“Bears are not a problem I have to deal with in my classes,” Stephen said. “Although there are times when a bear might be preferable to my students.”
He hadn’t noticed her lack of attention, so she asked, “Do you have any pets at the moment?” Again with the pets.
“I grew up with hounds and house cats,” Stephen said. “Then, after Nina and I married, we got a Labrador. He died several years ago, and when Nina was sick, the doctor said it was inadvisable for her to have another dog. If I had it to do over, I’d have found her a small, cuddly dog to stay beside her. After she died, getting a dog became the least of my worries. Maybe it’s time to start looking at the shelters.”
“I’ll be happy to help,” Barbara said.
“The most exotic animal I ever owned was a chameleon I bought at the fair when I was ten.”
“Did it survive?”
“Oddly enough, it lived very well for a couple of years. Orville is the only creature I ever helped rescue. Probably why I am so invested in his health.”
“Nothing I’ve found feeds the ego like rescuing an endangered animal. When I was growing up we raised pigs and goats and sheep and cattle—not very successfully, I’m afraid,” Barbara said. “We did most of our own vet care because we couldn’t afford to hire it done. Our cats lived in the barn and kept the rats down. Our dogs protected the critters. No real house pets. But I brought home abandoned raccoons and possums, and even bats. If it’s hurt or abandoned, I’m going to try to fix it.”
Emma opened the restroom door and walked out. Barbara let out the breath she had been holding.
“Send her home,” Stephen whispered. “I’ll stay.”
Barbara stared at him. “You can’t...”
“Of course I can. I don’t want a salary, however. Have dinner with me tonight. In town at the café or anywhere else you choose. Nonnegotiable. My treat.”
“You’re going to pay for working?”
“What else do I have to spend money on? Emma told me that up here all sorts of things would seem more interesting than the work I was supposed to do—in my case write a textbook.
“I’d also like to help you out at the fair. I thought I had iron discipline, but spending the day at the fair with you seems much more appealing than staring at my computer screen or checking references from the Library of Congress.”
She sat up straight and frowned at him. “You definitely want to come with me?”
“If you’ll have me.”
“You’d be bored out of your mind.”
“With you? Hardly. I’ll make you a deal. If you will ride the Ferris wheel, I’ll ride the roller coaster.”
Barbara longed to say that she did not need him and did not want him. That was only half a lie. Maybe this would be an opportunity to boss him around and get him to back off from intruding on her life. “If you come, remember—me, veterinarian, you, gofer.”
He held up his hands. “Gofer, it is.”
“Stephen,” Emma said as she sat down with a sigh. “Turn the sign to Open, please.”
“No.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“Not until you leave. Go home, Emma. I’m your substitute.”
“But you...”
“Don’t know the system or how to operate the computer? I’m sure I can figure it out. All right with you, Barbara?”
“He’s right, Emma. He’s crazy, but he’s right. Go home, put your feet up and read a book.”
Emma closed her eyes. “Thank you, Stephen. I admit my ankles are swollen. But call me if there are any problems.”
“Scout’s honor.”
Emma got up with greater ease than she’d sat down, picked up her purse and turned the sign on the front door to Open.
As she left, a broad woman carrying a cardboard box that made puppy noises passed her in the doorway.
“Ophelia,” Barbara said, “how many did you wind up with?”
“Four. Suzy can’t figure out how she wound up with four extra Chihuahuas, but she’s a good mother.”
“Come on back with me, Ophelia, so we can check everybody out. Sit down, Stephen. Take notes until I get back out here to check you out on the computer system,” Barbara whispered. “Emma may be healthy as a horse, but she’s not a horse.”
If he couldn’t figure out the computer, he and Barbara could check his notes and transfer them to the computer after the office closed. Possibly after dinner. A pleasant way to spend what would have been a lonely evening.
Stephen was thankful the afternoon was unusually slow. He actually figured out the computer program the clinic used for appointments on his own.
Barbara would be pleased. Why should that give him a pleasant glow? He enjoyed her company as he had no other woman’s since Nina died. He wanted more of it. He had to convince her that his company could be worth her leaving her comfort zone, as well.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
WAITING TO INTERVIEW the woman who might want the clinic job, Barbara realized why she was conflicted about Stephen. He seemed to be trying to take over her life. First, he started helping out at the clinic. Now, they were going to spend the entire day together at the fair. Why hadn’t she said she didn’t want him? Because a secret part of her thought that having him there might be fun.
She remembered fun, didn’t she? Somewhere in the past? She and John had always had fun. And for once, Stephen or no Stephen, she planned to have some more.
Tall and thin, her interviewee had arms with muscles like heavy ropes. Whether she liked hard labor and was a self-starter was a question the interview should answer.
When she’d come into the waiting room and seen the animals, she’d said, “Oooh,” and grinned. She’d checked in with Stephen at the front desk, introduced herself as Mary Frances Reilly, then bent to pick up a rough-coated Dachshund puppy that had escaped from his owner and was dragging his leash. He’d licked her face enthusiastically and sent Mary Frances off into giggles.
“I am so sorry. Rusty just has to go call on everybody he meets,” said his owner. She took the puppy from Mary Frances and set him down on the floor, where he immediately let forth a stream of urine. “Rusty, you bad boy!”
Without asking, Mary Frances took several sheets from the extra-large roll of paper towels on the counter, cleaned up the wet spot, squirted it with the spray bottle of animal urine descenter from the counter, then tossed the towels into a metal garbage can that was a quarter full. “He’s just a baby and he’s excited. He’s a good boy.” She scratched behind his ears and received a loopy dog grin in response. She turned to Stephen. “Sir, is there someplace I can wash my hands?”
He pointed to the door to the left marked Restrooms with both male and female silhouettes on it. As soon as the door closed behind the woman, he buzzed Barbara and whispered, “This one looks promising.”
“From your mouth to God’s ear. Be right there.”
Mary Frances’s cleanup had won over Stephen.
THE INTERVIEW WON Barbara over.
“Me ’n’ Herb just moved up here from Jackson to be close to his folks,” she said. “They’re getting older and his mama’s not in real good health. We don’t have kids, so I can work pretty much whenever you need somebody. I worked for a cleaning company before, and sometimes they wanted folks’ offices cleaned before seven in the morning, and my daddy raised cows until he got arthritis in his knees. I’m used to gettin’ up early.”
“Do you know anything about computers?”
“I did the billing for the cleaning company on their computer sometimes, but you’d have to teach me your system.” She glanced toward the hall door. The reception area was now empty. “Are y’all real busy?”
“This afternoon is unusual. Does being busy bother you? Most of the time it’s crazy around here, and we are very short-staffed. That’s why we’re looking to
hire somebody like you.”
“Busy don’t bother me. I like to keep going, but when it’s quiet I got time to do the extras, like cleaning out cabinets and such like.”
“You do know we keep drugs in our cabinets? We keep them locked and log out drugs when we use them. The government requires we keep a log.”
“Me ’n’ Herb don’t even have a beer on a Saturday night, ma’am, but I understand if you want me to take a drug test.
“We’ll want you to at some point. Just a formality...”
“That’s fine, ma’am. Herb had to take one when he went to work down to the feed store.”
That meant her husband worked for Mayor Sonny Prather. If he’d hired the man, he must be trustworthy. Barbara would call him later to check. Mary Frances had already given her a letter of recommendation from her previous employer.
“Does your husband mind your working late when we have an emergency?”
“He’s so busy at his job and watchin’ out for his folks, he doesn’t have much time to worry about me. I’ve always loved animals. I used to drive my folks crazy bringing home every stray in the neighborhood and finding homes for ’em. I would’a liked to be a vet like you, but we didn’t have the money, and I don’t have the sense.”
“Ever thought of studying to be a licensed veterinary technician? The community college has classes. And here you could learn to run some of the equipment if you liked.”
“Could I? Blood and such don’t bother me, ma’am. I’ll learn anything you want to teach me.”
“The staff here are all on a first-name basis.”
“Even you, ma’am?”
Barbara smiled. “Even me. We’re more formal with our clients. What do you like to be called?”
“Just plain old Mary Frances, ma’am.”
“Not ma’am. Just Barbara or Doc.”
Barbara spent another twenty minutes with Mary Frances explaining salary, hours, insurance and the requirements for the job. She talked about Emma’s pregnancy and the need for someone full-time to take over most of her duties soon. Finally, she said, “Would you like to give the job a shot?”
The woman’s face lit up. Barbara thought she was actually very pretty, despite the slightly bucked teeth and the mousy hair that needed a trim. She had probably been a beauty in her teens. Her jeans were washed and pressed, and her plaid shirt, although a veteran of many washes, was ironed and fresh.
While Mary Frances talked to Stephen, Barbara managed to get Sonny Prather. He knew her family and vouched for them. That was good enough for Barbara.
When, eventually, Barbara went back into the waiting room, she gave Stephen an eyebrow lift and a thumbs-up. “Mary Frances is going to be joining us. She has some time this afternoon, so I thought you might like to start showing her our system on the computer.”
“I’ve just about figured it out myself.”
Barbara looked at the empty waiting room. “Let’s get to it while we have a break in traffic. She starts full-time at eight tomorrow morning, five and a half days a week.”
When Heather came in at four to clean up and met the new hire, she was ecstatic. Barbara realized that everything had slipped further and further behind in the past few months.
Now, if she could only hire another vet before Thanksgiving, life would really be fine on the clinic front. Thanksgiving meant a small celebration with her children—possibly the new vet and his family, assuming she hired one with a family—lots of good food, everyone on their best behavior. What could possibly go wrong?
More help in the clinic meant more free time for Barbara. She had plenty to keep her busy if Stephen didn’t hover around expecting her to go on actual dates. Good grief, she was acting like a child.
What was she so afraid of?
Having him around messed with her attention span. She had plenty of casual male friends. Plenty of attractive male clients, too, some of whom had hit on her after John died. She’d had no problem keeping her objectivity and her distance with them. Stephen was different. She felt like a high-school girl who swears she hates a boy but still hangs out after school to catch a glimpse of him.
She did not have time for anything—anyone—else in her life, and definitely not somebody like Stephen MacDonald.
* * *
ON HIS DRIVE back to his cottage from the clinic, Stephen called Seth.
“I took off early to pick up some groceries for Emma,” Seth said. “She said you were filling in for her at the clinic. Thanks for that. How’d it go?”
“Why don’t you come over for a beer?”
He heard Seth’s voice grow tight. “What’s up?”
“If you could use the beer, I could use the company.”
Ten minutes later, sitting in the cool autumn evening on the front porch, Seth asked, “Was Emma feeling bad? She’d never tell me, but I know she came home early.”
“She’s fine, or as fine as a heavily pregnant woman can be. Thing is, it’s time she stopped working for Barbara, except maybe a half day a week to keep from going nuts.” He held up a hand. “Barbara hired a full-time office assistant this afternoon. She has some minor computer skills and she seems bright enough and wants to learn.” He took a deep breath. “I intended to work out a schedule with Barbara to sit in for Emma until she comes back after the baby is born, assuming she wants to. Now that Barbara’s hired this new lady, I may be off the hook. We’ll see.” Actually, he hoped he’d still be needed at the clinic. It was an excuse to see Barbara.
“I’m looking in on Orville. He doesn’t enjoy my company any more than he did when I brought him in, but I keep talking to him and encouraging him, for what that’s worth. I do understand that he’s not a parrot, capable of speech, but if ever there was a creature with a ‘speaking countenance,’ Orville is that creature.” He grinned. “I guess he has more of a ‘cussing countenance.’ Probably a good thing he can’t talk.
“I’ve offered to teach the new girl how to use the computer more fully, by the way, but who knows how much time that will take.”
“What about your book?”
“Orville and the clinic have become much more important. Certainly much more interesting than real-estate transfers after the great plague or rampant inflation after the First World War. Frankly, now that I see first hand how busy it is, I cannot figure out how Emma and Barbara and one part-time teenager have managed the clinic as well as they have.”
“Barbara had a full-time person until a few months before Emma started helping her out, but you’re right. I don’t know how Barbara will be able to keep going at her present level, if she doesn’t get another vet in with her soon to help out.”
“She says winter is her slack time.”
“As opposed to what? Total chaos? So how do we keep my wife at home baking cookies?”
Stephen chortled. “Unless she’s changed, Emma can’t bake. She and my Anne tried to make cookies for Christmas one year. I could have reroofed the house with them. Speaking of roofing, it looks from the outside as if you’re down to the wire on your construction. Are you ready for the baby?”
“The contractors are working on the punch list. Construction slows down in the winter, so Earl and I are trying to find these guys some jobs to tide them over after our job is finished. So far we’re not finding much.”
“How small a job would they consider?” Stephen asked.
“If it comes with a paycheck, I think they’d at least consider it. Why, what do you have in mind?”
Stephen took a deep breath. “Your pasture.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Stephen held up his hands. “Just listen to me before you tell me I am nuts. It’s not that far from when Orville will be ready to learn to fly again.”
“Is that what Barbara thinks?”
“I haven’t asked her. I can feel it, see it in the way he moves
around his cage.”
“You better ask her before you go making plans for Orville. And what’s that got to do with my pasture? Emma’s pasture, actually. She inherited it, not me.”
“You are husband and wife.”
“Right.”
“I took a look at it... Before you get excited, I did not cross the barbed-wire fence, as you requested. But since the leaves are thinner now, I could see most of it including the remains of the barn.” He decided this was not the time to cloud the issue with Guy Fawkes and his possible bonfire. “The barn looks as though it needs to be cleaned out to the walls and reroofed. The walls are sound, am I correct?”
“Yeah, dirty, but there’s a heck of a lot of old wood and rusted metal roofing and heaven knows what all in there.”
“Before one can assess how much work would be needed to refit the barn, one would have to begin by bushhogging the acreage, cleaning up the edges of the pond, and, uh, getting rid of the debris.”
“One heck of a job. Cost a bundle. You planning on putting the flight cage—see, I haven’t forgotten—actually inside the barn?”
“Possibly. Or attached to it. It would be an excellent setup for the local rehabilitators group.”
“Seems to me you need Barbara’s input on this. Do you have a spare government grant in your pocket to pay for all this?” Seth sounded irritated.
“Possibly we could get one eventually, but like all government grants, it would take time. I want to plan it all out, then surprise Barbara.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Barbara likes to make her own decisions.”
Stephen leaned forward and dropped his forearms between his knees. “Of course, I want Barbara’s input. If I present her with plans, however, she’s much more likely to actually do something. Or let me.”
“Barbara and her group are always doing fund-raisers to make enough money to pay for the little they are able to do. They don’t have that kind of money.”
“I’ll buy it.” Stephen sat back, flabbergasted at the words that had just come out of his mouth. Anne always said he needed to engage his brain before he engaged his mouth.
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