“Working on what?” He walked the remaining few feet into the kitchen, pulled a paper towel from the roller, and began wiping his hands.
“My graphic novel,” she said, following him.
“What’s a graphic novel?”
“You don’t know? It’s all the rage with adolescent boys.”
“As you can probably guess, it’s been awhile since I was an adolescent boy,” he said, opening the door beneath the sink to toss the paper towel.
She smiled at the thought of just how manly he was and how far from the awkwardness of adolescence. “You’ve spent some time here,” she observed.
“Oh,” he said, looking a little sheepish. “Granny and I go way back. She hooked me when I was a mere pup with those homemade chocolate chip cookies of hers.”
She narrowed her eyes. Granny had never mentioned him. At least not that she remembered. How much exactly had Granny told him about her? “Really?” she asked.
“Speaking of which, where is Charlie?”
“Sleeping, I guess.”
“He always comes out to say hi. Mind if we go look for him?” He stepped into her space. So close, if one of them leaned in, their bodies would touch. There was an intensity in his eyes that she hadn’t expected to see in him. “And then I have something to ask you about.” He reached out, put his hand on her arm, sliding it down to grasp her hand.
“No,” she said and had to clear her throat. “We can look for him.”
He didn’t say anything, just gazed into her eyes and ran his thumb along her palm.
“I think…” she was about to mention that Charlie was probably in Granny’s bedroom in his bed, when her cell phone rang. Pulling her hand from his, she pulled her iphone from her pocket.
It was Steven calling her back. She opened the phone.
“Hey, Girlfriend. I have great news!”
She glanced at Justin and tried to switch focus. Steven had been the last thing on her mind. “What is it?” she responded automatically.
“Zena, and I are on our way over there. Can you believe it?”
“What?” Actually, no, she couldn’t believe it. “When?” she asked, hoping it wasn’t right now.
“Right now. We’ll be there for dinner.”
“Oh.”
“I bet you can’t wait to see us.”
She looked over at Justin. He was at her desk, staring at her drawings. “Of course. It’ll be great to see you.” She didn’t hear Steven’s response, however, because she was distracted by the nice fit of Justin’s Levis as he bent over her desk. She turned and closed her eyes and focused back on the voice in her ear. “I’m sorry, what’s that?”
“I just said I knew you would be excited. See you soon.”
“Ok, see you soon.” She signed off and set her phone aside. Then, she slowly turned back to Justin who was staring at her, waiting.
“Visitor?” He asked.
“What?” Why was he looking at her like that? Like he knew something she didn’t. And whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
“I suppose you’ll be busy, then.”
“Busy?”
“Yes, you’ll be busy entertaining.”
“I guess. It’s just Steven.”
“I see.” He ran his hand across the shadowy stubble on his chin. “I guess I’ll be going then.”
“Well, what about Charlie?”
“No prob. I’ll see him next time.”
“Well, really, it’s ok. It’ll be awhile before –
“Don’t worry about it.” He walked past her and started for the back door.
“What were you going to…” She said, then trailed off as the door slammed behind him. “ask me?” she finished, feeling empty and not really knowing why. She should be excited. Her friends were coming.
Justin took another deep, steadying breath and stepped into his kitchen.
“Been to see Granny?” Bert asked.
“Granny’s still on vacation, Dad.”
“That’s right,” Bert said, with a mischievous smile. “How’s Alley?”
“I’m sure, she’s fine,” he said, and opened the refrigerator to rummage for a beer. With a groan, he remembered that his parents didn’t keep alcohol in the house due to Dad’s heart problems. In the two years he had lived with them, this was the first time he had wanted something stronger than a soda. He took a soda can from the shelf, popped the top, and took a long swallow.
“She must be lonely over there in that big house,” Bert said.
“Alley has never been lonely in her life.”
“There you are,” his mother said, coming into the kitchen. “Are you planning to be in the office this afternoon? Your dad and I would like to go to the festival.”
“I’m always in the office,” he muttered. But he wouldn’t have been if he had his way. He had been planning to ask Alley to go to the town festival with him. But she was busy. As always.
Well, he wasn’t going to go through that again. She hadn’t had time for him when she was a kid, and she obviously didn’t have time for him now.
“You just gave me a great idea, Doris,” Bert said, “We were just talking about Alley.” He turned back to Justin. “Why don’t you take Alley to the festival?”
“No, Dad. Alley doesn’t have time to go to the festival.”
“Why not? She’s a city girl and all, but it would be fun for her to get out. She’s got to be lonely.”
“Dad, Alley doesn’t get lonely. Forget it,” he said, and stormed from the room.
“What’s up with him?” Doris asked. “Justin doesn’t get angry.”
“I’d say our mild mannered son has found someone that gets his blood boiling.”
“Well, it’s about time.”
Justin ignored his parents. He had work to do. Alley Alexander had never been his type and she never would be. He wanted someone who was settled. Someone who was caring and giving. Someone who would have time for him and not have to be surrounded by other people all the time.
No, Alley Alexander was nothing but trouble and he would do well to stay away from her.
Alley dropped into her desk chair and sat chewing her fingernail, staring at the half drawn main character on the page in front of her. A character with great fashion sense, blonde highlights, and a gaggle of boys at her beck and call. What would Allora, the infallible character Alley herself had created, do in this situation? That was a question easily answered. Allora would never be in this situation. Boys flocked to her and practically ate out of her hand. She was Scarlett O’Hara at the BBQ with no intractable Ashley Wilkes. Hmmm. Was Justin an Ashley?
Had she said something wrong to Justin or did he always run hot and cold? He’d been friendly with her, almost flirting, then by the time she had gotten off the phone, he had become disagreeable. It was perplexing, but even more perplexing was the fact that he had left her feeling a little bereft and a lot disappointed.
She’d been disappointed before. She didn’t care to feel that way again.
With one last glance at Allora, Alley groaned and stood up. She would get no work done today. Besides Justin getting her emotions into an uproar, her friends would soon be there, distracting her - and she was just getting used to being here - working alone.
She ran the vacuum cleaner, straightened up the house, and ran to the local grocery store for orange juice, milk, sodas, and some breakfast food items since she was sure they would be going out tonight. Lugging the bags of groceries through the back door, she couldn’t help but think that sometimes friends were a lot of trouble.
She put away the groceries, and glanced at the still full cat food bowl. Where was Charlie anyway? She walked through the house, calling for him, suddenly consumed with worry. She wasn’t used to thinking about pets, so she hadn’t thought anything until now about not having seen the cat since sometime that morning.
She found Charlie under Granny’s bed, the floor stained with vomit.
“Charlie, what’s wrong?” she crooned
to the cat as she pulled him from his hiding place. Carrying the lethargic cat with her, she checked his litter box. There was a smear of blood. More blood than urine. “Oh, Charlie, what is it?”
Using her cell phone, she quickly called Steven as she headed out the back door. Some cat sitter she was. She hadn’t even noticed that the cat hadn’t been out to eat that day. Granny would never forgive her if Charlie died. She would never forgive herself.
Racing up the front steps of the Bark and Purr, she wondered whether she was supposed to knock or just go in. Siding with caution, she knocked, though it took a lot of willpower. She shifted from foot to foot, holding the cat close, crooning to him.
Justin answered the door. She pushed in. “I need to see Dr. York,” she said. “Where is he?”
“He’s not here,” Justin answered, looking at her curiously.
“Oh nooo.” She felt tears well in her eyes and one slipped over the edge and made its way down her cheek to land on Charlie’s fur.
“Here,” Justin said, holding his arms out for the cat. She didn’t let him go.
Now the tears were falling freely. “No. Granny said that if anything happened to Charlie, I should take him to Dr. York.” She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.”
“Really, Alley, I can help.”
Reluctantly, she allowed him to take the cat.
“Tell me what happened.”
She quickly described what she knew about Charlie’s condition as she followed him downstairs to the clinic. “When is Dr. York coming back?”
“Not for awhile. He’s at the festival.” Justin set Charlie on the steel table and began the examination.
“I guess you’ve spent a lot of time working with Dr. York. Is he going to be alright? Shouldn’t we call him?”
“You could say that. I hope so. And no.” He turned and took a syringe from one of the many containers lined up on the cabinet behind the examining table. “He’s blocked. I’m going to have to perform an emergency procedure.”
“But, Dr. York –“
”Alley,” he said, taking her hands and looking into her eyes. “I’m a veterinarian. I’m Dr. York.”
“What? But Granny said…”
“I think Granny meant me. My dad is retired. He only shows up down here to help out now and then.”
“Oh. Your dad…” She took a moment to study him as he poked and prodded Charlie’s abdomen area and tried to wrap her mind around this hot-looking guy having the status of a veterinarian. It made sense. The older woman showing up with her dog. The man who brought his dog. Granny’s comment that she would like Dr. York and should drop in just to say hi. She would have to come back to that one and think more about it later.
“I’ve got to try to flush out the blockage.”
Charlie began to struggle.
“Shouldn’t you sedate him?” Alley asked.
“I may have to, but it’s better not to.”
As he inserted a needle to start an IV, Charlie growled and cried out.
“Why? You’re hurting him.”
“Let’s wait and see how he does. If he’s dehydrated and has toxic build-up, it would put him at risk.”
“This is really bad, isn’t it?”
Justin glanced at her. “Maybe you should sit down,” he said.
Automatically, she backed into a chair and sat down. Justin began to catharize Charlie. She tapped her fingers. She tapped her feet. She stayed in the chair for almost a minute.
“You know,” Justin said. “You don’t have to stay. I’ll take care of him.”
“I can’t go and I can’t just sit here. What can I do to help?”
“You can rub his ears,” Justin said.
Alley rubbed Charlie’s ears crooning soothingly to him.
Justin relegated her to the background as he worked on the cat. He had trained himself well to tune out everything else but the task at hand. Charlie needed his undivided attention right now. Charlie also needed the calming presence of Alley. She was the next best thing to having Granny there for him.
It was nearly an hour later when Justin stepped back and washed his hands. “I’ve done everything I can do,” he said. He’d had to perform a procedure that he had done only a handful of times before. It was the last resort for the little guy.
“What do we do now?” Alley asked, stroking Charlie’s fur.
“We wait.”
“For how long?”
“It’s all up to Charlie now.”
Alley folded her arms on the table and rested her head.
“You don’t have to stay,” Justin said.
“So you keep saying.”
“He just has to rest.”
“I’m staying.” Her voice was muffled, but firm.
Justin began cleaning up the mess from the surgery. The house was quiet. The Bark and Purr’s phone had only rang once in the last hour. He rather enjoyed the coziness of having her there with him. Having her concerned about Charlie. Having them both concerned about him. It was a side of her he hadn’t expected. It was a side of her he liked.
Her cell phone rang and broke the illusion.
“Hello,” she said, meeting Justin’s gaze as she answered.
She nodded, then “I’ll be right there.” She stroked Charlie’s fur, kissed his head. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Charlie or Justin. He wasn’t sure.
She stood up, shoved her hair back, and looked straight at him.” I’ll be right back,” she said, again. Her moist green eyes mesmerized him. He didn’t want her to go. He had known she would.
He watched her turn and walk away. Acknowledged the sense of loss. Waited for the anger to return. Was surprised when it didn’t.
Instead, a feeling of loss and longing settled in.
Chapter 4
Weary, Ally opened the front door to let in a laughing Steven and Zena. She hugged both of them as she listened to their excited rapport at being there - in the country, as they called it. She smiled back, but her heart was heavy. As they stood there in Granny’s living room laughing carelessly, Charlie, a sweet three-year old cat lay next door fighting for his life.
Most would say he was only a cat. But he was Granny’s little friend and she had let them all down.
“Guys,” she started. “I’m sorry about this, but I have to go.”
“What?”
“Go where?”
“We just got here.”
“I know it sounds rude, but I have to go next door to be with Granny’s sick kitty.” She ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath.
“We’ll go with you.”
“Sure, we can help.”
“No, he needs quiet and you guys didn’t drive over here for that. You’ll just have to explore the town on your own. I may be able to catch up with you tomorrow, but for right now, I have to be somewhere else.”
She showed them the guest rooms, hugged them again, and they headed out the front door in search of a restaurant for dinner.
Alley went into the bathroom and, after checking her appearance in the mirror, ran a brush through her hair and smeared on some lip gloss. She then grabbed a stack of towels and headed out the back door to the clinic.
Not sure if the older Yorks were back yet, she went to the Bark and Purr entrance and knocked.
When Justin opened the door, her heart gave a little skip - partly at seeing Justin again and partly at knowing she’d find out how Charlie was doing. ‘Hi,” she said, looking at him questioningly.
“Hi,” he said. “Come on in.” He stepped back to let her inside.
“How is he?” she asked.
“No change yet.”
She hurried down the stairs to his side on the cold, steel table. “I brought some towels,” she said, glancing at him over her shoulder. “This table is so cold and uncomfortable.”
“Ok,” he said. “Good idea. Let me help you.”
She laid out the towels, then the two of them carefully picked up Charlie and laid him on
them. Charlie opened his eyes and looked at her. “He’s awake. That’s good, right?”
Justin walked over to stand next to her. He smelled of antiseptic and animals. “Tonight could be crucial,” he said. “I’m glad you came back.”
“Ohhh.” With one hand on Charlie’s back, Alley looked up at him, assessed him. “How do you do it?” she asked.
“How do I do what?”
“How do you go through this with the cats and dogs? When some of them don’t make it.”
“How can I not? When I can help some of them.”
“But they have such short little life-spans. And people get so attached to them.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. The weight of it settled her. “But they give us such pleasure while we have them.”
She nodded, swallowed, lowered her gaze. “I’ll stay with him tonight.”
“What about your date?”
“Date?”
“Yeah, I’ll watch him. You go on your date.”
“I don’t have a date. Some friends are here from Dallas.”
“Well, same thing. Go out with your friends. I’ll stay with Charlie.”
“They’ll entertain themselves.”
He removed his hand from her shoulder and she felt him watching her. She looked up at him. “Granny should know, shouldn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t tell her right now,” Alley said, the tears welling again.
“Let’s wait until tomorrow. Then we can make that decision.” He reached out, lightly stroked her hair.
She didn’t move. Wondered at that small gesture. Knew he was trying to comfort her.
Or was he?
“I’ll be back,” he said. “Just call out if you need me.”
Justin stood in his kitchen, took a moment to settle himself. The woman downstairs had him all churned up. He wanted to sweep her into his arms. Hold her. Comfort her.
Any resolve he had once had to distance himself from her was shot. Maybe he had over-reacted. Maybe he should give her a chance. He acknowledged it. Accepted it. He would take what she had to give. Maybe she had more than he gave her credit for.
His parents wouldn’t be back until much later. He’d heard them mention something about a movie. It was nearly seven. Neither he nor Alley had eaten. Again, that overwhelming need to take care of her.
Love Me Tomorrow Page 3