Cole nodded.
“And he was your boss too, wasn’t he?”
Cole visibly winced.
“Phew. No wonder this is scrambling your eggs. It must feel like a double bunger of a dilemma for you.”
Cole blew out a big breath. “It really is starting to do my head in. I mean, I loved my fiancé. And while the thought of being attracted to a woman never occurred to me before this, I…Well, I’m not opposed to it…and with Jodi…I feel things. Things I’ve never felt before. But the falling for my boss thing? Been there, done that. And that, more than anything, is scaring the shit out of me.”
Pip laughed softly. “Oh, don’t I know that feeling.”
For the first time in quite a few minutes, Cole looked Pip’s way. “Was it that way with you and Charlie?”
“You could say that. Once I got over the fact that she was a pain in the arse chained to my side for a year on an exchange program, we became friends.” Pip smiled at the snapshot memories of small but pivotal moments when her relationship with Charlie had begun to change.
Cole tucked her legs up and mirrored Pip’s posture on the couch, seemingly wrapped in what she was saying. “Jodi and I are friends.”
“And that’s special.”
“But it’s changed.”
“Oh, yeah. And I don’t mind telling you, it did my head in too. See, I was Charlie’s boss. All sorts of moral and ethical red flags popped up for me. And truth be known, I didn’t want to fall in love.”
“You didn’t?”
“Heck no. Then there was Kim, Charlie’s ex, and, well, when she turned up, I thought, that’s it. It’s all over, Red Rover. But you know what?”
Cole shrugged.
“I reckon it was just meant to be. All I had to do was learn to relax, take my time, and be open for the ride.”
“It was that simple?”
Pip snorted. “Hell no.” She laughed. “If you remember rightly, Jodi had a big hand in getting me to really see what had been in front of me the whole time.”
“She did, huh?”
Pip couldn’t help but notice that Cole had not only relaxed, but that she was listening and seemed to be thinking as she sipped her wine.
“She did. Sometimes, it’s the things closest to us that are the hardest to see.” Pip could almost see Cole’s thoughts rolling around in her head. “I’m a big believer that if it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen. Don’t fret about labels. Don’t sweat the past. Just take your time, and be open to whatever unfolds.” Pip squeezed Cole’s hand. “And if you ever need someone to talk to, well, now you know where I am, and the door is always open.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re most welcome. Now, how about we throw something together for dinner so you can head on back before it gets too late?”
Cole smiled. And as they stood she reached over and hugged Pip before they made their way to the kitchen.
While she poured a cup of coffee, Mandy said, “Just a heads-up, Magnus is your last patient today. You’ve got fifteen minutes.” Mandy giggled.
“Lovely.” Jodi shook her head and smiled. “Have you heard from Cole yet?”
“No.”
“Huh. Righto. I’m going to check on Rocky. Let me know when the big doofus arrives.”
“Oh, you won’t need me to tell you—I’m sure you’ll hear him.” Mandy snickered, referring to the massive Rhodesian ridgeback who never seemed to stop barking.
Jodi sipped her coffee as she made her way back to the kennelling area. She heard a moist cough when she opened the door. “Shit.” She set the mug down quickly and went to Rocky’s cage. She listened to his lungs with a stethoscope and heard the telltale signs of pneumonia. “Hey, little man. Let’s stand you up for a sec.” She gently set him up onto his legs and noted the wobbliness. To his credit, he tried to take a few steps before suddenly sitting down. She didn’t like his laboured breathing and let his front legs slide forward so he rested on his side.
She closed his cage door to prevent any more of Rocky’s precious oxygen from escaping. Upon checking his chart, she was dismayed to see that Mandy had found vomit when she cleaned the cage earlier. This didn’t look good and she wasn’t looking forward to talking to Roger tonight. She jotted a few notes onto the chart and finished her coffee.
Jodi stepped outside the back door. Although the sun was out, the August winds stole all the warmth. The tall palms stood stoic, the only thing moving the tufts of fronds at the very tops. The eucalypts, however, were taking a beating. Small branches and misfit leaves flew past her and scrambled across the expanse of green grass. She wondered briefly how Big Bird was making out, and then her thoughts drifted to Charlie and the effect of her absence on Pip. She’d have to remember to give Pip a call.
The crunch of tyres on the gravel out front of the clinic signified that Magnus had arrived. True to form, the dog’s incredibly deep bark seemed to vibrate through everything. Jodi shook her head and went back inside to get ready for the canine lummox.
She’d just drawn the vaccine into the syringe when the examination room door flew open and slammed against the wall with a heavy thud. Magnus, eyes wide, drool hanging from his gaping mouth, dragged his helpless owner through the door on a tight leash.
As soon as Magnus saw Jodi, he sat and wagged his tail ferociously. His entire body wiggled with barely contained excitement. He began barking, with no stopping in sight.
Jodi knew it was no use trying to say anything to Tony Port, Magnus’s owner. They’d been through this before. He wouldn’t be able to hear Jodi, and Jodi certainly wouldn’t be able to hear a thing he said. Although the ridgeback was loud, he was well-behaved for the most part. He just loved Jodi. A little too much, Jodi thought, not at all for the first time. She picked up the syringe, making sure the cap covering the needle was on securely. She raised her eyebrows to signal Tony to try and hold Magnus’s head.
As she approached Magnus, she focused her eyes to the wall behind him. She knew if she made eye contact with him, all bets would be off, and Magnus would unceremoniously plop both of his enormous front paws on her shoulders. Avoiding eye contact was easy. It was the next part that the dog made nearly impossible. The injection.
Jodi moved as close to Magnus as she could without making any body contact. She bent over slowly and, knowing what came next, drew a breath and closed her mouth. As soon as she grasped a pinch of skin between her index finger and thumb, Magnus went at her. His too big saliva- and froth-covered tongue assaulted her entire face in a split second. She barely had time to breathe through her nose before he engulfed it with his tongue. The vet in her said to hold on to his hide, but the revulsion made her try to move her head away. The combination only enabled him to continue slobbering her face longer. Fortunately, the only things that moved on the dog were his tail and tongue. She flicked the cap off the needle with her thumb, put her index fingertip near the tip of the needle, and pushed it through his skin. She quickly depressed the plunger, removed the needle, and backed away.
To his credit, Tony didn’t say a word until she’d wiped the sticky drool off her face with the surgical towel she’d brought into the room with her. When she looked at him, however, it was obvious he was trying very hard not to laugh.
“Bloody hell.” Jodi pulled a tissue from a box on the counter and blew her nose. “I swear he’s going to clean out my sinuses completely one day. It amazes me he can get that giant tongue into my nose.”
Tony cleared his throat and bit his lower lip.
“Go ahead. You can laugh. I can’t believe he doesn’t do this at home.”
“Honestly, it’s only you, Jodi. He ignores my wife and kids most of the time.”
“Well. Thankfully, that’s the last of the needles for this year.” Jodi wiped an eyelid with the back of a finger and made a note in his chart.
“I promise he’ll be—”
Jodi held her hand up. “Don’t you make promises you can’t keep, mate.” She smiled, shook her h
ead, and patted the now much calmer Magnus on the top of his head. “This dog is a needle junkie.”
Tony finally laughed. “I believe you’re right. And completely smitten with the only person who gives him what he wants.”
“Mm.” Jodi had to admit she really liked Magnus. He was everything a Rhodesian ridgeback should be. He was a muscular hound with a broad head that was flat between his medium-sized ears that were set high, drooping down, wide at the base, and tapering to a point. His red coat was short and dense with a clearly defined symmetrical ridge of hairs growing in the opposite direction down the middle of his back. All in all, he was a gorgeous specimen. She could even forgive his incessant barking if that bloody black tongue didn’t always manage to find its way into her nostrils and mouth. Talk about an occupational hazard. She shook her head as she made her way back to the quiet kennelling area.
In keeping with his evening vigil, Roger was already sitting next to Rocky’s cage, Popcorn in his lap. Lines of worry and sadness had deepened in his weathered face. He had one hand resting on Popcorn’s back and a finger of the other hand inside Rocky’s cage. In between panting, Rocky lovingly licked Roger’s finger.
Jodi placed a hand on Roger’s shoulder. “How’re you holding up?”
“A bit better than my old mate in there, I reckon.” Roger pointed to Rocky with a flick of his chin.
“I put him on some stronger antibiotics this morning. We’ll see if that helps some.” Jodi ruffled Popcorn’s long coat. “I think this little fluff ball is the only one who’s happy with this situation. She’s sure appreciating your attention.”
Roger looked up at her with wet eyes. “Rocky’s not going to get better, is he, Jodi?”
The bluntness of his question momentarily knocked her for six. She flicked her eyes away from his for a second to find the courage to be honest with him. “I just don’t know, Roger. I’d hoped he’d be on the other side of this by now. But I heard some signs of pneumonia. That’s why I added the extra medication.”
“Can he come back from that?” Roger’s hand shook as he stroked Popcorn.
“Given all he’s been through, I’m not very sure.”
Roger’s head drooped and he nodded to himself. “Maybe it’s his time then.”
“I’ll be honest with you—most dogs wouldn’t have made it this far. And Rocky’s still hanging in there. Tell you what. Let’s give him another day or so before we go down that road. I’ve only just started the new meds, and they need a bit to get going in his system.”
“Righto.”
Jodi suddenly brightened. “Hey, Roger, can I ask a favour? How would you feel about taking Popcorn home with you tonight? I’ve been that busy lately, I hardly get to spend much time with her, and she’s getting pretty lonely back here. She’s not Rocky, but she could sure do with a friend at the minute, and she’s obviously very fond of you. Do you think you could keep each other company for the night?”
Roger swiped at his eye with three of his gnarled fingers. “You reckon that’d be okay?”
Jodi smiled reassuringly. “I do. It’d be good medicine all round. Doctor’s orders.”
* * *
Jodi looked at her watch for the umpteenth time in the last hour. Cole hadn’t rung or texted. And it was past nine p.m. She should’ve been back from Pip’s hours ago. She’d sent Mandy home just after five and stayed back to sit with Roger before saying goodnight to him and Popcorn a little after seven. Visions of flat tyres, of Cole’s car run off the road, crumpled in a ditch, or disabled in the middle of the road having hit a large animal flitted through her mind. If Cole wasn’t back in the next half hour, she was going to go out looking for her. She distracted herself with tasks. The surgery was spotless and she had even resorted to straightening out the magazines in the waiting room when she heard a key in the back door and then the screen door slammed shut. She took a breath and calmed herself.
“You’re still here.” Cole smiled at her as she looked up from filling in the pathology request form. “I saw the light on and thought as much. Has someone new come in?”
“No.” Jodi stood inside the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Oh. Is Rocky okay?”
“Not really, but he’s doing his best.”
“Okay. So, you’re still here because…?”
“You, actually.” Jodi took a small mark of pleasure as the smile faded from Cole’s face.
“Me?”
“Do you know what time it is?” With a sense of determination that was quickly unravelling at the relief of Cole’s return, Jodi kept her voice level, even though her heart was still hammering from the imagined images of Cole’s car in a ditch.
Cole looked up at the clock. “Huh. It’s later than I thought. Sorry.”
“You left hours ago. Where’ve you been?”
“At Pip’s, like you asked.” Cole stood up and straightened, her voice and body language defensive. “Here, sign this please.” Cole pushed over the completed form for Lucille’s blood work, keeping an arm’s length between them.
Jodi felt the tension in the room but could do nothing about it now that the adrenaline of fear was beginning to dissipate, only to be replaced by anger at Cole’s frustrating flippancy at being so late.
“That was over five hours ago. You didn’t think to let me know that you’d be late?” Jodi harshly scrawled on the form and slid it back across the bench top.
“No. You knew where I was and what I was doing. It was late. Pip asked me to stay for dinner, and I did. I knew I couldn’t submit the bloods until first thing in the morning anyway.” Cole transferred Lucille’s samples into an overnight cooler and began restocking her kit bag.
Jodi paced the room, the energy within making her restless. “I don’t think a text or a call would have been too much to ask.”
“Was there something else you needed me to do?”
Cole’s calm drove her crazy. “No.”
“Do you trust me? To do my job, like you asked?”
Jodi stopped pacing. “Yes. Of course I do. That’s not the point.” She waved her arms in the air, not sure if she knew exactly what the point was.
Cole took two steps towards her until only a hand span separated them. “Then what is the point?” Her voice was soft, yet unrelenting in its inquisition.
“I was worried. Okay? Worried you’d had an accident, or broken down, or…just bloody worried. Okay?” Jodi rubbed her temples, the confusion of emotions all of a sudden giving her a pounding headache.
Soft hands enveloped hers, the heat suffusing itself all the way to her chest as her hands were lowered to her sides. Cole’s gaze was unyielding as a soft half smile softened her features. “I’m sorry I’m late. Next time I will be sure to let you know.”
“Thank you.” Jodi heard her voice and mentally rolled her eyes. Her tone was almost teenaged in its sullenness and she hated herself for it but was powerless to recall it.
Cole put her bag across her shoulder and turned for the door. “I’m going to go home now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Jodi followed her to the door.
Cole turned around. “And for the record? You’re cute when you’re worried.” She stepped forward and lightly kissed Jodi, the heat of her lips melting away any thought or resolve Jodi might have possessed.
Before Jodi had a chance to process what Cole had just said and done, she was gone, leaving Jodi to stand in the open doorway, her fingertips brushing lightly across lips that only a moment ago had been touched by something that defied scientific description.
Chapter Nine
“Have a great weekend,” Jodi said as Mandy gathered her belongings to head home. It was Cole’s rostered Saturday off, but the morning had passed smoothly enough.
“You too. Hope it’s a quiet thirty-six hours.”
“Shh. Don’t say the Q-word.” Jodi locked the door behind Mandy. She was alone and the office was quiet but for the hum of the fluorescent lights above. She switched them of
f and went into her office to regroup.
She knew Roger was in the kennelling area because his truck sat in the parking lot. Two days after Rocky was admitted, she’d started leaving the back door open for Roger so he wouldn’t have to walk through the clinic each time he visited. It gave him the option to come and go as he needed and not be followed by inquiring eyes, especially on those days when his heart was heavy with worry.
Jodi wondered if today would be the day. When she’d initially suggested to Roger that it was Rocky’s time, Roger had insisted on waiting one more day. And then the next, and the next. Sadly, Rocky wasn’t improving at all. The antibiotics, while helping him battle the pneumonia, weren’t effective against the paralysis tick toxin. He was an old dog, and it had been a valiant fight. She was going to do her best to keep him comfortable, but it was a battle they weren’t going to win.
She tried to read one of the lab reports, but her eyes and mind wouldn’t focus. She pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed her eyebrows before getting up and emptying the last dregs of coffee into her mug. With a grimace she swigged the remains and turned the coffee machine off.
Roger was in his spot, in front of Rocky’s cage, with Popcorn settled on his lap. He had the cage door open wide and was stroking Rocky’s head. As Jodi watched from the doorway, Popcorn stood and put her front feet on the edge of the cage. She sniffed Rocky’s nose and received a tired wag for her efforts.
“You’re ready, aren’t you, boy?” Roger sniffed and sighed heavily. He nodded to himself and turned around. When he spotted Jodi he rubbed the stubble on his cheeks and chin. “Okay, Jodi.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”
Roger shook his head. “You did plenty, girl. Above and beyond, I reckon. Can’t have asked for any more.”
“Would you like me to put Popcorn into a kennel so you can be with him?”
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