by Linz, Cathie
“That’s why I’m here too,” someone else spoke up.
“How many of you actually have appointments this morning?” Leena demanded suspiciously.
Only one person raised her hand.
“We think it’s wonderful that you did this,” Nancy said. “That you represent the fact that women come in all shapes and sizes.”
Leena couldn’t believe she was being congratulated for showing off her cheesy thighs.
“You’re a model, yet you have a figure,” Nancy continued. “And curves. And thighs. Don’t get me wrong. I realize there is a problem with obesity in this country. I’m not saying that women should eat until they drop or that they shouldn’t be concerned with their health. But not eating enough is also an unhealthy situation. Starving yourself.” Nancy shook her head. “It’s not right. Young girls and women look at the Hollywood actresses with their stick figures and they think that’s the ideal. That they should look like that or they won’t be popular or pretty. Then you come along and—”
“Look like a fat cow.” This comment came from Edie Dabronovitch, who’d just entered the waiting room with her bulldog Princess.
Nancy turned to confront her, as did half a dozen other women.
“Hey”—Edie held up one skinny manicured hand—“don’t hate me just because I’m pretty and skinny.”
“That’s not the reason we hate you,” Nancy assured her. “We hate you because you’re bitchy and mean.”
Edie was outraged. “If your sister the nun could hear you now, she’d be appalled.”
“No, she wouldn’t. She’d agree with me.”
“Ladies, is there a problem out here?” Cole asked as he strolled into the waiting room.
Edie placed her hand on his arm before confiding, “I was just telling these people that men like you prefer a slim woman to someone who’s fat.”
“She just called Leena a fat cow,” Nancy told Cole.
Edie lifted her chin. “I was just saying what everyone is thinking.”
“Say it again and you’ll regret it,” Leena said in her most dangerous voice—the one she’d used as a kid when someone had insulted her, the one she’d used on a photographer in Chicago who’d come close to assaulting her, the one she used on anyone who crossed the line with her.
Edie backed up. “She’s threatening me. You heard her, Cole. What are you going to do about it?”
“Yeah, Cole. What are you going to do about it?” Leena put her hands on her curvaceous hips and confronted him. Yes, she needed this job, but she’d rather work the midnight shift at Gas4Less than be insulted and humiliated any further.
“I’m going to have to ask you to apologize,” Cole said.
Leena shook her head. “No way!”
“I wasn’t talking to you. I was speaking to Edie.”
“Apologize?” Edie was stunned.
Cole nodded.
“Me?”
Cole nodded again.
“For what?” Edie demanded. “Speaking the truth?”
“For being rude to one of my employees.”
Edie narrowed her eyes. “Need I remind you that I’m a client here and that I can and will take my business elsewhere.”
Cole shrugged. “That’s your choice.”
Edie’s face turned beet red. “And I’ll tell all my friends to take their pets elsewhere too,” she threatened.
“Who are you kidding?” Nancy said. “You don’t have any friends in this town.”
“I have some in Serenity Falls.”
“No, you don’t,” Nancy said. “They’re tired of your negative attitude in Serenity Falls as well.”
At first Leena thought the growl was coming from Edie’s bulldog, but then she realized it came from Edie instead. Without saying another word, the woman turned and stormed out, dragging her poor dog behind her.
The minute Edie was gone, the entire waiting room burst into applause.
“Don’t you worry about her threats, Cole,” one of the women said. “I’ll bring all three of my cats here to you.”
“I don’t even have pets, but I’m sure tempted to go out and get one or two just to support you,” another said.
“If you don’t have any pets, why are you in a vet’s waiting room?” Cole asked.
“Because I wanted to thank Leena here for empowering us all with this picture.”
“Really?” Cole studied Leena for her reaction. “She wasn’t very happy about it when I told her I liked it.”
“You weren’t?” Nancy turned to face Leena. “Why not?”
“I, uh . . . I really have to get back to work. The phone’s ringing.” Leena quickly backtracked to the protection of the U-shaped reception counter. “Rock Creek Animal Clinic.”
“This is Sheriff Nathan Thornton. I just got a report of a verbal assault at the animal clinic. Am I going to have to come over there?” he demanded.
She put him on hold. “For you on line one,” Leena told Cole.
Chapter Seven
Cole took the call in his office.
“Hey, old buddy, old friend.” Nathan was obviously trying hard not to laugh over the phone line. “How’s it going over there at the animal clinic?”
“Just peachy.”
“You’re sounding a little stressed. Having trouble with the new employee?”
“No.”
“That’s not what Edie says. I bumped into her on her way out of your clinic.”
“Look, she insulted Leena. I asked Edie to apologize and she refused. End of story.”
“She claims you verbally insulted her.”
“Not true. That would be my Aunt Nancy who did that. And insults aren’t illegal.”
“So no one threatened Edie?”
“No. Although she threatened me.”
“Want to file a countercomplaint against her?”
“Hell, no! And stop laughing. This isn’t funny.”
“Sure it is.”
“You wouldn’t think so if you were in my shoes,” Cole grumbled.
“But I’m not in your shoes.”
“What kind of friend are you?”
“The kind that laughs at you when you’re down.”
“Gee, thanks. I’ve got patients to see.” Cole hung up. It didn’t seem like he’d had a moment’s peace since Leena had come to town. Not that he’d had much peace before that. At least Leena seemed to have gotten his appointments in order.
A few moments later, Cole walked into exam room one to find Algee Washington waiting for him. The big black guy had the build of a defensive lineman but the heart of a marshmallow. Algee had opened a branch of his comic-book store Cosmic Comics in Rock Creek last year and was a close friend of Skye’s. Over recent months, he’d become friends with Nathan and Cole as well.
“Dang, doc.” A diamond stud flashed in Algee’s ear as he shook his head. “You got a gang of women waiting out there. Maybe a herd even.”
“They’re not waiting for me.”
“No?”
“No. They’re waiting to talk to Leena.”
“Your new receptionist? The one that punched you?”
“Who told you about that?”
“I never reveal my sources,” Algee said.
“That happened a long time ago. When we were kids.”
“You realize that Julia punched Luke once,” Algee said.
Cole didn’t get the connection. “So?”
“I’m just saying that men in these parts have a record of falling for women who KO them.”
“Leena didn’t knock me out. She just knocked me down. And it was a sucker punch.”
“Yeah, that’s what Luke claimed too.”
“Luke and I are not alike.”
“Because he’s a bad boy and you’re a doc?”
“No, because he likes the Steelers and I’m an Eagles fan. So, why are you here today, Algee?”
“I, uh, got this cat.” Algee undid his jacket to reveal a skinny gray tabby. “Found her in the alley be
hind my store a few days ago. I just wanted to make sure she’s healthy and all. And get her fixed so she can’t have kittens. Skye is rabid about that.”
Cole examined the cat. “Uh, Algee—”
The outwardly tough guy’s face reflected his concern. “Dang.” He sighed. “Is she real sick?”
“No, not at all.”
“Then she’s already pregnant, right? That’s what you’re telling me.”
“Wrong.”
“Then what’s the deal? Come on, doc, spit it out.”
“I’m trying to. First tell me, what’s the cat’s name?”
“Til-D,” Algee said. “Like J-Lo, only different. Because I think she’s gonna have a fine caboose on her some day, right Til-D?” He rubbed the tabby’s ears and the cat immediately starting purring louder than a car without a muffler.
“Brace yourself, buddy.” Cole placed his hand on Algee’s massive lineman shoulders. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“I thought you told me she’s not sick or pregnant.”
“Right.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“She’s not a she at all.”
“What?”
“Til-D here is a male cat. And he’s already been neutered.”
“Are you sure?” Algee stared down at the tabby. “She doesn’t look like a tough tomcat to me. She looks like a dainty girl.”
“I’m sure.”
“Well, dang.”
“Is that a problem?” Cole asked. “The fact that the cat is a male?”
“I was just surprised, that’s all. So Til-D is healthy?”
“Seems to be. He could use some good food.”
“I got shrimp and steak.”
“I meant cat food.”
“Right. I got that too. She, I mean he likes to eat.”
“Good.”
“You’re, uh, not gonna tell anyone about this, right?”
“That you have a cat?”
“That I thought he was a she. I’d never hear the end of it.”
“Kinda like me being punched by Leena, huh?”
Algee got the connection immediately. He didn’t need to be told twice. “I hear you, man. I won’t say another word about it.”
“I appreciate that. I won’t say a word either. Listen, have you gone to see Luke and Julia’s baby yet?”
“Yeah. There’s no hassle in the castle over there. I’ve never seen Luke so over the moon. I heard the kid was almost born in your waiting room.”
Cole shook his head. “I knew Julia would never allow that to happen.”
“The woman does like to be in control.”
“Most women do.”
“Like Leena out there? Does she like to be in control?”
“She’s downright bossy,” Cole said.
“I recently met a woman like that too. Tameka Williams. She teaches English at Rock Creek High.”
“And she has a cat named Opi after her favorite nail polish.”
“I thought she’d name her cat something fancy like Shakespeare or something. Tameka bosses me around, correcting my English, telling me I should think about what I’m gonna say before I open my mouth.”
“Think you’re up to handling a bossy woman?”
“I am. How about you?”
“Always,” Cole said confidently.
“You care to put your money where your mouth is?”
“Always.”
“Fifty bucks says I get Tameka to go out with me before you get Leena to go out with you.”
“Leena works for me.”
“Ah, good point. We need ground rules. No fair threatening to fire Leena if she doesn’t go out with you. That would be taking unfair advantage.”
“As if I’d take unfair advantage of any female employee.”
“I meant it would be taking unfair advantage of me in the bet.”
“Oh, right.”
“So Leena’s job is secure even if she says no.”
“I already said I’d never threaten a woman to get her to agree to go out with me,” Cole said. “There’s no need.”
“Yeah, but this is a bossy woman.”
“She’s still a woman.”
“So we’re clear on this bet?” Algee asked.
“Totally.”
They shook hands.
“May the best man win,” Algee said.
“That would be me.”
“Hey, I rescue cats from alleys. Women are into that.”
“I heal the cats people rescue,” Cole said. “Women are even more into that.”
Algee picked up Til-D and returned the tabby to rest against his chest beneath his leather jacket. “In that case, I better get moving.”
“I’m impressed,” Skye told Leena as she leaned against the receptionist counter in the animal clinic’s waiting room. “Only in town a few days and already stirring things up. I may grow to like you after all.”
“Gee, thanks,” Leena drawled. “I’m honored.”
“As you should be.”
“I didn’t come here to stir things up.”
“No, you came because you ran out of other options. Been there, done that. Angel and I came here from the West Coast because we had nowhere else to go other than my sister Julia’s place.”
“I didn’t come to mooch off my sister,” Leena said defensively before realizing how that sounded. “I didn’t mean that you were mooching off Julia.”
Skye shrugged. “It wouldn’t matter to me if that was what you meant.”
Leena remembered Sue Ellen telling her that Skye didn’t care what other people thought about her, and apparently that was true. “So what did you mean by saying I was stirring things up?”
“With that photo of yours in the paper. You do know that your sister did an ad in the paper a while back for a local vision center in Serenity Falls, right?”
“No, she didn’t tell me.”
“You two don’t seem to talk much.”
“As you pointed out, I’ve only been back in town a few days. We haven’t had a lot of time to talk.”
“Everyone is talking about your photo.”
“Not my intention.”
“Whatever. Anyway, I just came over to see if you’d like to join our belly-dancing class.”
“Me? Why?”
“Because having a healthy body image is a good thing.”
“By exercising, you mean.”
“I mean image. What you think in your head.”
“Well, in my head I think my thighs are too big. Not every day, but in that photo for sure.”
“Is that what you’ve been telling people?”
“No.”
“Good. Don’t.”
Leena bristled at being told what to do. “I will if I want to.”
“Right. You’re right. You’re free to do what you want. So what’s the deal with you and Cole?”
“Huh?”
“You and Cole.”
“He’s my boss. What’s that got to do with my thighs?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me? I heard he was there during the photo shoot.”
“Making fun of me.”
“Really? That doesn’t sound like Cole.”
“You know him pretty well, do you?”
“If you’re asking if I ever had sex with him, the answer is no.”
Leena blushed. “That’s not what I meant—”
“Sure it is. Which makes me wonder why you’d care who your boss had sex with . . . unless you wanted to have sex with him yourself.”
Leena frantically looked around the currently empty waiting room. Where were patients and their owners when you needed them? All morning the place had been packed. Granted, it had been with women who’d come to tell her how much they appreciated her making a stand about full-figured women, women who had curves.
“I don’t discuss my sex life,” Leena said.
Skye grinned. “I do.”
“So I’ve heard.”
/> “Your sister does too.”
“I’m not my sister.”
“Yeah, I know how that goes. I’m not my sister either. Sorry. Anyway the offer to join our belly-dancing class still stands. Think about it. You already know several of the people in the class. Me, Nancy Crumpler, Lulu, your sister.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“And if you want to know anything about Cole, feel free to ask me. I may not have slept with him, but he’s Nathan’s best friend and has been for years. I have ways of finding things out. By the way, Cole’s not seeing anyone at the moment. He just broke up with someone a few months ago.”
“I’m surprised he hasn’t had several relationships since then.”
“I’m taking a break,” Cole said from behind her. “Do I want to know why you two are talking about my personal life?”
“No,” Leena said. “You definitely do not want to know.”
“I think I do.”
“Trust me, you don’t.”
Cole gave her that raised-eyebrow look. “And why is that?”
“A lot of reasons. Look, you’ve got a customer. Er, client . . . I mean patient.” Leena greeted the newcomer with a smile of intense gratitude and relief. “Hi there. Welcome to the Rock Creek Animal Clinic. How can I help you?”
“You can pay my client the royalty she’s requested,” the young man said.
Leena blinked. “What?”
“Mrs. Petrocelli, owner of the dog named Misty, who appeared in the photo without permission, wants her share of the profits.”
“He bit my dress in half and almost bit me. Cole was a witness. Tell him, Cole. Tell him what happened.”
Cole sighed. “What are you doing here, Butch? You’re not a lawyer. You’re a culinary arts student.”
“That doesn’t pay very well,” Butch said.
“Leena, meet my cousin Butch.”
“Weren’t you a state wrestling champ in high school?” Leena asked.
“Yes, I was. So? You don’t think wrestling champs should be interested in good food?”
He looked aggravated enough to put her in a head hold. “I didn’t mean that,” she quickly assured Butch.
“She says a lot of things she doesn’t mean,” Skye said. “Don’t let it bother you.”
“So what’s the deal with Mrs. Petrocelli wanting money?” Cole asked.
“She spoke to me about it this morning,” Leena said.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to her,” Cole said. “Sometimes she gets strange ideas into her head.”