Untrusting (Troubled) (9 page)

When Steve and Bob arrive, Miss
Lili asks them about including the neighboring towns in the carnival. 
Their merchants can have a booth, maybe, sell a few small things, insurance
companies, crafters, all sorts of things.  We need to get flyers out to
advertise the availability of such an event to them.  Steve and Bob can do
that Saturday, she says…asks…orders, sorta.  The guys look at her like
she’s lost her mind.  Then she says with this big of an event, maybe we
should hold it Saturday, nine to midnight, and Sunday, noon to seven. 
She’s mostly talking to herself, but she reaches for the phone to call the
mayor.  The guys, Maria and I sneak out the back door to talk about the turn
of events.

“Who’s idea was this, or maybe a
better question is, what started this?”  Steve’s not happy, thinking Miss
Lili’s plans are getting outta hand.  I tell him about the idea of a booth
to adopt out the orphaned puppies and maybe including other unwanted animals
and how it might attract people from the small towns around here and Miss Lili
kinda took over with advertising the carnival in the out lying towns and it
took off from there.  Steve looks at me, “Okay, I guess ya don’t know
Grams very well yet, so I’ll forgive ya…this time.  But, please, don’t let
it happen again.” he pleads.  “Next time talk to me first, will ya? 
Please?”  Bob’s laughing at Steve.  “I don’t know what you’re
laughing at.  You do know whose going to be doing the hard work, don’t
ya?”  Bob quit laughing immediately.  Maria and I tried to turn our
heads before a muffled snicker came out.

Steve reached out to catch me,
“What are you smirking about?” he asks, holding me.  When I tell him,
Bob’s reaction to his last question, he pulls me closer to give me a noogie on
the head.  I holler and he says I deserve it.  Maria got away with
it.  When Bob pulled her to him for a hug, she’d controlled her smile,
sucking in her cheeks a bit.

“Did you think that was funny?” Bob
asks her.  Innocent faced, she lied, “No, of course not.”  I shoot
her a look that tells her what a traitor I she is and she smiles at me over
Bob’s arm.

Later, I ask her why she
lied.  “Seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” she says with a
snicker.  We walk out of the office, lock the door and join Lili, Steve
and Bob.  Maria’s going to get Shay and join us for supper at the
Barn.  Miss Lili loves eating out, so loves us girls being around and says
so.

Shay’s all over Bob as soon as he
sees him and Bob loves it.  Bob reaches for Maria, and Shay insists on a
group hug.  Bob kisses her on the head and Shay gets one too.  Shay
kisses Bob on the check.  Bob’s making no secret of his feelings for those
two and Maria likes the affection he’s showing.  Maria’d said earlier Bob
had backed off some, but still makes no secret of his interest.

Steve put his arms around me and
Miss Lili, one of us on each side, and ushers us to a table big enough for the
six of us.  Shay sits between Bob and Maria and Steve sits between Miss
Lili and me.  We have a nice supper and sit to talk for a while
afterward.  Shay begins to show signs of being tired so Maria and Bob take
him home and put him to bed.  We leave to take Miss Lili home and talk to
her about the carnival and how big it’s getting.  Miss Lili explains there
are several men and boys out of work that are willing to work at putting the
carnival together.  Steve doesn’t object to her paying for the workers, so
I guess its okay.  Things seem to have settled down, ‘til Miss Lili says,
“Then there’s the elderly and my boys.”  He explains he and Bob have
twelve hour shifts at the station and if there’s a fire then the carnival won’t
be ready on time.  She understands that and has about twenty five helpers
lined up.  Steve’s still upset but feels better about the enlarged
carnival.

I leave for the office and Steve
follows.  My little clinic is overflowing with forty eight animals. 
It’s not designed for more than a dozen.  I wish I could find a way to
extend the kennel room a few feet or build another room just in case I need
it.  Maybe the insurance money can help with that.

Steve comes close to grab me for a
kiss.  The lightening storm starts and I’m going into a daze.  I
should be used to it, but I’m not because it’s becoming more intense and more
mind boggling.  I don’t know how much longer I can hold out.  Thank
goodness Steve brought Chief with him.  He nudges our legs with his rear
end, almost toppling us, but succeeding in breaking us up while we try to keep
our balance.  He’s a great dog and knows when to interrupt
situations.  Steve groans and tells Chief “I may start leaving you at
home.”  Chief licks his hand and Steve laughs and scratches his
ears.  “Actually, I was wondering if you could check Chief’s broken
rib.  He’s becoming more active and I don’t want to stop him unless he
needs to be.”

We take x-rays and the rib is
healing well, but it still needs more time.  Chief still shouldn’t jump or
run, otherwise, he can do whatever doesn’t hurt.  Chief is happy to hear
it, I guess, because he sits up on the table, puts his paws on my shoulders and
gives me a big kiss on my cheek.  After I hug him and sit him back down on
the table, Steve lifts him down to the floor while talking to him about cutting
in on his girl.  Chief takes it so much to heart that he wags his tail and
comes to me to lick my hand again.  Steve calls him a flirt and a
traitor.  I have to laugh and kneel down to hug Chief again.

We let the dogs out and follow
them.  Now it’s September, the nights are cooler, but not cool.  It’s
still in the eighties at night.  Steve doesn’t seem to mind the heat
because he stands holding me from behind while we watch the army of dogs
plunder the yard.  I think I’m going to have to hire someone to clean
it.  I’ll have to figure out my finances before I do.  This last week
I haven’t gotten paid but two hundred dollars and even tho’ I own the building,
there’s still the utilities that need to be paid and vaccines and medications
that need to be re-stocked.  I don’t know what I have in the bank, but
I’ll keep the clinic open.  I may be the one cleaning the yard, but it
needs to be done, regardless.  Steve must’ve been reading my thoughts.

“There’s too many dogs for this
size yard.  It’s going to need cleaning, soon, if it doesn’t already. 
You need to have a yard behind this one for the dogs to run in.”  Steve
carefully walks over to the back fence to look out the back.  “There’s
nothing back here but brush, maybe, you could buy some of it and expand the
yard so you have a section where the dogs can go and it won’t be so close to
the building.  And you could put in some real kennels for dogs such as
these and maybe even have an animal shelter and a doggie hotel.  It should
increase your finances, too.”

“Steve, there’s only Maria and me to
run it all.  Besides, I can’t afford to get more land, much less, build
all those kennels and separate kennel areas.  I have to take payments of
ten, twenty dollars a month from my patients, sometimes, after I pay the bills
and Maria I have nothing left for me.  I can see how your ideas could
bring in more money, but it wouldn’t pay back the money I’d invest to make it
happen.”  I look at Steve and he nods his head.

“Maybe, you could do that with just
a bit more land, maybe just twenty or thirty feet more, on the back. 
Start with a small, half a dozen kennels, boarding kennels and maybe a half
dozen kennels for an animal shelter, then you can keep the indoor kennels for
sick dogs.  Ya think you can handle something like that?  With, maybe,
one or two more person working for you?”

“I don’t know.  I’d have to
see about funding for the animal shelter, grants and whatever there might be,
and the boarding kennels, I don’t know if there’s even a need for one in this
small town.”

“There’s a lotta people that go on
vacation and have the neighbor’s check on their pets.  The ranchers have
the ranch hands so they don’t need to board their pets, but some of the others
do.  Of course, the rates will have to be reasonable and the owners can
buy the food so there’s no problem with diet changes.  You’ll just pay for
water, cleaning the kennels and someone to do those things.  Sounds cheap
enough, but I’ll help you put the figures together if you want to look into
it.”

“Steve, I don’t have anything
extra.  I have to keep what funds I have to make sure the clinic stays
open.  I can see what you mean and I agree, but the initial cost of it
isn’t there.  But if you want to work up a plan, I’ll help you.”  I’m
not sure I’m getting through to him.

He steps over to me and takes me into
a bear hug.  I can hardly breathe.  He kisses me so hard I swear I
taste blood, swings me around and has the dogs barking and the puppies yipping
at us.  He’s laughing when he puts me down.  I don’t understand why
he’s so happy, but I don’t say anything.  We chase the dogs back inside,
get them settled and Steve gives me a long goodnight kiss.  We walk out to
our trucks, help Chief into Steve’s truck and Steve walks me to my truck and
kisses me goodnight again.  This one isn’t as long, but it’s more potent. 
I get in my truck and head home for a shower and bed.

I have a hard time going to
sleep.  Steve’s kisses are getting to me, so much so I’m seriously
considering not sleeping alone.  Next thing I know the alarm’s going off.

Maria and I get to the office at
the same time, I’m running late today.  It’s Thursday, the newsletters and
posters go out today.  Miss Lili comes in about ten and asks us to copy
off the poster Bob made for the carnival, about four dozen.  We do, along
with the other copies we’re running.  When we’re through we can’t find
Miss Lili.  Half an hour later, she comes in the back door.  “Darned
if Steve isn’t right.  I believe he’s got a sound idea,” she’s saying to
herself.  “Sorry girls, I wanted to check out something in the back. 
Are y’all finished with the copies already?  I planned to help, I really
didn’t intend to leave it all to you.  Can I see what you’ve got?” 
We hand her the different stacks and she looks at them, nodding her
approval.  “Between us girls and our guys, we put out pretty good work.”

She leaves with a few of her flyers
and comes back with lunch for all of us.  She reports everyone’s excited
about the carnival and Bert, over at the hardware store, suggests we should
charge a small fee for the booths that want to sell things to increase the
revenue.  She’s full of enthusiasm and excited about everything connected
with the carnival.  She wants to line up a horse ride, a buggy ride, and
anything the kids might like to do.  She wants it to be fun and
interesting for all ages.

She talks ‘til the guys come
in.  Steve hugs me and Bob kisses Maria hello, then Miss Lili takes them
out back to talk to them.  They come back in smiling and happy. 
“Sher, I’m gonna get one ‘a the high school boys to come over to clean up your yard. 
The dogs are leaving little “packages” everywhere.  I can hardly walk out
there,” Miss Lili complains.

“I was about to get a rake and see
to that, Miss Lili.  You don’t have to do that.”

“You’ve got enough to do without
that nasty job.  Have you got enough plastic bags?  I’ll have it
cleaned every other day.  Steve says you have six more puppies, too bad
about the mother.  You need a little more help around here.  You and
Maria can handle everything at the clinic, but outside needs some attention, soon. 
So I’ll have someone here tomorrow after school.”  I guess Miss Lili saw I
was about to protest, “Now don’t object, that mess out there isn’t going to go
away without help.  And the kids hate detention so they won’t mind working
off they’re misdeeds.  Just have some sodas for them and remember to thank
them, tell them what a great job they did, and be grateful to them when they’re
through.”  She’s looking at me like if I object, she’ll pinch me, so I say
nothing, just nod my head.  Now, she informs us, she has to see about a
couple of things so she’ll meet us at the pizza place about six o’clock and she
looks directly at Maria.  Maria’s cornered and she knows it, so she nods
her head.

At “Mister Sal’s Pizza Palace” we
all talk about the carnival.  “Mister Sal” is going to have a booth there,
as is every merchant in town.  We can’t believe how supportive the town is
being.  People have promised every spare minute to help get things
ready.  Miss Lili has a way about her that insures success in all her endeavors. 
Most of her work is for the betterment of the town and they see it.  Miss
Lili tells us the mayor is on board for the out lying towns to join and he
okayed the small fee for the booths, since it all goes to charity.  We
discuss the fee to be charged and decide on ten dollars a booth and the booths
are to be four feet by six feet.  She starts trying to remember all the
games that will need space and can’t.

After supper, we all go back to the
office.  I give Lili a notebook so she can keep track of who, the game,
and the space it’s going to need.  I suggest she have everyone call here
and the three of us can take the space reservations.  Steve and Bob need
to get some dimensions and we’ll need a diagram of the area so we’ll know who’s
in what space.  Now things will be organized.

Maria, Bob and Shay go to Maria’s,
Steve takes Lili home and I sit down in the office, wondering how I got myself
into this.  Steve comes back and we go out back with the dogs.  I
decide getting in bed at midnight and up at five thirty was getting to me and I
have two hard weeks ahead of me.  Steve hugs me from behind, while we wait
for the dogs to finish.  We don’t wonder out into the yard, Miss Lili was
right, it is a mess and not safe for shoes.  I tell Steve I’ll stop by the
grocery store for a case of soda and a giant box of plastic bags.  I think
I’ll stop by “Mister Sal’s” and get some gift certificates for the students who
clean the yard.  He agrees it’s a good idea.

He turns me and kisses me. 
“Do you know how hard it is not to kiss you when I see you?”

“Can’t be that hard, you do it all
the time.  Wait, that is.”

“Are you saying you want me to kiss
you anytime I want to?”

“Just remember, when you wait, I
have to wait, too.”  With that he kisses me, making me forget where I am
and what I’m doing.  I clasp him to me, so close, air can’t fit between us
and he holds me hard against him.  There’s nothing distracting me this
time, ‘til I catch myself falling.  Steve’s no help, he’s falling
backwards on his butt.  I fall across his leg and beside him.  What
happened?

We look up to see Chief, number
nineteen and twenty two standing there looking at us.  It looks like a
conspiracy between the three of them.  Of course not, there’s no way that
could happen.  Steve looks at the dogs, then at me and starts
laughing.  I look at him like he’s insane.  “Chief you devil,
you.  How’d you talk nineteen and twenty two into helping you?”  I
look at Steve like he’s raving mad.  “Can’t you see Chief got help to
break us up?  I’m going to have to leave him at home if I’m ever gonna get
past first base with you.”  The dogs come over for some loving and we
notice all the others, except for a stray puppy or two, have gone inside.

“Okay,” I say to Chief when he lays
down across my legs, “did you do this?”  He looks innocently toward the
door and away from me.  I, gently, turn his head around to look at me and
ask him again.  He looks down then licks my cheek.  “I was ready to
believe you were innocent and here you’re acting guilty.  What am I to do
with you?”  Chief gets up and puts his head on my shoulder as if to hug
me, so I hug him and Steve joins us.  “Okay, let me up so we can go home.”
I say to Chief.  “Now, you two need to go to bed.  And you shouldn’t
let a handsome man talk you into things that aren’t nice.”  The two big
dogs go to their kennels and their babies.  “Ya see what happened the last
time a man talked you into something.”  I turn to see Steve looking at me,
concern on his face.  “What?  I’m just teasing the dogs.”

“Maybe we should talk about your
past, again, especially if that’s what you think of men.”

“It isn’t, and we’ve talked about
my past.  But if you insist, I was engaged once and before we were married
I found him in my bed with another man.  We were through and that’s
that.  After that, when I dated, the men thought I’d be ready to jump into
bed, evidently, at the earliest possible time.”  While I’m talking, I’m
closing the kennel doors.

“Wow.  That would have a
tendency to make a person have reservations.”  He hugs me.  “I don’t
plan to do that to anyone.  My fiancé took off with a band to sing. 
She wasn’t that good and when I said so she got mad and broke the
engagement.  I heard she was sleeping with the lead singer before we broke
up.”

“You weren’t treated any better
than I was.  So there’s some hesitancy on both sides, but that’s okay, we
can take it slow and make sure.”

“I don’t know how much slower I can
go.  I’ve wanted you ever since I saw ya standing in the door when Shay
grabbed onto Bob.  I still want ya, but I want a relationship with the
sex.  I’m really crazy about ya, but we’ll wait and see what happens
before we burn up the sheets.”

I tiptoe to kiss him and we’re back
in the stratosphere, but Steve breaks it off.  After we catch our breath,
I lock up the clinic and he walks me to my truck.  He kisses me again then
shuts my door and gets into his truck, with Chief and drives away while I go
home…alone.

Friday morning, the carnival
created chaos in the office routine.  Miss Lili’s out early, giving out
the office phone number to everyone in town.  Calls to reserve space take
most of the morning.  We manage to get the dogs out and just left the back
door and kennels open, giving them freedom to move around without us.

At lunch, Miss Lili comes in
beaming.  “Have we got all the town merchants spaces reserved?  I
want them to have their pick of space before the flyers are delivered to the
out lying towns.  I made sure to stop by the quilt, fabric and craft
stores to remind them to be sure to get their spaces and to have any of their
customers that want a booth call today.”  She’s excited and is “CEO”
organizing.

The phone’s ringing off the hook
while she’s telling us this.  Where does she find the energy?  I
answer it to find Sergeant Johnson of the Highway Patrol on the other
end.  They need my reports on the dogs and their status.  They’re
sending someone by about four this afternoon.  I ask if they want the
chart information or a statement.  They say the chart information with a
short statement will be fine.  I put the phone down, turn to Lili and
Maria and inform Lili she’ll have to answer the phone, alone, and tell Maria
what I have to get done in about three and a half hours.  Maria gasps and
Lili smiles.  Lili assures us she can handle the phone.  Maria and I
should do what we have to do for the H.P.

Maria and I collect the charts and
I peruse them while Maria writes my statement on the computer and prints it
off.  We have to unplug the phone extension in my office to work
undisturbed.  At three thirty we hear the guys come in and Miss Lili
waylay them.  We still have five more charts to go through, all of them
puppies.  These puppies hadn’t been hurt in the accident but I have to
report on their condition, cleanliness and care, when I received them and now. 
At four o’clock the Patrolman arrives as the last statement’s printing.