Then He Kissed Me (14 page)

Lola came up behind Ellen. “Well, isn’t he sweet?” she crooned, smiling at Hector.

“Thank you for the sweater, Lola,” Nate said.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s just a little too small for you, don’t you think?”

“Thank you for
Hector’s
sweater,” he clarified.

Bianca and Janie tried to hide their smiles. They scooped up the wrapping paper and took off down the hallway. Nate had just finished putting Hector in his crate when Lola slapped a print out on his desk. “Frances Kiefer is in room one. She’s feeling dizzy.”

“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Maybe she’d prefer to see Ellen this morning?”

“Sure, I’ll be happy to see her. She’s such a sweet lady,” Ellen said.

“No can do,” Lola said to Ellen. “You’ve got two pap smears waiting for you. Special requests. With Doc out again,” she rolled her eyes, “we need to make sure we don’t get behind.”

There were patients in the practice who felt more comfortable with a woman doing their GYN annuals. Nate didn’t blame them, but it put him in a bad spot this morning. Frances Kiefer, no doubt, had absolutely no desire to see him. Not after she’d complained to Doc about him. But he had no choice. Ellen gave Nate a helpless look and went off to see her patients.  

“I’ll be in there in a minute,” he said to Lola. She nodded curtly and took off.

Nate slipped his lab coat on. His cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen and frowned. What did Jessica want? “Hello,” he said tentatively.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, babe!”

“Thanks. What do you want, Jessica?”

“Is that any way to greet me? It’s Valentine’s Day, Nate! Aren’t you glad I called?”

Not really. But he didn’t want to seem unfriendly. He and Jessica might be through, but there was no reason they couldn’t be cordial to one another. “How are you?” he asked. “Work going well?”

“Work is going
better
than well. But that’s not why I called. I have a special present for you.”

“Jessica,” he said, “we’re no longer a couple. Don’t you think getting me a gift for Valentine’s Day is inappropriate?”

“But you don’t know what it is! Go ahead and ask me. Try to guess.”

This was a particular little game of Jessica’s he despised. He’d had to play along when they were together, but there was no reason he had to do so now. “I have no idea. I’m busy, Jessica, so if you don’t plan to tell me, then I’m afraid I’ll have to say good-bye.”

“Wow. Someone’s
grumpy.
And I bet I can guess
why
. I miss you, too, babe. Horribly. I was thinking, maybe I can get on a plane tonight and we can spend the weekend together.”

He glanced at his watch. It was eight thirty six. He was officially six minutes behind schedule now. “To what purpose?”

She let out a long sigh. “God, I’ve missed that…
way
you have of keeping me on my toes. All right, you win. I’ll tell you what your present is. Go check out YouTube. The top six marriage proposal fails is now officially once more only top
five
marriage proposal fails. I got our video taken off! Isn’t that great?”

“Actually, yes, it is. Thank you.”

“Don’t you want to know how I did it?”

“By asking nicely?” he asked.

“
What
? Oh!” She laughed so loud that Nate had to pull the phone from his ear. He’d never heard her laugh like that before. Did she think he couldn’t tell it was fake? “That’s another thing I’ve missed! No one makes me smile like you do, Nate.”

“Jessica, I have to go. Thanks again and good luck.”

He hung up before she could get another word in. He had to say, however, he was pleased she’d gotten that video taken down. Although, God only knew who and what she’d threatened to make it happen.

He stepped out in the hallway and braced himself before entering the exam room. As per his usual custom, he knocked, waited a few seconds, then opened the door. Frances Kiefer sat on the exam table. She stiffened when she saw him.

“Good morning, Mrs. Kiefer. I’m afraid Dr. Morrison is out sick today. I hope you’ll let me take care of you in his place?”

She narrowed her eyes. “It doesn’t look like I have much choice, do I?”

He pulled out his laptop and looked over her vital signs. She’d been in the office just a few weeks ago but her blood pressure was significantly higher today. “Has there been any change in your, um, routine lately?”

“Go ahead and say it. I told you so. Right? If I’d lost weight like you told me to then I wouldn’t be in this predicament.” She pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest.

Nate felt momentarily stunned. Is that seriously what she thought of him? That he’d gloat because she hadn’t listened to his warnings? He decided his best course of action was to ignore the dig and carry on in his normal manner.

“Sometimes, blood pressure can be elevated for different reasons. Are you in any pain or under any extra stress lately?”

She sniffed. “No, I’m not in pain. And…no extra stress. Not really.” She glanced down at her folded hands.

“But you’ve been dizzy?” He pointed to the computer screen. “It says here under your complaint it’s the reason you came in this morning?”

She nodded. “Just a little. Sometimes. Not all the time,” she emphasized.

“All right. Let’s do some bloodwork and recheck your blood pressure in a few minutes.”

“What’s that going to do?”

“Your bloodwork will rule out diabetes and a few other things that might be causing the dizziness. Sometimes if your blood pressure is too high or too low, it can make you feel dizzy. But one blood pressure reading isn’t enough data to go on. Have you ever heard of ‘white coat’ syndrome?”

“Isn’t that when you get nervous when you go to the doctor and it makes your blood pressure go up?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, I certainly was
not
nervous. Not until, that is…” she broke off.

Not until she saw me come through the door
. He sat down on the stool, and gave her his professional smile. It was a bland, neutral kind of smile he’d learned to perfect in his residency to put his patients at ease. But Frances Kiefer didn’t look impressed, or reassured, either.

A trickle of perspiration ran down his neck. Why did Doc have to be sick today? He thought about Lauren’s advice. About the five minute thing. He wanted to wait to recheck Mrs. Kiefer’s blood pressure himself, and five minutes seemed like a reasonable amount of time. It couldn’t hurt to fill the wait with some small talk. He racked his brain trying to think of something to say to her. All the women in the office seemed to go crazy over Hector. Maybe this love of puppies was a universal thing.

“Do you have a have a dog, Mrs. Kiefer?”

She sat up straight. “I have four. Why do you ask?”

“What kind of breed?”

She looked reluctant to tell him. “I have four Shih-Poos. It’s a mix between a poodle and a Shih Tzu.”

“Sounds like an…interesting combination.”

“Oh, yes, they’re quite a lovely breed.” She looked at the eye chart on the wall and then back at him. “Do you have a dog, Dr. Miller?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“Let me guess. You have a Pit Bull. No, a Rottweiler.” She smiled, like she was pleased with her own little joke.

He pulled out his cell phone and swiped to find the picture. “Actually,” he said, handing her his phone, “this is my dog. His name is Hector.”

Her jaw dropped. “This
adorable
little creature is yours? How old is he?”

Nate thought a moment. “He’s four months old now.”

“Where do you keep him during the day? I mean, does he stay at home while you’re at work?”

He looked around and lowered his voice like he was letting her in on a big secret, which, he supposed, he kind of was. “Don’t tell the other patients, but I keep him in my office.”

“You mean, he’s here
now
?”

Nate nodded. “I just took that picture a few minutes ago. The staff have sort of adopted him.”

“This sweater is so cute! Where did you get it? I collect outfits for my babies, but I’ve never seen a Valentine’s Day sweater before.”

“Lola, Dr. Morrison’s nurse knit it for him.”

“
Lola
knit this?” She studied the picture more closely. “He looks like he has some Dachshund in him.”

“You have a good eye. He’s a Dachshund-Chihuahua mix.”

“Oh, lord!” Mrs. Kiefer laughed. “I used to breed Dachshunds. They’re wonderfully loyal dogs, but so stubborn.”

“He’s been having accidents in the house,” Nate admitted. “Despite how many times I take him outside.”

She nodded eagerly. “Oh, yes, that’s a Doxie for you! You just have to be patient.” She smiled at him.

He smiled back. Not the professional smile. A real one this time. “Let’s take your blood pressure again.”

She put her arm out and Nate took her blood pressure. She looked at him expectantly. “It’s still borderline, but much better than your first one. How do you feel about medication?”

“Well, if I need it, then I need it. But I’d much rather not. If I can help it, that is.”

“Any problems with headaches?”

“No.”

“All right, well, how about we try monitoring your pressure every day for a week or so to get a better picture of what’s going on? You won’t need an appointment. Just come when it’s convenient and we’ll work you in. If it’s still on the high side or if you have any symptoms, we’ll need to discuss the medication. The bloodwork should be back in a few days and that will let us know if there’s anything else we should be concerned about.”

He waited for her response.

After a few seconds, she asked, “And that’s it? No lecture or…anything else?”

“That’s it. Unless you have something else you wanted to discuss?”

“No, no. Well, all right then. I’ll be sure to come in tomorrow.” She got down off the exam table. “And good luck with your little dog. Hector, is it? Like I said, just be patient, and for heaven’s sake, don’t scold him! Dogs respond much better to praise than anything else. Don’t worry, in a few months, you’ll start seeing results.”

He nodded slowly. “Excellent advice. I think I’ll take it.”

L
auren was anxious to
talk to Dhara about some of the ideas the girls had given her at Bunco last week, but Dhara had taken a few days off to go to Orlando for an interview, so it wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon that she saw her again. Lauren fully expected her to come back only to tell her she was leaving, so she braced herself for the news.

“Actually, they did offer me a job,” Dhara said.

“That’s great!” Lauren was sad for herself, but genuinely happy for Dhara. Maybe it was better this way. If Dhara did end up staying to work for Lauren on a more permanent basis, then she’d feel horribly guilty if her store closed and Dhara was suddenly out of a job.

“I’m not taking it.”

“It wasn’t what you were looking for?” Lauren asked.

“No, it was a good job, it’s just…well, I know this sounds horribly last century, but I just met someone and they live locally…” She shrugged like she was embarrassed.

“
Ah
! A boyfriend. Right.” Funny. Dhara had never spoken about her love life before. Lauren knew all about her big Indian-American family—her mother who made the best butter chicken in the world, and her two older brothers and their wives and all her nieces and nephews, as well as her younger sister, Shaheen, who was still in high school and drove the whole family batty. It was like watching
Bend It Like Beckham
and Lauren loved it. It had been lonely sometimes, growing up an only child, and she relished other people’s big family stories.

“So…I’m not sure where
that
will end up,” Dhara said, “But I feel like I need to give the relationship a shot.”

“Sure, of course.” Lauren hesitated a moment. She’d brought her sewing machine to work last week and set it up on the check-out counter. Business had been slow (as usual), so in between customers she’d sewn and been able to finish two more of the same dress she’d made for Kitty. She showed Dhara the dresses.

“What do you think?”

“You made these? And they’re maternity wear?” Dhara inspected the dresses with a critical eye, turning them inside out, checking out her seams and her hemline. “My mother used to be a professional seamstress. My aunts, too. Did I never tell you that? Lauren, these are absolutely fabulous! And I love the material. Where did you get it?”

Lauren showed her the wholesale fabric catalogue she’d ordered the material from. “I did some mixing and matching of the fabrics to get the look I wanted.” She went on to tell her about the idea for setting up a website and online sales. “I know it sounds really big, but I don’t know, it might be worth a shot.” She decided to be totally upfront. “You’ve probably noticed sales aren’t spectacular. I’ll be honest, if I don’t do something different I’ll probably be out of business before my lease is up.”

Dhara nodded sadly. “Yeah, I figured that.”

“So, what do you think?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I love the idea, and the product is fabulous. Really top rate. But if we were to make a go of it you’d need to be able to mass produce, at least, on a scale large enough to keep up with orders.”

Lauren wondered if Dhara realized she’d used the word “we.”

“I was thinking maybe we could renovate the store room,” Lauren said. They walked to the back of the shop and she flipped on the lights in the large back room. The store room was almost as large as the shop itself. It housed inventory that Lauren picked up wherever she could: estate sales, garage sales, and the like. It was where she cleaned and restored clothing to be sold later. There was also a large table where she deposited junk and other stuff she wasn’t sure what to do with, but mostly the room was made up of a lot of wasted space.

Dhara’s brown eyes sharpened. “You could totally turn this into a work room. We could set up about four sewing machines in this main area right here and you’d still have plenty of space left over for inventory and storage.” She glanced around the walls. “Too bad this room doesn’t have any windows. Industrial lighting is all well and good, but it could get a little oppressive in here without some natural sunlight.”

Lauren had to agree. She tried to keep from sounding too excited. After all, it was just an idea. An idea that most likely wouldn’t pan out. “So, you think it might be doable?”

“I don’t know, but it’s worth looking into.” Dhara moistened her lips. “I could do a business plan. Honestly, I really think my mom and my two aunts would totally be into this. I could do a whole mockup of what we’d need to get started. Prices, quotes on machines, labor, that sort of thing.”

“You could do that?”

“Sure! It might take a while just because I’d need to do some research, but I’ve done a business plan before for a class I took in school.”

“Do you know how to do a website?” Lauren asked hopefully.

“Not really. I could do one of those simple ones you can start up for free, but a really professional looking website, which, you would totally need, is out of my league.” She brightened. “But I could ask my brother, Rob. He’s a programmer. I bet he could do it for us.”

The doorbell tingled, signaling a customer had just entered the shop. They walked out to find Nate with two cups and a takeout bag in his hand. Lauren felt her pulse hitch. It was silly, though. They were just friends. But she still felt like a high school girl seeing the boy she had a crush on in the hallway.

“I was next door at The Bistro and thought I’d drop by.” He handed Lauren one of the cups.

“Thanks!” She took a grateful sip. “How do you I know I drink chai tea?”

“I asked Frida.”

She smiled. “Good answer.”

Lauren introduced Nate to Dhara and the two shook hands. “Sorry I didn’t get you something, too,” Nate said to her.

“No problem.” She turned to Lauren. “If you don’t mind, can I use the computer in your office? I want to get started right away on that thing we talked about it.”

“Of course. Go right ahead.”

Dhara looked Nate over with an interested eye, then disappeared back into Lauren’s office.

Nate handed her the bag. “Lunch, on me.” He glanced around the shop. “Do you have time to eat now, or…” He looked uncertain, and adorably cute.

“Sure.” She glanced inside the bag. There were two warm turkey sandwiches, as well as a couple of bags of chips inside. “We can eat in the storeroom. If any customers come by, Dhara and I will hear the bell.”

Lauren cleared a spot on the cluttered table and Nate pulled up a couple of stools. “This is a nice treat.” She’d seen him a few times since he’d come over with Hector that night. He and Henry had come to some sort of arrangement about the dog walking. Lauren had wanted the details, but Henry had simply said, “Ma, Nate and I have it all figured out.” Then he reminded her that he was
twelve
now and practically a teenager and he had to learn responsibility on his own.

“Is everything going all right with Henry?” she asked him.

“Sure, he’s great. He and Hector have become pals. He comes over three times a week and on Saturday afternoons.”

“Oh? I didn’t know that. Tom usually has him on Saturdays, since I’m here at the shop.”

Nate took a bite of his sandwich and nodded. “I actually came by to thank you. I took your advice about the five minute thing.”

“The five minute—
oh
.” She’d forgotten about that. “And, it worked?”

“Let’s just say, it’s worked so far. Overall, we’ll see. I have to admit, I’ve kind of been enjoying it. I have three patients who’ve sent me links to dog training videos. Did you know that there’s some guy out there who calls himself the Dog Whisperer?”

“I think I’ve seen him on T.V.”

“According to one of my patients, he should be my go to guy with all of Hector’s behavioral problems.”

Lauren laughed and Nate grinned. And, oh, there went those dimples! He really did have a dreamy smile. She took a sip of her tea. “Um, I know this is kind of off topic, but have you heard from Jessica?”

He nodded. “She called me on Valentine’s Day. By the way, I forgot to ask Henry, how did his birthday party go?”

“A good time was had by all. At least by all of the twelve and under crowd. I didn’t get to sleep until almost three.” She noticed how artfully he had dodged the subject of Jessica. “So, how is she? Jessica, I mean.”

“She got the YouTube video taken down.”

“She did? That’s great!”

 “She told me it was her Valentine’s Day gift to me, but I didn’t buy that crap for a minute.” He shrugged. “She was probably just as embarrassed by it as I was.”

“True.”

He didn’t say anything more about Jessica. Instead, he turned the conversation to his mother’s upcoming cruise. She’d met Nate’s sister, of course, but she found herself wondering what his mother Connie was like and if Nate favored her. She also noticed that he’d gotten a haircut recently. She sighed. Everything seemed so…
friendly
between them. But that was exactly what she wanted. Right?

She ended up telling him about her idea for the retro maternity line. “I think that’s great,” he said.

“Well, you know, you sort of inspired me to think about it more and I told some of my friends at Bunco. They thought it might be worth a shot, too.” She told him about the idea for using the storeroom as a workshop.

“That’ll take some startup money, won’t it?”

“Probably.”

“How much? Have you thought about that?”

“Dhara is actually working up a business plan for me. So, we’ll see.”

They finished off their lunch and he left to go back to work. Lauren found herself wishing they’d made follow up plans.
Just friends
! She reminded herself. She wished more time had elapsed since he and Jessica had broken up. The idea of dating him was…well, it was on her mind more and more. But despite his protests, there was no way he could be over Jessica this soon. Getting involved with him now would only lead to heartache.

Dhara came out of the office. “There’s a lot I need to look into here,” she said, sounding optimistic, “but, I think this could really work. Do you know how long we might be able to extend the lease on this place for? And…do you think maybe the owner might be able to make some renovations? I was thinking…if we tear down the wall between the storeroom and the main shop we could expand the storeroom to make it like a mini-factory. The shop could be more of a show room. I mean, yeah, we’ll still sell clothes onsite, but I really think the bulk of our revenue would come from online and catalogue sales. Online shopping is huge now. People just don’t have the time to do any real time shopping anymore. Plus, this is such a niche market. Our customers are going to come from all over the country. Maybe even all over the world.”

All over the world
? “Whoa. I love all this enthusiasm, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.”

Dhara raised a brow, but she didn’t say anything. It didn’t take a genius to figure out  what she was thinking, however.

“What? You think I’m not being aggressive enough?”

“I just think that you have a really good opportunity here and it would be a shame to let it die because you were too afraid to take a chance.”

It was the first time Dhara had ever spoken so openly to her.

“I don’t mean to speak out of turn, but you have a lot of talent and this is a really good idea,” Dhara continued. “Sure, it could flop. But it could also be really successful, too.”

She didn’t need a rock to fall out of the sky and hit her on the head to realize that what Dhara said made absolute sense.

Lauren grabbed her purse. “Do you mind watching the shop solo for a little while? I’m going to see someone at Waterbury Real Estate about my lease.”
Before I lose my nerve
.

Dhara high fived her. “That’s the spirit. “You know the old saying, you got to think big to be big!”

Go big or go home
.

There was definitely a pattern here.

*~*~*

L
auren had time to
think on her drive over to Waterbury Real Estate. Only a handful of people knew about her trust fund. Nate had just asked about her finances and she’d skirted around the issue. It’s not that she didn’t feel comfortable with Nate, but talking about her trust fund always made her feel…strange. It wasn’t the sort of thing you blabbed about to just anyone. “Oh, by the way, I have almost ten million dollars in a trust fund my grandfather set up for me! Pretty, cool, huh?”

Momma and Daddy had cautioned her from an early age that talking about money was not only “vulgar” (Momma’s word), but could be dangerous as well (Daddy’s precaution).

Tom knew about it, of course. But he’d always insisted they make their own way as a couple. “It’s
your
money,” he said.

She was grateful for it, naturally. Who wouldn’t be? But it was an
awful
lot of money. In some ways, it would be easier if it was a lot less. Then she wouldn’t feel this huge responsibility to not blow it. More than likely, though, if she was really going to start up a business, she was going to have to dip into that fund. Either that, or take out a business loan. But a bank would want collateral, and the only real security she could offer was her trust fund, so either way, it was putting the money at risk. Whatever she decided to do, she’d have to think about it long and hard. That was for sure.