“Yes, sir,” the waiter replied, daring to sneak a sympathetic glance at Reva.
Reva felt her facial muscles tighten. She quickly retrieved her wallet and held out her credit card. “No, that’s all right. I’ve got it covered,” she offered. No way did she want to extend the time with this man, not even long enough for the bill to be recalculated.
Bert glanced at his Rolex. “I hope you don’t mind ending our time together a little early. I promised Mama we’d watchNorthern Exposureon Netflix. She’s waiting for me.”
“No, no…that’s fine,” she assured him.
He got out his phone and opened an app. “So, Reva. When do you want to do this again?”
8
“Ew…gross. Mom!”
“What?” Lila asked, slowly turning from her open laptop, distracted. She was studying last week’s lesson and trying to catch up. Who knew you could administer physical therapy to giraffes to reduce knee socket pain? Of course, it wasn’t like she’d be treating any exotics in Wyoming.
“Mom!” Camille complained loudly. She held up a tray of lidded glass vials filled with yellow liquid. “Tell me this isn’t what I think.”
Lila closed her laptop. “Those are urine samples. Shut the fridge door. The specimens need to be kept at a low temperature for the testing to be accurate.”
Camille groaned. “Doesn’t Doc Tillman have a refrigerator down at Paws in the Pines? I mean, really. This is disgusting.”
Lila stood and lifted the tray from her daughter’s hand then secured it back in place before shutting the door. “I didn’t want to go back to the clinic this evening after the collection at the Bayer’s place. Their litter of puppies haven’t been eating and I wanted to rule out a few things before taking further measures.”
“The little malamutes?”
Lila nodded. “Yes, and they are so cute. You should see them. Hopefully, I don’t have to quarantine the tiny things. Their symptoms don’t line up exactly with leptospirosis, but I don’t want to take any chances. With all the wildlife around, a lot of water sources can be contaminated.”
Her daughter wrinkled her nose and turned to the sink where she squirted some soap and scrubbed her hands with extra vigor. “So, you think it’s a good idea to put that stuff next to the food we eat?” She shook her head. “Never mind—I’ll just head into the Rustic Pine for dinner. Do you have a twenty?”
Lila kissed the top of her daughter’s blonde head. “Every extra dollar I have this month is going to your prom dress. The fabric arrived, and Aunt Mo said she already started on your dress. She wants to do a sizing before she finishes up.”
Charlie Grace’s aunt was a multi-talented woman and was known for her seamstress ability. She’d made more prom and wedding dresses over the years than anyone could count.
Lila brightened. “The gown is ready to try on?” She clapped her wet hands together. “I can’t wait to see it.”
Her daughter had chosen a pattern fashioned after a designer garment she’d spotted online—a strappy floor-length dress in hot pink satin reminiscent of a gown you might see on a beauty pageant contestant…and far too sexy for a soon-to-be seventeen-year-old, in her mother’s opinion.
Lila had learned to pick her battles. This wasn’t one of them.
The argument regarding homemade versus store-bought had already exhausted her patience. Raising a teenage daughter alone wasn’t cheap, and no way was she shelling out the big bucks for some retailer version when Aunt Mo could easily duplicate the style for so much less.
Lila’s phone buzzed, signaling an incoming call. She held up a finger. “Sorry, honey. Let me get this.”
“Hey, Charlie Grace. What’s up? The calf still doing okay?”
“The calf is fine. But Reva’s not. Our little plan didn’t work out so well.”
“What do you mean?”
Charlie Grace sighed. “The guy was a dud. An entitled doofer who still lives with his mother.”
Lila frowned. “Oh, no.”
“Yeah, all our high hopes dashed. The best we can expect is that our scheme at least tamped the rumor mill. Reva neglected to get any photos to post on social media. Her saving grace is that Brewster Findley was taking his wife out for an anniversary dinner and spotted them in the parking lot as he was pulling in. Word has already spread.”
“Well, that’s what we hoped for.” Lila covered the phone speaker and whispered to her daughter, “Reva’s date was a bust.”
Camille rolled her eyes. “Serves you guys right for trying to hook her up in the first place. I told you the plan was lame.” She reached behind her head and tucked her long hair into a messy bun at the nape of her neck.
