The kitten was all taken care of and resting comfortably when Alan came through the front door waving a brown paper sack in each hand. He must have the magic touch when it came to Mabel and staff. “That was fast,” she mumbled quietly. She probably should have requested an iced coffee for a quick caffeine pick me up.
“Where shall I put this?”
“You choose. Inside or out?”
His gaze shifted to where the kitten was set up in a cage.
“He should be just fine for now,” she reassured.
Alan nodded. “It’s a lovely morning. How about outside?”
“Outside it is.” She held the door open and waved an arm in the direction of the table and chairs set up on a stone patio. In another thirty minutes her staff would begin to arrive and shortly after that her day of helping the four-legged world would begin. All she had to do was keep Alan from wearing a rut in the flooring, and pray this wouldn’t turn out to be one of those times when a kitten didn’t get with the recovery plan.
Chapter Twelve
“How do you handle the wait?” Alan stabbed at his French toast. He might be sitting outside, but his thoughts and concerns were inside with the sleeping kitty.
“It helps that in a little while this place will make a zoo look calm.” She picked at a piece of bacon. “My days are pretty full, but there’s always something extra. Somebody’s beloved pet ate anything from a chocolate candy to a valued diamond heirloom. There will be last-minute coughs and sneezes and flus, injured limbs, or merely someone who doesn’t see people very often, and myself and my staff are the only people they’ve spoken to in days.”
“That seems kind of sad. I mean, certainly I understand if you don’t want to talk to somebody, but…”
“And that’s why we talk as long as the pet parent wants to.”
With everything this woman had on her plate, she still took time to be kind to the lonely. Every new thing he learned about her made him realize even more what a fantastic person Hyacinth Nelson was. “How long before we’ll see a change in the kitten?”
“It takes at least 24 hours to fully see the impact of antibiotics, but often I see improvements within a few hours.”
“I hope so. He looked so unhappy.” No matter how much he tried to shake the thought, he still felt responsible for not noticing a problem sooner.
“Who’s the new kitty in the…” the pretty blonde’s words trailed off
“Beth, have you met Mr. Peterson yet?” Cindy said to her tech.
Old habits kicked in. He pushed to his feet. “I’m the one who brought in the kitten.”
“Nice to meet you.” The young woman smiled and turned to Cindy. “Mrs. Connor called. She thinks Holly ate one of her rings.”
“Thinks?”
“She said she took the ring off because it got greasy while she was eating spareribs. Now she can’t find the ring. She’s convinced Holly ate it.”
“Is she off her food?”
Beth shook her head.
“In any pain?”
Again, Beth shook her head from side to side.
“Let me guess, we’re doing an x-ray?”
“Mrs. Connor said that’s what she wanted, that she wasn’t going to follow the dog around all day waiting for it to expel her ring.”
“Like it or not, she may have to. I am not operating on a healthy dog because she’s doesn’t want to start collecting poop.”
“At least this way she says that she’ll know if the dog ate it and what to look, or stop looking, for.” Beth turned on her heel. “I’d better get back out there. I can see already it’s going to be one of those days.”
“I’m afraid she’s right.”
All Alan very much wanted to do now was reach out and wipe away all the crazy pet owners and their animal’s problems. Setting his fork on the plate, he covered her hand with his.
Those bright blue eyes went from a little tired to round as saucers. “Oh, no!”
Startled, he pulled back, but not in time to avoid a collision with a squawking kamikaze. “What the…”
“Oh, Herman.” Cindy jumped up and waved her arms at the feather covered mass of muscle. “Be careful, he—”
“Ouch!”
“Bites.”
All he had time to do was grab at his wrist when the bird flapped its wings, almost trotted in reverse, and head forward, lunged again as Alan jumped out of the way. “I don’t think he likes me.”
“Herman!” Cindy shouted. “Behave yourself.”
The bird actually seemed to understand her, immediately tucking his wings to his side and slowing his charge forward.
“He’s a bit protective of me since I saved him after a wing injury. You might say Herman is my motivation for the wildlife center.” She turned to face the bird. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Did the goose actually bow his head with remorse? Alan rubbed at his sore arm, more fascinated with the female and goose interaction than how much his wrist hurt.
“Go find something to do.” She waved at the massive grassy area behind the clinic. “Go on.”
The goose squawked loudly and Alan was pretty sure shot him a dirty look before waddling away. Maybe that cozy mystery dream wasn’t such a weird thing after all.
***
Mortification was the only word that came to Cindy’s mind. As far as Canadian geese went, Herman was mostly mild mannered. Only on occasion, when he thought someone a threat to her, did he go into scare-off-the-predator mode. At least he hadn’t broken skin when he nipped at Alan.
“Maybe you should consider putting the goose in a pen.” Her grandmother frowned, pulling her hand out from under the fabric and sucking on her finger. That was the third time since Cindy had stopped in that Grams had stabbed herself by mistake with the sewing needle.
“I feel so bad for him. When we try to pen him up, he gets so depressed.”
Lucy stopped humming one of her favorite tunes and turned from the kitchen sink, looking over her shoulder to the cousins gathered around the island. “How can you tell a goose is depressed?”
“I don’t know.” Cindy shrugged. “I just know.”
“How much longer before dinner is served?” Rose attempted to pilfer a pinch of Lucy’s special potato salad.
A practiced hand smacked Rose’s hand away. “Don’t spoil your appetite.”
“I’d like to leave for Boston before it gets dark. Can’t I just sneak a little food now?” This time Rose tried stabbing at the salad with a fork.
The smart redhead had yet to learn, even after all these years, spoiling supper was sacrilege for Lucy. Not only did she smack Rose’s hand away, she moved the bowl out of reach.
“You’re leaving us so soon, dear?” Grams looked up from her quilting.
Rose stole a grape from the fruit bowl. “According to my office, the exhibit has finally cleared all obstacles and will be on our doorstep bright and early tomorrow morning. If it is not, I will personally go down there and load and haul the thing myself.”
“If they know what’s good for them,” Poppy sneaked around Lucy and snatched a piece of Canadian bacon, “it will get delivered on time.”
“I saw that,” Lucy called out without looking up.
Sporting an impish grin, Poppy gave her cousin a quiet high five.
“Heard that too.” Despite the grumpy reprove, anyone who knew the family housekeeper could hear the amusement in her voice.
“Is Alan joining us for dinner?” Rose asked
“Nope.” Cindy reached for a handful of grapes. “He wants to stay home with the other kitten. As a matter of fact, he insisted on feeding me, since I won’t charge him for taking care of the kitten.”
“How is the poor baby?” Grams managed to insert the needle and retrieve it without stabbing herself.
“Much better. The antibiotics seem to be helping. He’s much more comfortable, and he’s even drinking on his own. I debated whether to take him home tonight or not, but we had a couple
of surgeries today. Since I had to call in help for a night shift anyhow, this way he can be monitored regularly a little longer.”
“I hope you can still bring Alan to the art auction Thursday night.” Rose slid onto a seat beside her.
Slamming the fridge door shut, Poppy poured herself a glass of juice. “Who does a fundraiser on a Thursday night?”
“Obviously,” Rose scowled at her cousin, “we do. Believe it or not we have a better turnout midweek than we do on weekends. Probably because we’re not competing with every other gallery, museum, or charity in the city of Boston.”
“Or,” Cindy added, “every socialite’s birthday or anniversary.”
“See, she gets it.” Rose pointed to her cousin. “So, is he coming?”
“I didn’t even say I was coming.”
“Don’t be silly. Close the clinic early, it’s just a few hours drive. You can enjoy free food and drink. All it will cost you are some smiles and laughs at the right people. I’ll introduce you to all the important donors so you don’t waste your time chatting up a dud, and Herman will be closer to having a pen-free place to roam without anyone getting bitten.”
She had to admit she liked the idea of tapping people outside of Lawford Mountain. And Boston did offer an awful lot of people with capital to spare.
“I can see the twinkle in her eye.” Poppy smiled. “She’s in.”
“Yeah, I think I am, but I don’t know about Alan. I mean, up until recently, he was a bit of a hermit. I don’t think the social scene is any more his thing than it is mine.”
“That’s what Rose is good at.” A platter of marinated meat in her hands, Lucy paused at the back door. “You just let her do her thing. You’ll see it will all work out.” The woman flashed a bright grin and marched outside singing the title song from her favorite musical.
“I’ll give you a hand with the grill. My fingers need the rest.” Grams smiled and followed Lucy out the door, humming the same tune.
“Uh, oh.” Her hand halfway to her mouth, Poppy dropped the grape and swung on her stool to face her cousins. “Did she invite someone else to dinner?”
The same concern that plagued Poppy struck Cindy. Lucy loved to hum and sing tunes from her favorite show, but whenever she sang “Hello Dolly” out loud with the energy of a Broadway singer on stage, the woman was cooking up a scheme. And that didn’t bode well for someone.
“Don’t worry.” Callie came in the doorway. “It’s not us.”
“Not that I’m worried. I’m leaving town after dinner.” Rose gave her cousin a hug. “But you look awfully sure of yourself.”
“I am.”
“Okay.” Cindy waved her hands at her sister. “What don’t we know?”
“I just ran into Bobby from the marina at the One Stop. He got a phone call while I was there.”
Cindy didn’t have a clue where this was going.
“From Lucy.” Head in the fridge, Callie paused to pour herself a drink. “She’s been chatting up the guest in the Elm cottage. The one whose buddy got stuck at work and is showing up a couple of days late for their fishing trip.”
Anticipation building, everyone in the room nodded.
“And you know how the gal in the Birch cabin is there alone because her boyfriend dumped her over the phone for her best friend?”
“I can’t believe people really do such sleazy things.” Maybe it was because she worked for a church, or maybe that she was the baby of the family, but Poppy always saw life as though it were a retro sitcom.
“What no one probably knows,” Callie continued, “is that Lucy just happened to mention there’s a carnival in town in Billings this week and since neither had anything to do today they should borrow the General’s jeep and check it out.”
“I don’t remember hearing that.” Cindy frowned.
“Probably because the carnival is coming to Billings next month,” Poppy reminded her.
“So they had to drive there and back together, but what does Bobby have to do with any of it?”
Callie set her glass down. “Lucy forgot to mention that the gas meter is broken and a full tank may not be full.”
“Oh, no. She didn’t suggest they use the short cut through Beaver’s Pass?” Rose waved her hand after three pairs of eyes bore into her. “Never mind. Of course she did. With the lousy cell reception around here, those poor folks could be stuck for days if no one goes looking.”
“Exactly.” Callie nodded. “Lucy thought Bobby should go rescue them before dark.”
“Well, maybe this time it’ll work out.” Poppy bit into another grape.
Callie smiled sweetly at her sister. Too sweetly. “Did I mention who else I ran into?”
“And the other shoe dangles menacingly.” Rose lowered her voice from deep in her throat.
“At the suggestion of Mr. Elm Cabin’s buddy, his fiancé is here to surprise him until the buddy can get free.”
A choral groan filled the room.
“And the other shoe falls with a boom.” Cindy slid off the chair and stood. “On that note, I’m going to head out and check on kitten number two.”
Amongst a few more jokes and hugging Rose goodbye, Cindy wondered on her way to Alan’s how any one woman with her lousy track record had not yet given up on channeling Dolly Levi. On the other hand, odds had to be in Lucy’s favor that one of these days she would get a match right.
All the cabins came equipped with a small outdoor grill. For some reason she had expected dinner at Alan’s to be take out from one of the local restaurants. She hadn’t expected to find him on the porch actually cooking.
At the sound of her car door slamming, he closed the cover and met her at the porch stairs. “I hope you like steak.”
“Medium, if you don’t mind.”
“A woman after my own heart.”
“How’s the kitten doing?” She followed him onto the porch and into the house. The object of her question came trotting up to her. “Well, hi there.”
Alan scooped him into his arms. “I think he’s missing his brother. He’s been meowing much more than usual today.”
“I’m not surprised.” She retrieved the fur ball from his arms and examined more closely. “He could still come down with something, but so far he looks pretty good. We might have dodged a bullet with this one.”
“I’ll feel better when they are together again.” Leading the way into the kitchen, he opened the cupboards and took out two glasses. “Is red wine okay?”
She nodded. “Perfect.”
“Do you think the kittens will be adopted together?” He poured the wine.
“We will certainly try.” Even though it was important in her job that she not get attached to orphaned animals, she’d already decided that if he didn’t keep them, she wanted them. Probably her odd way of staying close to him.
“Do you like your salad with your steak or before?”
“With is fine.”
He handed her a glass, and placing his hand on her back, nudged her toward the living room. “It’s almost chilly enough to start a fire.”
Taking a seat on the well-worn sofa, she noticed one side of the table was set for dinner for two, but the other side was almost completely cleared of his usual paperwork and clutter. A glaring reminder that his time here was almost over.
“I was thinking.” He put his drink down on the coffee table. “Are you going to attend the museum fundraiser?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
Twisting to face her, he plastered on a sweet smile. “If the invitation is still open, I’d like to join you.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
“I didn’t think you would like that sort of thing.”
“I don’t. Usually.”
“Then why? Doing the street fair is more than enough.”
“But if I can do more to help Herman find a home with other geese…”
Cindy tried not to laugh. “Did we traumatize you?”
“Of course not. I plot murder and mayhem for a living.” He chuckled. “But it made me see why you are so passionate about the sanctuary. The two kittens, the goose, the fox on the road. It’s a good thing that you want to do. And I want to help.”
The way his eyes almost pleaded for her to agree made her heart do a little back flip and then melt in her chest. All she could do was nod. She had no idea what her heart was going to do when this book was finished and he returned to his life clear across the country.
Chapter Thirteen
“Don’t you two look precious.” Lucy clapped her hands together then scooped the kittens up.
“Oh, my.” Fiona Hart came out from the kitchen. “What have we here?”
Snuggling the two kitties against her chest, Lucy turned to Grams. “We’re babysitting.”
“Number One has only been home for two days, and even though he’s doing very well, I’m concerned about leaving them alone.” Alan reached out and scratched the kittens head. “Not to mention, he needs his antibiotics.”
“Number One?” Cindy’s grandmother asked.
“Since his return from the clinic I’ve been calling them Number One and Number Two.”
“Oh, we’re going to have to do better than that.” The graceful older woman lifted one of the kittens up to her face and rubbed her nose against it. “Don’t you worry. Lucy is an expert at medicating kitties.”
Alan actually had to smother a smile with his hand when Lucy’s brows shot high on her forehead at Mrs. Hart’s words.
“Here she comes.” Mrs. Hart turned her attention to the massive staircase and Alan did his best not to swallow his tongue.
Every chance he’d had to spend time with Cindy, she’d been wearing her standard attire of jeans or khakis, and a button down polo shirt. Now, in an off the shoulder, formfitting dress, almost the same dark blue shade as her eyes, she looked stunning. “Hi.”
“Sorry, I’m running a little late.” In heels just high enough to show of the shapeliness of her legs, she trotted down the stairs the same way she might have if she were in running shoes and gym shorts. At the bottom she extended her arm, dangling a necklace at her grandmother. “This is perfect, Grams. I just didn’t have anything nice enough at home. Thank you, but I’m going to need help, please.”
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