by V. K. Sykes
Teddy shook her head. “Toby didn’t seem quite right when I fed him this afternoon. His eyes were a little cloudy and he didn’t have his usual energy. I think I’d better go back and check on him again since Noah’s at the game and the housekeeper wouldn’t know a sick dog if he threw up on her shoes.”
If necessary, she’d load Toby in her car and take him to the emergency vet. She’d had one Poodle bloat on her in this job and prayed she’d never have another.
“Well, with what the guy’s paying us, he ought to be able to expect extra special service if he wants it,” Emma said.
Teddy’s eyes widened.
Emma snorted. “I wasn’t talking about that kind of special service.”
Teddy hadn’t mentioned anything about her passionate night with Noah, though she’d of course filled her partner in on the arguments they’d had over Baron Energy. Emma had been supportive of her decision to take a time-out, but Teddy knew she was also concerned that they might lose Noah as a client.
“Anyway, whatever you can do to make sure you stay in the man’s good graces, I’m all for it,” Emma continued. “And, like I said, if you ever want to switch assignments with me, you know I’d give it my utmost consideration.”
Teddy had actually given that possibility some thought. She seriously doubted Noah would accept the switch, though, and she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. Not when she had the best-paying gig anyone could imagine. And not when she needed that kind of income if she was going to make her law school dream come true before she was an old lady.
Teddy gave her partner a quick hug. “I know you think I’m a nut job to be fighting with Noah over his father’s company, much less risking our contract with him. But you’ve got to trust me on this. I’ll do everything I can to make it work.”
Emma squeezed her back. “I know you will.”
As she headed out to her car, Teddy could only pray she was right even though everything felt so wrong.
* * *
As soon as she let herself in through Noah’s front door, Teddy knew she’d been right to come back. A revolting smell immediately overpowered her. Toby had clearly done his business in the house—something he’d never do unless he was sick. And Teddy knew that particular odor all too well. It spelled big trouble.
“Cristina?” she called out as she hurried through the foyer and down the center hall. “Cristina?” she said in a louder voice.
Teddy raced past the housekeeper’s door, seeing it was closed. Then she remembered that Cristina often went to the movies with a friend on discount night.
The smell was clearly coming from the kitchen, and as Teddy slid around the corner grasping the doorjamb for balance, her heart sank at the sight of Toby stretched out flat against the French doors. Behind him, running almost the length of the kitchen was the reeking evidence of his intestinal distress. It looked like the poor sweetheart had gone to the door hoping to be let out, but there had been no human in the house to make that happen for him.
And that sent a sharp stab of guilt through Teddy’s gut.
When he saw her, Toby started to struggle to get up. Ignoring the mess for the moment, Teddy ran to him and got down on her knees, looking him in the eyes. They were glassy and barely focused. He managed to wobble up onto his feet, but his pasterns were bent and he was shaking. Not chancing that he might fall over, Teddy coaxed him back down until he lay on his side. She gently palpated his abdomen which, thank God, was soft and not bloated out. His breathing was steady and not too labored. Had he perhaps eaten something weird in the yard? Or picked up some kind of intestinal bug on one of their trips to the park?
“Sadie?” Teddy called for the other Poodle, wanting to see if she was all right. As she stroked Toby’s head, she heard Sadie thump down the stairs and paddle down the hall. Teddy didn’t want Sadie tracking through the mess so she got up and collared the dog before she reached the kitchen. Toby’s sister seemed fine so Teddy shut her in the laundry room to keep her out of the way for now.
Turning back to Toby, Teddy raced through the options available to her. She could get a dose of metronidazole from her kit and pill Toby, hoping that the antibiotic would soon knock out whatever was ailing him. Or, she could load the dog up and race off to the emergency vet. They knew her well at a 24-hour clinic downtown, and it was only about fifteen minutes away at this time of day. Either way, she had to make a decision and soon. She glanced at her watch—she couldn’t call Noah, not when the ballgame was certainly still in progress.
Had it been her dog, she might have tried the metronidazole and carefully monitored Toby overnight. But he wasn’t her dog, and she wasn’t about to take even the slightest risk of screwing up with Noah’s beloved pet. Better to leave a message on his cell and head straight to the emergency vet.
But first she had to do a quick cleanup. If Cristina got home to this reeking mess, she’d probably have a heart attack or faint and give herself a concussion. Teddy did not want that on her conscience, so she gently led Toby out into the hall then grabbed a roll of paper towels, a black garbage bag, and the bottle of disinfectant spray she kept under the kitchen sink.
This is the job, she reminded herself as she inhaled short breaths and got to work.
Her cleaning efforts were basic but enough to get rid of the mess and most of the smell. After double bagging what she’d picked up, Teddy opened the door to the garage and tossed the bag into the trash bin. She let Sadie out of the laundry room and collared Toby, snapping on a leash and walking him slowly out to her car after locking the front door.
She’d just opened the rear hatch, thinking maybe it was wiser not to risk him messing the back seat, when headlights washed over her and Toby.
The BMW’s tires squealed as it stopped hard in the driveway. Noah.
How can he be home this early?
When Toby didn’t jump into the SUV—another indication of how out of sorts he was feeling—Teddy slid her arms up around his legs and hoisted him up. “Lie down, sweetie,” she said in a soothing voice, easing him gently into the position she wanted.
When she turned around, Noah was standing next to her, his shoulders hiked up around his ears as he peered in at his dog. “Teddy, what’s going on?”
“I’m taking Toby to the emergency vet. He made a mess in the kitchen and looks distressed to me. I could try giving him something and see how he does, but I thought you’d probably want me to get him to a vet.”
He thought for a couple of moments, then nodded. “You thought right. Let’s go.”
“You’re coming?” She mentally kicked herself as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Of course he would come—he loved Toby and felt an enormous responsibility toward his aunt’s dog.
“We’re wasting time,” he said. “I’ll get my car out of the way and ride with you. You’ll be coming back here after we’re done at the vet, right?”
“Of course,” Teddy said with no hesitation, though she actually thought that probably wouldn’t be necessary. If Toby was declared okay, Noah could take him home by himself. If the vet wanted to keep the dog overnight, then there was certainly no need for her to go back to Bryn Mawr other than to drop him off. But pointing all that out was not something that would make Noah happy.
She closed the hatch and hurried into the car. As she looked in her rearview mirror at Noah gunning the BMW back out onto the street, she allowed herself a sigh of relief. While she was perfectly capable of handling this emergency on her own, the fact that Noah would be with her gave her a surprising amount of comfort.
Why, she wasn’t yet ready to examine.
* * *
Noah completely trusted Teddy’s judgment when it came to the dogs. When she told him what Toby had done, for about one second he’d thought that maybe it would be over-reacting to rush the pup to the vet. But Teddy was a pro, and if she thought it made sense to get Toby checked out, he was down with that. Hell, why take even the slightest risk of anything happening? Aunt Roz would p
ut a contract out on him if he screwed up with her baby.
The clinic was surprisingly busy at this hour. With only one vet on duty and a dog and a cat ahead of them in the queue, they had to wait well over half an hour before the girl at the front desk ushered them into a small examination room that smelled like an obnoxious combination of disinfectant and animal odors. It made him want to stick a clothespin on his nose, but Teddy didn’t even seem to notice it.
They hadn’t talked much on the drive to the clinic or in the waiting area. She’d briefly described what she’d done at the house—which he’d sincerely and profusely thanked her for—and then wanted to know why he’d come back to the house so early tonight. Not inclined to delve into his struggles on the field, he’d told her the bare-bones truth—that he’d pitched one inning in the middle of the game and, after icing his arm and showering, he’d left. Normally, he waited in the clubhouse for the game to end but tonight he’d just wanted to get out of there. Go home, put his feet up, and drink a beer while he watched some mindless TV and thought about his messed up life.
Those plans had been shot to hell before he’d even made it out of his car.
The vet entered the room a minute later, stethoscope around her neck and a clipboard in her hand. Blonde and blue-eyed with black-rimmed glasses, she wore a flower-print blouse under an open white lab coat. She barely looked out of her teens but was probably late twenties. Ignoring Teddy, she glanced at Noah and then back down at the clipboard. “Mr. Cade? Noah Cade?” she said as she gave Toby’s head a quick pat.
“Yes.” She’d obviously recognized who he was.
“I’m Dr. Sarah Clark.” She stuck her hand out. “You’re the Patriots’ pitcher, aren’t you?”
Noah flicked a glance to Teddy who was already rolling her eyes. “Guilty as charged.” Can we get on with the examination, please?
“Toby has diarrhea, is lethargic and has cloudy eyes,” Teddy intervened in a crisp voice. “I’m guessing he’s feverish, too. He was fine four hours ago when I fed him, but when I returned home, he was like this. We thought it would be prudent to get him checked out by a vet, especially since he’s quite an elderly dog.”
Dr. Clark glanced at the clipboard again. “Yes, Mrs. Cade, I see from the chart that he’s almost eight. You definitely did the right thing.”
Noah almost chuckled at Teddy’s reaction to being called “Mrs. Cade”. Her lips opened wide for maybe a second before she clamped them back shut.
“Ms. Quinn,” she finally managed in a strangled voice. “I take care of Mr. Cade’s dogs when he’s not there.”
The vet nodded. “I see. Well, if you’d like to lift Toby onto the examination table, I’ll see if I can figure out what’s going on.” She reached into a box of clear latex gloves and pulled a pair on.
Noah hoisted Toby gently, supporting the dog’s chest and back legs. Teddy reached in to help make sure Toby found his footing on the slick metal table.
Dr. Clark stuck a thermometer up Toby’s butt, which made the poor guy’s legs tremble. Noah murmured soothingly to him while Teddy stroked the dog’s head. The vet then put her stethoscope on Toby’s chest. Noah took the opportunity to slide his arm around Teddy’s waist and give her a light squeeze. He supposed she might interpret the gesture as gratitude for taking care of the dog tonight, but whatever she was thinking she didn’t wriggle out of his light grasp. Instead, she gave him a faint smile, possibly from relief that he’d backed up her decision. Whatever, he relished the feel of her slim, strong body against him.
In truth, much of what he felt for Teddy right now was gratitude, but he felt a hell of a lot more for her, too. Just being with her at the vet clinic, working together to make sure Toby was okay, seemed to draw him even closer to her. Teddy was so competent, so calm, and so down-to-earth. So real. And so different from most women he’d wound up dating in the past.
And, damn, he wanted her back in his house. Back in his bed.
“Do you think he could have swallowed something that upset his system?” the vet asked as she examined Toby’s eyes. “Something in your trash or something outside?”
Though Toby wasn’t entirely solid on his legs, the dog was cooperative as she examined him, standing on the table like a trouper. Noah rubbed one of his ears in the precise way Toby adored.
“I never see Toby go near the trash,” Teddy said. “And he’s not one to go around licking up everything he comes across on the ground. But of course I don’t know what happened in the time I was gone from the house. The housekeeper would have let him out into the back yard at some point, so there’s always a chance he could have gotten into something.” Her mouth pursed unhappily. “Though I can’t imagine what.”
“Me neither,” Noah said, giving Teddy a reassuring smile. “We try hard to keep it pristine back there.”
“I’m sure.” Dr. Clark removed the thermometer and examined it, then nodded. “His heart and his breathing are fine, but his temperature is a slightly elevated. He’s a little dehydrated, too, which is normal after a bout of diarrhea. I’d suggest we keep him here overnight so we can get some fluids into him. We’ll have his blood checked, of course, and his stool for parasites.”
Noah flinched at the word parasites.
“It could be a virus and not parasites, right?” Teddy asked anxiously.
“Yes, but whatever it is, we’ll be on top of it.” Clark opened the door and called out to someone. A couple of seconds later, a blue-smocked young woman came in. “Our vet tech will take Toby to the back now,” Clark said, “if you’re okay with leaving him.”
Noah hated the thought of the poor dog being there all night, stuck in a crate and poked and prodded for blood and God only knew what else. He figured he should trust the vet but wanted to hear from Teddy first.
He met and held Teddy’s gaze. “Teddy, are you okay with leaving him?”
She nodded. “As much as I don’t like to have to do it, they do need to run some tests to make sure it’s nothing serious. I think we—I mean you—should do it, Noah.”
Noah turned back to the doctor and her assistant. “Well, if she’s okay, I’m okay.”
The words were barely out of his mouth before Teddy slipped her hand in his and squeezed for a brief moment before pulling it away quickly.
- 17 -
Teddy turned into Noah’s driveway keeping her engine running and her hand on the gear lever. The short trip up from center city had been punctuated by long periods of silence. Searching for something innocuous to talk about after they’d thoroughly covered Toby’s situation at the vet clinic, Teddy had asked Noah about tonight’s game. His answers were clipped and revealed little, all but shutting her down. For the rest of the ride he just stared at the darkened landscape while she kept her eyes grimly on the road.
She still couldn’t believe she’d slipped her hand into Noah’s as the vet assistant took Toby away. Given everything that had happened between them, it had been a stupid thing for her to do and must surely have sent him some kind of message that she still wanted to be with him.
Well, hell, she did still want to be with him. Or at least her idiot body did. The evidence was all too plain in the way her heart rate kicked up whenever she even thought about him, much less touched him. When he’d slid his arm around her waist in the examination room, it had been all she could manage not to collapse against all that male hotness. And damned if she didn’t get a little fantasy thrill out of the vet calling her “Mrs. Cade”, too. How pathetic was that?
And then some instinct had made her slide her hand into his warm, strong grip. She’d been trying ever since to put the move down to her distress over the dog, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that there was a lot more to it than that. She could only wonder exactly what Noah had made of it.
Not much, if his continuing silence was any indication. And right now he was just staring at his house, an abstract expression on his face. Was he ever going to get out? Was he going to ask her to come in
? And what would she say if he did?
Cripes, she was beginning to feel like a teenager again, wondering if her junior prom date was going to kiss her goodnight or not.
Finally, Noah unbuckled his seat belt and shifted so he could more or less face her. It was no easy feat considering he was an extremely tall and brawny man folded into what was for him a pint-sized SUV.
“Teddy, I’ve been thinking a lot about those arguments we had.”
Oh, no. We’re not going to go at it again, are we? She had no problem holding her ground against Noah or anybody else when it came to talking about the environment, but tonight was surely not the time or place for it. Besides, hashing those issues over and over with him would accomplish nothing other than to further endanger their relationship and her job.
“Uh, huh,” she said, trying for a neutral tone.
He obviously sensed her reluctance to re-engage. “Look, I probably came on a little strong about that stuff. I don’t want you to think I don’t get your point of view and appreciate it, because I do.”
Well, that’s a little progress. “Okay,” she said.
“Actually, though, I have to admit that I don’t really understand it. I’m a ballplayer, and I lived a lot of my life in Texas where oil and drilling are right up there with God, guns, and apple pie. What the hell do I know about Pennsylvania valleys and dairy farms?”
She smiled. “Absolutely nothing—clearly,” she said, gently mocking him.
He gave an exaggerated wince. “Ouch. Well, more or less nothing, anyway. But I’m willing to learn. And maybe the company would be, too—if they got the message in the right way.”
Teddy eyed him, trying not to let her skepticism show. She felt pretty sure that Baron Energy’s top executives didn’t gave a damn about people like her but wasn’t about to voice something that cynical. Not when Noah seemed to be trying to reach some understanding with her. “What are you thinking?”
