by Mimi Barbour
“To be sure, she was only trying to help, but you can be right, sir. Your sister isn’t someone to take lightly. Aye, but look ‘ere, Doctor! Lying to her is not on me list of duties. What if we get Nurse Joye to talk with her, calm her fears?”
“Nurse Joye, the sweetest-tempered nurse at the hospital? She isn’t up to lying any more than I am. I’m afraid my sister would see through her stuttering explanations at once. If I promise to call Marion every morning with an update, would you be so kind, dear Mrs. Dorn—of course with a healthy recompense for your troubles—to continue attending to the annoying calls she insists on making?”
“Oh, piffle, I guess I can be persuaded. You’re a right charming bloke when you turn it on, Doctor. I don’t see how you’ve managed to remain a bachelor all these many years.”
“I’m a Swerver, Mrs. Dorn.” The twinkle returned to his eyes now that he’d gotten his way over the phone calls.
Mrs. Dorn swung around to go back into the kitchen. As she waddled away Dr. Andrews clearly heard her mutter, “I’d say you’re more like a jolly good Hider. And more often than not, I’m your flamin’ accomplice.”
Chapter Eight
Troy lounged against the trunk of a tree, waiting for the floppy-eared puppy, happily examining the grassy area, to finish his business. He’d bathed the mutt the night before and been pleasantly surprised to find the puppy’s light brown coat grew thick, with beautiful golden highlights and white patches around his neck and ears. One day his tail would be a full waving plume, as he most resembled a miniature border collie.
“What are you going to call your friend?” Dani’s voice sounded wistful.
“I won’t have him long enough to name him anything but a pain in the butt.” He heard her reflex sigh. “What?”
“I’ve always wanted a dog, but the parents wouldn’t have it. First they said our lives were too busy to look after one properly, which didn’t stop my yearning, and then my mother discovered she had rather convenient, ah, algerics.”
As the smile lit up his face, he felt her answering one inside.
“We always had animals when I grew up—my dad loved his dogs almost as much as us kids. And my mom was a cat person.”
“Kids? How many were there in your family?”
“Counting me, there were three boys, and two older sisters. Us boys drove the girls crazy. We snuck up on them with their dates, messed with their stuff, and stole their records. It’s a wonder they didn’t do away with us and hide the bodies.”
“You’re so lucky to come from a large family. I’m an only child. I can tell by the warmth you’re generating that you loved your life and your sisters.”
“Actually, my sister Deb, the closest to me, used to bail me out, when I was a little guy, by eating my potatoes. In those days I hated the things unless they came in the form of a french fry. I’d try coating them with ketchup, which would help a bit, but after a while my throat just clogged up, and I couldn’t do it. My dad hated food going to waste and refused to let me go out to play until I’d finished my plate. I’d sit there and pout, feeling very sorry for myself, and Deb would eventually come along and slap me on the back of the noggin for smothering them with ketchup, but she’d always gobble them down. To date, she’s still the one with the kindest heart. Deb loves dogs, and she and her husband recently bought a kennel. They raise poodles.”
“She’s so lucky. When I was seven, my uncle bought me a lovely little black poodle. I begged for a pet every Christmas and every birthday until finally he broke down. According to the veterinarians, poodles don’t have the same kind of fur as other dogs, and so we didn’t need to concern ourselves with mother’s medical problems. I called my poodle Curly.”
“Curl—y! No surprise there.” A grin slowly spread. He could feel it starting at one corner of his lips, and he finally had to give in and let it all emerge. He lowered his eyes. Walking along, forcing the furry wigglepuss down under his chin while the animal was determined to wash his face, Troy bit down on his bottom lip to realign his mug and stop himself from looking like some happy idiot. “Did your mom let you keep her?”
“Yes, she did, but only because her younger brother bought him for me. Uncle Robert is a psychiatrist, also a bachelor, and she dotes on him. I loved that poodle so much…”
“What happened?” He sensed the bad news coming. Her sorrow spread inside, starting with quivers and ending in a tightening of his stomach.
“She became sick. One day after school, while I was playing ball with her, she started foaming at the mouth. I called my uncle in a panic, but nothing helped. She had to be put down. Her sickness came on in a matter of hours. My uncle said it was just one of those flukes that happen to small animals sometimes. We were together for only a few short months, but my heart broke, and it took weeks for me to get over her death. My uncle offered to get me another, but this time my mother stayed adamant. No more pets!”
“What is it, kid? Whenever you speak of your mother, I sense you morphing from happy-go-lucky to sighing furtively. Don’t you get along with her?”
“No one gets along with her. We just get out of her way. Don’t misunderstand me. She’s a wonderfully loving lady whose demeanour resembles that of a—a Sherman tank. It’s easier to give in to her than argue.”
“Pretty hard to be your own person when you let another have so much power over your decisions. But then again you’re only sixteen, so—”
“Almost seventeen!”
“Right! You’re almost an old lady, so I guess your time to take over will come soon enough.”
“Sooner than you think!”
“Don’t be in too big a hurry, Dani. Enjoy being young while you can. Responsibilities aren’t all that much fun. Look, since you missed out, I hereby bequeath this monster to you. Consequently, it’s your duty to give him his name, but with one restriction. No respectable male wants a name with an ‘ie’ ending.”
His teasing did the trick. Her essence filled him inside with such a joyful radiance he wondered if others noticed the glow.
“I’ll think on it and let you know. Something as important as a name shouldn’t be taken too lightly.”
“You do that. In the meantime, purchasing a new shirt and jeans are next on my agenda. I can’t be walking around in these same clothes much longer. Do you know of a men’s store in town where the prices aren’t too high? I’m not all that flush right now.”
It got to him, knowing he had a whopping big bank account back home and no way to get at the funds unless he worked his way through a lot of red tape. Those things took time, time he didn’t have. He’d be damned if he’d ever travel without his check book again.
“I have money. I’ll write you a cheque. We can get a blank form at the bank.”
“You would do that for me? No hesitation, no questions?” Not that he could take her up on it.
“Of course! We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“More like roommates, I’d say.”
She giggled. “We’ll call it my rent payment.”
His loud laugh distracted the lady passing by and earned him a lovely smile in return. “The people around here are friendly. Not like Chicago, where the locals are so busy rushing around they have no time to pay attention to anyone else.”
“Noticing the friendliness of the locals doesn’t seem to be the norm for blokes, especially older ones. You’re a people watcher.”
“I’m very observant. I have to be, in my profession. And cut out the ‘old men’ comments, I’m only twenty-nine. Besides, how many men my age do you know? You must spend most of your time with boys.”
“True, unfortunately. But I really do prefer adults, and I think I’d like your big city. One day I’ll go and see Chicago for myself.”
“Chicago’s great. I miss the goings on.”
“Goings on?”
“Yeah, you know. In the big city something’s always going on. I’ll be back there as soon as I get my story, and once you leave me and return
to where you came from.”
Just the thought of being alone again brought an extra swing to his steps. Daydreaming of working at the Chicago Sun-Times, he imagined his future office. There would be an outside window, a beat-up overflowing desk, and glazed glass in the top part of his door with his name in gold letters—Troy Brennan, Editor.
The jiggling body in his arms restored his awareness to the surroundings, and the anxious whining had him lowering the pup to some nearby grass immediately. Good thing he’d acted quickly!
While he waited, Troy glanced around him.
“Dani? How about this department store? Do they have inexpensive menswear?”
No answer. His heart skipped a beat.
“Dani? Come out, wherever you are?”
“How the devil should I know? I’ve never bought men’s clothes.” Her grumpiness jolted him. Up till now, he’d taken her cheeriness for granted.
What was up with his trespasser? Shaking off his thoughts, he asked a small boy sitting on the curb close by to watch the pup for a few minutes while he made his way inside.
The general store, filled with clothes for younger men, proved to be exactly what Troy wanted. He grabbed a pair of stylish bell-bottomed jeans and a black T-shirt from the overflowing racks and made his way towards one of the changing rooms. As soon as he opened the curtain and saw the mirrored wall he stopped.
“Hold it! Are you still there?” His voice warned of his seriousness. It was a rougher, no-nonsense tone—one she recognized from when he’d used it on the bullying blokes yesterday.
“Uh-huh! Where else would I be?”
“Don’t be cheeky! You can see right now, can’t you?”
“Of course I can. I see out of your eyes, don’t I?”
“Right! Fine.” He closed his eyes, continued into the change room, and stumbled when he stubbed his toe on the wooden chair.
“What in the world are you doing?”
“You’re only sixteen. You shouldn’t be seeing a man undress.” He hadn’t had to worry about her spying in his room, for there wasn’t a full-length mirror. He’d taken care never to look at anything she shouldn’t be seeing. Not an easy task but doable.
“Number one. Just ‘will’ me to leave and you’ll feel me shut down, because I’ll respect your privacy. And number two, yours wouldn’t be the first male body I’ve seen anyway.”
“Number one, how about just shutting up instead of shutting down. And number two, what the hel—heck do you mean by not the first male—No, wait. I don’t want to know.”
“At least let me see you after you’re dressed. It’s very difficult carrying on conversations with someone you can only see from the inside.”
“What does it matter?”
“What if I told you I have a crush on you and I want to see what you look like, especially in your knickers?”
The tight jeans were only halfway up. Vertigo and embarrassment collided, engulfing him at the same time. His knee bashed against the chair and his forehead hit the wall. Muffled swear words and babbles that made no sense, except that the surly meanings were explicit, rang out before he spoke to her again. “Stop that!” He sounded angry.
“Stop what?”
Was she giggling? “Stop saying things like that. You don’t have a crush on me. You don’t even know me.”
“I know you’re extremely kind, that you care about small children and animals, take on burdens even when you don’t want to, and—and you’re ambitious. You have a wonderful, warm chuckle, and—”
“Enough! For God’s sake, my head will swell. Look, sweetie, you’re sixteen—”
“Almost seventeen.”
“And I’m almost thirty. Besides, you should be with a nice guy your own age.”
“I already have.”
“What?” Troy’s eyes popped open—wide, very wide.
****
“Ohh! You’re a smasher, you are.”
He stared into the mirror as if he could see into the soul hidden inside him. The ferocious look on his face warned her not to say another word. Instead she silently continued to view his features. His piercing, multifaceted eyes, brown and green, gold and gorgeous, were daunting. In the light from the naked bulb hanging above, his auburn hair gleamed. It was cut quite short on the sides but grew longer and thicker in the front, where he flipped the waves towards the back.
His lean body filled in the jeans the way the manufacturer must have planned for them to be worn when they were designed. Now she knew why she’d caught so many women’s glances following him, yearning clear in their expressions. Something niggled at her about his face.
“If you’re an American, where did you get those un-American-shaped eyes?”
It took him a while to answer. He made her wait, the silence drawn out. Finally he backed down, and his tone resumed its normal timbre. “My mother is Hawaiian. They say I take after her.”
“They?”
“Everyone who knows us. I sure as heck don’t take after the old man. He’s pure Texas, and all male.”
“Like your all-American he-man?”
A chuckle broke. “Yeah! Sort of.”
“Your mother must be a gorgeous woman.”
“I think so. Hold it! Is that a compliment?”
“Not bloody likely—you were born with those eyes, you didn’t do anything for them. Therefore the fact that you’re a good-looker shouldn’t count.”
“Good-looker! I hate being teased about how I look. Do you know how many noses I had to flatten to stop that kind of garbage when I was a kid? They soon changed it to Tough Guy. It suited my personality much better.”
“So you do take after your, ah, old man.”
“Yep! I guess I do.” He chuckled, his voice husky with pride.
As Troy took his new garments to the cashier, Dani stopped him.
“Troy. Look at that green shirt, the one on the mannequin just there. You must buy it. Please, for me. It’s the perfect colour for you.”
“You think so, princess? Fine, I could use another one, and if it’ll make you happy, then consider it done.”
The stop at the busy pharmacy next door to buy a dog collar and lead earned him high marks. Dani’s contentment spread. After his purchases were made, the dog collected and leashed, Troy stopped in the centre of the sidewalk.
“So are you going to keep your word and tell me where Ellie’s parents live? It’s time I earned my keep. I have to start writing the story I came for. It’s why I’m here.”
“Do you want to walk, or take the bus?”
“Will they let the pest here on the bus with me?”
“If you carry him, they might.”
In no time they were in front of a showpiece home on a secluded lane. It was an elegant Victorian house with rampant ivy covering the walls. A spacious patio could be seen behind hedges, and plant groupings of red roses, purple rhododendrons, and darkish green holly bushes decorated the flagstone walkway. An old coach house stood isolated to one side of the acreage that made up the yard.
A blanket covered with a little girl’s precious items lay spread on the spacious lawn in front. Dolls, stuffed toys, and pieces of a pink plastic tea set were strewn everywhere. Smack dab in the middle of it all sat the small golden-haired imp he’d seen near the vicarage with the older couple the day before.
Troy stopped to look around him and absorb the picturesque scene. The freshly mown lawn leached the air with the fresh-cut smell known to anyone who’d done chores as a youngster. Troy spent a moment inhaling deep breaths and let the memories flood.
With his mind wandering, he didn’t pay close attention to the inquisitiveness of a small puppy when he sees someone close to his own size. A wiggle, a circle, a yank, and the happy mutt escaped from his newly acquired collar.
Joyful yips warned the startled little girl that her play would soon be invaded. When she spied the puppy running her way, her arms opened in welcome.
It was love at first hug. Troy and Dani witnessed i
t together and both smiled—one inside, one out.
He approached slowly, looking around to see if there were other adults present. Watchful to see that the small child didn’t show fear of a stranger coming into her space, he stopped in front of her.
He needn’t have worried.
“Hello, sir. Is this your dog? What’s his name? He’s wonderful, isn’t he?” In between the words, her tiny hands moved constantly, petting and hugging. Her laughter rang out as the pup’s tongue, in rapid progression, worked his way over her face, stopping her from further speech. His shenanigans made her arch her head back and out of the way, while his plump body and scrambling feet climbed up her chest. His paws straddled her throat as if he wanted to embrace her.
Troy, hips cocked, hands in his pockets and head on one side, watched and laughed. His manly roars intermingled with the child’s glee. He hunched down to be level with the little girl. She drew him as food would draw a starving animal.
Only he heard Dani’s accompanying laughter diminish into sobs.
And then she faded.
What was that all about?
Chapter Nine
The child repeated. “Is he your puppy? What’s his name?”
Troy stopped his internal listening and brought his attention back to the earnest sprite in front of him.
“I guess he’s mine. I’ve recently inherited him until I can find him a good home. And he doesn’t have a name.”
“He doesn’t? Everyone should have a name, don’tcha think, sir?” Green twins of innocence stared up at him. Flecks of amber intensified their beauty, and he felt like he was melting inside.
“I guess you’re right, Little One. What’s your name?”
“Amy Howard. What’s yours?”
“Troy Brennan.”
The puppy, having finished washing the girl’s face, curled into her arms, nestling as if he’d found his special place. Her hand never stopped petting, soothing, loving. Covetousness apparent, the child rubbed her cheek against the soft fur.
“He needs to have a name.” The serious look in her sparkling beauties stopped him from taking the matter lightly. Big beautiful eyes did him in every time, but when they gleamed from between long lashes in a little angel’s face, he was lost.