Veterinary Partner

by Nancy Wheelton

  Lauren led Max inside. “Rebecca Anderson, please meet Maximilian Anderson.” Max gazed at Becky and sat, his wagging tail brushing the floor. After a few seconds of being ignored, Max quit wagging and plopped on his belly with a sigh.

  Lauren, eyebrows raised, looked at Callie.

  Callie grimaced and lifted her shoulder in a half shrug.

  Becky glanced at Callie. “Max is our dog? For keeps?”

  Callie nodded, looking a little worried. “Yes. Is it okay? Max, I mean? He needs a home. I know I said puppy…”

  “I like Max. Hi, Max.” Becky held out her hand for him to sniff. She stroked him, which started Max wagging again. “Come see your new bed, Max.”

  Lauren handed her a rawhide bone. “He had major surgery two weeks ago, so no running and no going upstairs, yet.”

  “Okay, Lauren. Mommy and I have a bed for him in the living room.” Lauren unclipped the leash, and Max hopped after Becky. He stepped normally on his back legs and then did a bounce to take the place of the missing front leg.

  Lauren watched them. “Max is slow now, but in a month when he’s stronger you’ll not catch him.”

  “Thanks for taking such good care of him. I never imagined you’d have him at the clinic this long,” Callie said.

  “It was unfortunate we had to deal with an infection. It meant we had to keep him longer and delay today’s homecoming.” She spared Callie the details, but the infection was serious, and she had put a drain in. That meant another surgery and anesthetic. Val helped her one evening and Lauren paid the clinic for the supplies they used. She’d spent Callie’s eight hundred dollars in the first week. But she didn’t need to know any of that.

  Lauren handed Callie a small bottle of pills. “These are his antibiotics for another week. He’s lost weight, so feed him as much as he’ll eat.” Lauren set a small bag of dog food on Callie’s floor. “I recommend feeding him puppy food. It’ll have more calories and nutrition per cup than regular adult dog food. Please call me anytime if he has problems. I like that little dog.”

  Callie wrapped her arms around Lauren’s neck. “Perfect.” Then Callie bent her head and kissed her.

  Lauren slid her arms around Callie’s waist and deepened the kiss. In the back of her mind she worried that Becky would return and see them, but it felt as if a line of fire shot down her body and landed at the base of her stomach. The strange mixture of arousal and fear caused her stomach to flip, and not in a nice way. Why couldn’t she relax and enjoy herself? When they broke apart, they stood staring into each other’s eyes. Callie’s eyes had turned darker than their usual blue. Callie was all arousal. No fear in her. They separated and Lauren could breathe again.

  When Becky and Max returned, Callie focused on the dinner preparations. She’d prepared a wonderful chili and had baked fresh bread to go with it. It should have been a happy meal, but Lauren spent much of it in a state of conflict. She was attracted to Callie, and it petrified her that Callie was attracted to her. Becky was a great kid, and she was becoming attached to her, but she would only get her heart broken if it didn’t work out between them. She’d already lost enough.

  Being with Becky triggered memories and Lauren longed for her daughter. Becky had the same brown hair and brown eyes as Sam, and the same interest in everything to do with animals. In Toronto when Lauren returned to the clinic in the evening, Sam had often accompanied her. When he was younger, William had helped too.

  Callie waved her hand in front of Lauren’s face. “Hello, Lauren, are you there?”

  Lauren shook her head to clear her thoughts and focused on Callie. “Pardon?”

  “Becky asked for help with her biology homework.”

  “My project is on the cow. I have to report on their digestive system.” Becky frowned at an escaping bean on her plate.

  Lauren hesitated for a second. More time meant more connection.

  Becky fiddled with her cutlery and in a small voice said, “It’s okay if you’re too busy.”

  Callie frowned at Lauren.

  Lauren mustered her enthusiasm. There was no need to hurt her feelings. But maybe she needed to make herself a little more scarce in the future. She wasn’t part of this family. “Sure, Becky, no problem. Where do you want to work?”

  Becky bounced in her chair. “Upstairs, please.”

  “You two go ahead. I’ll put the leftovers away and wash the dishes,” Callie said.

  Forty minutes later, Lauren left Becky to her project and walked downstairs. She found Callie reading in the living room, in front of an inviting wood fire. She hesitated in the doorway until Callie lowered her book and sent her a warm smile.

  Callie patted the couch beside her. “Thanks for helping Becky.”

  “She’s a great kid.” Lauren plopped beside Callie.

  “She’s enthusiastic about this project. She likes anything to do with animals. May I call you next time she asks for help with her history or math homework?”

  “Not my subjects, I’m afraid.”

  Callie was joking, but the thought of doing that kind of regular homework made Lauren feel panicky. “Becky showed me her drawings of you and the cattle. I could tell they were you.”

  “Correction. She likes art and anything to do with animals.”

  Lauren had difficulty concentrating. She thought if she focused on Callie’s lips while she spoke, she could follow her words. It didn’t help. At all.

  Lauren said, “Becky’s smart. She’ll learn what she needs to and buckle down.”

  “I admire your confidence.”

  Lauren choked on her coffee and wiped her mouth. Callie thought she was confident? Boy, had Callie read her wrong.

  “I never thanked you for helping a week ago when I told you about Kyle borrowing my trailer. Sorry. I should have done it sooner. You kept me sane that night.” Callie nudged her with her shoulder. “Thanks for talking me out of taking an ax to my trailer. What a mess it would’ve been.”

  Lauren scrutinized Callie for a few seconds. Was she going to talk about how that night ended? Maybe Lauren staying and holding her had meant nothing to Callie. She had just been a stand-in for Liz. “No problem. On our last trip I filled our time talking about me.” She stood and wandered to the bookshelf. She tipped her head and read a few titles as she browsed but absorbed nothing. “Do you remember what happened after we went to bed?”

  Callie shot to her feet. “Did I do something that made you uncomfortable? I remember you holding me.” Callie stepped closer. “I felt warm and safe in your arms.”

  Lauren bent and spoke while she petted Max. “You stirred in the morning and I kissed you. You pulled my hand over your breast.” She straightened and jammed her hands in her pockets. “Then you said Liz’s name. I thought at first you were awake, but you were asleep. Maybe you were dreaming of her?”

  Callie shook her head. “I recall the cuddling, but nothing more.” Callie dropped to the couch. “I remember hands on my breasts, but I thought it was a dream.” Callie looked at Lauren. “It was nice.”

  “I won’t be a stand-in for Liz, Callie.”

  “You can’t expect me to control my subconscious. I don’t remember saying her name, so I must’ve been asleep. I always felt safe with her, and that night I was scared. When I’m scared my mind turns to the person I love. The person who protects me.” Callie’s tone was neutral.

  “She wasn’t there. I was. And I can’t compete with Liz. She was perfect.” Lauren spoke louder than she intended as she forced the words past the lump in her throat.

  “She was not perfect.” Callie shrugged, her expression closed off. “I have no control over what I say in my sleep. Liz was always my protector. In my head, I don’t need protection and I don’t want it, but that night thoughts of her appeared. I’m sorry if I upset you.”

  “Thanks for helping me to understand.” Lauren snatched her empty coffee mug off the table and carried it to the kitchen. Even when she was the one there, it had been thoughts of Liz that
Callie turned to. “Anyway, getting late.” She wrenched on her coat and shoved her feet into boots. “Thanks for dinner.”

  “Thank you for bringing Max home.” They studied each other for several seconds until Callie leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

  Lauren gave a quick wave and headed home. How could she compete with Liz’s memory? Liz was confident, not an insecure chicken. And there was the obvious. She jabbed at her soft stomach and glanced at her round face in the rearview mirror. Liz had been a police officer, fit and strong.

  Lauren struggled to tamp down her insecurities. She wanted to understand Callie, but it wasn’t easy. Could she replace Liz? Part of her longed to flee, but Callie peppered her with invitations and little caresses she found difficult to resist. Besides her obvious beauty, Callie was warm and generous, and stronger than she gave herself credit for. Callie was irresistible and Lauren did not want to resist.

  She slammed her hand on the stirring wheel. “I’m a waste of space. Useless. Useless to Callie, useless to my kids, and useless to myself.” Maybe the solution was to move again. She liked Thresherton and PVS, but if her life here had become a train wreck she would do better to move on. She’d be running away, but staying to face life’s difficulties was overrated. If she left it would solve everyone’s problems. There’d have been less drama in her life if she’d left T.J. when she first wanted to, but instead, she’d hung on for years hoping life would improve.

  And then there was Becky. So like Sam. She’d hurt Sam and William with the divorce and abandonment. And now they would spend thirty years in therapy talking about how bad a mother Lauren was. She shook her head. She should come with a warning label. Beware. This woman will destroy you. She wanted to be in love in a stable relationship, but she lacked the necessary skills. Her brain wasn’t wired properly. It was time to accept the fact that she was a failure.

  Lauren nodded. She’d stay away from Callie and if Callie objected, she’d give her T.J.’s number. One phone call would no doubt help Callie see she and Becky were better off without her. Better off with a strong woman like Liz or Mitch, not a wimp and a loser like her.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Callie served Lauren a cup of coffee. She had invited Lauren for afternoon coffee anytime she was in the area and had time to visit. The days were busy, and Callie looked forward to their time together as an oasis in the storm she perpetually lived in. Veterinary bills piled up, Becky needed things for school, the farm equipment needed updating, and the house was in desperate need of attention.

  Kyle had stopped coming around, and she rarely saw the Krugers, but when she did, she didn’t miss the vitriol in their eyes. Some days, it simply felt like too much. Her time with Lauren helped ground her and she was coming to depend on it, even though she’d sworn not to depend on anyone ever again. They hadn’t talked any more about Lauren’s concerns about Liz’s memory, and they left the topic of Lauren’s kids alone, too. It probably wasn’t good there were things they were avoiding, but Callie was happy to enjoy the simplicity of what they had. For the moment. It had taken a bit of cajoling on her part to even get Lauren to come by, and she didn’t want her to take off again.

  Callie set a steaming mug of coffee in front of Lauren. “I have muffins too, if you want one. I hope you can come back for dinner tonight. We had fun on Friday.” Callie laughed. “My kid was excited this morning. And that’s unusual for a Monday. It’s because her project on the cow’s digestive system was finished and she was feeling good about it. Thanks for helping her.”

  “No problem.”

  Callie sat across from Lauren and focused on her. “She said the oddest thing. She said she would be a big girl from now on and do her projects on her own.”

  “That is odd.”

  “It is. Any idea why she would say that? Did you really not mind helping?”

  Lauren sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Callie, I can’t do this.”

  “Do what? Have coffee and chat? Come back for dinner? It was fine on Friday night when you brought Max home. What’s changed in three days?”

  Lauren shrugged

  “So not fine. Is it Liz again? And my saying her name in my sleep?”

  Lauren shrugged.

  Callie stared at Lauren in frustration. Was she supposed to guess? Was she supposed to list everything that wasn’t perfect in her life and see if Lauren latched on to one item? She was a widow, with a child, she had a farm she could barely run, she had a debt load that was barely manageable. If Lauren wanted perfection she was at the wrong place. And perfect didn’t exist. Not to mention, it wasn’t like she was asking for a lifetime commitment. Would flirty friendship be so hard? “Is it Kruger? You’re worried about him.”

  “Given everything Kyle’s done it only makes sense.

  “Kyle is a loser. I can’t believe I gave him so much power over me.”

  “Scary loser.”

  “Scary? Did he come after you? If he hurt you, I’ll—”

  Lauren held up her hands. “Nothing happened. He just spooked me. Showed up at the clinic late at night pretending he had a calving, but there was no cow. Just his creepy behavior and threats.”

  “Threats? He threatened you? No way. Not again.” She grabbed her phone. “I’m calling the police. We’ll stop this now.”

  “I spoke to Mitch right after it happened. She said she’d talk to Kyle, but there’s nothing to prove and Tommy was my only witness. Kyle just said I should leave Thresherton or learn to shut up. I did neither. It’s just that I felt a little exposed. I was alone and there was nobody waiting at home to miss me.”

  The loneliness in Lauren’s voice tugged at Callie’s heart. At Poplarcreek, she had no other adults to depend on, but with Becky, she was less lonely. The loneliness she couldn’t solve, but she could help against the Krugers. “When was this?”

  “Day after we went to the police?”

  Callie paced her kitchen. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “What would you do? Besides, you have enough to worry about from them.”

  Callie dropped to her knees in front of Lauren and took her hands. “Do you think you don’t matter? I care about you.”

  Lauren smiled at her.

  “And Becky does too.”

  Lauren’s smile slipped. She slowly withdrew her hands and looked away.

  Callie grabbed Lauren’s knees and gave them a shake. “Are you being weird because of Becky?” She ended on an incredulous squeak. “I thought you liked her?”

  “Damn it. I do. Too much, but she’s tied to you, and if we break up, then I lose her too. I know this. I’ve lived this.” She dropped her face into her hands. “I wouldn’t survive again,” she muttered.

  “What? Break up? How did you get there? A few meals and a few cups of coffee, combined with some fooling around, does not make a relationship.” Just the notion that they were in a relationship made her twitch.

  “I just meant if we were, or if we, you know. William barely speaks to me and Sam is just coming around, but it’s like I have to start over with her.”

  Callie moved back to her chair. She needed some distance. She struggled to keep her tone neutral as Lauren crumbled before her eyes. “I’m sorry they hurt you and I believe you’re a wonderful parent, even if you’re not sure. But it’s not our situation today. Don’t plan our breakup before we’re even a couple.”

  Lauren stood. “I should go. I’m making a mess of this.”

  “Don’t run. Talk. Help me to understand where you’re coming from. I got the impression Becky thinks you don’t like her, and I’m confused.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Then stay and say hi.” Callie glanced at the clock. “She’ll be home soon.”

  “Next time.” Lauren pulled her coat on and stepped into her boots.

  “This is so frustrating. I don’t get it, but you should know, Becky comes first with me. Always has and always will. The health and happiness of my child is my priority.” Cal
lie shook her head to dismiss the conversation. If Lauren was conflicted about Becky, they had no future. And truthfully, getting involved this far had clearly been a huge mistake.

  Without another word, Lauren left.

  Callie poured their coffee down the drain. She was going to wash their dishes, but it was more likely she’d bounce the mugs of the wall if she picked them up. She pressed her temples. Lauren had some struggles with her children, but how did it come around to Becky?

  Callie shook her head, yanked on a coat and boots, and jogged to the road. She greeted Becky when she exited the bus and walked her to the house. They hung their coats on hooks and kicked off boots.

  Callie hugged her. “Would you like a hot chocolate?”

  “Was I bad, Mommy?” Becky gazed at her feet.

  Callie squatted in front of her. “No, honey, why?”

  “I just saw Lauren’s truck. She left so she wouldn’t have to see me. She doesn’t want to be my friend.”

  Callie caressed Becky’s cheek. “Yes, she does.”

  “She drove right by. Didn’t even wave.”

  Callie swallowed hard. Could Becky be right? “No, sweetie. She’s your friend. I’m sure she just didn’t see you. She left because we argued. We have to make up, but we’re still friends.”

  Becky shrugged.

  “Is something else bothering you?”

  Becky dropped onto a chair. Max laid his head on her thigh and she petted him. Becky’s words burst from her in a rush. “If you want me to go away, I’ll go.”

  Callie kneeled beside Becky’s chair with her hands pressed to her aching heart. “Oh, honey, why do you say that?”

  “You can get rid of me. Give me away. Same as Mrs. Macpherson gave Max away. I don’t make you happy.”

  “I love you. You’re my daughter and my pal. The best thing in my life.” Tears flowing down her face, Callie shook her head in horror at Becky’s words. She yearned to hug Becky and promise it would be all right, but she hesitated because now was the time to listen.