Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (67 page)

He p
laced
his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. “This is a
rural
vet
practice, Lucy.
That’s why some of our
pat
ients
weigh more
than fifty pounds.
  I thought you knew that when you signed up for this
extern
ship.” 
An image of Ben and his competence played in
Joel’s
mind.

“
Lucille,” she reminded him.

“Lucille.
”

She was silent, brushing
something
he couldn’t see
off
her
expensively
tailored skirt.
“I’
ll go home and change
now
. Will we be seeing the cows and sheep today?”

“
Not likely
. I’
ll introduce you to some of the,
uh,
the
small animal
s and show you where we walk the boarders and such. Monday through Thursday, you’ll be doing some things that my vet
assistant
usually takes care of
, especially w
hen Kate isn’t here. H
er family’
s on vacation this month
.
M
y
assistant
’s in summer school
for a few weeks
.” Joel
was about to explain further when
Lucille
interrupted
him
.

“
That
is
n’t
part of my
extern
ship contract, Doctor
Taylor.” She pulled
a sheaf
of
papers
from
a
leather briefcase
he hadn’t noticed before
.

“It doesn’t say anything about
taking
care of the boarders?
”

“No, it states right here what I will be doing, and there is nothing
on this list
about what
I
thought
—
that is,
what
a
vet
assistant
does
.” She placed the papers on her lap.

“May I see those?”
Joe
l
reached for them
.

“Certainly.”
She handed him
her contract
. “
Didn’t
Dr. Wallace send
you copies of my contract
?
”

He glanced up at her. “Right. I’m sure he did.” He sucked in a quick breath and clenched his jaw against saying more. After a heavy silence, he added,
“Why don’t I take a
look
at th
is
while you go home and change?” Into the intercom
he rarely used
, he shouted, “Bronnie!”

His receptionist
replied
, her voice slightly tinny
,
“Yes, Doctor Taylor?”

“Will you show Lucy
—er, Lucille,
out? I have some calls to make. She’s going home to change. See if that lab coat
Danni
used to wear
when her regular one is in the wash
will fit her. I have a feeling Ben’s
extra one
is too long.”

Bronnie opened the door and popped her head into Joel’s office.
“Right this way, Miss
Lamont.”
Joel watched as
Bronnie handed
Lucy
the more disreputable of
two lab coats
.

“Looks good on you, Lucille. Take your time
getting changed
. Doctor Taylor will probably be busy for at least an hour.”

Thank God for Bronnie, who understood him. When Lucy had departed and the coast was clear, he muttered to himself,
“
What
have I done?
I can’t get Ben back here fast enough if I’m going to be stuck with
Lucy—er,
Lucille Evelyn Lamont
for a year.” H
e
raked one hand through
his hair,
repeat
ing
the gesture
several times
as he paced.
Joe
l
dialed the
externship
supervisor at
the vet school
.

“
Wally
! What have you sent me?” he thundered into the phone.

Bronnie angled her head in his direction. “Pipe down
, will you?
The
customer
s
in front
can hear you,
” she stage-whispered.

He waved her out
and
s
lammed
the door
.

“You wanted someone who’s conscientious
, Joel
. You saw her recommendation letters.”

“I don’t care how highly
recommended she is. I saw that. S
traight A
s on her clinical
s
and a great laboratory research project
last year
. First in her class
in
general
surgeries on dogs and cats.
That’s all well and good,
but she says she doesn’t do scut work. What exactly did she think she would be doing here
?
”

Wally
took his time replying. “She will do everything in her contract, I’m sure. Did you go over it with her?”

“I’m looking at it now.
Wally
,
s
ince when have I had to stick to th
e usual routines
? You know I have a rural practice
he
re,
and I’m a little short
-handed
right now
.
”

“Missing Ben
,
are you?”
Wally
chuckled
.

“
You know I am
. H
e helped me build my large animal practice to the point
where I now need a second
person
. How soon c
an I get him back?
”

“You don’t want him to complete his clinicals and pass his Boards? I thought you said you were thinking of hiring him as an associate.”

“
Damn! Well, tell him to hurry up
with those advanced clinicals
! I don’t think I’m going to be
able to tolerate this girl—
sorry
, woman
—for more than another hour. She came in
here
in heels
, for God
’s sake
!
Where does she think she is—New York City?
I had to send her home to get dressed right for the job.”
He continued his pacing.

“If you don’t want her, send her home, but I don’t have any other candidates for you. The
other
students
doing
externships are already placed.
”

“
Okay
, I’ll stick it out for
two
week
s
, but if thi
ngs don’t improve
, I’m sending her back.
I don’t care what that says about her. She probably would work
out
fine
in some hoity-
toity small animal center in a big city
like
LA or Boston
. You
should have seen her turn up her nose when I mentioned cows and sheep.
”

Wally
laughed.

Joel
hung up, disgusted.

When
Dannilynn
arrived for
work
on Friday
,
Joe
l
was growling at
anyone who stepped into the general treatment area
. When she asked him if he was mad at her, he gave her a quick hug, apologized, and whispered, “Lucy
—er, Lucille—she and I—well,
she is
having some difficulty fitting in.”

He
looked
over his glasses at
Danni
.
“Maybe you could help her
out
. H
alf the boarders refuse to
come out of their runs when it’
s time to walk. You’ve ne
ver had any trouble with them. See what
the problem
is
.
I can’t keep sending Bronnie back there to get them out when you
aren’t here
.”

He sounded so desperate
Danni
laughed out loud. “I’ll give you a full report
before Monday
.”

Several minutes later, she entered
the treatment room where he was shaving a dog
’s belly in preparation
for surgery. “Does this mean
I can
go with you to the farms tomorrow?”

“
Absolutely
!”

The next day
,
after
Lucille
had left,
Dannilynn
sat at the table in the kitchen
,
handed an icy
can of
soda to Bronnie
,
and
opened a second one for herself.

“
Lucille
does
n’
t
like big dogs
,” she declared
.
“
I’ve never seen
a vet who didn’t like dogs
. If they are little, she is all goo-goo eyes.
Sam
e thing with t
he cats,
but if the dog is bigger than
—I don’t know, maybe
for
ty
pounds—
it’s like they’
re poison.
I wonder if someone bit her.
”

“Tell
Joe
l
, not me,” Bronnie sighed. “The two-legged
customer
s don’t seem to like her much, either. She’s polite with them and all
…”

“I’ll bet she doesn’t really talk to them. She was spouting some big
study result to me this morning,
like I give a rip what some study showed when all she needed
to do was answer my question.
It’s not like I’m dense or something!”

“
No, you are definitely not dense
,”
Joe
l
answered, coming in to join
them. “What’s your take on Lucy
and the boarders?”

“Lucille,
Joe
l
,” Bronnie interrupted.

Danni
snort
ed. “I’m surprised she doesn’t make you say her ent
ire name—all three of them.
”

Joe
l
sigh
ed. “I was hoping she would loosen up
after a while. I
shorten e
veryone
’s
name
.” He t
urn
ed
to
Danni
.
“
So, tell me. What
is she doing that makes the boarders so skittish?”

“She won’t go into the runs,
or even bend down to talk to the dogs. I don’t think they trust her.  Once I get them out
and hand her the leash, they’
re
okay
.
Well, actually,
they
walk
her
, and it is kind of funny to see her trotting after them when they want to
chase
a butterfly
. You should have seen
Tiny,
my
favorite
great Dane
,
going after
a
rabbit
in the back pasture
. I thought he was going to pull her off her feet!”