Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (4 page)

“Sure thing.” Ben moved to the stern.

An hour later, Joel gave a satisfied sigh as he settled into
an
easy chair
in his house
a
fter handing
Ben a beer
. “You asked why I opened my practice in New Harbor
. It was a pretty easy decision.
I like the slower island life and
I can keep my boat here.”

“Is that where you’d like to be
most days
,
on the boat?”
Ben gazed back at the vet who’d taken him on for the year
.

“It’s a nice hobby.
My dad
died
a couple
year
s ago
and I used some of
the estate
funds to buy it. R
ejuvenates me—especially when t
hings are starting to pile up. With you here
,
I plan to use it more,
and
maybe
build the practice
, too
.”

“How are you planning to
do that
?”
Ben
leaned forward
, eager to hear more
.

“
When I bought out Bud Olson
three years ago
, he
told me I’d be
hand-holding the
owners and picking up road
kill
. But he also said I could
build the practice
.
”
Joel smiled. “New blood, that’s what I am.”

“I get it—the new
vet
brings in
pat
ients who might not have been so happy
with the old doc.
What about
me
?
Being here, will
I bring in new people, too?”

“Sure,
assuming you work well with the owners
and
their animals. You have to be able to do both in a vet practice.
Bronnie’ll notice if the human customers don’t take to you.
To that degree,
the hand-holding part is real.
I don’t like the road
kill part
, though we do see a fair number of critters who’ve been injured
that way
.”

“How else
are
you
planning
to build the practice?”

“That’s where the sheep farm comes in, and some of the other
farms
around here. Bud
concentrated on small animals.
I want to bring in business from the farms, too. That’s why I built that small barn last winter
when business was slow
on the extra three-acre pasture out back
. I figured if we had some holding pens and a few stalls, it would signal the farmers that they could come here instead of shipping their problems to the mainland.
We’ve had a few such
customer
s
already
, but I want more of them.
”

“What about going to them? At school, we often went out to the big farms and ranches and delivered services directly.”
He
picked up Joel’s empty beer can and
tossed
it in
to
the trash
can
.

The vet
waited for Ben to resume his seat. “
A good idea
. And
now that
Danni
’s
back full
time, once I’ve introduced you to the people I want to know about our services, you or I can do
that without leaving the clinic
short
handed.”

“You
accepted
an extern so you could expand the practice?”

“
Partly, and it’s my way of giving back
.
”
H
e
grinned.
“
Wally
and I—Professor Wal
ker
to you—we’re good buds.”

“What
about
after
I leave?”

“I’ll either get another extern or hire an associate
if
the practice is big enough.
You being here is a chance to see what we can do. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll go back to
being
a one-man operation and bring in externs for comic relief—and to help out the vet program. The giving back part.
”
Joel’s right
eyebrow arched. “
Once you’ve picked my brain of all the important stuff, a
re you
thinking
of opening
up
a competing office
down the road
?”

Ben
smiled. “I don’t really know
yet
where I’ll open
my
practice. My family
—they want
me
closer—in the Okanoga
n.”

“W
ell, w
hat you do here will tell you the kind of practice you want. You’ll get
lots of
time with small animals and,
depending on what happens wit
h the farmers and horse people,
maybe
large animals, too.” Joel
looked
at the clock. “I hate to kick you out, but I’ve scheduled surgery
at seven
tomorrow, and I need
my beauty sleep, even if you don’t. You can take
t
he Thing hom
e, if you want. See you tomorrow bright and early.”

Ben caught
the keys
Joel tossed to him and headed for
the disreputable old
yellow
cab
parked on the street
in front of the house
.

Late t
he next day
Joel checked his calendar, and picked up the phone
when
Bronnie locked the front door of the clinic
after the last client of the day had
departed
.

“Angela, you gorgeous hunk of womanhood. Pencil me in for dinner on Wednesday, will you?”

“Excuse me? Who is this?”

“You know damn well who this is.
Joel
Taylor
, your ex-boyfriend,
ex-fiancé
, almost-husband,
the best-
looking vet on
Cedar I
sland.”

“
The
only
vet on
Cedar I
sland, you mean.
You
have
to stop assuming I’m g
oing to jump when you call me
.
W
hat makes you think I’m free on Wednesday?”

Angela’s
voice
remained
cool
, like refreshing water, water
Joel
wanted to warm even as he mentally lapped it up, preferably off her bare skin
.

“I was
just
hoping, Angie. You’ve been here two months already—wo
rking down the hill in that
old
doc
’s
office, a
nd I’m dying to—you know—
pick
up where we left off.”

“
Another assumption
, Joel.”

“Tell me you’ll have dinner with me on Wednesday and I’ll stop
making assumptions
.”
He drummed his fingers on the desk.

“
Okay
. Dinner
. On
Wednesday. Where and when?”

“You pick the place. How about seven
, and
, as further incentive,
I’ll
pay
.”

“
Of course you will.” S
he laughed.
“
Bye
.”

He
grinned. A date with Angela
and an extern who
was fitting in nicely, who
seemed interested in helping
him
build
his
practice
. A great way to end the day
.

“Enough wool
gathering,” he admonished himself after
look
ing over the activities planned for the
week
. “Time to get ready.” He had
scheduled a
visit
to
one of the dairy farms to introduce Ben and to take care of
the
minor injuries
the farmer had mentioned
. 
That
old yellow cab
Ben was driving,
with the back seat removed
,
w
ould be
perfect for visiting the farms
.

“Benjamin the T
all, it’s you,” Bron
nie announced
when Ben arrived
the next morning
, his hair tousled
and damp
. “Just get
up
, did you?” She laughed. “Another minute and you’d be late. Joel’s waiting for you.”

“As a matt
er of fact—” H
e
looked
around to make sure no one overheard them. “My alarm didn’t go off. I’m goin
g to have to get a new one. And
could
you please stop calling me that?
”

“Why? I think it’s cute
.
I hear
Danni
christened you.” She turned away to grab the phone. “
Good morning.
New Harbor Animal Hospital.
How may I help you?”

An hour later,
Bronnie
went into the back room and waved at
Ben.  “After you’re done in surgery, gird your loins. Mrs. Learman is coming in and it’s time you met darling Schotsie.”

“What so special about Schotsie?” He finished washing his hands.

“You’ll see,
”
she chuckled.

Minutes later,
Ben held the door open for the white-haired matron
, her arms reminding him of well-filled sausages, her hips ample
. “Come on in, Mrs. Learman. Let’s see Schotsie.”

She pulled an equally plump d
achsund into the exam room. Ben kne
eled
down to the dog, who sniffed
at
his hands
after he
ran
them
over
its
body.

“W
hat seems to be the problem
here
?”

“Schotsie isn’t eating
well
,” Mrs. Learman complained. “I’ve tried everything, including different foods and heating them up and treats
, too
.”

“
What are you giving her, and h
ow much?”

“The usual.” She demonstrated the size of Schotsie’s portions. “My, you
have such lovely green eyes, Doctor
Edwards, and you’re so tall.” She smiled at him, as he picked up Schotsie.

He backed out of the exam room.
“I’ll
be right back, Mrs. Learman.”
After weighing the dog in the back room, Ben returned
.

“I’m afraid the problem is—that is,
Dachsunds
are supposed to weigh between
sixteen
and
thirty-two
pounds. Schotsie is tipping the scales at nearly
fifty
!  She
needs to go on a diet.
”
He
p
laced
the dog on the examining table. “Otherwise, her back and her hips are going
to start giving
her trouble. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

“
Well now,
that can’t be right. Doctor Taylor never said a word about her going on a diet. He just suggested I change her food
.
Here, Schotsie. I promised if you were good, you would get a
cookie
.”

“Mrs. Learman. How about if you
give
this much
food to Schotsie
”—
Ben
demonstrated an amount half as much as she had described—
“and then
limit her to one treat
a day? If you bring her back in a couple of weeks,
we can
see how things are going.
I don’t want her hips giving out.
”