“This is it.” I pulled the Suburban into the parking lot at Sam’s office. “You don’t have to come inside if you’d rather wait here.”
“Do you mind if I come in?” She smiled, looking slightly embarrassed. “I’m a huge fan of the showAll Creatures Great and Small, and I’d love to see a country vet’s office. I know that probably sounds silly.”
If Sam saw me with a beautiful guest, he was either going to flirt with her or tease me, but there was no backing out now. “It might be a disappointment, but c’mon in.”
Sam had only one employee, a woman in her sixties named Cherise who was his receptionist and vet tech. Having been raised on a farm, she wasn’t intimidated by any animal, including ornery ranchers who wouldn’t pay their vet bills. She looked at us over the rims of her reading glasses when we walked in the door.
“Good morning!” I called out to her.
“Hey, Matthew.” She was already eyeing my companion up and down.
“Cherise St. Clair, please meet one of my guests this week, Lauren Wagonblast.”
Lauren shot me a surprised look, as if I’d gotten her name wrong. Was there another way to pronounce Wagonblast?
“Good afternoon, Cherise.” Lauren pushed back her sunglasses on her head, so they drew the sheet of silky dark hair away from her face.
Cherise dipped her chin without smiling. “Nice to meet you.”
For her that was a warm welcome. If she said nothing, that meant she didn’t take a shine to you. If she really disliked you, well, you weren’t coming any further than the door.
“I guess you’re here for Elijah’s medication?” Cherise pulled a little brown bag off a shelf. Maybe we would avoid Dr. Samuel Hart on this trip after all. “You need to bring that tomcat in here to get fixed before he impregnates other strays.”
“How dare you talk that way about my faithful barn cat.” I took the bag from her. “He’smy mouser, not a stray, and I’ll bring him in to get neutered when I can convince Walt it needs to be done. Then I have to coax Elijah into a cat carrier without getting scratched to death.”
Cherise folded her arms across her chest. “Sounds like no one told Elijah he’s been domesticated.”
“Very funny. What do I owe you for this?”
She shook her head and waved me away. “Sam told me I’m not allowed to charge you anything.” Clearly, she thought this policy of giving freebies to family members was ludicrous. I agreed with her, but Sam wouldn’t let me pay him.
“You’ve got enough expenses,” my brother told me recently when he came out to the ranch to do routine dental exams on our stable of horses. He was right about that.The bills kept on coming.
“I’m going to total it up for our records anyway,” Cherise said, making notes on a receipt pad and figuring out the tax on her calculator. No fancy spreadsheets for this lady, although there was a laptop sitting on the counter that my brother had tried to get her to use so their record keeping would be easier. No luck with that one yet. Cherise kept meticulous paper records though, and she could also wrangle rowdy cats like Elijah into carrying crates, so my brother wasn’t letting her go any time soon.
Just when I thought we were in the clear, Sam stepped through the front door with his mischievous dog, Jake, at his heels. As soon as Jake saw me, he tore over on his little legs, springing up for my attention. Being a Jack Russell/dachshund mix, he could only reach my ankles with his front paws, but for a little guy, he had a big presence. Today he was wearing a blue sweater vest with the word diva knitted onto the back.
I reached down to scratch his ears. “Hey, buddy. How’s the most spoiled dog in Three Rivers?”
Jake looked up at me with his soulful brown eyes, as if he were telling me that tales of his lifestyle were greatly inflated. Nonsense. I knew he got treated like a little prince.
“What a cutie pie,” Lauren cooed, as Jake scurried over to demand her attention next.
“Good afternoon, big brother and guest.” Sam’s eyes sparkled with interest when he saw I had a lady friend with me. Damn. I was in big trouble.
CHAPTER7
MATTHEW
“Ididn’t know you were coming in today.” Sam’s eyes traveled over to Lauren. “You usually send Tyler.”
This was exactly why I didn’t want to run into him. Sam was the only person I knew who could stir shit up even when he wasn’t trying. And when he was trying, look out.
“I needed him to do some chores back at the ranch.” As I told the lie, my neck heated, so I tried to think of cold things like sled dog races and snowmobiling. If he saw me blushing, I was dead in the water.
“Boots off!” Cherise shouted.
Lauren flinched and shot me a worried look.
