Sweet Christmas Kisses (45 page)

“Mimi, please.” Conran sighed.

“First.” Mimi held up her thumb. “Avoid all things Italian. Due to his ex-wife, Conran abhors anything to do with Italy.”

Joanna choked.

Conran dropped his head in his hands.

“Second. Don't ever try to force him to do anything. If you want him to do something, take a subtle approach so that he thinks it was his idea from the beginning.”

“Like adopting a dog.” Conran threw Joanna a mischievous glance.

Mimi perked up. “Was she subtle about it?”

“About as subtle as a battering ram.” He smiled at Joanna.

She could feel herself going hot. “Well, you weren't an example of good manners, either.”

He shook his head and grinned at Mimi. “I thought she was a besotted fan when she turned up on my doorstep in the middle of the night, on her knees.”

“I wasn't on my knees!” Joanna shook her head.

“Weren't you? I seem to remember that you collapsed at my feet.”

Joanna shrugged. “Well, maybe. But only a bit.”

“So,” Conran grinned. “When Joanna had collapsed just a little bit, I realized I had to help her in case she was really in trouble . . . but I felt put out.”

Mimi shook her head. “You're too full of yourself, Rancon. As if any woman would do that.”

“Oh, wouldn't she?” Conran lifted his fingers and started to count on one hand. “One pretended to be run over by a car right in front of my house; another fell into my arms when I was on my way to the studio, telling me she had broken her ankle, and a third staged a mega-fight while I was having dinner with my agent at a restaurant, and collapsed onto my lap in tears.”

“Gosh.” Joanna swallowed. “I feel ashamed for my own sex.”

“One thing gave them away, though.” Conran picked up his cup and drank from his coffee. “They were all perfectly styled.”

Joanna sat up straight. “Is that why you told me I looked ugly when crying?”

Mimi gasped. “He didn't.”

“He sure did,”Joanna said. “I thought I had died in the snow and was taken to a special sort of hell.”

“Did you really think that?” Conran sounded delighted.

“I can't believe you said anything so rude.” Mimi stared at her stepbrother.

“Oh, that wasn't all.” Joanna dropped a chocolate chip cookie into her mouth. “He also locked me into the bathroom to prevent me from snooping around the house and said I couldn't sleep on the sofa.”

Conran cocked his head to the side and looked at her. “I apologize.”

Joanna inclined her head. “You are forgiven.” She could get lost in that smile.

“Okay, okay, stop looking like that. It's enough to make innocent bystanders feel jealous.” Mimi lifted both hands. “Just tell me one thing. How on earth did you ever get together after that start?”

Joanna grinned. “Dimitri got a thorn into his paw, and Conran had to come to me to get it out.”

“Why you?” Mimi asked.

“Because, as your brother so succinctly put, I'm a veterinarian here in the middle of nowhere.”

Conran looked at her. “I seem to have been more disagreeable than I noticed.”

“You were the rudest man I have ever met.”

“Ha.” He smiled. “But you liked it.”

“I didn't.” Joanna tried to keep a straight face. “Though I did enjoy being rude in return.”

Mimi shook her head. “Don't ask me to understand this relationship of yours. It sounds odd.”

Conran placed his cup back onto the saucer with care. “Talking about odd relationships. Have you heard from Mickey?”

Mimi bent underneath the table and talked to Dimitri. When she came up, her face was red. “Dimitri always sits on my feet. He's really heavy.”

“Yeah, I haven't yet managed to train that out of him.” Conran looked at his sister with a sharp glance. “Is everything all right?”

“Sure.” Mimi laughed. “All fine and above board.” Her phone rang. She pulled it from her jacket, glanced at the display, and jumped up. “Oh, that's a friend. Excuse me.” With the phone glued to her ear, she hurried to the exact opposite corner of the restaurant.

“I'm not sure I believe her.” Conran frowned.

Joanna looked at him, but she didn't ask. She had learned one thing Mimi hadn't mentioned . . . never to press him for answers.

“This guy Mickey was her trainer, and she fell for him, but he only exploited her. Asked her to help finance some wild scheme.” His face darkened. “She gave him all her savings. I couldn't believe it when I heard that. Then he left her. She was devastated and came to me.”

Joanna broke her rule. “What did you do?”

“I talked to him.”

“And that was enough? I mean, she had given him the money of her own, free will. There's not much you can do legally in that case, can you?”

Conran's smile was grim. “No. Not legally. But I know a few people in his world, and I said I would make sure they would know the story . . . so he paid back half of what she had given him.” He looked at his sister who was gesticulating in the far corner of the room. “I just hope she hasn't given in to him again.” He shook his head. “She's so smart and self-assured, but when this guy is involved, it's as if she's a different woman.” He drank the rest of his coffee. “Well, I said I wouldn't help her a second time. Let's hope she has learned her lesson.”

“Did you know she was coming?”

“Sort of.” Conran gave her a lopsided smile. “She said she would join me here, but that could have meant anything.” He grinned. “Mimi is not the best organized person on this planet.”

Joanna dropped her aching head into her hands. She had spent the last two hours going through her accounts, and it didn't look good. Her big farmer-customers had stuck with her so far, but they did not bring in the money. She had to drive a long way to get to them, and in that time, she could treat a lot more hamsters, dogs, and canaries. But the hamsters, dogs, and canaries were not coming to her clinic anymore – on Friday, she had actually had an empty waiting room for the first time ever since she had started up. 

A cold hand of fear gripped her heart and squeezed it tight. If she did not get in enough money, she could not pay back the credit she had taken from the bank for the equipment of her clinic. The sum had been way higher than her first estimation, but so far, things had worked out well. What on earth was happening? Where did her patients go?

She leaned back and took a deep breath.
Calm down, Jo. Think clearly.
What could be a possible reason for her declining numbers?

a) The hamsters, dogs, and canaries were getting more healthy. Joanna shook her head. Not likely. Besides, that wouldn't happen all at once.

b) The hamsters, dogs, and canaries were moving out. Joanna smiled to herself. No way. Stony Brook's population was not declining in a drastic way, nor did she see a trend for less pets. On the contrary, a new pet shop had opened only a short time ago.

c) Another veterinarian had opened up nearby. Maybe one who was promoted by the new pet shop? Joanna frowned and googled the shop. No reference to any veterinarian at all. She would have to go there and check it out. Then she googled veterinarians in the Stony Brook area. She found several, all of whom she knew. Nothing new here.

d) Her reputation was going down the drain. Joanna bit her lips. Had an animal died in her clinic in the last weeks? Of course. She sighed. Death was part of her job. There had been old Jimmy's beagle, Jumpy. But Jumpy had been ten years old . . . not a Methuselah by any means, but not very young, either.

Spicy had been a lot younger.
No, don't go there.
She forced her thoughts away from the painful memories of her dead dog and back to the topic on hand. Jimmy had grumbled a bit when he got her invoice, saying he didn't think a veterinarian should be paid if the patient died.

At least, that's what Bernice had told her. Her clients rarely told her directly what they thought. Joanna placed her chin into her hands and stared into space.
That's just the problem.
If you're the concerned party, you're the last to know.
I wonder how many people knew about Hugh's singer before I stumbled over them.
Joanna shook herself. I have to get to the bottom of this. Maybe . . .

A sound from the door made her lift her head. An emergency? She waited for the owl to hoot. Nothing. Joanna frowned. Maybe Tim had now dared to go to her door instead of her carport but didn't have the courage to ring the bell?

But what was that? Voices? Joanna froze.

Loud voices.

Angry.

She placed her mug onto the desk without a sound, got up, and went to the entrance door on tiptoes. Who was fighting on her door step at nine in the evening?

“I repeat, what do you think you're doing here?” That was Hugh, no mistake about it. He had cultivated an accent that was supposed to make him sound superior.

“I could ask you the same.” Conran answered.

Joanna pressed one hand against her mouth. What on earth was going on? She went to the side. Thanks to Sally's ingenious construction, she could see her own entrance area from the left hand by looking through a bull's-eye window. With care, she moved the small yucca palm that stood in front of it and peered through the glass.

The men were facing each other, arms akimbo, feet planted apart. Like cowboys in a cheap western. Hugh had his back to her, and she could see Conran's face over his shoulder. Conran's blue eyes held a glacial expression she'd never seen before.

Joanna eased the window open, so she could better hear what they were saying. Wintry air crept through the open slit and cooled her face. It smelled of snow.

“Listen, I know you're some sort of celebrity, and you probably think that Joanna falls for this kind of thing, but I know her better.” Hugh squared his shoulders. “You don't stand a chance. A man with a ponytail.” He gave a snort. “She wants a man, not a sissy.”

Conran looked at him with detached interest. “Thank you for for sharing your views with me. Are you done now?”

The back of Hugh's neck turned an alarming shade of red. “You think you're something special, don't you?”

“Well, no.” Conran lifted his shoulders.

“Let my tell you something, Mr. Dark.” Hugh took a menacing step forward. “Joanna is engaged to me. And I won't allow you poaching in my preserve.”

Joanna gagged.
The cheek of him!
Was she a rabbit?

“Joanna told me something quite different.” Conran's voice was still level.

“So? What did she tell you?”

“She said you slept with someone two weeks after you got engaged to her, and that this was the end of the engagement as far as she was concerned.”

Now the back of Hugh's neck could only be described as blackberry-red. “This is none of your business.”

“You're right; it isn't.” Conran lifted his arm and pressed the door-bell. “Why don't we let Joanna tell us what she thinks. She's not our property.”

The sudden shock of adrenaline made Joanna jump from her hiding place. With angry strides, she went to the door, flung it wide open, and looked straight at Hugh. “Hugh, I've told you before, and I'll tell you again. Get lost.”

She grabbed Conran's arm and pulled him in, then closed the door with a bang right in front of Hugh's face. “I can't believe this!” She threw up both hands. “How can he be so stuck-up?”

Hugh hammered against the wooden door. “You'll regret this, Joanna!”

She clenched her jaw shut to avoid replying to him and pulled Conran forward, to the kitchen area. “Where is Dimitri?”

“I left him with Mimi,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you, and she offered to babysit him.”

“Oh?” Joanna's pulse still raced. With trembling hands, she opened the fridge. “Do you want a drink?”

“No, I'm fine.” He caught her hands. “Calm down, Jo.”

She twisted from his grasp. “I can't believe I ever trusted Hugh. How can I have been so blind?”

“Sometimes, you only see what you want to see.” Conran looked at her for a moment. “My first wife married me for the money. Mimi told me, but I didn't want to believe it. It took five long years before I finally accepted the truth.”

Joanna swallowed. “I'm sorry.”

“You needn't be. I've learned my lesson.” His face twisted. “It cost me, though. In more than one sense.”

“I can imagine.” She paced through the kitchen. “You know, the fact that Hugh cheated on me isn't the worst. We . . . “ she hesitated and went on, “. . . we have talked about guilt, and about forgiving, and you asked me about myself.” She looked at Conran, willing him to understand. “It may seem that I preach to you, tell you that you have to forgive yourself, while I refuse to forgive anything, but my case is different.” Her face twisted into a smile. “Though I would say that anyway, wouldn't I?”

“Yes.” He smiled. A tender smile, a smile that made her go on.

“If it had been a real mistake, something Hugh regrets, then I might . . . I might have considered forgiving him, at the time. But . . .” she swallowed. “. . . the worst is that he believes I shouldn't mind. He thinks it's a trifling incident, something to be smiled at with indulgence before you discard it.” She balled her fits and turned to Conran. “I feel like a piece of dirt.”

“I understand,” Conran said. “But you needn't feel bad.” He smiled. “You got him pretty rattled.”

“I have?” Her mood brightened. “”Good.”

“I don't like the way he says you'll regret this, though.” Conran frowned. “Is he the kind of guy to try to take a vengeance?”

“You think he'll attack me? I don't think so.” Joanna shook her head. “He'd never do anything illegal.” She made a move with her hand toward the fridge. “Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?”

He hesitated. “Well, if you insist, I'll take some water.”

“You live very healthy.”

“Sometimes.” He grinned.

Joanna handed him a glass of water. “You said you wanted to discuss something with me.”

“I  . . . yes.” He looked at his shoes.

Joanna looked at him. Was he nervous? “Why don't you take a seat?” She indicated the broad sofa, pulled up a comfortable chair and dropped into it. “Shoot.”

“I'm . . . “ he turned the glass of water in his hands. “I've been wanting to discuss something with you, get your advice.”