The Art of Wag (17 page)

“Okay. See you later.”

He grinned. “I’m looking forward to it.”

As Tracy watched him leave the building, her heart rate started to settle back down to normal. Todd Delaney! She’d had such a crush on him and had probably drawn a thousand little hearts that said T.S. + T.D. on her junior high school notebooks. He was even her first kiss. Chaste and kind of icky in a dorky junior-high kind of way, but still. When she’d found out his family was moving away, she’d cried for hours.

Max made it through surgery and by the time the afternoon rolled around, he was starting to howl about being stuck in his stainless-steel prison. Tracy couldn’t wait for three thirty to arrive. An unhappy coonhound could make a powerful amount of noise when he set his mind to it.

Fred and Todd walked through the door at precisely three thirty. They both obviously had spent some serious time hosing themselves down and Tracy tried not to gasp when she saw Todd. Grubby he was sort of attractive, but when he was all squeaky clean, he was downright gorgeous. If it wouldn’t have been humiliating, she would have fanned herself with her hands. The cute, but kind of gawky ninth-grader had evolved into a complete hottie. He had the whole dark Irish thing going for him, along with an incredible build and those astonishing blue eyes.

Tracy walked over to the desk. “Hi Todd. Hi Frank. Max is going to be mighty glad to see you.” A howl arose from the back room to emphasize her point. “See what I mean?”

Frank leaned on the desk. “It sounds like he’s feeling better. God, that’s such a relief.” His eyes misted. “When he was bleeding, well, I just thought...”

Tracy put her hand over his. “It’s okay. He’s fine. Let me go get him.”

Dr. Cassidy followed Tracy and Max out of the surgery area. The vet was holding a large semi-circular piece of plastic. “Hi guys. Max is doing great, but you’ll need to be really careful about him trying to rip out his stitches. At this point, he still might be a little groggy, but once he’s back to himself and the wound starts to bother him, he’s going to want to lick and chew on it.” She curved the plastic into a circle. “This is an Elizabethan collar or E-collar.” She handed it to Frank. “You just connect it together with the little tabs and put it over Max’s head. If he’s like every other dog in the world, he will hate it and give you dirty looks. But it’s necessary. We really don’t want infection to set in. I’ve put a little drain in his leg, which you should check regularly. Make sure to wipe it a few times a day, and if the area around the tube starts to look red or angry, call us. I’ve also given you some pain medication for him, which will help take the edge off. And this bottle has antibiotics. Make sure you give him all of them as directed, even if it seems like he’s feeling better.”

Tracy handed Max’s leash to Frank, who paled again at the sight of the huge bandage and the tube sticking out of the dog’s leg. “Okay. I’ll make sure he behaves himself. It’s gonna be a more low-key vacation now anyway, since we can’t go hunting. We’ll probably spend a lot of time hanging out and watching football.”

Dr. Cassidy smiled sympathetically. “I’m sure he’ll like that.”

Frank handed the leash to Todd. “Keep an eye on him while I pay.” Todd took the leash, sat down in one of the chairs, and stroked the smooth fur on Max’s head.

After settling the bill, the two men left. Todd hadn’t said much of anything to Tracy, which was disappointing. After his dazzling smile earlier, she’d had some rather enjoyable fantasies about seeing him again. What had he been doing all these years? He was well-dressed, so he probably had some high-paying job. And he was living somewhere other than Alpine Grove. Maybe that’s why he didn’t say anything. Because she obviously hadn’t gone anywhere. Why would he want to go out with a lowly vet assistant who never made it out of Alpine Grove? In an effort to not dwell on that whole depressing train of thought, she sat at the desk and busied herself with the final accounting for the day.

She was startled from her calculations when the bells on the front door jingled again. Todd walked in and flashed her a dazzling smile. “Hi again. Frank’s waiting for me, but I wanted to come back here and see if you’d let me take you to dinner tonight. I know it’s last-minute, and you probably have plans already. But I thought I’d give it a shot, anyway. I’d love to catch up.”

Tracy wondered if he could hear her heart pounding in her chest. “Yes...yes. That would be great. I’d love to!”

“Okay. It looks like there’s a nice Italian restaurant on the main drag. You want to meet me there? Would seven work?”

“Sure. That would be great.” It was so annoying that there were no other decent places to eat in this town. Dining at the place she’d been fired from was likely to be unpleasant and possibly mortifying in any number of ways. But there weren’t any other options. Maybe, with any luck, Jerry would be gone for the night. He usually didn’t do Mondays. That was something, anyway. And she might have a chance to say ‘hi’ to Lou. She missed the gruff old chef. Plus, he made the most fantastic lasagna in the known universe. She missed that too.

Todd left again and Tracy was left to her thoughts. He hadn’t asked if she was involved. She could be married with six children, for all he knew. Okay maybe not six, unless she had really been an over-achiever on the parenting front. But why did he assume she wasn’t involved? She looked down at her hand. If she were married, she would be wearing a ring. Little did he know that there was no way she’d subject a fine diamond to all the cleaning chemicals and potentially disgusting things she had to clean up here.

She gathered the papers together and said goodbye to Dr. C. She had to get home quickly and deal with Roxy before her big date. Unbelievable! An actual date with a gorgeous guy who had all his teeth. Yippee!

Chapter 8

T
racy walked into the Italian restaurant and found Todd leaning on the podium chatting with the new hostess, who appeared to be a recent Cedar County High graduate. Apparently Jerry had found himself a younger, cuter hostess. Nice. “Hi Todd.”

He turned to her. “You look pretty tonight. Sherry says our table is ready.”

Tracy nodded at the hostess. “Thanks. Aren’t you Glen Harris’s daughter?”

Sherry turned to look behind her as she walked them to a table. “Yes, my dad knows Jerry. That’s how I got the job. I’m still trying to figure stuff out though.”

Tracy sat down in a chair “You spell your name with a ‘y’ don’t you?”

“Yeah, like the liquor, but Jerry wants me to change it, so it ends with an i.” She leaned over to Tracy to hand her a menu and whispered confidentially. “Isn’t that a little weird?”

Tracy took the menu gently and said under her breath, “Get used to it.”

Todd tipped his menu toward Tracy. “Did you work here in high school or something?”

“Not in high school. I worked at the marina in the summers. It was a blast hanging out with the summer people and I got a great tan.”

Todd leaned forward. “You sure seem to know everyone.”

“You would too, if you had stayed here in town. Eventually, you know everybody.” And they all knew you too, whether you want them to or not. Time to change the subject. “So did you and Fred find a place to stay?”

“Fred is out at the Enchanted Moose. They take pets, but they only had one room available. There’s no way I’m staying in the same room with that guy. He snores like a freight train. Camping is okay, since I bring my own tent. But cooped up with him in a little room would not be much of a vacation. So I’m at the H12 here in town.”

“It has a convenient location.” That was its primary selling point. Probably its only selling point.

A waitress walked up to the table. “My name is Jenny and I’ll be your waitress. Hello Tracy.” The woman smirked in her typical snide way. “Long time, no see.”

Tracy plastered a fake smile on her face for Todd’s benefit. “Hi Jenny. Why don’t you tell us what the specials are tonight?”

Jenny looked momentarily flustered and reached into her smock for her pad. She read off the list from her pad. “What would you like?”

“I’d like the lasagna. With a side salad and balsamic vinegar dressing on the side.”

Jenny sneered at her. “Nice choice. And you, sir?”

Todd ordered and Jenny stalked off to the kitchen. He turned back to Tracy. “I guess you know her too? And you aren’t best friends.”

“Yes. And no, definitely not.” Not in this lifetime.

Todd looked around the room. “So do you know
everyone
in this restaurant?”

Tracy unfolded her napkin and put it in her lap. “Well, quite a few of them. The summer people are mostly gone, so it’s just locals.”

Todd glanced over at a thin man in a brown suit. “Okay, who is that guy?”

“That’s Larry Lowell. He’s a lawyer. You might have met his parents, since they own the hardware store in town.” As Tracy had predicted, Larry had returned. Look out, Sherry.

“Who is the sad guy in the corner?”

“That’s Ron.” Tracy fidgeted with her napkin. “His wife just had gall bladder surgery and she’s in the hospital recuperating. She’s fine, but she probably told him to go get a decent meal. She’s a little bossy like that.”

“How about that couple?”

Tracy peered beyond Todd’s shoulder to a table behind him. “That’s the guy who cheated on the librarian. I forget his name, but he doesn’t live here. The blonde woman is the daughter of some rich guy who owns a manufacturing company and has a vacation house south of here.”

Todd opened his mouth to say something, when an older woman ran up to the table. “Tracy, it’s so good to see you!”

“Hi Mrs. Zelenski. How is Martin doing?”

The woman gave Tracy a hug around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “That enema Dr. Cassidy gave him worked just great and he’s pooping like a champ!”

“That’s good news.” Tracy could feel the flush rising on her face. “Give Martin a pat for me.”

“I made an appointment for his shots, so see I’ll you soon my dear. Have a lovely dinner!”

Todd chuckled. “I really hope Martin is a dog.”

Tracy giggled. “Yes, Martin had a little digestive problem. But it’s better now.”

“So I gathered.”

Tracy had an enjoyable time reminiscing with Todd about being a kid in Alpine Grove. They both had spent summers at the lake and had a number of the same teachers in school.

Todd tilted his wine glass at her. “So whatever happened to Mr. Lewis? He had more hair gel than any other man I’ve ever seen. And those huge horn-rimmed glasses.” He laughed conspiratorially and said, “Remember the huge wad of keys with the retractable key chain?”

Tracy grinned. “Yeah. He was Mr. Word Problem. You buy six bushels of apples and the trains are going two-hundred miles an hour, blah, blah, blah. I’m thinking put the apples on the track and let the train run over them. Problem solved. I think he got a teaching job somewhere else. You have to figure there are opportunities to teach Algebra in the big city too.”

“I suppose.”

“So tell me about life after Alpine Grove. I heard you moved to Los Angeles. I was just there visiting my friend Shelby and taking a class. What area did you live in?”

Todd looked down into his glass as he swirled the burgundy liquid around. “I went to high school in the Valley.”

“So you were a Valley Guy? Like, totally, you know, wow.”

Irritation flashed in his blue eyes, but he smiled. “Yes, I suppose.”

Oops. Maybe he didn’t like LA. New topic. “So what do you do now when you’re not out hunting with Fred?”

“I work for an oil company. So I travel a lot to Alaska and Texas.”

“That sounds interesting. I’d like to be able to do more traveling.” A better automobile would certainly help. “I’ve heard Alaska is beautiful. I’d love to see the glaciers.”

He frowned at his wine glass. “I don’t get to do much sightseeing. I do a lot of maintenance and troubleshooting of hydraulic systems. I spend a lot of time on the rigs.”

Tracy twisted the napkin in her lap. “Well, to me it all sounds like an exciting adventure far away from here.”

“It pays the bills.”

The mood of the conversation deteriorated to the point that Tracy started to wish her imaginary electronic “shut-up zapper” really existed. She couldn’t say anything right and she got the distinct impression that Todd didn’t want to talk about his current life. Tracy wrung her napkin in her lap and made another effort to move back to safer subjects. “So did you get a chance to say ‘hi’ to my mom?”