“Hey, I’ve been trying to reach you all day. Are you outside?”
“No, I’m in the truck. What’s up?”
“Is it giving you trouble again?” she fretted, cursing herself again for buying it.
“No, not at all. It’s behaved beautifully today,” she told her wife honestly. It had too…all that way! She didn’t think telling her about it overheating warranted the worry. Besides, she’d just have to explain how long she had driven it, which had caused the problem, and she wasn’t ready to do that yet.
“I just wanted to let you know I’ll probably be out overnight again. Someone’s rams got into their sheep a little early, and we are up to our ears in lambs right now.”
She laughed, imagining that scenario and relieved she didn’t have to lie to her wife about her whereabouts. “I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Well, that depends on what you have waiting there for me?”
“Nothing at the moment,” she told her honestly. She hadn’t taken any messages all day long since she hadn’t been there at all.
“Well, I’ll call in the morning, so you can let me know if anything else came in,” she promised. “Miss you,” she said in a quieter voice, and Allyssa assumed someone else was around.
“I love you, and I miss you too,” she told her truthfully and smiled as she thought about the Xpedition. Driving home in the dilapidated old Ford that sputtered and fretted and threatened to break down again, she couldn’t lose her buoyancy over the anticipated surprise for her wife.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Allyssa was amazed she was able to keep the secret of the new vehicle for the week the garage had the Xpedition. She’d gone back and forth via email regarding the design she wanted on the sides of the truck and camper. She’d sketched out what she wanted when she was there and paid her deposit, but they’d fine-tuned her juvenile drawing and their mock-ups were incredible, even better than Allyssa had hoped.
She’d asked for the words Vet-mobile on the side along with their phone number and running horses on the back door of the cab that were lifelike. Then, on the sides of the camper she had them put cartoon-like characters all over to appeal to everyone who saw the distinctive truck.
She was so anxious to pick up the truck when they finally told her she could come and get it, she ordered Fiona to take that Friday off and drive her to Pendleton. She knew just seeing the pictures wouldn’t do the Xpedition justice, and she wanted Fiona to be there when she picked it up. Fiona just thought she was afraid to drive the old Ford all the way to Pendleton and wanted to use the Jeep. She had no idea Allyssa had driven it much, much farther than that just the week before. Allyssa couldn’t wait to tell her wife the whole story, including the woman with seller’s remorse, but mostly she wanted to see Fey’s face when she saw the finished graphics.
“If I knew you were this anxious to go shopping in Pendleton…” she teased but Allyssa just grinned as she drove the familiar Jeep north, a little higher above the speed limit than usual.
“Where are we going?” she asked as Allyssa exited the highway and headed into an industrial area.
“You’ll see,” she said as she pulled up in front of the shop. She could see the top of the Xpedition through the fence but not the body. She smiled as she got out of the Jeep. “You coming?”
“Why are we here?” Fiona asked, puzzled, her eyebrows beetling as she glanced around the collision, repair, and graphics shop.
“You’ll see,” she answered mysteriously once again.
“Okay, okay,” she humored her.
“Hi. I’m Allyssa Herriot, and I’m here to pay my bill,” she announced as she walked up to the counter.
“Oh, yes, Allyssa. I’m Hanna. I talked to you on the phone,” the girl answered, reaching across the counter to shake Allyssa’s hand.
“This is my wife, Dr. Herriot. The surprise is for her,” she said, stressing the word as she gestured towards her wife. Hanna acknowledged the introduction with a smile and a nod towards the doctor.
Hanna slid a paper across the counter towards Allyssa as she turned to distract Fiona. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m sure you will be pleased.”
“I will?” she asked, still very confused about what they were doing here.
Hanna turned to a young man behind the counter. “Could you bring this job up front,” she said oddly, showing the work order on a clip board.
“Oh, the X–” he began but she quickly covered his mouth.
“Bring the job up front?” she asked again, this time a little more firmly. His eyes had gone wide behind her hand as she glared at him. He nodded, and she removed her hand. He disappeared through a door.
“What’s going on?” Fiona murmured to her wife as she finished writing a check.
“A surprise for you,” she murmured back.
“I got that, but what…?”
“Just wait, you’ll see.”
They did wait. It was about five minutes…a long five minutes. Allyssa kept looking at Hanna, who kept looking outside and shrugging. Finally, when it seemed to be taking too long, she moved to go through the door to the back and finally saw the Xpedition pulling up in front of the waiting room doors. Fiona happened to be looking outside at the gray skies, wondering if it would snow again before they could get home, when she saw the words “HERRIOT VETERINARY SERVICES” and then in smaller letters “Vet-Mobile” with their phone number on the doors. On the back door to the cab of the truck were realistic-looking horses running along in a herd, and on the camper body were various cartoon-like animals in cute poses—everything from a rabbit having a belly laugh to a dog scratching its ear in an awkward pose. There was also a cat looking satisfied, as though it had just eaten a canary, and a lamb looking cute and cuddly. There were so many characters the effect was almost overwhelming and yet it was so endearing. Fiona loved it on sight. She turned to her wife, who was watching her anxiously. Allyssa had seen it in pictures but as she had suspected, the reality was so much better!
“That’s for me?” she asked, suddenly choked up.
Allyssa, near tears herself at the final effect, reached for Fiona at the same time the doctor reached for her. “Do you like it?”
“Like it? I love it!” she exclaimed, reaching up for a kiss, just a peck since they were in public, and turning back to look through the window at the truck. She refused to release her wife.
“Is that the EarthRoamer XV?” she asked, to be sure. At Allyssa’s nod, she asked, “How in the world could we afford–”
Allyssa reached to place her fingers across her wife’s lips, much as she had when Fiona was in the hospital. “I’ll explain later. Do you like it?” she repeated.
Nodding to show she understood and glancing at Hanna behind the desk, she pulled back enough to ask, “Do I get to look inside?”
“Come on. It’s yours!” she said, tugging Fiona behind her as they went out to look at the overall impact of the truck.
“It’s ours,” Fiona corrected as she slowed down the exuberant woman, taking in everything with her own eyes and trying not to cry. It looked beautiful from the outside, and the guy holding the keys smiled sheepishly as he handed them to the women. Fiona checked out the cab first. The inside looked like a luxury king cab. The upholstery was a dark blue that looked well kept. In fact, she had a sneaking suspicion that her wife may have bought this new, and her heart was pounding as she worried over that little detail. Allyssa had shown her pictures of this type of vehicle months ago; she had shown her a couple of vets who had this modern marvel. It was even more incredible inside the camper. Everything was in pristine condition, some of it even had plastic on it as though it had never been used.
“Okay, I have to know. How can we afford this?” she asked after she had poked through everything in the camper and she had her wife alone where no one else could hear them. She didn’t want to ask if their house money had been jeopardized, but her heart was pounding too hard not to ask. She trusted Allyssa implicitly,
but this could be a serious betrayal of that trust. As much as she loved the truck, she was worried it would have to go back if Allyssa had dipped into that fund.
Allyssa had watched the play of emotions on her wife’s face as she checked out the incredible machine, enjoying the gadgets despite her worry. She knew what Fey was thinking and mentally thanked her for not asking the question she most wanted to and ruining the moment. Smiling, Allyssa sat down at the table and gestured for Fey to do the same.
“I’ve been searching the want ads for a while. You know that.” At Fey’s nod she went on, reaching out to hold her wife’s hand as she looked earnestly in her face. Her hands were ice cold and not because she had taken off her gloves to touch everything in the camper. “I saw this vehicle come up in one of the ads, and I called immediately because the price was way off. It turned out the woman and her offer were legitimate, and I asked her if she would take a check. She insisted on a bank check for the deposit, so I dropped everything and went to the bank for the money.” Fey’s heart was hammering and she hoped Allyssa couldn’t tell. But Allyssa could tell; she could feel her wife’s pulse in the hands she held. “I used a business check for the balance, which she accepted.”
“How much did you spend?” She couldn’t help herself. She had to know, and the question came out in a choked voice.
“You’re going to ask how much your present was?” she pretended to be shocked at the question.
“Baby…” she began warningly, not willing to play around with their future.
“You know we finally got the money for your truck and camper…” she began, still playing with her wife and noting her agitation, which she was keeping closely in check.
“That wasn’t enough to buy this…” Fiona gestured around them, releasing her wife’s hand.
“Hang on. Do you want to hear the rest of my story?” Allyssa teased, her eyes dancing. She knew exactly how much anxiety she was causing Fey and was hoping her wife would be thrilled when she finished the story.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be quiet. Go on.” Her eyes told of her worry as she waited impatiently.
“Well, I drove to Freeport…” she began again, only to be interrupted by her wife.
“Wait. Freeport is at least five hours away across the state–”
“Four actually, and stop interrupting,” she sounded like a schoolmarm, and Fey’s eyes began to promise mayhem as she quieted.
“The woman seemed really nervous. She’d gotten other calls, but apparently, mine was the first.” She added a quiet, “Thank God,” before continuing. “The price bothered me though, and others had offered her more. Still, the woman stuck to our deal since I was driving so far to see it and I was the first. I can’t tell you how nervous I was, thinking it was some sort of con or our old truck would break down and I wouldn’t make it. It did overheat, but filling the radiator seemed to keep it happy. I’m sorry I ignored your calls that day. I hope you will forgive me?” she said the last like a little girl chastised and waited a moment for Fey’s tight little nod before continuing with her story. She nearly laughed at the brunette’s nearly strangled expression. “Well, it turned out she was legitimate, and this truck,” she gestured around, imitating her wife, “was legitimate too. I gave her the cashier’s check for the deposit and wrote out a business check for the rest.”
“How much?” Fiona got out tightly, unwilling to wait.
“Babe,” she could sense how angry Fey was becoming and knew she wouldn’t ask if Allyssa had dipped into their house fund. She couldn’t dangle her along anymore. “How much would you have paid for a new truck, a new box truck with all your cabinets as well as a camper? Probably fifty to seventy thousand, right? We’d have used the money from the insurance company that Henry got us as well as the money from the rancher, right?” At Fiona’s constricted little nod, she continued, “I used that as my budget, and I went a little over but not much,” she quickly added as Fiona painfully and unconsciously tightened her grip on the one hand she was still holding. “As I said, I was suspicious about the price, but when she signed it over to me and gave me a bill of sale, it was a done deal. Something was niggling at me though, and when I went to get a dolly for the truck at the U-Haul, I asked where the DMV was, so I could register it in our names before anything happened.”
“Wait, you pulled this with your truck?” she asked, incredulous and trying to imagine it.
“No, silly. There’s a hidden ball on the back of this thing that swings out when you need it, and I pulled the dolly behind this and towed our old truck.” She laughed at her wife’s misunderstanding, imagining that scenario.
“So, was your feeling correct? Did the DMV give you a new registration?”
Allyssa nodded. “Yes, but on the way home a police officer pulled me over.” She laughed at Fiona’s surprised and then alarmed expression. “The bill of sale and the new registration all checked out. Turns out, the wife sold the vehicle and didn’t tell her husband. I’m guessing from the email I got from her that he had pissed her off and she sold it out of spite. I wasn’t about to drive four hours to return it, so this is ours!” She let go of Fey’s other hand to spread her arms out and encompass the entire camper.
“Oh, my God! And you paid how much total for it?” She had admired these when Allyssa showed her, but never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined owning one. She would have been satisfied with a new box truck and a camper on the back, but this…this was luxury on an unheard-of scale. The specs alone made it ideal for her work in the backcountry. She could imagine filling those cabinets with all her supplies that were now stored in the back of the Jeep in various tackle boxes her wife had filled for her.
“As much as we would have paid for the new setup, just a tad more.” She laughed in joy at the surprised delight that transformed Fey’s face when she told her the final amount.
“You–are–the–best!” she said emphatically and slowly to emphasize her words as she got up to plaster her wife’s face with kisses and pull her into her arms.
“I take it you are pleased?” she laughed and then squealed as Fey pinched her butt.
“Pleased does not describe how I’m feeling. And the insurance company? The new one? They are okay with this?” She gestured again, taking in the luxury vehicle.
“Yep, and they were amazed at the price too. I had to fax them a copy of the bill of sale and the registration. We’re fully insured and taken care of.” She loved Fiona’s joy and wished she could bottle this feeling right now.
“I can’t believe we own this!” she marveled as she looked around once more, imagining it filled with her instruments and their camping gear. Allyssa had recovered a lot from the totaled vehicle.
“No going off cliffs in this baby, okay?” she mock warned, pinching the brunette’s buttock in emphasis.
“Oh, no. I think my days working with that client are well over.” She laughed as she looked around some more. She was amazed at how much could fit into such a small, compact camper, which she realized wasn’t really that small either. It was just as big and maybe more solid than her previous setup. This one was positively luxurious in comparison to the camper she had found back in Denver. This, however, fit together naturally. The other camper had looked odd on top of the box truck with all its cubbies and lock boxes. She could have it all inside now, and she began to look through the well-made cabinets again. “I don’t think I’ll need too many locks on these,” she commented as she opened and shut a few experimentally. They latched beautifully.
“Hey, you can do this at home. We have a shopping trip to finish, and you need to admire their handiwork on the outside of this thing,” Allyssa reminded her.
“Um, oh yeah, right,” she said distractedly as she explored. Reluctantly, she followed Allyssa outside the vehicle, stepping down lightly and looking back longingly.
“You’ll have plenty of time to spend in there in the coming years, so I suggest you close the door and look at these wonderful characters.”<
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Fiona closed the door and locked it, using the key that Allyssa held out, her eyes glittering and expressing her joy over the gift. Allyssa had anticipated this moment since she found the vehicle, and this was much better than anything she had imagined. She was so proud of her find and glad she had been patient. The woman’s sad email asking if she would be willing to return the vehicle and take back her checks had been pathetic and was obviously induced by her angry husband. She wasn’t going to let the woman’s impulsiveness and seller’s remorse take away from the joy of giving her wife this gift. “We can go out to the backcountry in this and camp now too,” Fey stated as she lovingly patted the door. She stepped back to look at the characters all over the back of the camper. It looked like a woodland of barn animals. “You wouldn’t find a cow out in those woods,” she teased, smiling up at her wife.
“Yeah, but he looks happy to be with his friends. Look how pleased that chicken is on his shoulder.”
They bantered back and forth about the animals, going around the whole vehicle. The animals were not the same on both sides, so there were lots of characters to discuss. The only thing repeated on both doors was “HERRIOT VETERINARY SERVICES,” and in smaller letters “Vet-Mobile,” and finally, their phone number. The running horses were on both back doors of the king cab.
“Hey, no plates?” Fiona asked when she noticed.
“They are in the mail. I ordered custom plates.”
“What do they say?”
Debating whether to tell her or not but knowing she couldn’t keep one more secret from her wife, she grinned as she said, “Vet-Doc.”
“Clever, very clever,” Fiona smiled and complimented her, giving her a sideways hug.
“You’re pleased?” she understated, already sure of the answer.
“I’m beyond pleased,” she repeated the earlier phrasing. “You’ve outdone yourself here, baby. I’m going to be very proud to drive this all over the state.”
“I can’t tell you how scared I was to get that deposit check from the bank and write the check for the remaining balance,” she confided again, running it through her head and feeling the same surge of anxiety over spending their hard-earned money.
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