Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (5 page)

“If you say so, Doctor
Edwards.”
The woman
pat
ted her
newly-rinsed
hair
with a slight bluish tint
and reached down to pick up Schotsie’s lead.

“Let me help you. Schotsie is tangling you up.” Ben unwound the lea
d
that threatened to topple Mrs. Learman.

“You are
so
helpful, Doctor
Edwards. I’ll try what you said.” She left the office, led by an insistent Schotsie who wanted no more of Ben’s attentions.
He nodded to the
woman
sitting
in the reception area
balancing a
cat carrier on her lap.

“He’s wonderful,”
Mrs. Learman
stage-whispered
to her friend,
“and
so
handsome
.”

Mrs. Scott stood up. “I believe
Fluffy and I are next, Bronnie. With Doctor
Edwards, right?”

“Yes, Ramona.
Room two
.” Bronnie handed Fluffy’s chart to Ben.

Ben examined Fluffy, refilled the flea treatment
prescription
the long-haired cat needed, and showed Mr
s. Scott how to administer it.
“Please come back if Fluffy needs
more treatments
, Mrs. Scott.” He
strok
ed Fluffy on the head as he placed h
im
in the cat carrier.

The animal
gave him a baleful stare and
one more warning hiss
before hiding
his head in the towel Ramona had placed in the bottom of the carrier.

“Yes, Doctor
Edwards.”

“Call me Ben, Mrs. Scott.”

When
the woman
left the office
, Bronnie gave Ben a note with a smiley-face.
“
Well done, Sir Lancelot. They’ll be back.
”

Chapter
3

The next day
Dannilynn
entered the treatment room from the door leading to the runs, her jeans soapy and wet from the knees down. She carried two empty pails and stacked them in the anteroom where the dog groomer washed the boarders.

“Glad that’s done.” Ten runs cleaned and spotless.
What
else was on the sheet for her to check off?

Ben
greeted
her
cheerfully
.
“Hey
, Shortie.
Do you always take baths when you work?”

“Just
’
cause you’re tall doesn’t make me short.” She sat down and wrung out both pant legs, then rolled
up
her jeans so that the wet sections could no longer be seen.

“If you insist on calling me tall, I can call you short
.” H
e
wink
ed at her
.

She made a face in response and went in to e
at half
the sandwich she had brought for lunch. It was barely
ten
and her stomach was growling
, even though
she had eaten breakfast less than two hours
earlier
. Fifteen minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom, ashen-faced.

“What’s the
matt
er with you?” Bronnie
looked
at her.

“
I’m not sure
. Can I go ove
r to the mini-mart
and get a 7-U
p? It might settle my stomach.”

“Go ahead. You’re all c
aught up in
back
?”

Danni
nodded. Halfway down the block, she detoured into the shrubbery and heaved again. She walked to the convenience sto
re, picked up two bottles of 7-U
p and returned to the clinic.  She sipped the soda, and nibbled on a cracker she found in one of the cabinets of the small kitchen.

Bronnie to
ok
one lo
ok
at her and felt
Danni
’s fore
head.  “Y
ou don’t have a fever.
Maybe it’s the
summer flu that’
s
been
going around. Why don’t you
make it a short day
?”

“
No.
I want
ed
to go with Joel and Ben to the farm.
Since both techs are here today.
”

“If you throw up again, go home. You can always go to the farm another time.
”

Danni
waved her away. “
Maybe
.
Can I go l
ie
down
in Joel’s office
? I feel kinda woozy.”

“Sure. I’ll tell Ben where you are if you’re not up
when
they’re
ready to leave.”

An hour later,
Dannilynn
sat
on an upturned bucket in the back
seat of t
he Thing. Joel
looked
in the rear view mirror
at her. “You
okay
back there?”

She nodded.
“
This place
stinks.” S
he pointed to the floor of the cab.  “Who’s been riding
back here
?”

“Let’s see. I transported two sheep to the office
the other day when
Ben
was checking out that Arabian
mare
Geo
ff
Temple brought in
. The
farmer
’s truck br
ok
e down, and the sheep seemed to like it—
looked
out the windows nice as can be
and didn’t bleat once
going through town
.”

He
grinned at Ben. “See how we improvise around here?” He picked up their conversation where he had left off, describing
the
stitching technique he
’d
used
on
a
cocker spaniel
that
had
tangled with
barbed wire
.

When they arrived at the farm,
Danni
followed the men to the barn and
took
a seat on a hay bale in the corner
. 
The
men
wandered
through the outbuildings
and
into
the field
where most of the cattle were grazing
.

When they returned, Ben kneeled down next to the hay bale, his head near her ear.

“Sleepy-head, time to get up.
”

She ignored his whisper.
Go away, Ben. Let me rest.

He
clapped his hands together and shouted, “Reveille!”
She
had no choice but to open
her eyes
.

Ben
laughed
as she struggled to sit up
, frowning
.
“It’s time to go,” his voice soft
er
. “If you want, I’ll sit in the back and you can have the seat in front.”

“No, that’s
okay
,” she yawned.
“
You guys probably need to talk business. But, let’s sweep out the sheep droppings.” While they waited for Joel, she and Ben cleaned out the back of the cab. “I think I’ll go home when we get back. I can’t seem to keep my eyes open.”

She walked home slowly, unable to stop comparing Ben with Steve. She had no intention of having another boyfriend, at least not until she finished school, but if she did, she
’d want
one like Ben, who seemed to like her in a
friend
sort of way. Casual. Unthreatening. She sighed. No more boyfriends for her, especially the kind of who insisted on having
sex, even if she didn’t want to
.

Danni
felt much better
the next morning—
until
she ate breakfast. Not wanting to alarm her mother, she did not tell her sh
e couldn’t keep the food down.
She
walked
to the clinic with saltines in one pocket and a soda in the other. And, she did her best to avoid f
alling asleep while at work
.
During her break, she tried to recall what she had eaten that might have upset her stomach. Maybe she’d ask her mom when she returned home.

“Come on,
Danni
, why are you so slow?” Monica topped the hill on her bike
.

Dannilynn
caught up
with
her best friend since grade school. “I can’t seem to catch my breath. If you could just go a little slower, I’ll be fine. I’m o
ut of practice and out of shape, I guess. T
oo much sitting in class. Not
enough real exercise.”

“Well, if you’d lay off the extra food, you might be able to go faster. You’re getting
a pooch in front.” S
he pointed to
Danni
’s abdomen.

“I am not!
” She looked down.
“
I quit the soccer team in March. I guess I didn’t realize how much that kept me
skinny
.”
 

“W
hat’s with this Steve guy you wrote me about in January? Are you still seeing him?” Monica
and Danni
walked their bikes across the intersection.

She frowned.
“
I was going with him all spring. H
e’s
work
ing in Alaska
this summer, but
I
broke up with him.”
Except
he’d never agreed
, as if it
matt
ered now.

“
At first
I
thought he was nice. But
he’s changed since—
”
She paused and her face
felt dipped in flame
. 

“He what? Wait a minute. He’s the guy, isn’t he?”
Monica looked at her.
“You said you were going to. And you did, didn’t you? You
slept with him.
I thought so. You h
inted at that before. N
ow I know you did.”

“Monica, don’t talk so loud.
I’m
trying to forget
him
.”
As if she could
.

“If you
love
him and he
loves
you, what’s the big deal?” Monica stopped walking.

Danni
remembered their last time
together
during the camping trip
and involuntarily shivered
. “M
y roommate did
n’t like him, and she
was
right about him.
I should have seen that.
”
Sooner
than the end of the year and that awful morning after her showe
r at the campground
.

“What do you mean?”

“She said I was just another notch on his belt.”
Danni
sighed. “I didn’t think so at first
. The last few times we had sex, he kept trying to choke me
. He
said it would make me come, but it scared me, and—once or twice, I think I passed out.
”

“Ooh, b
ad deal,
Danni
. Be glad you’re not seeing him if that’s what he does.”

“Right.”
She
sighed. “I thought he cared about me.”

“Sounds like he
only
cared about having sex with you.”

“Can we talk about something else?” She reached up and tightened the
elastic
holding her
pony
tail.

They bega
n climbing another hill. Before they
reached
the top,
Danni
stopped and leaned over, a stitch in her side. She pushed her bike the rest of the way.