the juice, she heard the vet whisper conspiratorially to Lily, “I almost forgot.”
Angelina pretended not to hear his comment—or the gasp of suppressed laughter from her daughter which followed. It was so good to see Lily’s eyes alight with harmless mischief, her young face relaxed and open instead of pinched with unnatural seriousness.
For the light in her daughter’s eyes, more than for the flat tire he’d changed or the schoolbooks he’d delivered or the help he was giving Lily with her report, Angelina owed the veterinarian a debt of gratitude. That indebtedness disturbed her. The good deeds were piling up fast, and she didn’t know him well enough to owe him anything beyond a courteous thank-you.
She studied him as surreptitiously as possible as she poured the juice into glasses. As little as she knew about him, she would have been hard-pressed to find a man who seemed less like a stranger.
He was, she decided, more average than anything else. His well-broken-in sneakers, his no-designer-label jeans, the T-shirt with the name and dog-and-cat logo of his clinic on his chest made him seem accessible and familiar.
He was tall enough to be taller than most women wearing heels, broad chested enough to project an impression of strength and gregarious enough to have been raised in the house next door. His features were rugged but attractive, his green eyes expressive, his eyelashes lush, his sandy brown hair thick. And his smile, as he acknowledged the juice she set before him on the table, was...quite nice. It lingered in Angelina’s mind as she turned to set the other glass of juice in front of her daughter.
Not This Guy! Page 4
