by H. P. Munro
The old dog stopped when he heard his name and looked up at the vet with doleful eyes. His tail started to wag back and forth a few times until the effort seemed too much and he lay down on the floor.
Emmett Day gave Erin a disbelieving look but took the dog’s leash that she held out to him.
“Well, we’ll see,” he muttered, as he pulled on Buster’s leash in an attempt to get the old dog back on his feet.
“I’m sure I’ll see you again soon, Emmett,” Erin said sweetly, motioning to Cindy to accompany him out of the clinic.
“You want me to lock the door?” Cindy whispered as she passed. “Stop him from coming back in.”
Erin gave it a second’s consideration. “Push the sofa in front of it too, just to be sure,” she replied with a wink.
Chapter Three
“Okay, so I’ve narrowed it down to a couple of suspects,” Molly announced, as she flung her purse onto Charlotte’s chair.
“I know I’ve been out of the dating game for a bit, but I’m pretty sure referring to potential suitors as suspects isn’t the done thing!” Charlotte smiled at Molly.
She would never admit it, but ever since Molly decided to create her own version of The Bachelorette, using Charlotte as the dating bait, she’d felt a little excitement ignite inside of her.
Molly scrunched her face up. “Whatever.” She flipped open Charlotte’s laptop and flopped onto the sofa beside her. “I’ve been chatting online with a couple of them today, and I’ve screened out the ones I think might be slightly unhinged.”
“Did you actually do any work today?”
Molly snorted, then rather sheepishly glanced sideways at Charlotte. “I’m your friend, I would do anything for you. Besides, I’m also your lawyer, so I billed Elliot Enterprises for the time.”
Shocked at her friend’s impudence, Charlotte shook her head. “You’re very lucky I love you.”
“So the one I thought sounded most promising was the girl called Sarah. I told you about her on the phone last night.”
Charlotte frowned as she tried to extract the details of Sarah from those of the twelve other women that had responded to her profile. She and Molly had sat on the phone for an hour and a half looking at the responses and deciding on who to pursue.
“Was she the photographer or the bar owner?” Charlotte scooted closer to Molly to look at the details on the screen.
“The photographer. I’ve been…well, you’ve been”—she corrected—“flirting with her all day. We…no, wait, I mean you, chatted about your love for extreme sports, and she said with your eyes she’d be into extreme anything.” Molly grinned proudly at her friend.
“Well, I am pretty gorgeous and an awesome flirt.” Charlotte smiled. Her head shake as if she were in a shampoo commercial made both of them laugh. “So, what else did she say?”
Molly clapped as she saw a flickering envelope from Sarah in Charlotte’s inbox. “Well, she told me she was going to send an email through with some more photos as she didn’t think her profile one did her justice and whoop, heeeeere it is,” Molly sang as she pointed to the envelope on the screen.
“So? Open it already. See what she’s sent.” Charlotte was suddenly nervous. Was she about to see a picture of the woman she was going to fall in love with and who would finally exorcise the ghosts of her past? She quickly shook her head. She was putting too much pressure on the situation.
Molly clicked on the envelope and opened the attachments.
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…what did you say to her?!” Charlotte screamed at Molly.
Molly sat with her mouth wide open and her eyebrows somewhere near her hairline. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, but nothing came out.
“She’s naked, Molly…Naaaaked. Nude, as in no clothes and…and tied up. With handcuffs!” Charlotte’s head snapped back and forth from her friend to the screen. “What did you say to her that made her think she should send me porn shots of herself?”
Still sitting staring at the screen but finally able to speak, Molly shook her head as she waved her hand over the image on the screen. “Seriously, it was all strictly PG flirting, I swear. I didn’t encourage her to…to do this!”
“Please close the picture. I think we can strike Sarah from the list.” Charlotte felt torn. She wanted to laugh at the situation, but was also acutely aware of being disappointed that her dream of a future girlfriend had turned into a naked dominatrix with… ‘were those nipple clamps?’ she wondered as the image disappeared from the screen. ‘Not going to disappear from my brain though. Nope that’s going to stay for a while and not in a good way,’ she thought. She was brought out of her reflection by a snort of laughter beside her.
“What are you laughing at? This is not funny. Okay, no, it is.” Charlotte allowed herself to join her giggling friend.
“I was just thinking a couple of things she said make far more sense! Whatever you do, don’t open the picture titled, ‘water sports.’ I’m guessing she wasn’t talking about snorkeling.”
Charlotte flung her head back and guffawed loudly.
Ten minutes later both women sat on the sofa, Molly still chuckling softly and Charlotte hiccupping every so often.
“This is interesting.” Molly sat up straighter as she looked at the laptop screen.
“Please no more and delete that damned profile. If I’m going to date then I’m going to date via traditional methods. Oh, God, my stomach is aching.”
“No, nothing like that.” Molly shook her head. “You’ve got an email from a Virginia Grace.”
Charlotte stiffened at the mention of the name. “Delete it please.”
“Is she a relative? You have relatives?”
“She’s my mom.”
The admission was barely above a whisper but Molly heard it. “You have a mom?”
Charlotte gave her a look hovering somewhere between frustration and bemusement. “Did you think I was a pod person? Of course I have a mom.”
Molly shook her head quickly. “No, it’s just, you’ve never said a thing about your family. God, I don’t even know where you come from.”
“A little town, nowhere special. Delete the email, I’m not interested in what she has to say and stop reading my emails.” Charlotte shook her head, making her curls bounce manically. She jumped up from the sofa and started to pace.
“Charlotte, please will you sit down. You’re giving me neck strain with all the back and forth,” Molly said as she rubbed the back of her neck.
“I can’t believe she’s trying to contact me.”
“Maybe it’s something important?”
“I doubt that. My father died a year ago, and I only heard about that from someone else back home after the funeral happened. If she couldn’t be bothered to contact me for that, then I don’t think I will ever be interested in what she has to say.” Charlotte winced at the memory.
Molly hesitated for a moment as her growing curiosity almost overtook her loyalty to her friend. However, with a sigh, she clicked on the delete icon. “You’ve got another email from a Ruth Campbell? Do you know her?”
“What did I just say about reading my emails?” Frowning, Charlotte sat down and took the laptop from her friend. “First my mom and now Ruth. Something must be happening,” she mused as she opened the email and started to read.
Hey Charlotte, hope you’re well and still happy in the big city. Thought I’d drop you a line about what’s happening back home. I’m good, chasing after Ben – who’s one now (where’d time go??) and is keeping me busy.
Peter is okay. The garage is still keeping him busy enough to keep a roof over our head and food on the table. Sully is still dating my sister (Don’t say a thing, I’m still working through it). Teddy still hates you for beating her in the county tennis championship. Alex and her doctor (Maddie) are now living together, which means I have to sell my mama’s place…Grrr (actually, wait, that sounded weird. Maddie’s not actually Alex’s doctor, she’s her girlfriend. Th
e story of how they came together is kinda cute but too long to get into here).
Sam Hunter is still trying to get into the Winter Olympics doing some biathlon thing, which means not only is he skiing everywhere (on wheels!) but he’s shooting up a storm too. Peter had to yell at him yesterday for practicing at the garage…beside a propane bottle!
I know you’d never ask, but Erin seems good.
Charlotte stopped. She’d found herself smiling as she pictured the faces from back home, but that final single sentence had her reeling. She was used to sporadic email updates from Ruth during the past year, and although unwilling to be honest with herself, she actually looked forward to reading them. However, just seeing Erin’s name in type brought back all the feelings of hurt and guilt from when she’d last seen Erin more than twenty years before.
She shook her head trying to rid her mind of the memory of Erin’s tear-stained face and started to read once more.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that Grace Falls’ 150 year celebrations are next month, and it’d be nice if the one Grace that’s left - that folks actually like - was here. Your mother is still as popular as ever, you’ll be pleased to hear - I typed mama at first, but it didn’t seem right to call her that. I could almost feel her glaring at me, so I changed it! On the mother front, I may or may not have inadvertently given the dragon (that felt infinitely easier to type than mama!) your email address. I was hormonal when she asked me. If she hasn’t/doesn’t email you then I didn’t. If she has then I’m sorry. Anyway it would be great if you were here to celebrate with us. You really should think about coming home. It’s time Charlotte.
“Bad news?” Molly asked gently.
Shaking her head, Charlotte closed the email. “Nope, just news.” She placed the laptop onto the sofa, rose with a sigh and headed towards the kitchen. “I’m getting some wine; you want some?” she called over her shoulder.
“Yes please.”
“White or red…” Charlotte slowly lowered the two bottles of wine in her hands as she reentered the room and spotted Molly with her laptop. “Please tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re doing.”
“That depends. What do you think I’m doing?”
“You’re reading my email after I told you not to…twice!”
Molly sheepishly closed the laptop. “Okay, yeah I’m totally doing that. I’m sorry, it was an asshat move.”
“It totally was.”
“Still love me?”
“You’ve been downgraded to tolerate,” Charlotte replied, annoyed with her friend.
“If I order pizza with extra anchovies even though I hate them, could I get an upgrade?”
Sighing, Charlotte shook her head. “You really do push your luck. Order up and I’ll consider moving you back up to like.”
Chapter Four
Erin raised her head at the timid knock on her office door. A broad smile appeared on her face as she recognized the blonde hair peeking around the edge.
“Jessica Milne-Sullivan, what can I do for you on this fine Friday?” She rose from her desk to meet the young girl.
“I was wondering if I could take Cooper out for a walk?” Jessica looked over towards the dog bed in the corner where Erin’s cocker spaniel lay lazily surveying the humans who had interrupted his afternoon snooze.
“Sure you can. Just give me a second and I’ll go get his leash.” Erin paused as she went to leave the room, then returned to her desk and made sure her computer screen was locked. The whole county knew well enough not to leave Jessica unsupervised with internet access, and Erin didn’t want to face the wrath of Jessica’s mother, Alex, if the youngster repeated her previous exploits while on Erin’s computer. The stories of horses bought on eBay as well as her escape to San Francisco the past year was the stuff of legend in Grace Falls.
“I wouldn’t have done anything, Doctor Hunter, honest.” Jessica knelt down to give Cooper some much appreciated attention.
Erin smiled. “I’m sure you wouldn’t, just give me a sec.” She wandered out into the reception area to retrieve the leather leash she’d dumped on the desk when she’d taken Cooper out earlier.
“You lock your computer?” Cindy asked, without looking up from her own screen.
“You know it!” Erin grinned, scooping up the leash and bumping Cindy’s chair with her hip. She returned to the room to find her dog on his back enjoying a five-star belly rub from Jessica.
“Here you go.” She clipped the leash to Cooper’s collar and handed it over. “Don’t have him out any longer than an hour and don’t let him eat anything from your mama’s coffee shop.”
Jessica nodded as she took the leash. “Promise I won’t.”
“And don’t leave him alone in your yard or he’ll try and dig up Buttercup again,” Erin said, referring to Jessica’s deceased rabbit of gigantic proportions, as she followed her into the waiting room. She smiled as she watched Jessica speaking to Cooper the entire way. However, the smile slid from her face when she spotted her next patient.
Standing in the reception, a vision in a pink suit and pearls, her hair as white as the Persian cat in the carrier balanced on the reception desk, was Virginia Grace.
“Why, Jessica Sullivan, how are you? You sweet thing,” Virginia said with her patent fake politeness.
“I’m very well, Ma’am. Thank you for asking.” She waved a hand towards Erin and headed towards the door. Turning before she left, Jessica screwed her face up. “Mrs. Grace, I know I have a pretty long last name, but I’m not in favor of people shortening it. My name is Jessica Milne-Sullivan.” She gave a sweet smile to the older woman before slipping out of the vet’s office leaving Erin and Cindy chewing on their lips trying not to laugh.
“Well I never. But what can you expect with her parents,”
It took all of Erin’s effort not to roll her eyes. “There’s not one damn thing wrong with any of her parents, and I’d say she showed you the same amount of respect you showed her.”
Virginia glared towards the vet. Her mouth twitched as though preparing to lambast Erin. Meanwhile, Erin glared straight back almost willing her to attempt it. Finally, Virginia thought better of it and gestured towards her cat. “I’m afraid that my Persian pussy Pearl is losing hair.”
It was a challenge, but Erin managed not to react to the gurgling noise now coming from behind the desk. Virginia glanced in the same direction, and the sound quickly became a cough.
“Excuse me, something caught,” Cindy mumbled, unable to raise her eyes from her keyboard.
“Why don’t you bring Pearl through to the exam room so I can take a look,” Erin said smoothly, deflecting attention away from her assistant, whose shoulders were now shaking uncontrollably.
Virginia brushed past Erin leaving the cat carrier on the desk for her to take through. Erin gave up the fight and let her eyes have free reign as they rolled at Virginia Grace’s notorious rudeness and sense of entitlement.
“If you haven’t heard anything in five minutes, come in ’cause I’ve probably killed her,” Erin whispered to Cindy as she dutifully lifted Pearl’s carrier.
“On it,” Cindy replied with a shaky voice.
***
“So, you think that Pearl has been losing hair?” Erin entered her office and placed the carrier onto the examination table.
“Have you become deaf or just as stupid as that brother of yours?”
“Sam is not stupid and neither am I. I just want to check the facts. Is the hair loss in one area or just generally?”
“Generally.”
“Okay.” Erin’s professionalism took over from any ill feeling she had towards Virginia Grace. She lifted Pearl from the carrier carefully as the cat was known for being almost as ornery as its owner. If she managed to get out of the appointment with only a few claw marks from either she would count it as a victory.
“Well, hair loss can be related to parasites, an allergy or it could be emotional.”
“Are you saying my cat e
ither has fleas or is stressed?” Virginia’s voice rose. “Is this what my family paid out on your education for? For you come out with that bullwacky!”
“It was the Grace Falls Foundation that paid for my education, and I no longer have a debt to the foundation, as well you know.”
Virginia’s face reddened at the comment. “And who do you think funds the foundation?” she huffed loudly. “I have no idea what my late husband, God rest his soul, thought he was doing writing off the remainder of your school loans.”
“Perhaps he felt guilty. An emotion I’m not sure you’re familiar with,” Erin murmured before raising her voice. “I think it better if we focus on Pearl’s treatment rather than go over old history. I’d like to take some samples just to rule out any parasites. For the next couple of days you should also put her on hypoallergenic food to rule out an allergy. Can you hold onto her while I get some equipment?”
She turned and walked towards her cupboard. It was only as she reached for the handle that she realized her hands were shaking. Ever since she was a child she could remember Virginia treating her family as ‘less than,’ and that disdain had only worsened after what happened with Charlotte. However, Erin was no longer a child or a scared teenager, she was a woman now, and Virginia Grace only elicited anger from her, not fear. She’d collected a scalpel and a glass slide when Virginia spoke again.
“Have you spoken with Charlotte recently?”
The sound of breaking glass filled the room as the glass slide Erin was holding slipped out of her hand into the sink. It wasn’t just the casual question that threw her but also the change in attitude. The sharp tone was replaced by an almost desperate breathless voice, quite unlike anything that Erin heard pass Virginia Grace’s lips before.
“The last time I spoke to Charlotte I was seventeen, and you were there,” Erin stated, not turning to face Virginia.
