Winter Hearts

by A. E. Radley

  Peyton frowned now as she considered the idea. It was true she hadn’t been overly successful in pulling this proposal thing off, and maybe Lori was right. Maybe Ashley would be impressed at the amount of time and effort she’d put into it. After all, Ashley was always saying she needed to be more romantic.

  And nothing says romance like a waiting room full of barking dogs, right?

  God, she was so screwed.

  “Okay,” Lori was saying, “now before the patients start arriving, I thought we could do one last run through of the dance.” She came around the desk and pulled on Peyton’s hand to get her to her feet. “Come on, Dr. P, we want this to be perfect, right?”

  “Mmm.”

  “Have you been practicing in your office after work, like I asked? The girls in the front and I have met here after hours three nights this week, and I haven’t seen you once. I wanted to come more often, but Leslie’s selfish boyfriend wanted her to go out for their anniversary, and Debra wanted to stay home Wednesday to color her hair in case her gray shows up on the video.”

  Peyton tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “The video?”

  “Of course. We have to have a video to put on Facebook.”

  Oh, hell no. “No. I absolutely didn’t agree to that, Lori. This thing will be embarrassing enough without it going viral. Promise me there will be no posting of videos on Facebook or Instagram or anywhere else.”

  “Okay, okay,” Lori threw up her palms. “Don’t get excited. But Ashley will still want a video of it. Just leave everything to me. I got this.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Peyton grumbled, mostly under her breath.

  It was still early, so there was no one much around in the reception area as they came out of Peyton’s office. Debra was listening to the song, the volume up a little too loud, in Peyton’s opinion, from an iPhone on the counter. It was a Bruno Mars song, “Think I Want to Marry You,” chosen after a great deal of arguing between Lori and Debra.

  Lori loved it and said it was the perfect choice, but Debra said the lyrics were all wrong. “Listen to this, Lori,” Debra said as they came into Reception. “He’s talking about it being a beautiful night in the song, when clearly, it’s morning here. And then he says he wants to do something ‘dumb’ so let’s get married.” She frowned in disapproval. “Really? That’s awful.”

  “Oh, God, Debra. It’s too late to change now. And you’re being too literal-minded anyway. It’s a fabulous song, and the lyrics are beautiful.”

  “The words ‘yeah, yeah,’ and ‘go, go,’ said over and over are beautiful?”

  “It’s too late, Debra.” Lori glanced back at Peyton. “We’re going with this song. Right, Dr. P?”

  “Well…”

  “Okay, ladies,” Lori said, not waiting on Peyton to finish her thought. Odd that Peyton had never before noticed Lori had all the finesse and subtlety of a steamroller. “We have time for one more run-through of the song and dance. Here’s how it’s going to go down. Ashley will come in and ask to see Dr. P. Debra, you’ll tell her that she’s busy with a patient, but she’ll be right out, and then ask her to have a seat. Leslie,” Lori said, nodding at one of the two vet techs assembled, “That’s when you and Cindy go back and find Dr. P and get her in place, then come around to the front counter. After that, Debra, you’ll start the music and then you and I will come around to the front, so be ready when the chorus starts. Everybody got it?”

  “I don’t know, Lori. Maybe I need more practice,” Peyton said, suddenly feeling nauseous. “I can cancel this before Ashley gets here. No problem.”

  “Absolutely not. We’re ready. Now do you have the ring?”

  “Yes, right here,” Peyton patted her pocket.

  “Okay, you won’t come out until near the end of the song. We’ll be out here like this,” she said, joining hands with Cindy as they swayed back and forth to the music. “On that last chorus, we turn to face each other, raise our arms and then you come out from under the arch we make and get down on one knee with the ring. You can do that, right?”

  “Well, yeah, I guess so. But there’s only four of you, and…” She looked at the four women assembled in front of her, trying to decide how to put it delicately. “…you’re all shorter than I am. It won’t be much of an arch.”

  “Oh, Dr. Johnson and his tech said they’ll do it, too. When Dr. J hears the music, he’s supposed to come out and will jump in there at the end to help us with the arch.”

  “God, Lori,” Peyton said, rubbing a hand over her face. “This is so complicated. It’s never going to work.”

  “Have some faith! It’ll be fine.”

  And with those famous last words ringing in her ears, Peyton flinched as her first appointment arrived, twenty minutes early. She was actually glad to see Mrs. Baker and her labradoodle, Nicky. It gave her the perfect excuse to escape. As she led them into one of the examination rooms, Peyton heard the chorus start up again, and Debra’s strident voice complaining about somebody stepping on her foot.

  “So, how is Nicky today?” Peyton asked, flipping through the chart she’d picked up from the front desk.

  The dark haired woman sat the dog on the top of the exam table and then brushed her hands through his curly fur. “Well, not so good,” she answered. “He’s stopped up.”

  Arching an eyebrow, Peyton peered over the chart. “Stopped up?”

  “Yeah, you know…” She cleared her throat. “Constipated. He’s always putting any and everything he comes across into his mouth, so I’m afraid he may have eaten something that’s disagreed with him.”

  Peyton nodded and then sat the chart down on the exam table. She petted Nicky on the head before probing the labradoodle’s stomach. “I don’t feel any—”

  “She’s here!”

  Petyon and Mrs. Baker both jumped at the shouted interruption.

  “She’s in the parking lot,” Lori continued, her voice giddy with anticipation.

  “Lori, I’m with a patient,” Peyton said, clenching her teeth.

  “I’m sorry, Dr. P,” she blushed. “We’re all just so excited.”

  Turning her attention back to Mrs. Baker, Peyton grimaced. “I’m sorry about that. It’s—”

  “Dr. Maxwell is getting married today!” Lori chirped.

  “I’m not getting married today.” Peyton felt a muscle in her neck begin to twitch. “I’m just going to ask her to marry me today.”

  “Oh, how wonderful!” Mrs. Baker said. “I’m so excited for you.”

  Lori nodded. “The whole office is in on it. We’re...”

  The nausea was getting more pronounced. Peyton placed a hand over her threatening stomach. What the hell had she been thinking? This was never going to work.

  “Dr. P?”

  Peyton looked up to see Lori, Mrs. Baker, and Nicky staring at her expectantly.

  “I asked what kind of ring you have for her,” Mrs. Baker supplied, scratching the top of Nicky’s head. She beamed with excitement. “I think this is so romantic! Do you have the ring with you?”

  Drawing out the tiny box that she’d been carrying around in her pockets for weeks now, Peyton nodded. “I do.” She opened the box and pulled out the ring to show it to them, holding it between two fingers. “It’s a princess cut, set in rose gold.” Thoughts of Ashley brought a smile to her face. “I had the hardest time figuring out her ring size, though. I didn’t want Ashley to get suspicious, so I—”

  A cream-colored blur passed by her face and then the ring was gone.

  Slack jawed, Peyton tilted her head, blinking a few times and unsure of what had just happened. Mrs. Baker and Lori both began to scream and moved as one to frantically pry open Nicky’s jaws. Peyton’s mind finally caught up and she stared wide-eyed at the labradoodle on the exam table, knowing that it was already far too late.

  The labradoodle pulled away from the women, made a gulping sound as he swallowed the ring, and then wagged his tail.

  CHAPTER 8

&
nbsp; “I don’t know about you, but I think it’s a little rude to have someone wait around for you to have time to break up with them.”

  Ashley cut a sideways glance at Cassie, but said nothing. They’d been sitting in the front waiting area of the clinic for nearly twenty minutes. They’d arrived exactly at 11 a.m.—just as Peyton had requested in her text message—and Ashley had to agree that she was also getting a little ticked off at having to wait.

  “They said that Peyton was with a patient and she’d be out just as soon as she could,” Ashley said, keeping her voice low. “Besides, I thought we agreed on the ride over that we’d blown things out of proportion.”

  Cassie sat beside her in a bright blue plastic chair, flipping through a magazine with a skateboard-riding pug on the front cover. “You agreed. I’m reserving judgement until we see what Peyton wanted to ‘talk’ to you about.” She looked up from the magazine. “For the record, if she makes you cry, I’m kicking her ass in front of everyone in here.”

  “Oh, Cassie,” Ashley rolled her eyes. “I’m telling you, you’re wrong. She probably just wants to talk about…about…” Talk about what? What couldn’t she have said over text message, or when she arrived home from work? “I don’t know, what we’re going to have for Christmas dinner or something like that.”

  “Mmhm.” Cassie turned her attention back to the magazine and flipped another page. “That’s why everyone in the joint is acting so strange?”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  Cassie made a small nodding gesture. “Look around,” she said in a near whisper. “Tell me something’s not going on.”

  She stared questioningly at Cassie, who continued to be absorbed by whatever she was reading in the pug magazine and then turned her attention to the room. Ashley noted there were two other women in the waiting area—one holding a cute little schnauzer puppy and another who had a glowering cat in a pet carrier. Both of them were staring intently down at their phones. Almost overly engrossed in them. Behind the counter Debra, the clinic’s grandmotherly accounts receivable clerk, sat talking to a twenty-something blonde in bright pink scrubs. Ashley had met the younger woman a few times before and tried to remember her name.

  Lori Something, maybe.

  The longer she watched the two women behind the counter, the more obvious it became that something, indeed, was going on with them. Debra and Lori were whispering furiously at each other and making furtive little glances out into the waiting area.

  Immediately, Ashley wondered if they were talking about her.

  Did they know something? Debra had always been really sweet to her. Lori, not so much. Oh, she was never rude, and she had always smiled at Ashley, but secretly, Ashley thought she might have a crush on “Dr. P”—as she’d heard Lori call Peyton.

  A sudden thought struck her and she literally gasped.

  Peyton was having an affair with Lori!

  Ashley was instantly reminded of a phone call Peyton had gotten the other night, shortly after dinner. She’d said that it was the office calling about an overnight patient in the kennel, but Ashley had heard Peyton laughing with whomever she’d been speaking to. Had that been Lori? Had they been laughing at her? And did sweet Debra know about the deception and was maybe upset over it?

  It was clear now that Debra and Lori were in some kind of fierce argument and, from time to time, one or the other of them would glance out at the clients to see if they’d noticed. Everyone in the lobby avoided making eye contact and looked uncomfortable. The schnauzer puppy whined nervously and the little cat in the carrier next to Ashley hissed in alarm.

  There was more furious whispering and, just when she thought the two women were about to come to blows, Ashley saw Peyton hovering in the doorway. She stepped back toward the exam rooms and peeked around the corner as if she were hiding. Ashley saw Peyton whisper something to Lori, who immediately jumped up and ran back toward the exam area with Peyton.

  “Damn, Ashley, I’m sorry.”

  Ashley turned her head at Cassie’s voice, noting that she’d apparently seen the interaction between Peyton and the little blonde vet tech, too.

  Cassie dropped the magazine into the empty seat beside her and began to stand. “Maybe we should just go.”

  There was a dizzying buzz in Ashley’s ears as Cassie spoke, and she gripped the arms of the plastic chair tightly. This couldn’t be happening.

  “You and Moose can come stay at my place for a while,” she heard Cassie say.

  In that moment, a feeling of complete calm washed over her and she knew exactly what she had to do.

  “If Peyton wants to trade me in for a younger model, that’s fine. But not before I tell her…tell both of them—” Ashley stood and marched to the counter.

  “Ashley, what are you doing?”

  Ignoring Cassie and the startled expression on Debra’s face, Ashley strode past the counter and down the hall toward the exam rooms. Hearing Peyton's voice mingled with that of Lori’s and drifting out from behind Exam Room 3 steeled her resolve. Without hesitation, she opened the door.

  Ashley didn’t know what to expect when she entered the exam room, but it sure as hell wasn’t Peyton holding a labradoodle in her arms. Out of the corner of her eye, she registered Lori and another woman standing next to a tall, metal exam table. Peyton and labradoodle stared back at Ashley, both looking slightly shocked.

  Ashley flushed in embarrassment and took a step backwards, bumping into Cassie. “I’m sorry,” she muttered. “I’ve made a horrible mistake.”

  “No, wait,” Peyton said. She hefted the labradoodle onto the exam table and reached out to take Ashley by the hand. Peyton pulled her into the exam room. “I’m the one who’s made the mistake.”

  “Peyton, I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  Peyton wrapped her hands around Ashley’s and dusted a kiss across her knuckles. “Ashley,” she began, “I have something I need to say. I’ve been trying for weeks and…now I’m just going to say it.” She took a deep breath. “When I came back home and we reconnected after so many years, I thought I was really lucky.”

  “We need music,” Lori suddenly blurted. She pushed her way out of the room and began screaming, “We need music!”

  What the hell is happening? Eyebrows raised, Ashley looked to Cassie, who shrugged her mutual confusion.

  Ashley felt Peyton tighten the grip on her hands. She shook her head. “Peyton, I don’t—”

  “But then I realized,” Peyton continued, “that it wasn’t just luck. It was fate. You’re the only one I’ve ever loved.” She dropped Ashley’s hands and took two steps back.

  “Peyton,” Ashley said again. “What—” She cocked her head as music began to play loudly over the intercom. “Is that Bruno Mars?” She exchanged baffled glances with Cassie once more and then turned her full attention back to Peyton.

  In response, Peyton flipped a switch on the wall behind her, turning on the x-ray illuminator. Ashley narrowed her eyes at the image that appeared on the white screen. She could see ribs and the faint outline of organs. In the middle of what she assumed was a dog’s stomach was the distinct and unmistakable circular shape of an engagement ring.

  Ashley looked back to Peyton, realization of what she was seeing slowly dawning on her. “Peyton, what’s happening?”

  Peyton took Ashley’s left hand and placed it on the labradoodle’s stomach.

  “Ashley, I’m asking you to spend forever with me.”

  EPILOGUE

  The best part about Christmas morning was—paws down—the presents. I’d really scored this Christmas. So far, I’d gotten a new collar, a box of chew toys, and a giant peanut butter-flavored cookie in the shape of a candy cane.

  It wasn’t just me who got presents, either. Daisy had gotten two new dolls and that video game she’d been wanting. Ashley had gotten some jewelry and a candle that smelled like cupcakes. Peyton loved the new watch she’d opened up and had immediately put it on. Even the kitten
had gotten presents. In fact, I was enjoying the new harness that Ashley had gotten for him, even if it did mean that the kitten was now able to go with us to park.

  “Dog! Help me, dog! I can’t move!”

  I swallowed the big bite of peanut butter cookie I’d been munching on and trotted over to the kitten, who was lying stiffly on his side. The second Ashley had put the harness on him, he’d fallen over flat and hadn’t moved since except when Daisy dragged him around a little on his side until Peyton made her quit.

  I’d seen this happen before at the dog park, usually with puppies. A part of me knew that I shouldn’t be laughing at the kitten’s obvious distress, but the other part thought it was absolutely hilarious. You can guess which part of me was winning out.

  “I’m sorry, what did you say, Ragnar? I couldn’t quite hear you.”

  “A plague on you, dog!” the kitten yowled. “The humans have paralyzed me and you scoff?”

  From behind me, Ashley reached down and picked up the kitten. “C’mon, Fluffy,” she said. “At least try to walk around in it.”

  Ashley put Ragnar back down on all four of his paws and then let go. He promptly fell back over onto his side.

  “I’m doomed,” he mewled. “Why has fate cursed me so?”

  I grinned and shook my head. “Seriously, Ragnar, you don’t have to be so melodramatic.”

  “All right,” Ashley muttered. “We’ll try it again later.” She pulled at the latch on the back of the harness, freeing Ragnar from his puffy-vested jail.

  He leapt into the air and shook out his fur. “Freedom,” he declared and then narrowed his beady little eyes at me. “No thanks to you, dog.”

  Give me a break. “Oh, lighten up, it was just a harness.” Seeing my opening, I cleared my throat and continued, “And you need to improve your attitude towards me. Uh, cat law number three hundred says so.”

  Ragnar had licked a paw and was brushing it over his ears. As I spoke, he froze and stared at me. “What did you say?”