Sam introduced me to Julie, the volunteer groomer, then left to make his rounds.
“Angel had an encounter with a skunk,” I explained to the slim brunette who exuded a serious air. “Dr. Long thought it might be best if she had a haircut.”
Julie grimaced at the odor and nodded her agreement.
“Don’t worry,” I whispered to Angel. “Short hair is in this spring.”
Still, I couldn’t watch as Julie gave Angel a courtesy “puppy” cut. Afterward, I sucked in a sharp breath. Gone was the long silvery blue hair on her body, left was the tan hair around her face. She looked like a miniature lion. Wearing a pink bow. Helena would have a stroke.
“It’ll grow back,” Julie assured me. “Arma Chickle told me about you—you’re the reporter doing an article on Dr. Long.”
“That’s right,” I said, responding to the woman’s friendliness. “It’s a follow-up to the hometown-hero issue, it’s about his vet practice. Maybe you could give me some insider information.”
“About Dr. Long?” The woman smiled. “He’s amazing, taking care of his patients and our animals too. I told him he needs to get a life, get married or something.”
I laughed along with her. “Has he ever been married?”
The woman shook her head. “But heaven knows, Val Jessum has tried hard enough.”
I laughed harder. “Oh?”
She frowned. “You’re not going to print that, are you?”
“No,” I promised.
“Well, between you and me, Val is kind of high-maintenance, and I think the doc prefers the quiet life.”
My laughter petered out. Well, that definitely knocked me out of the running.
“What are you ladies talking about in here?” Sam asked, walking in.
“Nothing,” we said in unison, then Julie added, “Except your magazine cover.” From behind a counter she produced a copy of Personality. “My sister Rachel asked me to get you to sign a copy for her.” She handed him a pen. “You’re a celebrity. People have been calling here asking about you.”
Alarm struck my chest—the tabloid guy? “Who?”
They both looked at me, and I conjured up a smile. “I thought it might make an interesting tidbit for the article.”
Julie nodded, then shrugged. “Just local folks, all wishing the doc well.”
Sam flushed, but scribbled his name on the cover, then scratched Angel’s head. “I’m ready to go,” he said to me.
I held up my camera. “Can I get a few pictures?”
“Sure,” he said. “I’ll give you the nickel tour.”
He led me to a room lined with cages. “These are our adoptable pets at the moment. We have a few that are on the mend from various injuries and illnesses in another room.”
I saw thankfully that not all of the cages were full, but there were enough dogs and cats on hand to give me pause. I stopped in front of a cage that held a white dog with perky ears who pawed at the cage and barked to get my attention. I snapped a picture. Indeed, all of the animals seemed to realize they were on display and preened for me and Sam when we walked by.
“To be adopted, they have to have a good pet personality,” Sam said.
I snapped more pictures. “How long will they stay here?”
“The pound will keep them as long as there’s space and food, or six months, whichever comes first.”
I balked. “Six months?”
He nodded. “How soon will your magazine run your article?”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that my article wasn’t scheduled and if it did run, it probably would be considered filler and given minimal space. “I’ll try to get it in ASAP.” I put away my camera and walked around cooing to the dogs and cats individually. One black and brown dog was particularly attentive. “Oh, what a pretty girl,” I said, clucking to the animal.
“It’s a boy,” Sam said. “Careful—not all of these animals are used to being around people.”
But the dog seemed friendly, sniffing me and making little hoarse barking noises. I straightened and turned to Sam. “What do you mean?”
Too late, I felt wetness seep through my sleeve. I looked back to see Friendly had hiked his leg and taken a pee on my jacket. I jumped back from the cage to the tune of Sam’s hearty laughter. “That wasn’t funny,” I said, peeling off my jacket.
“I tried to warn you,” he said. “Are you ready to go shopping now?”
17
“I DON’T believe it,” Jacki said sleepily.
“Believe it,” I said.
“Kenzie Mansfield went shopping for clothes at a place called Contractor Supply.”
“That’s right.”
“What the heck kind of store is it?”
“They sell building supplies…and clothes.”
“What kinds of clothes?”
“Great stuff,” I said, rummaging through my finds. “I bought Wrangler jeans like the real cowboys wear, Dickies overalls in a fabulous burnt-orange color, plus unstructured coveralls to die for in black, navy and gray. Just add a Gucci belt, and voila!”
“You’ll probably start a new fad when you get back to town.”
“And did I mention this place sells Doc Marten boots? I’ve always wanted a pair, and never had a place to wear them.” I picked up the lace-up boots to hug them to my chest. “Now I have them, and they were half of what I would’ve paid in the city!”
“Good for you. I take it you managed not to kill Sam yesterday?”
“Yes. Although there was a minor incident with a skunk that was sort of my fault.”
“You were squirted by a skunk?”
“Yeah. Sam had to burn the clothes we were wearing. My mohair sweater, and my Via Spiga loafers—gone.”
“Oh, that’s tragic. But doesn’t that smell get in your skin and hair?”
I hesitated. “Sam gave me a tomato-juice bath.”
“He gave you a bath?”
“It wasn’t sexy at all.” I chewed on a nail. “Although the shower afterward could have gotten a little out of hand.”
“You’re showering with the man?”
“Just that one time. And nothing happened—he’s honoring my request that we keep things professional.”
“Did I miss the article on taking professional showers?”
“There’s something else, Jacki.”
“What?”
“I think I’m in love with him.”
“Okay, I’m confused. You slept with him when you didn’t know him, and now that you’re in love with him, you’re not sleeping with him?”
“Right.”
“No wonder men can’t figure us out. Have you told him that you’re in love with him?”
“Oh, right, because I haven’t done enough since I arrived to make a fool out of myself.”
“Maybe he has feelings for you, too. He seems attracted to you.”
“Jacki, Sam Long lives on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. The attraction is that I’m female.”
“Is there a shortage of females in the town?”
“No. But he made a comment that women here want to get married and have kids.”
“Oh.”
“See? Sam Long has made it very clear that he has no intention of settling down. I should have trusted my allergies and kept my heart under wraps.”
“No matter what a man’s intentions are, Kenzie, love can still surprise him.”
“Okay,” I said, waving my arm crazily. “Let’s say that by some miracle the handsome, eligible country vet falls madly in love with the city girl with a penchant for disaster and who doesn’t even know what gravy is. He can’t just pick up his practice and move to the city. And I could never live here!”
“Why not?”
“Well,” I said dryly, “the four-hour commute to the magazine twice a day would be a bit taxing, don’t you think?”
Jacki sighed. “I guess you’re right. And you’ll probably feel differently about Sam when you come home and you’re no
t with him every day. Maybe that guy at work who asked you out will help you get over him.”
I worked my mouth from side to side. “Maybe.” I didn’t want to think about Daniel Cruz. “What’s going on with you and Ted?”
“Well, I might be reading more into this than I should, but…when I was at Ted’s place last night, I found a brochure…on rings.”
I blinked. “Engagement rings?”
“Yes!”
My heart raced for her. “He’s going to propose!”
“Maybe not—maybe he just got the brochure in the mail. Or maybe one of his friends sent it to him as a joke. Or maybe my mother dropped it off.”
“Or maybe he’s going to propose!”
“Maybe,” Jacki conceded with little lilt in her voice.
“Do you have any big getaways coming up? Special dinners?”
“I’m meeting his folks Friday.”
“Well, there you go. He’s going to introduce you to his folks, then he’s going to propose.”
“I don’t know. And I don’t want to think about it too much—oh, look at the time, I’m going to be late for work. Call me tomorrow?”
“Sure,” I said. “Talk to you tomorrow.” I hung up the phone and smiled for Jacki—she deserved a great guy in her life. And Ted would be lucky to have her.
I sighed. Love really did make the world go around. We were all in a constant state of loveness—searching for it, participating in it, agonizing over it or recovering from it.
I toyed with the phone cord, then sighed and made the call I’d been dreading.
“Personality magazine, Helena Birch speaking.”
“Helena, it’s Kenzie.”
“Kenzie, I just called you and the line was busy! Something’s wrong, isn’t it? Is it Angel? Dr. Long?”
Apparently I didn’t matter. “They’re fine.”
“I got your message that Dr. Long couldn’t do the procedure yesterday—did something come up?”
I took a deep breath. “Angel had a confrontation with a skunk, and although she’s fine, she did get sprayed.”
Helena gasped. “Is that poisonous?”
“No, it just smells really, really bad. So…we had to give her coat a little trim.”
“How much of a trim?”
“She’s bald.”
Helena wailed. I held the phone away from my ear and Angel lay down, covering her little lion head with her paws.
“Because of all that happened,” I said over her wailing, “Sam decided to wait until today to do the procedure.”
“Oh, she’ll be like all my friends,” Helena cried. “Bald and barren.” Then she stopped with a hiccup. “Wait a minute—he can’t do the procedure today.”
“Why not?”
“Because…something bad is going to happen today.”
I squinted. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve received…word…that something bad might happen today…where you are.”
“Received word?” I touched my forehead. “Can you be more specific?”
“I have my sources.”
“On the future?” I silently counted to three. “Helena, are you consulting a psychic?”
Dead silence on the other end confirmed my suspicion.
“That Madame person I took a message from once?”
“She’s a genius,” Helena said defensively.
I rolled my eyes. “Let me guess—she’s the one who warned you about the cover curse?”
“That’s right.”
“After the first couple of accidents, right?”
“She recognized the pattern.”
“She recognized an opportunity. Helena, she’s a fraud. Accidents happen to people all the time. The chances are good that anyone on the front of any magazine is going to have a fender-bender or take a fall. Do you realize that your psychic could be the one fostering this curse, maybe even calling the tabloids?”
“Has Dr. Long heard anything?”
“No, but I had to scare off a reporter from the National Keyhole.”
“Those vermin! Good job, Kenzie. And you might think that Madame Blackworth is a hoax, but talk to me when you’re facing menopause—you’ll try anything to stay sane.”
I bit my tongue to keep from telling her that she wasn’t sounding very sane at the moment.
“And I happen to believe in Madame Blackworth’s visions. Which is why I want you to promise me you won’t let Dr. Long do Angel’s procedure today.”
I sighed. “Okay, I’ll talk to him.”
“And keep an extra close eye on the doctor today.”
“I will.”
“Oh, and you be careful, too. I don’t know how I’d ever replace you, Kenzie, if something happened to you.”
“Goodbye, Helena,” I said, half touched by her concern and half offended by its self-serving angle.
I hung up the phone, looked at Angel and cringed. “Let’s find you a pretty sweater to wear today.”
I brushed Angel’s face and dressed her in a red Polo silk-blend sweater and plaid hair bow. I took a shower and dressed myself in my new five-pocket jeans with double stitched inside seams for extra durability in case I needed to ride or wrangle something. I lamented the fact that my hair still stank, and pulled it back into a ponytail. Then I jammed two halves of a bagel into the toaster and threw in a small load of towels for the sheer pleasure of the convenience. From the window I saw Sam walking toward the clinic, his head bent over a manual.
My heart buoyed. I removed the stuffing from under the door and bounded downstairs to meet him. Angel trotted behind. He walked in the door and grinned when he saw me. “Look at you in your country duds.”
I smiled and puffed out my chest. “Ready for duty— what’s on the schedule today? Ropin’? Ridin’? Tromping through the mud? Birthin’ babies?”
“The high-school mascot has a bad case of lice.”
“Oh.”
He laughed. “Don’t look so deflated—treating lice can be exciting.”
“If you say so.”
He picked up Angel and scratched her head. “You haven’t fed Angel this morning, have you?”
“No.”
“Good, because I’d rather she fast before I do the procedure this afternoon. She can have water, though.”
My mind raced for a good way to ask him to postpone the procedure. “If you’re too busy and need to put it off for another day…”
He shook his head and patted Angel’s belly. “No, I’d rather do it today so she can have some recovery time before the car trip home.”
I bit into my lower lip. He was already thinking about us leaving.
Suddenly his expression folded into a frown.
“What’s wrong?”
He was smoothing his fingers over Angel’s exposed belly. “I need to examine her.”
Heart thudding, I followed them into an exam room that was furnished with a miniature version of the padded table one would find in a human’s examination room. Sam set Angel on the table, then eased her to her side and lifted the sweater to feel up and down her stomach.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
He looked up. “Nothing that shouldn’t resolve itself in a few weeks.”
I grabbed the back of a chair. “She only has a few weeks to live?”
“No,” he said with a half smile. “She’s pregnant.”
I gasped. “Pregnant?”
He nodded and pulled down her sweater. “Just barely, I’d say maybe a couple of weeks along.” Angel sat up and barked.
“But Helena never lets her around other dogs—she’s terrified she’ll get fleas.”
His eyebrows rose. “Well, this wasn’t immaculate conception. Maybe she got away from Helena in the park—it only takes a few minutes.” He grinned. “That part of sex seems to be universal across all male species.”
I was too upset to laugh.
“Hey, didn’t you say that she disappeared at the groomer’s for a while?”
I closed my eyes briefly and nodded. The timing was right. Helena had entrusted me with her prize possession, and I had let her get knocked up.
Angel stood and barked again, this time more frantically—and at the door.
At the same moment, an alarm sounded, and I smelled smoke.
“Something’s on fire,” Sam said, bolting for the door.
My bagel. My stomach bottomed out as I ran into the hall to see smoke billowing from the upstairs bedroom door.
“Call 911 and get out!” Sam shouted, then grabbed a fire extinguisher from a wall mount in the hall and ran upstairs.
I made the call with shaking hands and a wobbly voice. When I slammed down the phone, I scooted Angel out the front door and started to follow her, then remembered Sam’s menagerie.
I glanced up and heard the loud hissing of the fire extinguisher being released. Sam could take care of himself, but the least I could do was try to save his animals from smoke inhalation. I opened the door to the sound of frightened cries and rattling cages. Smoke filtered into the room via the air duct in the ceiling. I unbolted the door in the back of the room that led to the outside and threw it open. It was a little-used back entrance that led almost directly into the woods. I found a rock to hold the door open, then ran back in for any cage I could lift. Again and again, I returned to carry out screeching cats and barking dogs and screaming birds. God help me, I left the rats and the snakes for last. I actually considered just throwing open the aquariums and letting them fend for themselves, but at the last minute, I picked up the rat aquarium and stumbled outside with it.
The snake aquarium took more courage—and strength. I could barely lift it, and being nose to nose with the creatures made me dizzy with fear. Then I spotted a hand dolly in the corner (I had moved enough times to recognize its usefulness). I turned my head, wrapped my arms around the aquarium, and lowered it to the dolly, then dragged it outside to set it next to the other cages lined up on the ground. I heard the distant sound of a fire truck wailing, and only then did I give in to the bone-bending thought that Sam might be in danger.
Because of me.
I heard his voice calling, and I almost ran back inside, until I realized that he was outside, calling my name.
“Sam, I’m here!” I ran around to the front where he stood with his hands cupped around his mouth. When he saw me, he briefly closed his eyes in apparent relief, and then jogged toward me.
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