She did the math. “Wow, your parents have eight children. Where do you fit in the lineup?”
“I’m the second oldest.”
“That explains a lot.”
“Oh?” One of his dark eyebrows rose questioningly.
“Why you specialized in pediatrics.” She studied him while he thought that over. Clearly he didn’t usually make off-the-cuff remarks but reflected on his answers.
“It wasn’t quite so neat and tidy, Dr. Freud,” he teased. “I did help out with the younger kids, but it’s what you do in a big family. Not only that, my mom said I doctored the animals. If one of them stood still long enough I would bandage it.”
She got an entirely too adorable image of him as a little boy with a toy stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. “Now that you’ve been turned loose with needles and sharp medical instruments, do the animals run from you?”
“No.” He grinned. “The critters on my brother’s ranch wave every morning when I drive by. And my dog seems quite taken with me.”
“You have a dog?”
He took a drink of his beer. “Don’t sound so surprised.”
“Really?” She stared at him. “Guess I just can’t picture you with a pet.”
“Rerun isn’t just a pet. He’s family.”
She made a scoffing sound. “All parents and pet owners think their dependent is gifted.”
“Would you like to meet my dependent?” he offered cheerfully, as if he had nothing to hide.
It was half request, half challenge and all bad idea as it required going to his place.
“I don’t think so.” Dawn shook her head. “You see one, you’ve seen them all.”
There was something wicked about the grin that spread across his handsome face. “Rerun is a miracle.”
“Right,” she said skeptically.
“He has three legs.”
“No way.”
“You’re really challenging my veracity?” One dark eyebrow rose. “Call my bluff. Come and meet him.”
An invitation to see his three-legged dog was a teaser that Dawn couldn’t resist. She just hoped she didn’t regret the decision.
“You’re on, Doctor.”
* * *
Jon pulled his truck to a stop in front of the guesthouse located on his brother Will’s ranch, a short distance from the main compound of buildings. Dawn had followed him from the Ace in the Hole and parked beside him.
He couldn’t believe she’d agreed to have a drink with him, let alone tagged along to his place. Maybe he’d missed his calling and should be in the diplomatic corps working on world peace.
He walked over to her, then glanced at his front door. The paint was brick red, cracked and peeling. He knew the space behind it was more cabin than house with a living room/kitchen combination, one bedroom and a small bathroom.
Looking down at her he said, “Be it ever so humble...”
“I have to ask you.” She caught her top lip between her teeth. “Is this whole three-legged dog thing the equivalent of ‘would you like to come over and see my etchings?’”
“Are you asking if I’m hitting on you?” He wasn’t always sure about subtext and figured it was better to ask straight out rather than assume.
“Well... That’s a definite maybe.”
“Then the answer is no. This is not a come-on. And I should be offended that you’re questioning my motive and integrity.”
And he would be if the thought of kissing her had never crossed his mind. The urge to see if her lips were as soft as they looked had occurred to him the first time he saw her. It had grown more acute tonight at the Ace in the Hole, when she’d stopped looking as if she’d eaten a lemon every time she glanced at him.
“I asked you here,” he explained, “because you seemed open to the idea of meeting my dog.”
“I am. I love animals. When I was a little girl I begged my mom for a dog, but she was a single mom and food, clothes and a roof over our heads were always more important.” She shrugged. “Go figure.”
“Look, Dawn, I have no ulterior motive.” In the moonlight he could see the conflict in her eyes. Damn the part of him that wanted to fix it, because not pulling her into his arms was taking every ounce of willpower he had. That was a bad idea. She’d said that a man in his thirties was bound to have a romantic past and Jon was no exception. He had so much baggage it got in the way of his ulterior motives. “The only way to find out if I’m telling the truth is to take a leap of faith.”
A high-pitched whining came from just inside the door and she grinned. “Sounds like a three-legged dog who knows his human is home.”
“At least you know that I’m not making it up. And, for the record, there are no etchings.”
She laughed. “Darn.”
He turned the knob. “Out here on the ranch with Will and Jordyn Leigh coming and going there’s no need for locks. The only thing in here I care about anyway is Rerun.” When he pushed the door wide, Rerun’s welcoming whine escalated to an ear-piercing pitch.
“Rerun,” he said sternly.
Instantly the happy dog sound changed to a friendly yipping. He sat down and put his only front paw on Jon’s leg by way of greeting.
“Hey, fella. You’ve got a visitor.” He bent and petted the dog. “Put your hand out so he can scent you,” he said to Dawn.
She did, and laughed when the animal licked her fingers. “He’s adorable,” she said. “What kind of dog is he?”
Jon saw skepticism give way to tenderness and wished the look was for him. An involuntary reaction, he knew, because there was about as much chance of that happening as him negotiating world peace. “A poodle–Shih Tzu mix.”
“He moves pretty well without that leg.”
“He adapted. Of course, he was wobbly at first but there was no keeping him down.”
“At first?” She knelt on the wood floor just inside the door and the dog practically crawled into her lap as she rubbed his back. “Is he an animal who you actually needed to bandage?”
“I was coming home late at night after a hospital shift during my residency. How I even spotted him in the dark by the side of the road is truly amazing. He’d obviously been hit by a car.”
“Oh, no—”
“Let’s just say that there’s a special place in hell for someone who would hit an animal and not stop to help.” Jon would never forget the screams of pain the dog made when he was moved, no matter that it was to get him help. “I took him to a veterinary urgent care. He had internal injuries in addition to his leg trauma and needed surgery.”
“You paid for it?” she guessed.
He nodded. “The vet couldn’t save his leg but the rest was fixable.”
“What about his owner?”
“No one came forward and he didn’t have a collar or an identification chip.”
“And you still have him.” She stated the obvious. “That means you—”
“Adopted him. Yeah.” He was glad she’d stopped looking at him as if she thought he was the kind of guy who’d pull the wings off flies. “Animals with disabilities are harder to find homes for and if they don’t...” He shook his head. “I just couldn’t—”
“Let that happen,” she finished.
“Something like that.”
There was no reason to explain that it had been a low point in his life. A kid he’d grown close to at the hospital had died unexpectedly and the woman he’d been planning to propose to had walked out on him. Also unexpectedly.
He was a man in his thirties with emotional baggage, just like Dawn had said. Choosing not to talk about it didn’t mean he would lie to her like weasel dog toad boy. He had no ulterior motives because he had no intention of getting involved. Staying alone was best.
Dawn s
tood and smiled at him as if he had wings, a halo and walked on water. “You are—”
Just then the dog barked twice and ran out the still-open door. Jon called after him. “Rerun!”
He stepped outside in time to see the animal head toward the brush in his awkward half hop, half-run. “Rerun, come.” The dog paid no attention and disappeared into the bushes a short distance away. “Damn it.”
“What’s wrong?”
“He likes to chase rabbits even though there’s not a chance he’ll ever catch one and wouldn’t know what to do with it if he did.” He looked at her. “Out here I don’t have to worry about cars and traffic but there are predators, and if he wanders too far away, he’d be pretty vulnerable. I’ve tried to break him of it but you can see how much success I’ve had so far.”
“We should go after him,” she urged.
Just as they started in the direction the dog had disappeared, Rerun ran out of the bushes straight to Jon. He went down on one knee. “You’re going to turn my hair white, you disobedient scoundrel.”
“Spoken like a devoted pet parent.” Dawn laughed. “You are really something, Dr. Clifton.”
This time the use of his full name didn’t bother Jon. It was because of the tone in her voice, the respect. Maybe a little admiration. It was a good bet he’d been elevated from weasel dog toad boy status to a level that remained to be determined.
Still, when you made it out of the basement there was nowhere to go but up.
Chapter Five
Dawn stood just outside the clinic front office and watched Jon walk down the long hallway toward her. He was graceful and lean, like a runner. And so good-looking that resistance by the average woman would be futile. She was average and had successfully resisted him—until last night. Her heart had begun to thaw when she’d observed him interact so well with the boy who’d needed stiches in his knee. Then they’d had drinks, and it melted even more when she got a firsthand look at his devotion to a three-legged dog.
Once you saw that, there was no unseeing it, no going back. The warming process had begun and continued as he got closer and smiled at her.
“Hi.” He leaned a broad shoulder against the wall by the doorway. “Busy morning. Couldn’t have gotten through it without you.”
“Just doing my job.”
The last morning patient had left and there was a break until the afternoon. More often than not this didn’t happen because of walk-ins or an appointment going longer than anticipated. But today the schedule had purred along like a fine-tuned Ferrari. She wondered if part of it had to do with her attitude shift and the fact that she was now working with him in a spirit of cooperation. All because she’d seen for herself that he wasn’t a jerk.
She met his gaze. “I have a confession to make.”
“Uh-oh. Should I be afraid?”
“Maybe.” She glanced into the room beside them and through the reception window to the empty waiting area. “This place is a little creepy when it’s so quiet.”
“Ah.” He nodded knowingly. “Fortunately it’s not quiet very often from what I’ve seen so far. That means the potential for being weirded out is limited.”
“And I should enjoy it while I can.”
“That’s my medical opinion. And worth the price you paid for it,” he added.
Dawn knew that was her cue to say she needed to take advantage of this break in the action and grab some lunch. That would be the smart play. But being smart took a backseat because she was thinking of some topic to prolong this conversation.
“How’s Rerun?” That was the best she could come up with. “Chasing any poor, unsuspecting jackrabbits?”
“No. He’s grounded.” His look was wry. “And I think word is out and the local rabbit population has headed to greener, safer pastures away from the crazy Shih Tzu who thinks he’s a mighty, three-legged hunter.”
She remembered the dog barking before he ran out. Now, she was no expert on animal behavior, but it had sure seemed like he knew something was out there. “If not rabbits, what was he chasing last night outside your house?”
“Could have been anything.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his white lab coat. “A snake. Gopher. Prairie dog.”
“So he’s not selective about his prey?” she teased.
“No. Not really. It’s the thrill of the chase he’s after.”
And what about the dog’s owner? she wondered. He didn’t wear a wedding ring and there was no white mark interrupting the tan on his left ring finger indicating he’d taken one off recently. He hadn’t told her last night that he was single or had a fiancée, but she hadn’t asked. It hadn’t been relevant to their discussion. For reasons she refused to examine closely it seemed awfully darn relevant right now. If the new doctor was single, the question was—why? Did he only like the chase?
“Rerun sure is a cutie.” Just like his human. “With you gone all day, who lets him out for—”
“Bathroom breaks?” he teased.
“Yeah. That.”
“Will mostly, or his wife, Jordyn Leigh. She’s busy with work and school but the ranch is my brother’s job and he’s there most of the time to check on Rerun.” He frowned a little. “In Thunder Canyon my house has a fenced-in yard so there was a doggy door and he could come and go. It concerned me, long days at the clinic and leaving my dog alone. But having family around helps.”
Last night she saw that he really loved a dog that someone left for dead and no one wanted. He’d even said Rerun was family.
The outside clinic door opened and a young man walked over to the reception window, then looked around and spotted them. “Hi. I’m picking up for Medical Diagnostics. Do you have anything to go to the lab?”
Once a day someone from the medical lab located in Kalispell came by for blood samples and anything else the doctors wanted analyzed.
“We have some. I’ll get them for you.” Dawn took a step away, but Jon stopped her with a hand on her arm, and the heat from his fingers could have started a forest fire. It was instinctive to avoid the heat and she jerked away, not very gracefully judging by the question in his eyes.
“I’ll take care of this,” he said. “Why don’t you grab some lunch while you can?”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind—”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve got this.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
He nodded, then walked over to the window. As much as Dawn wanted to stick around, just to look at him, she headed down the hall in the direction of the break room. Callie Crawford, the clinic’s other nurse-practitioner, exited the first exam room and intercepted her.
“Hi, there.” The brown-eyed brunette smiled as if she knew a juicy secret, then fell into step. “What’s up?”
“I’m headed to the break room for lunch. Have you eaten yet?”
“No.”
“Wow, the earth, moon and stars have aligned and we’re really getting a break where we can chat. I feel as if I’ve gone through a portal to an alternate universe.”
“Don’t think it too hard. Everything could collapse in a heartbeat.” Callie grinned.
Dawn had liked this woman right away and hadn’t changed her mind in the five months she’d worked here at the clinic. Callie Kennedy Crawford was a former corporate executive from Chicago who’d traveled all over the world and shopped at exclusive boutiques. But she gave it all up for tiny Rust Creek Falls, Montana, and a job where she wore scrubs and could help people.
Her medical certification/license was limited but her training allowed her to see the less seriously ill patients and take some of the burden off the MDs. A good NP knew what and what not to handle and Callie was excellent at making those calls.
The two of them grabbed their respective lunches and took seats across from each other at
the small table in the break room which doubled as a storage area. Upper and lower cupboards held office and medical supplies. Next to the sink was a coffeepot which was usually half-full of some sludge-like substance.
Dawn took a bite of her tuna sandwich and studied her friend while she chewed. “How’s Nate?”
“My husband is awesome. And busy with Maverick Manor.”
That was the rustic but upscale hotel Nate Crawford had opened just outside of town after coming into some money. Callie was an original member of The Newcomer’s Club, a group of women who’d come to Rust Creek Falls for various personal reasons, most of which were about finding husbands.
Callie met Nate and it hadn’t been love at first sight, but they did eventually fall for each other. Though Dawn was skeptical of love herself, no one liked a love-conquers-all story more than her. The Crawfords were a stable couple and had been together for a while now. Next step for them?
Dawn had to ask. “So, I have a job here in Rust Creek Falls thanks to the recent spike in births. It begs the question—and feel free to tell me if I’m prying—when are you and Nate going to have a little bundle of joy?”
“When they come out of vending machines.” Callie said it with a straight face but couldn’t hold back a grin. She shrugged and said, “It will happen when it happens.”
Dawn thought about her sister and how it happened when her situation couldn’t have been more wrong. Somehow a mother’s unconditional love made Marina’s unexpected surprise work.
“So what’s new?” she asked her friend.
“That’s my line. What’s going on with you?”
Dawn shrugged. “Same old, same old.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
She brought her tuna sandwich to her mouth for a bite, then stopped and blinked at her friend. “Excuse me?”
“I heard from someone who swears the rumor is reliable that you were at the Ace in the Hole last night. With Dr. Clifton.”
“Oh, that.” Why in the world would that statement make her blush? It shouldn’t. Nothing happened. But her face was hot anyway.
“So,” Callie persisted. “What’s going on?”
Her Maverick M.D. Page 6
