by Lyn Cote
Jake didn’t reply. He tossed his coat into his office and headed back to the reception desk. “How many patients?”
Kelsey’s good nature had been seriously compromised during the last month. Jake knew it probably stemmed from her obvious physical discomfort and lack of sleep. He’d been trying to find a replacement for her by word of mouth, but so far there’d been no takers.
“Let’s just say that the word for today is booked.”
“Okay, let’s get started.” His vet assistant, Sandy, in her thirties and known for flannel, not “frilly,” came in the rear door and shed her down jacket. After greeting her, he took the first file from Kelsey, ready to invite the first patient and owner into Exam Room One.
The phone rang as he began escorting the patient.
“Dr. McClure!” Kelsey said. Sandy led the patient and owner to the examining room. Jake took the phone from Kelsey. “Dr. McClure.”
“Hi, Jake, it’s Annie. Just wanted you to know we hit capacity at the shelter this morning. We don’t have room for even a canary now.”
The news triggered a low fire in Jake’s stomach.
“What’s plan B?” Annie asked.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to start boarding strays with host families. You started the list, right?”
Annie sighed loud and long. “Yes, I have the list, but I hate this. I can’t understand why people aren’t adopting animals this winter.”
Like in a cartoon, Kelsey sent Jake looks that resembled firecracker streaks. She mouthed, We have patients waiting.
“I can’t talk right now, Annie. Start calling people on the list and confirming they will foster strays.”
“Okay.” Annie cut the connection.
Jake shrugged off the call as best he could. He had enough to worry about with Bummer acting up and his dad coming on Wednesday. Jake didn’t want to hear what his dad would say about Bummer. And what could he do to encourage people to adopt animals? Why couldn’t everyone be like Jeannie and her girls? He recalled how she had cradled the tiny kittens in her arms and how she’d cooed over and patted Bummer. The world needed more Jeannies.
Jeannie and her girls drove up to the McClure Veterinarian Clinic for the kittens’ nine o’clock appointment. She noticed the crowded parking lot. Glad she’d brought snacks for the girls and food for the kittens, she hurried her crew inside.
The chairs around the room were filled, so Jeannie hung up their coats on the jammed coatrack and motioned for the girls to sit on the area rug with the kittens. Her outgoing girls immediately began talking to the waiting patients and showing off Twinkie and Peanutbutter.
Jeannie walked to the counter to give her name to the receptionist. The young pregnant woman looked as if she was in pain or at least in severe discomfort. “Hi, I’m Jeannie Broussard. We have a nine o’clock—”
The rest of her words were drowned out by a dog baying loudly from farther inside the clinic.
Her girls called out, “Bummer!”
Chaos commenced. The basset hound pushed through the door beside the counter and reunited with Mimi and Cindy and the kittens with joy-filled barking. The other dogs and cats in the waiting room erupted, joining in the reunion, barking, meowing and trying to get free of their owners.
Dr. McClure burst through the doorway into the waiting area. When he saw the cause of the commotion, he stopped in his tracks.
“Bummer!” he scolded, sounding exasperated.
Jeannie worried her lower lip. “Cindy and Mimi, get Bummer settled down!”
Her words calmed the storm. Bummer licked the faces of both the twins and the kittens and then flopped down beside them on the rug. The other animals came back under control except for one dog who continued barking.
Jeannie looked into the doctor’s blue eyes and gave him an apologetic shrug. “I didn’t think he’d be here or remember them. Sor—”
“Oh!” a voice called out. “Oh!”
Both Dr. McClure and Jeannie turned to the panicking receptionist.
“Dr. McClure! I think I’m in labor!”
Jeannie hurried forward and few of the other women from the waiting room joined her behind the counter. A middle-aged woman took charge. “Kelsey, are the contractions starting at the bottom or the top of your abdomen?”
“The bottom,” Kelsey gasped, her hands on her stomach and her eyes wide.
“You’re in labor,” the middle-aged woman said. “When’s your due date?”
“In five weeks.”
“Call your doctor. Now,” the woman ordered. “You need to be looked at right away.”
Jeannie stepped to one side. Even though she was a Certified Nursing Assistant, she’d never given birth, so she thought the other women more capable of giving good advice. She did recall the day her younger sister had gone into labor with the twins. And she knew that premature labor required immediate attention.
The middle-aged woman and Dr. McClure handled everything with a few quick phone calls. They helped the young mother-to-be out of the office and down the hallway toward the rear door. Her husband was on his way to take her to the emergency room on doctor’s orders.
The office phone shrilled loudly—once, twice, three times.
It might be an emergency. When no one else moved to answer it, Jeannie lifted the receiver. “McClure Veterinarian Clinic,” she said, moving to look at the appointment book lying open on the desk.
“I need an appointment on Monday afternoon.”
Jeannie only hesitated a moment. Almost seven years of working as a receptionist at the E.R. probably explained why she’d felt compelled to answer the phone and why it felt so natural to do so. She flipped the book to Monday and saw the notation, No office hours. “Could you come in—” she flipped another page “—on Tuesday afternoon? The doctor has office hours then.”
“That’s fine. What time?”
Jeannie studied the page, sitting down behind the desk. “I see he has an opening at two-thirty. Please give me your name and number in case we have to make any changes.” After jotting the information in the appointment book, Jeannie wished the caller goodbye.
A cheerful-looking woman in jeans and a white lab coat came to the reception area. “Kelsey’s husband just drove up. I’m Sandy. Who are you?”
Jeannie jumped up. “I took a call, but I’m just here with my kittens to get their shots.”
Dr. McClure appeared beside the young woman. “Jeannie, did I hear that you just took a call?”
She nodded. “I hope that was all right. I took down the name and number in case there’s a problem with the appointment.” She distanced herself from the desk, feeling as if she’d been caught in wrongdoing. “I’ve worked as a receptionist before and—”
“Could you handle the desk today? I really need help.” He waved toward the crowded waiting area. “You’d just take calls and hand us the files.” He motioned toward a stand-up file holder on the desk. “Kelsey already had several ready to go.”
What could she say? He was a good man and he needed her help. Jeannie nodded. “If you think I can handle it.”
Dr. McClure gave her a smile to die for.
Just after 5:00 p.m. Jeannie finally locked the door after the final patient had left. She could only be thankful that she didn’t have to work till Monday night. The girls were napping on the area rug. Jeannie gazed at them. Each had a kitten sleeping beside her, and Bummer had stretched out full length in between them. An image worthy of being on any kid-and-pet calendar in the country. She smiled and rotated her tight back and neck muscles.
“Well, we did it,” Sandy said, looking toward the girls also. “Now that’s a real lesson in love between the species,” she teased. “A dog, two kittens and twins. Sweet.”
Jeannie beamed with pride.
“And so much for my plan that Bummer would forget them,” Dr. McClure said, coming into the reception area.
Jeannie didn’t know what to say to this. Sandy excused herself to feed and care
for the animals staying overnight in the kennel. Still uneasy, Jeannie said, “I hope I did everything right.”
“You did great. Kelsey called when she got home from the hospital. She’ll be on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy and she’s given notice.” He sucked in air, sounding worried. Then he smiled at her. “You really did a wonderful job pitching in today. Thanks.” He leaned against the doorjamb.
Jeannie swallowed with difficulty. The sight of him—so long and lean—made her heart skip and jump. “It was just like being back at the E.R. I just answered the phone, pulled folders and then returned them to their proper files.” Jeannie couldn’t stop the urge to draw closer to Jake. She took a tentative step toward him and then stopped. “No problem.”
No problem. Wonderful, welcome words. After weeks of Kelsey’s unusual and increasingly contentious attitude added to Bummer’s loud cold shoulder, Jake reveled in hearing someone speak with kindness. Suddenly it all became clear to him. “Would you be interested in taking over as office manager?”
Jeannie looked shocked. A moment of stunned silence and then she rushed forward and hugged him.
No one had hugged him for a long time. In his astonishment he didn’t react—in time. Before he could return the hug, Jeannie pulled back.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “It’s just that ever since the girls started all-day school last fall, I’ve been applying for day jobs. But I haven’t found anything but nights at the nursing home.”
He wanted to reply that he didn’t mind her hugging him. In fact, he had liked it very much. But he’d just hired this woman and didn’t want to be the kind of boss who…well, he wasn’t that kind of boss. He forced a smile.
She frowned, worry flashing over her features. “But won’t Kelsey want her job back after she’s had the baby?”
“No, she and her husband plan to have a large family. She already gave me notice that she wouldn’t be coming back after the baby’s birth.”
Jeannie looked relieved. “Oh, then that works out fine. I couldn’t give up my secure job for a temporary one.” She glanced toward the girls and smiled.
“Great. When can you start?”
“Right away. A new batch of CNAs has just applied at the nursing home.” Jeannie beamed at him.
“Fantastic. Then you can start Tuesday.” He went over the salary, the days and hours and the office billing system. “Any questions?”
“I’ve done everything except billing patients before. But I’ve taken classes in bookkeeping and spreadsheets, so I don’t think that will be a problem.”
“Great.” He turned upon hearing Bummer give a big yawn as he woke up. The girls were stirring and the kittens, too. Jake’s completely empty stomach growled.
Sandy came over. “I was thinking you should take this lady and her girls out for supper to thank her. Also to celebrate finding someone competent so easily.”
The sudden suggestion electrified him. “Good idea. Are you as hungry as I am? How about I treat us all to a pizza—to celebrate your coming to work for me?”
At the sound of the word “pizza” the suddenly wide-awake girls sprang up with joyful excitement. “Pizza! Yay!”
Jeannie looked hesitant.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Jake hit his forehead lightly. “Did you have other plans?” He offered her a way out.
“No—”
The girls started bouncing on their toes. “Please, Mom, please!”
Jake turned to Sandy. “You’ll come, too, right?”
“As it happens,” Sandy said with a smile, “I have plans. You four go.”
So that’s how it happened that within a very few minutes, he shepherded Jeannie and the girls into the Pizza Barn just a couple miles from the clinic. Bummer and the kittens had stayed behind at the clinic, enjoying a meal of warmed kitty food and doggie chow.
Though too early for the dating couples to arrive, a few voices hummed in the dimly lit restaurant. Jake and Jeannie and the girls blended right in with the other young couples with children eating out early.
Jake noted the interest his being with Jeannie elicited. But he figured soon everyone would hear that he had taken her out to celebrate her taking over as office manager. The four of them slipped into a booth, and ordered a large family-size pizza. The twins busied themselves with coloring pages and the crayons provided.
Jake relaxed for the first time that day or, for that matter, for the first time since Bummer had started his antics. He thought, I should get out more. And grinned. For over two years now Mike had been telling him to stop living like a hermit. Not even the flickering memory of Sheila—the woman who had driven him to be a recluse—could spoil this rare moment. A rare moment when he didn’t feel alone.
He looked across the table. The pretty woman gazed at her little girls with obvious affection. He had once hoped for children. “You’re really lucky,” he murmured.
She smiled a fuzzy warm smile. “I am.”
He groped for a non-animal topic. “How long have you been on your own?”
“Always,” she said. She sounded as if she knew what that meant deep in her heart.
His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He lifted it out and glanced at who was calling him. Annie. “Jeannie, do you mind if I take this call?” He gestured with the phone. “I’ll make it quick. It’s about the animal shelter.”
“Go right ahead.”
Jake flipped it open. “Hi—”
“I’ve lined up two foster families out of a list of thirteen.” Annie did not sound happy.
“Then we have at least two.”
“Very glass half full of you to say. What happens if we get more than two needy animals in the next few days?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I can’t talk now. I’m at the Pizza Barn with a lady.”
“A date? You’re on a date?”
Jake didn’t appreciate Annie’s incredulous tone, but he didn’t let this leak into his voice. “It’s Jeannie, the one who adopted the two golden tabby kittens.”
“Oh, ask her if she’ll be a prospective foster home for a stray.”
“Right.” Jake wished her good-night and hung up. Annie knew he found it nearly impossible to ask people to volunteer or give. He turned to Jeannie. “The animal shelter hit capacity this morning. That was Annie, who organizes most of what happens at the shelter. She’s getting together a list of foster homes for strays.” As close to a request as he could make himself come.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I wish I could offer to help, but I can’t with a new job—” she smiled with mega-watt voltage “—and taking care of the girls and kittens, I’m too busy. I wouldn’t want to take in a stray and then neglect it. I didn’t realize the situation at the shelter had gotten so serious. Do you have any ideas for encouraging adoption?”
“I’m just a vet.” He shrugged. “I’m not into PR or fundraising.” He couldn’t bring himself to ask for money.
One of the little girls, he thought Mimi, looked up at him and asked, “Do you got any kids? I mean, are you anybody’s daddy?”
Chapter Four
Jeannie wished she had her jacket on so she could pull the hood over her head and then down over her red-hot face. Art Linkletter was right—kids did say the darndest things. “Mimi,” she groaned under her breath.
“No, Mimi,” Dr. McClure replied, “I’m nobody’s daddy. I like kids though. Especially kids who take care of their pets like you and Cindy.”
The perfect answer. Jeannie grinned at him. Then hoped he wouldn’t think that she’d put the girls up to asking the embarrassing question of the evening. “Kids.” She shrugged.
“Well, well, well,” someone said, pausing beside the booth. “Look who got himself a date. At last. I’d given up hope.”
Jeannie looked at the older man she’d seen with Ginny a few times. He grinned at her boss, no doubt trying to tease him.
“Mike, I’m not…we’re not on a date,” Dr.
McClure said, looking flustered.
Jeannie didn’t take his denial the wrong way. Why did people do this? Ask arch questions just because two people of the opposite sex were together? To diffuse the situation, she stuck out her hand. “I’m Jeannie Broussard. Dr. McClure’s new office manager. Dr. McClure is buying us a pizza to celebrate.”
The older gentleman shook her hand with his leathery one. “Mike Heinrich. Old friend of Jake’s family. I work for him, too. I’m his chief cook, floor-mopper and dishwasher. And I know your girls. I’ve seen them at Ginny’s a few times. And what’s with this ‘Dr. McClure’ stuff? For Pete’s sake, Jake, you’ll never get a second date if you don’t let her call you by your first name.”
Mike greeted the girls, then drifted away to a table of older men toward the back.
“Sorry about that,” Dr. McClure muttered, stirring his drink with his straw. “He thinks he’s my caretaker. Although…” He cleared his throat. “He has a good point, Jeannie. Please, stop calling me Dr. McClure. I’d feel much better if you’d call me Jake.”
Jeannie nodded and smiled. “Sure, Jake, I’d like that.”
Mimi paused with a red crayon poised in her hand. “Why don’t you got any kids?”
As usual, not easily deterred or distracted, Mimi made Jeannie cringe again. But she couldn’t think of any way to change the subject gracefully.
“Maybe he doesn’t got a wife,” Cindy pointed out. “You should ask him that first.”
When Mimi opened her mouth to ask this even more embarrassing question, Jeannie held up a hand. “No more personal questions. It’s not polite.” And then their pizza was delivered. Saved by melted mozzarella!
When the four of them, filled with pizza contentment, returned to the quiet clinic, Bummer ran to greet them, barking. Jeannie wanted to make a quick getaway. She sensed Jake’s discomfort about her transformation from an acquaintance into the new role of employee. Her girls and Mike hadn’t helped the situation. Now Bummer and the girls deserted Jake and Jeannie, leaving them to stand side by side, mute.