“Ah.” There was another clue that this whole experience was throwing him completely off his axis. At Brooke’s suggestion, he chose one of little note cards, only to stare at the blank space. In the end, he said, “I’d better let the flowers do the talking,” and put back the card.
“Do you want me to call you when the delivery is made?” Brooke asked gently.
“Only if there’s a problem.”
“I understand. Usually, we have Charles—our deliveryman—handle things, but in this case, I think I’ll do it myself. I haven’t seen Rylie yet this week, and we need to catch up.”
Feeling as though he’d passed some test, Noah was grateful. “I do appreciate that.” He reached for his billfold again for one of his business cards. “This is my office number.” He scrawled his cell number on the back. “And my private number.”
“I’ll be in touch. In the meantime, thank you, again. On behalf of Gage and myself, good thoughts to your mother. She’s a very brave woman.”
“She is, and will appreciate your kindness, as well. She said some very nice things about you, too.”
* * *
Despite the compliments she’d been receiving all morning—from customers as well as from her uncle and Gage alike—Rylie struggled to maintain her usual cheerful demeanor. She was almost grateful that this was one Saturday when the old-timers weren’t gathered at their table for their usual coffee klatch. It was difficult enough to see and feel Uncle Roy’s and Gage’s concerned gazes as they all took care of clients and daily chores; however, a buddy of the musketeers’ was in the hospital, and they were keeping vigil with him.
“I think we should go do something different after we close up,” Roy said to her moments after she sent off a cocker spaniel that she’d groomed. He knew that Toby was her last appointment for the day, so any other work she had was whatever Gage needed her to do. “You like fishing. You want to go to the town lake with me after we close up? I hear there’s been some good catfish caught on the north side of the lake.”
Although she gave him a grateful look, Rylie said, “I’d have to get a license, and it’s almost year-end,” she told him. “That’s sort of a waste of money, and taking a risk fishing without one isn’t something I want to gamble on, given my luck lately. The last thing I need is to be ticketed again, even for something as innocent as having a line with a hook in the water.”
“Well, then let’s find someplace new to have dinner. I haven’t been up to Longview in a long time. Want to see what’s happening there? We might even take in a movie.”
Rylie couldn’t help but give her uncle a disbelieving glance. “What was it that you’d recently said to Pete? The last movie you went to see was Jaws, or was it Rocky?”
“Which proves that I need a change of pace, too.”
“In that case, why don’t you mosey over Jane Ayers’s way and see if she’s available? Maybe she’ll take you for a spin on her Harley.”
Roy’s coloring wasn’t conducive to blushing, but what he lacked in that department, he made up for in getting tongue-tied. “I don’t want to—I mean, I can’t—aw, I just wanted to spend some time with you. Shoot the breeze a little. I have a hunch there’s a lot more going on with you that I don’t know about.”
Rylie momentarily paused at sweeping up the dog hair in the reception area left by the morning’s shedding clients. “I appreciate your intentions, but I’m fine. Stop worrying about me.”
“You say. If what happened to you happened to me, I would want to box that Prescott jerk’s ears until they were as big as the space in between.”
“Nice,” she drawled. “Violence resolving vindictiveness. But aside from letting you vent, I don’t think we’ll venture down that road. I’ve scared Doc enough, not to mention almost caused him serious trouble. Oh, look...”
Roy looked up at the car entering the property. “Say, that’s Brooke. She’s going to be disappointed when she learns that Doc’s out on a farm call.”
True enough, Rylie thought. Brooke didn’t come to the clinic often, what with her own business interests expanding even faster than the clinic was. Plus, there were doctor appointments and a nursery to plan for. When Rylie usually saw her, it was apt to be at the assisted-living center, or when Brooke and Gage invited her and Roy to dinner, so when she saw her boss’s wife circle her Mercedes and pick up something out of the passenger floorboard, she instantly knew it wasn’t going to be a dog emerging. After all, Humphrey was too heavy for her—besides, he was here napping with MG in back.
“Uh-oh,” Roy said.
Brooke was carrying a gorgeous arrangement of pink baby roses in a pink glass orb that looked like a princess’s crystal ball. It took both hands to manage it, forcing her to close the car’s door with her hip.
“Think that’s for you?” she asked her uncle.
“Ha! If it is, I’m going to stop worrying about you and start worrying about me. Could be a nice gesture from Doc and Brooke,” Roy mused, going to get the door for Brooke.
“He’s already given me too much by letting me hook up out back, not to mention fast-tracking me to get my certification,” she replied, setting aside the mop. “Hi,” she said, as Brooke entered. “Lost?”
“Not at all. This is yours.”
As quickly as Rylie came to greet her new friend, she backed away, clasping her hands behind her. “Noah?”
“How many other sexy-but-conflicted lawyers almost turned your world upside down?” Brooke held up the arrangement in the fluorescent light to admire it. “He came to the store this morning. You have to admit, the man does have good taste.”
It was the first part of that comment that left her openmouthed. “He drove to Sweet Springs?” Her gaze was drawn to the windows as though she half expected him to be parked up the service road to watch the reception his gift would receive in order to gauge his next move.
“He did. He was quite humble, too. Extremely concerned for you and totally a gentleman.” Once again Brooke tried to hand over the arrangement.
“Oh, Brooke, they’re lovely, but I don’t want them.”
“Will it help to know that my heart sank when I realized who he was? I didn’t want to take his order, but I have to confess he grows on you. Fast.”
“Wait until Gage hears that.”
Smiling at the obvious, though weak, tease, Brooke continued. “You don’t think he’s sincere?”
“Of course, but I still can’t take them.” Rylie stuck her hands into her back pockets to keep Brooke from trying to force the gift on her.
“You mean you won’t.” Brooke’s demeanor grew sympathetic. “I feel awful for what happened, too, Rylie, and I let Noah know he wasn’t well thought of for doing what he did, but he didn’t need my input. He looks pretty miserable, and ashamed.”
“He should,” Roy snapped.
Letting that pass, Rylie said to Brooke, “He’s made it clear that he’s disliked me from the moment we met.”
“I think quite opposite is the case. He picked this himself. A person just going through motions because of guilt that someone told him he should feel would have sent a dozen roses via the phone or online. Noah was painstaking. While in the store, he also found a lovely gift for his mother that seemed to affect him, as well. The man’s not all cold strategy with feet of clay.”
“That’s reassuring to hear, but the person I remember wasn’t so commendable. He enjoyed making me feel...inadequate.”
From behind them, Roy puffed up. “He did what? Well, I guess I still have a few things to say to that stuck-up—”
“No, you won’t. I said all there is to say. Now it’s over.” Rylie returned her attention to Brooke. “I just want to move on. Please, give those to the assisted-living center. They’ll look wonderful in the main living-room area.”
Although she looked regretful, Brooke didn�
��t argue. She did, however, shift the arrangement in order to give Rylie a hug. “I hope you don’t mind that Gage told me about your vision.”
“Of course not. It’s actually a relief to not have to pretend anymore. I’m not usually a secret keeper—about myself, I mean. I like life simple and honest.”
“Well, you’re doing beautifully, if that’s any reassurance.”
“It is, thanks. And I think I am getting better at balancing and adapting by the day.” But eager to get off the subject, Rylie pointed to her new friend’s tummy, hidden by the gauzy material of her blouse. “How’s my future babysitting assignment?”
Brooke grinned. “Growing fast. If this isn’t a boy, my poor daughter is going to have to deal with the confusion of looking down at her mother by the time she’s ten, yet still having to obey me.” She eyed the flowers again and gave Rylie a final wistful look. “Please reconsider and accept these? I think I’m a good judge of character, and while I admit Noah made some huge mistakes with you, in hindsight, I could see that as a monumental compliment. You’ve quite gotten to him, and he’s at a loss as to how to deal with his feelings.”
If she had heard that shortly after their first or second meeting, Rylie could have found the generosity to overlook a great deal and be patient, as Gage had been patient in winning Brooke’s love; however, Noah’s dogged determination to be right about her being flawed was crushing.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I could really trust him again,” Rylie admitted.
Nodding, Brooke winced. “That’s not something I ever had to worry about with Gage. Well, then...I’ll just tell them at the center that this is your donation. Expect to be hugged a lot when you and MG next visit.” At the door, she paused and glanced around. “Speaking of...where’s Humphrey and MG?”
“Oh, in a kennel outside while I mop up in here. If I let them have their usual run of the place, they would see this as a game and I’d never finish.”
Nodding, Brooke said, “That I understand. I can’t believe the difference in Humph since you and MG arrived in his life. He’s a totally different dog at home now, and when we open the gate, all he wants to do is get into the truck to get here.” With a wave, she headed back to her car.
No sooner did she exit than Roy stood his ground. “I think you should have taken the flowers. Not because I want you to forgive Prescott, but because you deserved them.”
Rylie shook her head, unable to tell him that the thought of looking at them day in and day out would be almost painful. “No, I don’t. There are people dealing with a lot worse injustices than I did. Now, if it turns out that the rest of my vision gets compromised, we can talk pity party, but my doctors said that this was just a fluke and I should be safe from worry. So I’m ready to move on.”
“Well, put up that mop and figure out what we’re going to do this afternoon.”
Voicing an impulse, Rylie said, “What would you say if I called Jane and the three of us went to the barbecue place in town this evening for music and good food?”
Roy’s chest shook with his restrained laughter. “You not only want to fix me up with a date, you want to chaperone? Let me handle things in the Jane department, okay?”
“I just wish you would—handle it.” Rylie took a deep breath. “Okay, then...we’ll go truck shopping for you. Don’t think I didn’t see you checking the newspaper ads earlier.”
“Now you’re talking!”
* * *
“That’s not what I expected to hear,” Noah said. “Correction, what I’d hoped to hear.” When Brooke Sullivan called him shortly after noon, he grabbed for his cell phone like a man waiting for an organ-donor call. But Brooke had little good news to share, and when she told him where she’d ended up placing his gift, he’d been deflated. “I suppose I should have anticipated this outcome,” he told her, “but I’m disappointed nonetheless.”
“I understand,” Brooke told him. “But you’re not giving up, are you?”
Noah stopped in midstep as he paced along the outside of the pool at Haven Land. The afternoon was gorgeous, with just enough autumn coolness, but none of that helped his melancholy mood. “I...don’t want to. At the same time, I don’t want to continue upsetting her.”
“Without betraying a new friendship, I can tell you that she was torn over what she was doing. She thought the flowers were glorious and the gesture good of you. She just wasn’t ready to embrace your generosity.”
“Because?”
“In the end it’s always about trust, isn’t it?”
“I guess that’s a subtle improvement over all-out loathing.”
“I would say subtle is significant.”
Noah took heart from that. “So we’ll try again. But...what? Flowers again?”
“Gage and Rylie use a lot of repetition with animals to build trust, but does she need that in her personal life? I don’t think so. She hears what you’re saying. It’s your job to convince her that you really mean it.”
Noah figured at some point, he would owe Brooke a huge gift of her own for getting him through what he realized was totally foreign territory for him. He’d never had to pursue a woman in his life! “What do you have in mind? I’m guessing no arrangement at all?”
“We handle chocolates now. Locally made fudge, to be exact. Maybe we’d put a nosegay on the package? It would have to be Monday, though.”
“Sure. A nosegay? They still do those things?”
Brooke laughed softly. “You’re right—it’s almost an archaic word and there’s no real call for them except as a bit of whimsy, or for smaller, informal weddings. I did read that they’re usually made of the most fragrant flowers, which, duh, explains the name. So much more appealing than a bow on top of the box, and she could then put it in a small vase, which I could provide, giving her what amounts to three gifts in one.”
Noah wasn’t certain. “Rylie didn’t strike me as the kind of woman to be so...”
“Feminine?”
“She’s very feminine.” He frowned at the mere idea of anyone not seeing that. “Just not...fussy.”
“I promise, it won’t be remotely fussy,” Brooke replied, a smile in her voice.
Relieved to sense Gage’s wife continued to approve of him, he added, “Be generous with the chocolates. It’s obvious calories slide right off her.”
* * *
On Monday during his lunch break, Noah returned Brooke’s call that he’d missed due to being in court. His trepidation turned out to be warranted. “She didn’t accept that, either, did she?” He could tell by the tone of Brooke’s voice message, although she’d said only, “Please call me at your convenience.”
“No. And she was embarrassed that all of the guys at the clinic saw it. But I was discreet and drew her to the back to actually try to convince her to change her mind.”
“I appreciate your efforts. You’re my sole ally, except for my mother.” How to gauge if there really was hope after all? he wondered. “So she’s still opposed to giving me at least the benefit of the doubt?”
Brooke made a soft musing sound. “We’re looking at a bit of stubbornness now. But part of that could have been a reflex for having the audience at first. I should have known better, so I owe you this next try, because given her expressions when we were alone, I do think she appreciates that you’re still trying, and some of her resistance is crumbling.”
“I don’t want surrender or resignation,” Noah said, turning his back to the room, afraid that Judy or Vance, who was feeling better and was in deep conference with his secretary, saw his own emotional turmoil. “I just want to be able to talk to her again. Where does she want you to take this gift?”
“A young girl in Sweet Springs who’d survived a cancer scare. You probably read about her in the local newspaper. She’s barely eleven, Noah. It’s a dear gesture.�
�
“Yes. Of course, and I did see that.” Noah ran his free hand over his hair, at once admiring Rylie for her thoughtfulness, and on the other hand trying to figure what it would take to make her want to keep something from him. “What do you suggest next?”
“We have some great fragrances that Kiki developed herself. They’re becoming quite popular in the area.”
“But I don’t know what Rylie would prefer—or that she even wears a fragrance.” He wasn’t going to admit he thought he’d caught the hint of something tropical and flirty once when standing near her. Peach? He’d figured it was a result of a shower gel, not an actual fragrance she’d sprayed on.
“I don’t suspect she does too often, considering that she wants the dogs to get used to her natural scent, but it’s always nice to have something for special occasions. I’m thinking forward,” Brooke told him, her tone conspiratorial.
“Thinking forward would be nice, but I’m not the optimist I used to be. What else could you recommend?”
“We have some cute stuffed animals.”
He remembered seeing a nice display in one corner of her store. “I think I would rather go with that. I saw a kangaroo...”
“I sold it shortly after you were here.”
Disappointed, Noah tried to think of what else had caught his eye. “The giraffe?”
“Um...the giraffe that’s almost her height?”
“I know it’s probably the most expensive thing in the store, so I insist you put it on my bill. You can tie a note in the shape of a heart on ribbon around the neck that reads, ‘I’m stretching my imagination to convince you that I have one.’”
“Noah, I’m impressed,” Brooke replied, laughing softly. “And I can do better than snipping at construction paper. We have pretty lace doilies that will work beautifully.”
“Good, very good, because that about used up the one creative gene in my DNA.”
“But, Noah, about the giraffe...it’s cute and would probably make her laugh—”
Noah could hear her moving around the store.
“—here it is. I have a sweet mini schnauzer. It’s white and I could make an equally dainty basket of flowers to stand beside it. That seems more her size, and the heart would work even better, if you ask me. It is my favorite of the stuffed animals, and I think she might like to use it in her clinic display advertising her grooming services.”
Groomed for Love Page 11
