by Lyn Cote
Jeannie’s own awkward awareness of the new situation made her wobbly, off-kilter. At the beginning of this new venture, she knew that striking the right balance of friendship between a single man and a single woman within a working relationship might prove to be a challenge. Yet one worth forging. Now she had a job she wanted and the home she wanted would be built by spring. Thank You, Lord. You are always faithful.
Bummer joined the girls and kittens rolling on the floor, behaving as if they had been separated for weeks, not just shy of two hours. Jeannie couldn’t help gazing with pleasure at the sight of her girls so joyful. Then she started lining up words for a friendly but purely platonic farewell.
“If only all dogs and cats could find their own kids, the ones who would love them, and be this happy,” Jake murmured.
The simple words revealed Jake’s heart. She turned to him, searching his face in the low light. The compassionate expression on his face slipped into her heart, moving her, drawing her to him. A thought came to her. She cleared her throat. “I agree. I was wondering…” She paused, undecided about whether she should broach this. Was it her place?
“What?”
“When I lived in Milwaukee, once in a while someone from an animal shelter would bring pets in need of being adopted on a local TV station. Have they tried that here? It might help nudge a few people to come in and adopt.”
“We did that a few years back. But the woman who took charge of that moved away.” Jake gazed at her, his expression so authentic, so caring, yet somehow boyishly uncertain.
He drew her—physically, as if they were connected by an invisible thread. What a kind man.
But he’s not for me. He’s my boss. She became brisk. “Okay, girls, time for us to go home. Tell Bummer we’ll see him soon.”
“Mom, couldn’t we take Bummer home with us?” Mimi said, hopping up.
“No,” Jeannie said firmly. “We will see him soon.”
“When?” Cindy asked, joining her sister in staring at the two adults. And then Bummer turned his gaze on them, too, as if silently asking the same question.
If Jeannie had been in the mood to be amused, she would have been. However, not now. She didn’t want to start Bummer creating problems for Jake again.
“You’ll see Bummer all the time,” Jake said. “Your mom is going to be working here. Sometimes she can bring you with her, like today. You were no trouble at all. In fact, Sandy told me that you did a lot of good calming my more nervous patients while they were waiting out here.”
Jeannie looked up at him, speechless at this offer. “Do you mean I can bring the girls with me on Saturdays?” An unexpected boon.
“Sure. As long as they behave as they did today. I told you, I believe in the benefits of humans being with animals. In the past, people and domesticated animals spent their lives side by side. We’ve lost that, lost something both humans and some animals need.” He grimaced. “Sorry. I don’t mean to lecture. I’ve always wanted to—”
“Can girls be vets, too?” Cindy interrupted, tilting her head back to look up at Jake.
“Yes, girls…women can be vets.” Jake stooped to be at eye level with the twins. “Girls and boys who want to be vets must study hard at school, especially in science.”
“Okay!” Mimi and Cindy hugged him. “We will!”
He clumsily patted both small backs. The sight cuddled Jeannie’s heart. She wanted to throw her arms around him, too. She held herself still, yet wondered what he’d been about to say before the girls interrupted him. I’ve always wanted to…what?
When the twins released him, Jeannie cleared the croaking frog in her throat. “Say good-night to Bummer, girls. And pick up the kittens and head for the van.” They all moved toward the doorway. The girls obediently scooped up the kittens and ran ahead.
Jake walked beside her and then reached to turn off the lights, accidentally throwing Jeannie off balance. She stumbled into his arms. “Oof!” she gasped. She knew she should pull away. She found she couldn’t. She fit into his arms perfectly.
Jake held her close a moment. His wool scarf tickled her nose. His breath warmed her cheek. “Sorry about that. Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Forcing herself, she pushed away from him. “I must have tripped.” She looked down. Bummer grinned up at her—did he plan that maneuver? Oh, boy, my imagination is running away with me. She offered Jake her hand. “Thanks for the job. I’ll do my best for you and the clinic.”
Jake cleared his throat. “I’m sure you will. See you Tuesday morning at eight o’clock.”
“Right.” She stumbled toward the door and fled into the cold night, her face flaming. She got into the van and slammed the door.
“Did he kiss you good-night?” Mimi piped up.
“What?” Aghast, Jeannie glanced over her shoulder at the twins.
“That’s what a man does at the end of a date. He kisses the girl good-night,” Mimi explained.
“Yeah, we seen it in lots of movies,” Cindy agreed. “And Aunt Ginny says that’s what happens.”
Jeannie started her engine and backed out to the road, fleeing toward home. “It was not a date.” And no kiss. Her lips tingled with…regret. “Dr. Jake just took us out for pizza to celebrate hiring me to work at the clinic. It was not a date,” she repeated. Who was she trying to convince? “And I’m not intending to date Dr. Jake. I’ve got you two to take care of, remember?”
“But Dr. Jake likes us,” Mimi said.
“Yes, he does. But liking us is not the same as dating.” Is never the same. At this thought, her lungs hitched, making it hard to breathe.
“But he could date you—”
“Mimi, Dr. Jake is a good man, but I’m just his office manager. I work for him. That’s all. Dr. Jake and I aren’t dating. If that changes, I’ll let you know.” But it won’t change.
“You’ll let us know right away?” Mimi asked, making sure.
“Yes, you’ll be the first to know. So until then—no comments about Dr. Jake and I kissing and dating. Got that?” She tilted her head to see the girls in the rearview mirror.
“Got it,” they repeated in unison.
Jeannie wished she felt some satisfaction, having succeeded in getting this knotty issue all sorted out. She didn’t. Kissing Jake sounded very appealing. Don’t go there. Men don’t go for package deals. You found that out the hard way—twice already. Got it?
Got it, she replied glumly.
On Wednesday afternoon, Jake—finally well rested but tense—drove southwest through strong winds toward the airport in Mosinee to pick up his father. Why did some fathers and sons rub each other the wrong way? Somehow his dad knew unfailingly which of Jake’s hot buttons to poke to get maximum reaction. Time for this to change, for Jake to change.
He drew in a deep breath. Even if he’s as critical as always, I will not react negatively to my father.
The strife between them had started years ago when his mom and his brother Tommy had died. That event set this edgy pattern in motion. Would he ever be able to give up the grudge he carried? Help me, God.
Jeannie’s face suddenly came to mind, as it often had over the past week. No woman had caught his attention like this for a very long time. He imagined her long golden brown hair soft between his fingertips. Stop. My life’s just too busy. And besides, she works for me now.
After the havoc Sheila had caused him, he felt a sharp twinge of caution. Though he tried to put the destructive past out of his heart and mind, his ex-wife had left her poisonous claws lodged within him.
Stretching his tight neck muscles, Jake tried to release his tension over the past, over his dad’s visit. He turned off the interstate at the Central Wisconsin Airport exit. Soon he pulled up to “Arrivals” and glimpsed his dad, waiting with a brown leather overnight bag and a matching suitcase by his side. Jake pulled in front of him at the curb.
His grim-faced father threw his bags in the back of the pickup before Jake could even get out to help. As Dan M
cClure got in, they exchanged gruff hellos and polite “How was your flight?” chatter. This ended too quickly. Jake headed back onto the interstate. A heavy silence hung in the truck cab till his dad craned his neck around as if searching for something. “Where’s Bummer?”
The question itself wasn’t what twisted Jake’s insides. His dad hadn’t asked a rude or intrusive question. Jake’s hypersensitivity was the culprit, and Bummer’s recent shenanigans sharpened this. There’s no call for me to respond negatively. He made his voice light and neutral. “Bummer decided to stay at the clinic while I came to get you.”
“What’s at the clinic that’s so attractive?”
Jeannie. Over the past few days Bummer had showed he was as attracted to her as much as he was to the twins. Jake couldn’t blame Bummer. Her soft musical voice drew him also, made him want to sit and talk to her. Hold her hand.
Jake wrenched his mind back to the present, his pulse still skipping. “Bummer’s taken a liking to my new office manager.”
Dan made an almost approving noise. “A nice woman?”
“Nice enough.” Jake passed off the question. He didn’t want to set off any questions about Jeannie. He couldn’t handle them right now. Especially since his dad had approved of Sheila and blamed Jake for their divorce. That still cinched his gut.
“How long will you be staying?” Jake asked.
“A few weeks. I needed a break.”
Jake had not expected his father to come for an extended stay. He usually just came for three-day weekends, either between teaching at medical conferences and schools, or time spent in the mountains at his cabin near Aspen. “Well, don’t expect much in the way of outdoor time. This winter has been cold and snowy, unusually so.” Jake tried but failed to keep his voice colorless.
“Don’t worry. I won’t get in your way.” Now his dad sounded annoyed.
Jake relented. He hadn’t meant to sound unwelcoming. Maybe his dad’s hypersensitivity matched Jake’s toward him. “It’s not that. You know the house is big enough for the two of us and I’ll be busy working. It’s just been a very severe winter.”
“How’s Old Mike doing?” his dad asked, changing topics to a safe one. “Still keeping house for you?”
“After Christmas, he had a bad bout of bronchitis. Otherwise he’s doing fine.”
The two of them lapsed into silence till they both got out at the farmhouse. His father paused, looking around. “It’s good to be home.”
“You should try it more often.” Jake instantly regretted saying this. What can’t we just be father and son, not adversaries? “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said—”
“I’m going to be around home more.” His dad turned to look at him. “I may be retiring this year.”
Jake gazed at his father. “Retiring? You’ve never mentioned that before. I didn’t think you’d ever retire.” He shut the garage door.
The two of them hustled toward the house. Inside, they shed their outerwear and hurried into the warm kitchen. Something with cinnamon smelled good. Mike greeted them and shook Jake’s father’s hand. “I made your favorite apple bran muffins, Dan.”
His dad grinned. “Thanks. Nothing to eat on the plane. Not even a bag of peanuts.” He sat down and let Mike serve him a buttered muffin and hot coffee.
Jake slid into a chair, too. “So when did you decide to retire?”
“Haven’t decided really. Just thinking about it. I figured I’d come for a visit and look around, see old friends. Decide whether to retire here or Colorado. I’m going to visit my old friend Lewis in Madison for a few days later this week. Catch up with a few of my other friends who teach or practice at the university hospital with him.”
He began asking Mike about old friends. But Jake thought his dad’s attitude has altered a bit. Some of the frost had gone out of him. Jake gripped the handle of his heavy coffee mug, wondering what exactly had prompted his dad to come home in the midst of a hard winter just to visit old friends. Why not in summer when they could go golfing and such? What wasn’t his dad telling Mike and him about this visit?
“Did Jake tell you he hired a good-looking single mom with pretty twin girls to run his office?” Mike asked.
Jake would have gladly strangled Mike, who grinned at him, chuckling silently.
“He mentioned that Bummer likes her,” Dan said, assessing his son.
“Smart hound,” Mike said. “Jeannie’s pretty and sweet, too. I can’t see why some guy hasn’t snapped her up. But then, a lot of guys are blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other.” Mike had the nerve to wink.
His father gave Jake a searching look, not a cheery one.
Jake sipped his coffee. You’ll pay for this, Mike.
On a cold and clear Sunday afternoon, Jake drove up to Jeannie’s half-finished house on New Friends Street. He hadn’t dreamed his dad would volunteer to come along today. A new house sat on the corner beside the site of Jeannie’s house. And an empty lot sat on its other side for the final of the three being built in town. A few snow-flocked fir trees dotted Jeannie’s lot. Several familiar cars were already parked along the street. Jake hesitated. How would his dad take to Jeannie? Dan could be dismissive of those he considered less important than surgeons. I don’t want her feelings hurt.
“Are you sure you want to help?” Jake asked his dad. “You could just come in, look around and then pick me up later.”
“I don’t know how to do much, but what I can do, I will.” Dan pulled his scarf up and climbed out of the car. Jake dragged out his bag of carpentry tools and jogged after his dad. Had he tagged along just to get a look at Jeannie? Dan could be condescending when someone didn’t measure up to his standards.
Amid the drifts of snow, Jeannie’s house consisted of only a shell at present. But last week the doors and windows had been added, so at least it could be heated now.
Over the packed-down path through the snow, they hurried inside and shut the door behind them. Half a dozen people already milled around the large living room/dining/kitchen area. While searching for Jeannie, Jake recognized Eleanor Washburn, who headed up these three Habitat projects.
She saw him and nodded. “Well, we’re all here now. Let’s get started. We’re putting in the plumbing today and starting to insulate. Bosses, hold up your hands. Workers, attach yourself to a boss and let them tell you what to do.”
People moved around, getting into small groups. Then Jake saw Jeannie. In fact, the crush of people pushed them up against each other. Jake caught her by the shoulders and the light floral scent from her hair drifted to him. “Great to see so many out to help with your house.” He hoped his words hid his pleasure at having her so near. Didn’t want his dad to pick up on that.
“You didn’t need to come,” she said, blushing.
Mimi and Cindy popped up, one on each side of them. “Hi, Dr. Jake!” they chorused. “Where’s Bummer?”
He couldn’t stop the grin their friendliness sparked. “I didn’t tell Bummer where I was going. No animals needed here. They might get stepped on.”
“Our kitties are home, too,” Cindy said.
“Mom just let us come for a few minutes,” Mimi explained. “Aunt Ginny—” Mimi pointed at the familiar older woman standing by the door “—is going to take us home. But Mom said we could see the inside of our new house.”
“We’ll like it better when it’s got walls inside,” Cindy said.
“This must be Jeannie.” Jake’s dad appeared at Jeannie’s side. “Mike said Jake’s new office manager had twin girls—pretty ones.”
Jake’s blood slowed with dread. What would his dad say?
The twins looked up at his father, brimming with curiosity. “I’m Mimi,” she said, her pigtails bouncing with her.
“I’m Cindy.”
“Since you call Jake Dr. Jake, you can call me Dr. Dan.” He patted each girl on the head. As if they were stray puppies or something.
“Jeannie, this is my dad, Dr. Dan McClure.” Jake
nodded toward Dan. “He’s home for a few weeks.”
Jeannie gave that shy smile that did things to the back of Jake’s neck. “Dr. McClure, so glad to meet you. You have a great son.” Then she colored. “He’s really a great vet and a great boss.”
Dan studied her, but not with any evident approval. “I’m sure you’re correct.” His voice was cool. “Jake, perhaps we should get started working.”
“Dr. Jake,” Mimi said, suddenly gripping Jake’s lower arm, “will you come to church Saturday night? It’s Winter Carnival. There’ll be a games and hot dogs and cake.”
Jake noted the disapproval in his dad’s eyes. No, winter carnivals at church wouldn’t suit Dr. Dan, internationally lauded surgeon.
“Yes!” Cindy agreed. “Please come! It’s to help little children around the world that don’t got enough food.” Cindy’s voice pleaded.
“You come, too, Dr. Dan, okay?” Mimi looked up at him.
Jeannie tried to shush the children.
“That sounds like a worthy cause. We’ll try to make it,” his father replied dismissively, urging Jake toward two men who had motioned them to come join their twosome.
Glancing over his shoulder, Jake watched Jeannie take the girls to Ginny. He knew when the three left because cold air rushed in. Jake tried to focus on the boss of their quartet—he’d never done plumbing. But he found himself keeping track of Jeannie, speaking to Eleanor in the future kitchen area.
Jake and his dad, with some others, trooped down to the basement. They stood gazing up at the floor joists for a quick lesson in how to glue together plastic pipes, which would weave between and under the joists. Jake began to relax. Dan meeting Jeannie had gone better than he’d expected. Not good, but not bad, either.
The plumber now explained water pressure and the different shutoff valves where water came into the house from the city system.
Jake and his father were standing very close.
“I didn’t realize that Jeannie was so pretty,” Dan muttered into Jake’s ear.
Jake steeled himself for what might be coming as he focused on the explanation of pipe compound and the advantages of plastic PVC versus old lead pipes.
