Love Gone to the Dogs (3 page)

The doctor crossed to her grandfather and began examining him. "Yes. That's right. You must be new in town."

"You wouldn't be related to a Shane O'Grady, by any chance?"

The woman laughed. "My son. Have you met him?"

"I've seen him around," Leah managed to answer while her stomach knotted into a tight fist.

"How did this happen, Mr. Smith?"

Leah sent her grandfather a look that told him not to say too much or they might not survive a week in Shady Oaks.

"An accident. I was plugging in something while standing in water. Forgot to wear my rubber shoes," he said, grinning and winking at the lady doctor.

"You received quite a jolt, but luckily you're here to tell us about it"

"Then he'll be all right?" Leah began to chew on her broken acrylic nail, a reminder of her meeting earlier with this woman's son.

"I believe so. I want to take a closer look at him, though, just to make sure. You can wait in the reception area. There's some coffee and magazines. This will take a while." Dr. O'Grady smiled at Leah, warmth emanating from her that put Leah at ease. "This injury looks worse than it is."

"Speak for yourself, woman. This hurts like h—Hades," her grandfather mumbled.

Leah left the examination room and headed for that coffee. She could use a cup of something hot even if it was caffeinated. She had driven straight here, with her grandfather moaning and Joey trying to explain the phenomenon behind what had happened to Gramps. She hadn't even registered the doctor's name on the clinic sign when she had brought her grandfather inside. She just might have kept on driving clear to the next town if she had noticed the name O'Grady.

Assured that Joey was entertaining himself with reading a
National Geographic
magazine, she walked to the picture window and looked out at the clinic sign while taking a sip of the coffee. There, in bold black letters, were the names Margaret O'Grady and Shane O'Grady. Yep, she would have probably passed the place by, even with her grandfather's moaning.

"Alice, Billy will be fine in a few days. Make sure he gets plenty of rest and lots of liquid."

Leah stiffened at the sound of Shane's voice. Maybe if she didn't move he wouldn't notice her. At least she was wearing more than a large T-shirt, and her hair was combed.

"Are you through exercising your voice, Mrs. Taylor?"

No such luck, she thought and sipped at her coffee, wishing the man would disappear. This was not a very good day for her. If she had found the time to read her horoscope, she was sure it would have warned her not even to get out of bed this morning.

She knew Dr. Shane O'Grady was still behind her even though she hadn't replied; she could feel his presence with a tingle down her spine. She also knew she had to say something. Whether she liked it or not, he was the town mayor.

Slowly she faced the man. "You heard that comment."

"I think half the neighbors did."

She blushed. "That was what I was afraid of."

His gaze traveled down the length of her before resting again on her face. She found herself lifting the coffee to her lips to shield herself from his probing look, much as she had tried to use her front door earlier. Luckily, before her grandfather's mishap, she had hurriedly scrubbed her face of all old makeup, combed her hair, and thrown on jeans and a blouse. That was all she had been able to do in the way of making herself presentable. Now she was afraid that her third impression wasn't much better than her first two.

"Is something wrong with you?"

She shook her head.

"Someone in your family?"

"My grandfather had an accident. Your mother is taking care of him."

"What happened?"

"He and electricity don't get along."

"Home repairs? I know a good electrician if you need a name in Shady Oaks."

"Thank you. I would appreciate that." There was no way she would begin to tell him the whole story. Her grandfather's inventiveness had gotten them all in enough trouble.

"Well, I'd better get back to work. I have more patients to see. I'll get you that name, and one of a plumber, too. That house you live in is old."

Leah nodded her thanks and sat to finish her coffee while she watched Shane O'Grady walk to the door that led into the back. For some reason her legs were shaky, and her hands were trembling.

* * *

Shane felt Leah's gaze on him as he left her in the reception area. He headed for his office to make a few notes concerning his last patient before he saw his next one, but as he sat behind his desk he couldn't concentrate on what he should be writing down. He kept thinking about his new neighbor's pixie looks and dimpled cheeks. The fire in her blue eyes that he had seen directed at him earlier that morning had sparked something he had thought was dead—an interest in a woman that went beyond friendship.

He stared at the picture of Sarah on his desk, and for the first time didn't feel guilty that another woman intrigued him. His wife had died three years before from breast cancer, and there hadn't been a thing he could do to save her life. The day he had buried her was the day he had thought he had buried his emotions, too. He didn't want to feel that kind of pain ever again, nor the feeling of helplessness that came with having to stand by and watch a loved one die slowly. Now, as he remembered Leah's dynamite figure beneath the oversized T-shirt, he was beginning to wonder if his feelings in that direction hadn't totally disappeared.

Well, being physically attracted to a beautiful woman was one thing. He was a living, breathing male, after all. But anything more than that reaction wasn't possible. He just wasn't ready, he thought as he bent his head and started to scribble some notes.

A gentle knock at his door brought his head up. "Yes."

"Got a minute, son?"

"I have about that much time." Shane put his pen down, deciding to do his paperwork later, when he could concentrate better.

"Are you coming to dinner tonight?"

"It's Friday, isn't it?"

"Yes, just checking. I wanted Greta to get some steaks."

Shane whistled. "Steaks. What did I do to deserve that?"

Margaret O'Grady laughed. "You're a good son. I just want to show you how much I appreciate you."

"Mother, what are you up to?"

"Nothing," she answered as she breezed out of her son's office. "I see that my time's up."

Shane looked at the closed door, an uneasiness settling in the pit of his stomach. Oh, his mother was definitely up to something. She was a great doctor, but a lousy liar. Those two little patches of red that had appeared on her cheeks were a dead giveaway. He was in trouble, and tonight at dinner he would find out just how much.

* * *

"Gramps, I don't understand this invitation to dinner," Leah said as she came out of her bedroom, dressed in a short denim skirt and a white blouse with lace down the front and on the collar.

"Girl, what's there to understand? A beautiful woman asked me to dinner. I may be old, but I'm not dead yet"

"It's my invitation I don't understand."

"As Margaret explained to me, we are new in town. She wanted to make us feel welcomed. I figure it wouldn't hurt to get to know the town doctor."

"Yeah, just in case you have another one of your accidents," Leah muttered, digging out her car keys from the bottom of her purse.

"I heard that, Leah. Nothing's wrong with my ears. Anyway, the accident this morning won't happen again. I promise you."

"You've promised me a lot of things in the past, Gramps."

"And I've kept most of those promises."

Leah shook her head, realizing the hopelessness of arguing that point with her grandfather. "Just remember, Joey can't be your assistant anymore."

"H—girl, that's gonna break his heart. You're cruel."

"Well, at least he'll be alive. That's all that matters to me," she shot back, gripping the straps of her purse.

"I'd never let anything happen to Joey."

Hearing the hurt tone in her grandfather's voice, she walked to him and hugged him. "I know you wouldn't mean for anything bad to happen to him, but sometimes things just get out of control in your lab. Remember what happened this morning."

"Mom, why can't Joey and I stay by ourselves? I'm too old for a babysitter." Sam stood in the doorway of the living room with a pout on his face and his arms crossed over his chest

"Maybe in another year or two." She pulled away from her grandfather and turned toward her ten-year-old.

Sam had started to say something else when a knock sounded at the front door. Leah went to an
swer it hoping the arrival of the babysitter would stop her son from arguing further. Her eldest had resented having anyone look after him since the age of eight. He thought he was the man of the house, and therefore capable of taking care of anything that arose. He watched over Joey and Gramps, often stepping in to take their side against her. Sam had already "talked" with her about Joey helping Gramps with his latest invention. She struggled to make Joey's and Sam's lives as normal as possible, but it was hard at times. One was so smart that children often made fun of him, and the other had been forced to grow up faster than he should have.

"Hi, I'm Betsy. I'm here to baby-sit," the teenager said between smacks of her gum.

Leah opened the door wide and stood to the side, not sure if she should allow the girl with green spiked hair into her house. Leah had always prided herself on being open-minded and getting to know a person before forming an opinion. The teenager before her was testing that to the limit. Leah preferred earrings worn in the ears, not the nose or the navel. "Come in. Betsy, this is Sam, and Joey is in his room reading. The number and address where we will be is by the phone in the kitchen. We should be home by nine."

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. My mom's home next door if I need any help." Betsy pulled out some of her bubble gum and played with it before popping it back into her mouth.

Betsy's mother was Madge Shiplock, the woman who had run back into her house earlier that morning, shocked by Leah's outburst. How in the world had that lady and her husband Ned raised this young one standing in front of her? Leah wondered while she reassessed the situation. She didn't know any other teenagers to call, especially on such short notice. Sam was beginning to look more mature by the second. "If you have any trouble, please call me. We are only ten minutes away."

While blowing a huge bubble, Betsy walked to Sam and placed her hand on his shoulder. "There won't be any trouble, Mrs. Taylor."

The girl's grin and polite tone didn't reassure Leah one bit. She was beginning to think going to dinner at Dr. Margaret O'Grady's house wasn't such a good idea, but Leah knew she needed to cultivate friends in this town, and the mother of the mayor would be a good ally. Sam was mature and capable, even if she was starting to have her doubts about Betsy.

Her grandfather shuffled to her and grabbed her elbow. "We're gonna be late. Quit this chitchat and let's get moving."

The last thing Leah heard as she closed the front door was Betsy giggling and Sam telling her to stuff it. Leah started to turn back. Her grandfather said, "Sam can take care of himself. He's been doing it for years."

"Yes, I know. Ever since Roger left us."

"This Betsy won't know what hit her."

"Don't say that. What if Sam—"

"You worry too much, girl. Sam would never hit a girl. H—he knows better."

Her grandfather was right Sam was the one sane person in their family. He was never the reason they moved on to another town. One place hadn't been able to handle having a four-year-old start school and then need to skip two grades halfway through that first year. Two other towns had had trouble with her grandfather and his experiments that had gone awry.

When they pulled up in front of Margaret O'Grady's large, three-story, white house, Leah twisted about and stopped her grandfather from leaving the car. "Gramps, I think you should be careful what you say."

"I'm not hiding what I love to do. If people can't take it, then the Hades with them."

"No, I mean your colorful way of expressing yourself from time to time. Dr. O'Grady is a lady."

His eyes narrowed on her. "Your grandmother was one of the finest ladies around. I'm not putting on fancy airs for anyone. I think after seventy-five years I have a right to speak my mind." He wrenched open the car door and scooted out, the slamming sound reverberating throughout the interior.

Leah squeezed her eyes closed and gripped the steering wheel. After counting all the way to one hundred, she took in several deep breaths and willed herself to be calm. The next two hours might be the longest two hours that she'd had to live through in quite a while. She loved her grandfather dearly, but sometimes he could be so difficult.

By the time Leah made her way to the front door Margaret had opened it, and was standing in the entrance greeting Harold Trenton Smith with a warm smile on her face and a firm handshake. Her grandfather beamed, his blue eyes lit. He held Margaret's hand longer than necessary, and neither one seemed to care that there was another person around. Leah coughed discreetly behind her grandfather, and he reluctantly released the older woman's grip, stepping to the side.