A Moment in Time (14 page)

Valerie quickly grabbed more Kleenex and
handed them to her, then got to her feet and put a hand on
Colette's shoulder, stroking her gently. "Who's Hayden?" she asked
softly.

She blew her nose with the Kleenex. "Oh, Val,
darling," she said, looking up at her with watery eyes. "I didn't
tell you?"

"No, Colette," Valerie replied.

Colette looked momentarily perplexed, then
patted Valerie's hand. "Oh, do sit down, darling. And thank you for
your moral support. I need all of it I can get these days." She
dabbed at her tears with a fresh Kleenex.

Valerie sat back down in her chair and looked
over at her old friend. She was clad all in white today, white
artist's smock, white pants, even white shoes, and wore several
strands of large pearls at her throat with matching bracelet and
earrings. On her head was a huge straw sun hat. One glance was
enough to see that the woman had been a stunning beauty in her
youth, and she still had about her an air of youthfulness and
vitality that belied her advanced age. Absorbed by everything
around her, she found life endlessly wondrous and exciting. She was
also coquettish and accustomed to having attention lavished on her.
Her white hair, always perfectly coiffed, appeared to be in slight
disarray beneath the sun hat, and makeup was now streaked down her
cheeks.

"I simply can't believe I haven't told you
about him before, but then I haven't seen much of you lately." She
caught her breath before continuing. "Hayden, my darling, is right
here with me, and it's high time you met." She opened the straw
tote on her lap and carefully lifted out a tiny bundle.

A towel?
Valerie thought.
What in
the world?

Colette delicately held the bundle in one
hand and opened the towel with the other. "This is Hayden," she
announced, holding her hands out for Valerie to see.

Valerie got out of her chair and stepped over
for a closer look at the tiny creature Colette cuddled in her
hands. "Oh, my God, Colette," she exclaimed, "he's tiny. And so
precious." She slowly extended a hand toward the creature and
stroked his coat of quills, very lightly with a single finger. He
made a ball of himself and trembled all over, his eyes blinking
suspiciously.

"He's an African pygmy hedgehog," Colette
said. "Isn't he divine?"

"Oh, he's adorable," Valerie said, stroking
him some more. "What does Puff Puppy think of him?"

"Puff Puppy adores him," Colette replied,
"but I'm afraid the feeling isn't mutual. I can see that he likes
you, though," she went on. "I can hardly believe it. Normally he
has a fit if anybody touches him but me."

"Well, he doesn't seem too happy with me,"
Valerie replied. "May I hold him?"

Colette held her hands out, and Valerie took
him into hers, careful not to drop him or let him escape. "Where on
earth did you get the name?" Val asked.

"Why, he's named after Sterling Hayden, the
actor, of course," Colette said, her eyes wide and her eyebrows
arching in surprise. "The love of my life that man was, though I
never knew him personally. Soooo romantic, you know. So handsome.
Sun-bronzed. A sailor. A real adventurer. Not like these men
nowadays who spend fortunes playing at being adventurous. You know
the sort. Always have a safety net. Not so, Hayden. He sailed the
seven seas. Oh, Val, my darling, he was of a dying breed. Sooo
sexy!"

Valerie laughed. She didn't find it
surprising that Colette Richards, who she knew was in the
neighborhood of eighty, was still consumed by romantic notions at
her age. She was a woman with quite a past.

"Well, what seems to be the problem with our
little adventurer here?" Valerie asked.

"I'm not certain," Colette said worriedly,
"but he hasn't been himself lately. Not at all. He has a lovely
cage with a heating pad to sleep on—they love heat, you see—and I
play with him every night before my bedtime. They're nocturnal, you
know, and after we play for a while, he gets on his wheel and
spins, spins, spins! He adores the pocket of my bathrobe and my
smocks, so I carry him around the house with me."

"Has he been eating properly?" Valerie
asked.

"Funny you should ask, Val," she said. "Now
that I think about it, Hayden went off his food a few days ago, so
I make him this delicious turkey soup that I found out they
like."

"Did he like it?" Valerie asked.

"Adores it," Colette cried. "Gobbles it right
up. Broth, turkey, vegetables, and all."

Valerie carefully turned him over, examining
Hayden's tiny body. He was no more than five inches long. She
delicately felt along his entire body. It wasn't an easy task,
considering his quills. After studying his eyes for a long time,
she carefully opened his mouth and searched there for any clues.
She was just about to abandon her examination when she stopped.

"What?" Colette asked.

"Look, Colette," Valerie said quietly. "I
think we've found the culprit."

Colette held a wrinkled hand to her heart.
"Oh, dear, Val. What?" she gasped in a whisper.

"His teeth," Valerie replied.

"His
teeth?
'' Colette exclaimed.

"Yes," Valerie answered, nodding her head.
"I'm fairly certain that I can see the beginnings of gum
disease."

"Oh, darling Val," Colette exclaimed. "What
are we to do?"

"We'll have to clean his teeth," Valerie
responded, still absorbed in studying the creature's tiny
mouth.

"Clean his teeth? Imagine!" Colette said.
"But can you do that, Val? I mean, how—"

"I'll have to administer anesthesia," she
said, "but it can be done. I'll have to be very careful adjusting
the dosage."

"Oh, my goodness," Colette said. "Val,
darling, you're a marvel."

"In the meantime, we'll have to start him on
a course of antibiotics," Valerie said.

"Antibiotics," Colette echoed. "And when can
you do the cleaning?" she asked.

"The sooner the better," Valerie replied.
"Let me look at the schedule. I definitely want to do it in the
next few days."

"Oh, Hayden," Colette cooed. She reached over
and stroked him with her fingers.

"Here," Valerie said, "take him for a minute
while I check my schedule." She gently transferred him from her
hands to Colette's.

Valerie looked at her date book, then rose to
her feet. "I'll be right back, Colette," she said. "I'd better
check at the desk and see what's scheduled on the clinic book."

She returned quickly and stood observing
Colette and Hayden. "Friday it is, Hayden," she said. "You'll have
to have him here around seven o'clock."

Colette looked up. "In the morning?" she
asked.

Valerie nodded.

"Oh, Hayden," she said, looking at the tiny
hedgehog, "we'll have to have an unusually early night, won't we,
darling? And we're both such night owls." She carefully bundled him
back up in his towel and placed the bundle in her tote, closing the
leather strap over the top. "Thank you, Val, darling. I don't know
what we'd do without you."

"It's my job," Valerie said in her
self-effacing manner.

"Ha!" Colette exclaimed. Then in a near
whisper she added. "If only your colleagues cared half as much as
you, the world would be a
far
better place. I wish my own
doctor cared as much as you do, but I'm old so I don't matter. One
foot in the grave, you know ..."

Valerie laughed and patted her on the back.
"Not quite yet, I don't think."

Colette turned and started out with Hayden.
"Anyway, dear, we'll be here bright and early Friday morning. In
the meantime, don't be such a stranger. I've missed our little
talks lately."

"Me, too," Valerie said. "I've just been so
busy."

"I know, darling," Colette said with a wink.
"Teddy's been away on weekends, so you've been catching up in the
garden and around the house."

"Yes," Valerie said. "Anyway, I'll see you
Friday, and maybe we'll be able to visit beforehand." She held the
door open for her.

"Ta-ta," Colette said, and she swept through
the lobby area on her impossibly high heels, trailing heavy perfume
in her wake, waggling the fingers of one hand at Annie and Tami,
who were seated behind the reception desk. At the front door she
stopped and blew kisses at Valerie, who'd stepped into the
reception area.

Valerie waved, and Colette headed out the
front door.

When she was gone, Annie looked over at
Valerie. "I don't know how you put up with that crazy old bat," she
said.

"She's not crazy, Annie," Valerie said in
Colette's defense. "And she's not an old bat, as you so unkindly
put it. She's just different, that's all."

"Could've fooled me," Annie said,
giggling.

"Dr. Rochelle," Tami piped up from behind the
reception desk, "you've got a call on line three."

"Who is it?" Valerie asked.

"It's somebody at Stonelair Farm," Tami
replied. "You want to take it or have them call back?"

"I'll take it now," Valerie said. She
retraced her steps to her office and closed the door, then looked
down at Elvis, who was snoring quietly. She punched line three on
her telephone. "Dr. Rochelle."

"Dr. Rochelle," the man's voice said, "this
is Santo Ducci at Stonelair."

"Yes, Mr. Ducci," she said. "What can I do
for you?"

"All of our dogs—four Irish wolfhounds—need
checkups, and their Lyme disease vaccinations," he said. "Plus,
there's the cat. The sooner the better because they're behind
schedule. We were hoping you could make a house call. It's sort of
a problem to bring in four big Irish wolfhounds, you know."

"I understand," she said. And she did. Irish
wolfhounds were like small ponies. It wasn't at all uncommon in the
country to make house calls for big animals. That's why she usually
spent half her days on the road, ministering to everything from
horses to llamas.

"Hold on just a minute, Mr. Ducci," she said,
"and I'll see what's scheduled and exactly when I'm scheduled to do
house calls. They may send somebody else, you know."

"Either you do it," Ducci said, "or skip
it."

Valerie was stunned by his bluntness, then
said, "I'll see what I can do, Mr. Ducci."

She put him on hold and pushed the button for
reception, where Tami picked up. "Tami, can I fit in a house call
either this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon? Say, an hour at the
most?"

"Let me see," Tami said.

Valerie waited patiently while Tami looked at
the schedule.

"You can do it today between three-thirty and
four- thirty, but you'll have to be back before four-thirty for
sure for clinic appointments," she said.

"Great," Valerie said. "Put me down for a
house call at Stonelair Farm."

"Gotcha," Tami said, hanging up.

Valerie punched Ducci's line. "Mr. Ducci,"
she said.

"Yes," he replied somewhat gruffly.

"I'll be there at three-thirty."

"Thanks," he said, his voice all politeness
now, "that's great."

"How many dogs did you say there are?" she
asked.

"Four," he replied, "and a cat."

"Okay," she said.

"By the way, Dr. Rochelle," Ducci said, "you
never did get back to us about taking care of our animals."

Valerie felt a pang of guilt for not having
returned his call, but she'd been putting it off. She'd dreaded
discussing it with Charles.

"I assume you still haven't discussed it with
the owner," Ducci continued, "since you said somebody else might be
coming out here. You know, we've been waiting to hear from you. We
have a lot of animals, and their health is very important to
us."

"I understand, and I'm sorry about that," she
replied. "I promise you that I'll discuss it with my colleagues as
soon as possible."

"I'd think that the clinic would be glad for
the business you'd be bringing in," Ducci said with unerring
logic.

"I suppose you're right," Valerie said, "but
I'll still have to discuss this with them. I'll try to speak to
them today and get back to you, either this afternoon when I see
you at Stonelair or sometime tomorrow."

"Good," Ducci said. "We'd appreciate
that."

"Okay, then," Valerie said. "I'll see you at
three- thirty. Good-bye."

Santo Ducci didn't respond because he'd
already hung up. "Thanks to you, too," Valerie said, replacing the
receiver in its cradle.

She glanced at her watch. It was noon
already. Where had the time gone? It seemed as if she'd just gotten
there. Well, she thought, looking back over her morning, I guess
it's no wonder. First, there'd been a slightly premature birth at
Breezy Hills Farm very early this morning. A beautiful foal. Then
there'd been a llama with a leg injury at Maplecrest. She'd also
seen a horse with parasites at Silver Fox, and a horse with gastric
ulcers at Streamside. Two dogs and one cat here at the clinic.
Fairly routine stuff. Then Colette with Hayden.

And now I'm supposed to be perfection
itself and meet Teddy for lunch at his place,
she thought
wearily.

She sat there for a moment, reflecting. It'd
been nearly a month since he'd given her the ring and gone back to
New York City, and he hadn't been up here on the weekends. He'd had
important dinner parties with big-shot clients in the Hamptons the
previous weekend, but he'd called her frequently. Now he had come
up for part of the week to relax—just when she was at her
busiest.

Funny enough
, she thought,
I really
didn't miss Teddy the last month, and I really would just as soon
not see him for lunch today
. But she'd promised him, and she
wasn't one to go back on a promise.

She rose to her feet and stretched, then took
off her lab coat and hung it up. Elvis immediately roused himself
from his bed and yawned, knowing that it was lunchtime. "Give me a
minute, Elvis," she said, reaching down and giving him a few
strokes.