by Gail Sattler
Before she could think of what to say without letting him know that this wasn’t an allergy attack from peanuts, that she was barely holding back from crying, Josh turned to his friend. “Excuse us for a minute. We have to go outside.”
Without waiting for Rob to respond, Josh tugged her away from the table and outside to the parking lot. He propped her up on his car, opened her purse, and dumped the contents out on the roof. Before she could do anything, he’d scooped up her EpiPen and readied it. As she opened her mouth to protest, her skirt whooshed up her leg and the sting of the needle pierced the fleshy part of her thigh, making her breath catch.
Josh’s arms wrapped around her. “Breathe deeply. How do you feel? Do I call for an ambulance, or are you okay if I drive? But I warn you, I’m not paying attention to any red lights.”
“I’m fine. It’s not serious. I’m okay. Remember, I’m a doctor too.”
“You’re an animal doctor.”
“But I’m still a doctor.”
“The patients you handle don’t go into anaphylactic shock.”
“Neither will I. At least not this time. I’ll be fine. Just let me be for a few minutes, and you’ll see.”
At least he didn’t shove her down into the backseat of his car, but he didn’t release her. “It’s true. Doctors make the worst patients. Even animal doctors.”
Sarah was completely aware of everything around her. Her vision was clear, she had no trouble thinking, and her breathing would be fine if only she could blow her nose.
Mostly, she was aware of Josh holding her. Tightly. Almost too tightly. She felt a tremor in his grip. Very slight, but it was there.
She didn’t really want him to release her, but she had to show him that she was fine.
“You can let me go now, Josh. I’m stable.”
Instead of letting go, his grip around her tightened slightly. “Are you sure? It hasn’t been very long. How about if we stop off at Dr. Platt’s clinic? He doesn’t close until late on Friday night. Then we’ll both be sure.” Sarah was already sure, but she didn’t have the heart to minimize Josh’s reaction. He really was scared for her, and she thought it very sweet.
“If you won’t go to the hospital, then I guess I can settle for that. At least he’s a people doctor. He also owes me a favor, so it won’t cost me anything.”
Slowly, he released her, keeping his hands extended toward her, not backing up until he was sure she stood without swaying.
Josh shook his head, ran his fingers through his hair, scooped everything from atop the car back into her purse, and handed it to her. Slowly and gently, he wrapped one arm around her waist and backed her up a step while he opened the car door. Using both hands, he guided her as she sat, and he backed up only when she had both feet tucked inside. “Are you going to be okay for a minute? I have to run back inside and tell them we’re leaving.”
Sarah bit down on her lower lip. One day she would point out to him that she could always tell Josh’s stress level by the condition of his hair. For today, she couldn’t remember ever seeing it so messy—she’d lost track of how many times he’d run his fingers though it—and it looked absolutely adorable in contrast to how impeccably he was dressed. Although she felt fairly certain he wouldn’t appreciate knowing she thought he looked adorable when he was so stressed. “I’ll be fine. Really.”
He glanced toward the restaurant door, back to her, and ran his fingers through his hair again. His mouth opened like he was going to say something, but then he snapped it shut and sprinted into the restaurant.
Rather than dig through the ruins of the contents of her purse, Sarah pulled a crumpled napkin out of the glove compartment and blew her nose.
Josh returned before she could figure out what to do with it, so she shoved the used napkin into her purse and snapped it shut.
As Josh inserted his key into the ignition switch, she wrapped her fingers around his wrist. “If you speed, I’m going to be really mad at you. Obey the posted limits, and all the signs and signals. I’m warning you.”
He grumbled something she probably didn’t want to hear anyway, and they made the trip in silence, and in record time.
There were two people ahead of her, a man who looked like he needed stitches for a cut on his arm and a mother with a crying baby.
As soon as Josh said the words “anaphylactic shock,” they were ushered straight into a room. The second Dr. Fred Platt arrived, Josh left to go sit in the waiting room.
When the door closed behind Josh, Sarah squeezed her eyes shut and sighed. “I’m sorry, Fred, this is a false alarm, but Josh insisted that it was either this or the hospital. If you want to give me a clean bill of health, I’ll be gone, and we can call it even.”
“Not so fast. First tell me what you ate, and what caused this visit.”
She did her best to summarize what happened without getting too personal, but when she specifically mentioned the dessert, Fred’s eyebrows went up.
“In that case, let me say that it’s a good thing Josh had such a quick reaction before you had a full-blown attack. I know from another case a few days ago that there is peanut oil in the crust of that dessert.”
Sarah’s head spun. “How can that be? I was sure I didn’t feel a reaction, although I don’t know how, if you say there is peanut oil in the crust. I basically just ate the top off, I didn’t even get close to the crust, but all it takes is a little exposure for a full reaction.”
Fred shook his head. “This is definitely not a false alarm. You appear to be fine, but you have had a full dose of epinephrine. I want you to be monitored for the next six hours, and I’m taking a blood sample. Can someone watch you, or do I have to send you to the hospital?”
Sarah turned and stared at the wall, as if she could see through it to Josh in the waiting room. She really wanted to be alone, but that wasn’t going to happen. She didn’t know why he’d reacted so strongly but had a feeling that he felt responsible because he’d chosen the restaurant.
If she chose to go to the hospital and wait out the time there, she instinctively knew he’d insist on staying with her. If he insisted, then being with him at her home would be the lesser of the two evils.
She sighed and turned back to face the doctor. “Yes, I have someone to sit with me. We’ll even have something to do.” They never did get together to finish going through the new order form for the week.
As well, if they wanted to try the new samples of dog food they’d acquired, to fill the time, they could divide the sample bag between both dogs and feed them one piece of kibble at a time.
She couldn’t think of a more exciting way to spend a Friday night.
No sarcasm intended. Or not too much, anyway.
Chapter 8
Murray wants candy . . . squawk . . . Murray wants candy!”
Josh cringed as the shriek roared through his brain. He turned, ran his hands down his shirt instead of covering his ears, and forced himself to smile. “Hi, Andy. It’s good to see you. What can I do for you this sunny Monday morning?”
Andy didn’t smile back. “Murray is getting birdseed.”
“I’m a pretty bird . . . squawk . . . I’m a pretty bird . . .”
Even though the squawking was far from pretty, Josh felt his fake smile transforming into a real one. “The fair is next weekend, with that booth for the hospital fund-raiser. How’s Murray doing learning his part?”
“We’re working on the cracker line,” Andy grumbled.
At the word “cracker,” Murray stretched and expanded his wings to their full span, sending a couple of the children in the aisle running. “Polly is a cracker . . . squawk . . . Polly is a cracker . . .”
Josh bit his lower lip. “I think that line might need more work.”
Andy’s frown tightened even more. “This isn’t workin
g very well. I need to see Sarah but she’s booked solid for the next two weeks, and the fair is in five days. I hear she comes in here at lunch time every day. I’m going to wait for her.”
Josh didn’t have to look at the clock to know that Sarah was due to arrive in a few minutes. He’d been doing his own clockwatching because he wanted to see her as well. Even though the customer was allegedly always right, and the customer always came first, today Josh resented being second.
Right on time, the bell jingled and Sarah walked in. She turned the sign to indicate that a guest dog had come into the store and kept walking, then skidded to a halt when she saw Murray.
“I’m a pretty bird . . . squawk . . . I’m a pretty bird.”
Josh couldn’t help but smile. “I see you finally got him to stop screeching every time a door is opened.”
Andy’s face relaxed, and he actually smiled. “Yeah. It was a lot of work, but Sarah came up with the idea and showed me what to do. It doesn’t work every time, but he’s getting better, and that’s what counts.”
Sarah approached them smiling. She nodded at Andy and turned toward Murray. She told Scruffy to sit, raised both hands, approached Murray, and stroked his tummy. “Is Murray feeling pretty today?”
“I’m a pretty bird . . . squawk . . . I’m a pretty bird . . .”
Josh grinned ear to ear. “We’ve already heard that line today. This is the third time, actually.”
Sarah grinned back and leaned closer to Murray. “Do I have to make you walk the plank?”
Murray’s head bobbed. “Avast ye scurvy knave . . . I’ll make you walk the plank . . . squawk . . . Walk the plank . . . Walk the plank.”
Josh sucked in a deep breath. “Wow. That’s really good.”
“Watch this,” Sarah said as she stepped closer to Murray. She raised one hand above Murray’s head, snapped her fingers three times, and started humming “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
As she continued to hum, Murray bobbed his head, hopped on one foot, then the other, then bobbed his head again. “The jig is up . . . squawk . . . The jig is up . . .”
Sarah’s cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink. “I have no idea how that started. After I taught him to do the dance, I said the word, uh. J-I-G . . . and that’s what he said. Now he says it every time he does his sailor dance.” She straightened and turned to Andy. “Can I do anything for you, Andy? It looks like you and Murray are doing really well.”
“Not that well. He’s not getting the most important line that Polly wants a cracker.”
Again, Murray stretched and expanded his wings to their full span. “Polly is a cracker . . . squawk . . . Polly is a cracker . . .”
She snickered. “I think two out of three words is pretty good. He’ll be fine.”
Murray bobbed his head. “Fine and dandy, fine and dandy . . . squawk . . . Murray wants candy . . .”
“I think we’re getting carried away.”
Josh felt the drag of every second. He didn’t want to watch Murray, or talk about Murray, or do anything with Murray. He wanted Murray and Andy to leave so he could talk to Sarah.
Sarah grinned. “I heard that Pamela gave up on the idea of making Murray wear an eye patch.”
Andy nodded. “You got that right. What a ridiculous idea.”
Inside, Josh felt ready to explode. He ignored Andy, and turned to Sarah. “How are you feeling? Are you okay? Stable?”
Andy froze and turned to Sarah. “Is something wrong? Are you ill?”
Sarah shook her head. “I’m fine. I was fine yesterday, and I was fine the day before that. Friday night, maybe not so fine, but it was handled so quickly I didn’t know it was happening until it was over.”
Josh turned to Andy. “Peanut allergy. She started to go into anaphylactic shock.”
Andy’s brows knotted. “You can’t fool around with that.”
“It wasn’t serious, thanks to Josh’s quick reaction.”
Josh gritted his teeth. When Sarah was a kid he’d once been with her and Tucker when she’d come into contact with peanuts. That time, it had been serious. He’d just gotten his driver’s license the day before, so he and Tucker had made the judgment call that they didn’t have time to wait for the ambulance to get there. The trip to the hospital had been death defying and could possibly have been a large part of what made Tucker decide to go into law enforcement—to keep people like him off the road.
Someone rang the bell at the cash register, so Josh left Sarah and Andy to talk about Murray.
He’d nearly finished bagging the customer’s purchases when Andy walked out the door with a bag of birdseed under one arm and another bird toy, pointing to indicate to put them on his tab. If it wasn’t Josh’s imagination, Andy was almost smiling.
Almost.
As soon as Josh finished with his customer, he dashed back to where Sarah stood, still in the bird aisle, playing shake-a-paw and rollover games with Rufus. Behind her, a couple of giggling little girls watched his dog perform like an idiot, then they dashed back to their mother when she called them.
He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m going to have to run back to the till in a minute when they finish getting what they need. Now that we’re alone, how are you feeling? I mean, really.”
Sarah sighed. “Fine. The same as yesterday. I’m fine.”
He couldn’t stop himself. Josh stepped forward, reached up, and cupped her cheeks in his palms. “You scared me.”
Her eyes widened and she froze.
Josh’s heart began to pound, suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to kiss her. He couldn’t remember being so scared in the last decade. Or longer. Okay, he’d never been so scared in his life, and she hadn’t even shown any visible symptoms, except her eyes had started to get puffy. He didn’t know why they’d been watery as well, but the onset of the puffiness had alerted him.
He shuffled closer and brushed the pad of his thumb over her lips.
Her eyes widened even more.
His heart thumped until he could hear it in his ears. This time it hadn’t been as serious as during their high-speed drive to the hospital over a dozen years ago. But it could have been.
He couldn’t not kiss her.
Just as he started to let his eyes drift shut and he leaned a little closer, the bell from the check-out counter rang out, as jarring as a gong in a monastery.
Sarah flinched, stiffened, and backed up. Josh let his hands drop.
“You have a customer,” Sarah mumbled, gave Scruffy the hand signal to come to heel, and nearly ran out of the store.
Sarah prepared the vaccination serums for her next patient, set them down on the tray, and sucked in a deep breath.
He’d almost kissed her.
And she’d almost let him.
If it hadn’t been for a customer ringing the bell, he would have.
Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, sank into her chair, and buried her face in her palms.
She didn’t understand what was happening. Josh made it abundantly clear on Friday night that it wasn’t a real date, and that nothing had changed between them. She still was and always would be his best friend’s little sister. She’d come to accept it. She didn’t like it, but she couldn’t live in a fantasy world either.
But now, he’d almost kissed her. Right in the middle of his store. He would have kissed her, too, if a customer hadn’t rung the bell to make a purchase.
She was probably living in that fantasy world she’d created, but on Friday night she’d felt something different. She’d felt his fear as if it were a tangible thing, both in the way he’d dragged her out of the restaurant to inject her with the Epinephrine and also how he’d held her afterward, like he didn’t want to let her go.
She could feel the heat in her face with the memory of Josh whooshing her skirt
up to inject her in the thigh, exactly where he was supposed to. Even though he’d done everything at lightning speed, she’d been very aware that he hadn’t lifted her skirt high enough to expose her underwear. He hadn’t even left much of a bruise.
Even in a panic, Josh remained a perfect gentleman. It made her love him even more. At the same time, it made her head spin.
Friday, she’d thought all was lost, when he’d plainly said it wasn’t a real date. But the way he’d held her in the parking lot felt like so much more, as did the way he’d taken her to Dr. Platt’s clinic. It had seemed to her like Josh had been on auto-pilot—everything he’d done had no margin for error. Even the way he drove had been calculated for peak efficiency. Not a second had been wasted.
But then, once he had her at home, all the walls came back up, and they were back to the status of reserved friends.
On Sunday she’d gone to church with her girlfriends, as usual. But Josh had joined them, with no hint of shyness displayed at being the only man amongst four single women. He’d been playful, except for the few minutes that Tucker had joined them before his cell phone rang and he had to leave to answer it.
Now today. She was far enough in the journey of life to know that today, if his customer hadn’t rung the bell at the check-out, Josh would have kissed her, right there in the middle of the store.
She shook her head without removing her palms from her face.
Josh had never kissed her. She’d dreamed up so many romantic times and places for a first kiss. In the middle of the pet food store, in the aviary section, hadn’t been on the list of settings she’d imagined.
Not that he’d followed through and kissed her.
She sighed and let her hands fall onto the desktop.
Not that he ever would.
The buzzer sounded, the signal that her next appointment had arrived and was waiting for her.
Life went on.
Tomorrow, she would go to Josh’s house and they’d go through all the supply catalogs.
On Friday, she’d go to his store for an evening meet-and-greet with area pet owners.
