Had she been in a more coherent frame of mind she’d have confronted him about the kiss right then and there. But she needed caffeine more than she needed anything else, so she passed Cole and headed straight for the coffeemaker. He’d apparently put on the first pot himself, so she decided not to go too hard on him—for now.
Then he made the mistake of following her and saying, “I’m not the settling-down type.”
“No kidding.” She inhaled the coffee fumes before drinking half the cup.
“Women seem to think that just because I’m a vet and I care about animals that I must be all warm and fuzzy.”
Leena shook her head. “What idiots.”
“Of course, I
am
warm and fuzzy—”
“Yeah, right.” She paused, coffee mug halfway to her lips. “Oh, you were serious.” She sipped her coffee. “Anyway, I do agree. No way are you the type to settle down.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. Probably some trauma in your childhood or something. Maybe the Peter Pan syndrome.”
“I had a totally normal childhood, and I don’t have any syndromes.”
“Then why ask me why you don’t want to settle down?”
“I was asking you why you thought I wasn’t the type to do that.”
“Because you just told me you aren’t.” Was the man a few cards short of a full deck this morning?
“Yeah, but you acted like you already knew that before I said it.”
“Of course I did. It takes one to know one. I’m not ready to settle down either.”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t ask you why not,” Leena pointed out.
“I’m asking you.”
The man was like a dog with a bone. What was his problem? He was the one who brought up this stupid topic to begin with. Obviously this was his way of warning her off after their kiss the other night.
Fine. She got the message. He didn’t have to hire a plane and skywrite it overhead. She got it already. Warning understood.
So what gave him the right to question her now? Did he think that she was sitting around panting for him? Not in this lifetime. “Why am I not ready to settle down? Because I’ve got places to go and things to do. And I certainly wouldn’t settle for Rock Creek or anyone who liked living here.”
“Because you’re so much better than the rest of us, huh? Glad you set me straight on that.” The flash of pure Irish Flannigan fury in Cole’s eyes was there and then gone a moment later. So was he.
“Where’s he off to in such a hurry?” Mindy asked.
“I have no idea.”
“He seemed angry.”
“You think?”
Mindy nodded before setting down her overstuffed tote bag. “I saw you in the paper this morning—”
“Please stop.” Leena held up her hand like a traffic cop. “I already know how bad it is. You don’t have to tell me.”
“I’d never do such a thing.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” Mindy was much too kind to ever say a harsh word about anyone other than herself. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bite your head off like that. It’s just that I am not happy with the situation.”
“Which situation?”
“My picture being in the paper.”
“But I thought you’d be used to it by now. I mean, you’ve been a top model for several years now.”
Leena didn’t know how “top” she was, but in this photo she appeared almost topless. And then there was the matter of her thighs . . . “Yeah, well, I’ve never had a photo like that done before.”
“And that’s what is so great. You had the courage to show off your body even though it’s not a size zero.”
That hadn’t been Leena’s intent. She’d just been trying to pay the rent. But there wasn’t time to correct Mindy’s misconception.
To Leena’s surprise, the waiting area was filled within five minutes of her unlocking the front door. Strange. She didn’t remember seeing that many appointments on the schedule for this morning.
She definitely didn’t remember Nancy Crumpler having an appointment. Maybe she thought that since Cole was her nephew, she didn’t need an appointment. “Are you here to see Cole?” Leena asked.
“No,” Nancy said. “I’m here to see you.”
Oh no. More questions. “I really don’t have time to talk right now. As you can see”—Leena waved a hand at the people around them—“it’s a very busy day today.”
“This won’t take long. I just wanted to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For that photo in the paper this morning. It’s about time that someone showed people what a real woman should look like.”
“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 behind 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.”