Untrusting (Troubled) (34 page)

They had traded the full size bed
for twin beds so they each have their own bed.  Nancy is on the job so
there’s no problem at all.

After we’ve finished the surgeries,
the hotel is occupied, almost to maximum capacity.  People are having
Christmas with relatives that are out of town or state.  Miss Lili says
she heard it all.  Many of them said they haven’t been able to visit for
years because of the pet.  They’re very happy to have the boarding kennel
available.  Miss Lili and Glen have been working on the newsletter for
January, when they weren’t talking to the guests’ owners, and so it’s ready to
put on the computer and print.

I go back to check on the puppies
and they’re doing very well, but they aren’t awake yet.  Steve comes by
with Penny wanting to know if I had an hour or so to go to get Yolanda and
Penny’s stuff.  I look at Miss Lili and Maria and they tell me to
go.  They tell us to take Glen so we’ll get done faster.

There’s more “stuff” than we
thought.  Penny didn’t want to part with anything even tho’ she’d gotten
along without it for a week.  So Glen goes for more boxes and we pack it
all up, right down to the bobbi-pins and toilet paper.  We tell Penny
we’ll need to wash it all before it can be taken into the house to be sure
there are no bugs hidden in the things.  She understands.  Steve
drops me off at the clinic and takes the things home.  Glen’s truck was
pretty full, too, but Miss Lili went home with him.

Maria and I are left alone with
nothing to do.  I ask her about a gift for Miss Lili.  She has no
idea what to get her.  I suggest a suggestion box for town
improvements.  She frowns at me.  “But she said she wanted to get the
town’s suggestions and she made it a New Year’s resolution…and she put me…us in
charge of making her stick to it, didn’t she?”  Maria had to nod, she knew
it was true.

Then she smiles and so do I. 
It’s almost cruel, but it’s what Miss Lili said she wanted to do.  Can her
father build us a box on a stand that’s weather proof, including wind? 
She calls Miguel to set it up and I offer to paint and pay for it to be done,
but Maria wants to share the work and expense.  We’re laughing when Steve
walks in.

He wants to know what’s so
funny.  I lie to him, “Just something that happened.  Ya had to be
there.  By the way, what can Shay get Miss Lili and Glen since they’re
going to be his great grand-something or others?”

He chuckles, “It is kinda hard to
keep track of the relation factor, isn’t it?  Miss Lili will like anything
Shay gives her.  But from a kid’s point of view, I suppose a horn for
their bikes would work for her and Glen.  Miss Lili got him a bike like
hers.”  We snicker.  “Well, she said it was that or a side car and
they don’t make those for tricycles.  And Chief rides in the back basket
so there’s no room there for Glen.”  We’re howling at the thought of Glen
sitting in the back basket with his feet and legs dragging the sidewalk
behind.  He’s a tall Texan.  Maria adds the visual of “Poor Miss Lili
pedaling hard to keep the bike moving with all the weight of Glen and his
dragging feet.”  We get through laughing, decide Glen should have his own
bike, or they should have a bicycle built for two.  Steve shook his head,
“They don’t make them in a tricycle with the baskets.  They’d tip
over.”  We’re laughing again.

Maria locks the front door while
Steve and I check on the puppies.  They’re waking up so we take them out
and bring them back in.  “You plannin’ on staying here tonight?”  I nod. 
“Can I stay, too?”  I nod.  “Good, ‘cause I brought the cot,” he’s
smiling like a Cheshire cat.  I smack him on the arm and he grabs me to
pull me to him for a kiss.

This time Maria breaks us up. 
“Enough of that, its closing time.  Sher, the boarding house is gonna be
full after tomorrow and we have no appointments ‘til after Christmas. 
Maybe, we can leave an emergency number to call and sorta take the next four
days off.  What’da ya think?”

“Sounds great to me,” Steve and I
both say and I continue, “but we’ll need to meet here four times a day to take
care of the guests.  And there’s that project we need to finish.” 
Maria nods and says she has to leave, the office is locked and the rooms were
cleaned while I was gone.

Steve asks what I want for supper,
but I have no idea.  He’ll surprise me and he leaves, too.  I check
on the puppies and they’re becoming a little more stable.  I sit down to
think about finishing the room from the damage the tornado did and how I might
finish it.  I’d like built in kennels or shelves that will hold the
kennels might be better then I could always add more kennels if I ever needed
to.  And I need the walls tiled so I can wash them down, there’s already a
drain in the room.  That’s something I can check on while we’re taking
time off.

Steve comes in the back door
carrying bags of food.  He puts them down and goes out to get the table
and two chairs off the patio.  He’s still limping and using the cane, so I
go out to help.  He suggests I have a shower put in so I can shower here
if I need to.  “Are you saying I need a shower?”

“Not necessarily, but you could use
a change of clothes.  You smell like you’ve been sleeping with
dogs.”  He’s smiling.  As I’m about to ask him to leave, he hands me
a box and tells me to freshen up in the bathroom.  I, reluctantly, take
the box and go to the bathroom.

I’m surprised when I open the
box.  There’s a teddy that would barely cover a flea and one of Steve’s
cotton plaid shirts.  When I come out there’s candles on the table and
real silverware and glasses.  Steve’s in another room doing
something.  I can hear him moving around.  I hurry to the office and
take out my perfume spritzer and spray myself, lightly, and then again. 
When I come out Steve’s in pajama bottoms and a smoking jacket.  The
candles are lit and putting off a sweet smell of Gardenias.

The puppies are moving around and I
decide we should put them out and I feed them when we come back in so we won’t
be disturbed during dinner.

Steve holds a chair for me to sit
in, but doesn’t say anything.  I go to be seated.  He brings out a
plate of fried oysters and we nibble on those.  Then he takes the plate
away and comes back balancing two plates of steak and baked potato and two
bowls of salad.  I take the bowls and he sets the plates down.  Then
takes the salad dressing outta his pockets and shows them to me like they’re
fine wine, over his arm.  I snicker, but pick the French dressing. 
He sets it next to my water glass and sits down to eat.  We chat about
Christmas and Glen’s family coming tomorrow.  Then I ask him what I can
get Bob.

“Bob needs some equipment, but
it’ll have to be ordered and it’ll take two weeks to get here.  It’s
expensive, too.  Grams has order equipment for all of us, but not for
Christmas.  We’ll go shopping day after tomorrow.  Grams and Glen can
let the guests out at lunch and mid afternoon.  Okay?”

“Okay.  Now what’s all this
about?”  I ask indicating the sexy attire and dinner.  Steve smiles
and gets up to clear the dishes.  He comes back with Strawberry Cheesecake. 
When he sets it down he sets a small box down with it.  He goes to sit
down and tho’ I’m dying to ask about it I don’t.

We have dessert and when he comes
back from clearing the table he scoots my chair out, meaning get up, dinner’s
over.  He pulls me to him and kisses me then picks up the box, “Aren’t ya
even curious about this?”

“Yes, but I knew you’d tell me when
you were ready.”  I’m really playing it laid back, when I’d really like
to’ve seen what is in it as soon as he’d brought it out.

He looks at me and smiles, “I can’t
tempt ya can I?”

“Not with that, but ya tempt me in
so many other ways.”  I tiptoe to kiss him, like I mean it.

“If ya don’t stop that I’ll forget
what I’m trying to do,” he says looking up at the ceiling.  I try to take
a step back but he won’t let me.  “I don’t want ya to move, just don’t
kiss me like that…yet.”  I just stand there looking up at him, a little
pouty and teasing him.

“Sher, I asked ya to marry me two
weeks ago.  I love you and I want ya to wear this.  It’s Grams’ rings
from my grandfather Buck, but I had them reset for you.  Will you still
marry me?”

“Yes, Steve I will.  I love
you, too.”  He opens the box and the huge diamond has been made smaller to
go with my taste.  It’s set in a lacey looking setting with chips down the
side on the band.  Steve says the lace look is called filigree.  The
point is, he had it made for me.  “It’s beautiful, it suits me and I love
it.”  He takes it out of the box and slips it on my finger.  It looks
like it belongs there.  Then I lose it.  I forget about his ankle and
jump up to kiss him and not “like” I mean it because I really mean it. 
Steve catches me and pulls me tight to him with one hand.  His other hand
is on his cane and starts to carry me somewhere.  “Steve, put me down. 
I don’t want your ankle hurt again.  I’m too much weight to add to that
foot.”

“I don’t want to put ya down. 
I want ya as close to me as I can get ya.”

“I know, but the puppies need to be
put out and the door closed before we go to bed.”  He groans and puts me
down.  We put the dogs out then put them away, close the door and lock
it.  I start toward the room where I have the bed when he stops me.

“Not that way.”  He takes my
hand and leads me into one of the exam rooms.  He’s moved the table and
desk out of the way and there’s an air mattress with sheets, pillows and a
comforter, nice and neat, waiting for us.  It wasn’t neat for long.

Startled, I wake up.  There’s
someone in the office.  It’s Maria, here for work.  I shake Steve and
tell him to put on his pajama bottoms while I put on his shirt.  He groans
but comes full awake when he hears Maria calling for me.  “Maria, we’re
here.  I’ll be out in a minute.  Stay there.”

I get dressed in the clean clothes
Steve had thought to bring for me, and go into the office to start the
coffee.  “Good morning.”

In a whisper, Maria asks what
happened.  “The place looks like we’re moving.”

“We had a little celebration,” and
I held out my hand.  She says it pretty and it suits me.

Steve comes to the door, dressed,
“Good morning.  Is that coffee I smell?”  I pour us all a cup and
hand them out.  “I have a mess I need to clean up, but first let’s get
this table and the chairs back outside.  Then I’ll get things back to
normal in the exam room, okay?”

“Why don’t ya take care of the exam
room and Sher and I will take care of the table and chairs and the
guests.”  Maria doesn’t miss my groan.  I completely forgot the
guests.  She looks at me and the look says “you didn’t.”  I nod and
cringe.  Steve ducks his head and disappears into the exam room.

We go out the back taking the table
and coming back for the chairs.  Then go to the boarding house.  It’s
not too bad, but it does need to be hosed down.  Steve brings the puppies
out and we start letting the guest dogs out.  He says he’ll clean up the
kennel room while we clean the boarding house and, maybe, the dogs there. 
The puppies can’t be bathed but they need to be cleaned so I ask Maria to take
care of it while Steve cleans their kennels and I hose out the hotel and bathe
the dogs.  Maria believes that sounds right, considering.

Two hours later, I’m finished and
go into the office wet and smelly.  The puppies are gone and so is Steve
and any sign of our “celebration.”  Miss Lili comes in while I’m outside
drying.  She comes out with a bag saying Steve sent it because he was
afraid to come himself.  She laughs.  Maria and I don’t think it’s so
funny.  She asks to see my ring and I show her.  She loves it.

She says Steve told her about the
mess he’s caused with his “surprise” and he was afraid to come back too
soon.  He thinks you girls need a little time to forgive him.  “I’m
not upset with him.  I’m upset with me, for forgetting my
responsibilities.  The dinner and everything was very nice and romantic. 
I got carried away is my only excuse and it’s not a very good one.”

Maria goes in and comes back out
carrying my teddy.  “That explains this much better than my imagination
did.”  Miss Lili starts laughing as I jump up to grab the handful of
fabric off of Maria’s fingers.  I stuff it in my jean pocket.  Maria
laughs, “I guess, my imagination was right after all.  Thing is, Bob got
one for me very similar to it.”  Now my face isn’t so red.

“I have a more mature version of it
that Glen got for me.”  Miss Lili says.  “By the way, we’re having a
meet and greet dinner at the house tonight for Glen’s family.  Steve’s at
home moving some of yours and his things so it’s ready for our guests. 
Now, I’d appreciate it if you’d take the bag and change into something less
fragrant.  You may want to go home to shower tho’.”

“If it’s okay with you two, I could
use a shower.  I’ll be back right after.  I may stop to get wrapping
paper and bring the gifts I need to wrap back.  I haven’t wrapped anything
I’ve bought yet.  I can spend the afternoon quietly cursing at the
packages that never want to come out right.  I’ll see y’all in about an
hour.”

I can’t find any wrapping paper in
town, so I return to the office.  Miss Lili has some things she has to do,
but she’ll send over the wrapping paper she has left and bows, ribbons and
tape.  I start sorting the bags of gifts while Maria and I talk about what
to get the guys.  We still haven’t gotten any ideas.  Glen comes in
and overhears our conversation.  “You ladies seem to be in a quandary. 
Why don’t you go for something you’d like to see them in, something personal,
maybe sexy.  It’ll get a laugh Christmas morning and could be very nice
later.  Here’s one box of wrapping stuff, I’ll get the others.”

I start sorting through the box of
paper, its all high class stuff.  I choose several then have another box
of paper to sort through.  It looks like it’s sorted according to gender
and when the next box arrives, age, too.  Good, now I can leave it in the
boxes ‘til I need something from the box.  However, the next box has bows
in it in plastic bags with matching ribbon and name tag and a small box of
tape.