Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (21 page)

They finished the procedure
.
Ben cleaned up the area on the dog’s belly, turned off the anesthesia machine, and carried the
animal
back to the holding cage where she could recover. 

When he had stripped off his g
love
s and washed his hands
again
, he went into
Joe
l
’s office and sat down
, rubbing his right hand and knuckles
.

“Let me see your hand.
”
Joe
l
check
ed the abrasion and swelling over t
he knuckles. “A word of advice.
You’re working like
you will
after you get
your DVM. You
need to protect your hands.
I can’t have you incapacitated when you
start taking
over more surgeries
,
especially the complicated ones
.”

“Yes, sir.”

“W
hy did you feel the need to hit
the guy
?
Danni
never struck me as someone who would run around with creeps.
”

“He mouthed off at her
and
then
he tried to shove me out of the way.
She
actually
looked
afraid of him, and
after we got back to her place, she was pretty upset
.”

“Hm
m
. You and she—are you
—uh—
is she
…
?”
The veterinarian
stopped
talking
, looking unsure how to ask
the question
Ben
suspected was in Joel’s mind
.

“We’re friends
, Joel
. I stand up for my friends.
”

“
W
ell,
fine, but
friends don’t let friends fight—even if the
other person
deserve
s
it. Besides, he had to be s
hort
er than you,
since
most people
are
.”

“
Maybe shorter
, but
he was heavier,
built like a football player
.
My mom is always saying I need more meat
on my bones
.
”
Ben
stood
up and stretched his arms above his head. “Can I ask you something?”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

“
What’s with
Mrs.
Learman
and her always wanting me to see that obese little dog of hers?”

Joe
l
laughed. “You have to figure some of your customers are going to have designs on you. She has a crush on you.
A
s long as you stay strictly professional and don’t fraternize, all will be well.”

“She makes me nervous, trying to
cozy up to me
when I’m working with the dog.”

“
She’ll
eventually lose interest
—or
begin to
think of you as a beloved son or grandson
.” He p
ush
ed his glasses back on his nose. “
You
should be flattered. When I saw Schotsie,
that woman
never gave me the time of day
,
and flatly refused to
follow
my recommendations. At least, she’s listening to you. And, didn’t you say
Schotsie has dropped about eight
pounds?”

“Yes. Does this happen often
,
coming in so
frequently
, and always asking for me
?”

“Enjoy it while it lasts.
When you get old and crotchety
like me, the Mrs.
Learman
s of this world will ignore you.”

“Old and crotchety? What are you, all of
thirty-five
,
Joe
l
?”

“
Hey!
Don’t age me before my time.
Thirty-two
.”
The vet pushed back his chair
. “Time to get home. I’ve got a date tonight.”

“With Angela?”

“How’d you guess?”
Joel
hung up his lab coat.

“She’s a beauty—with brains, too. A great combination, if you ask me.”

“Agreed.”
Joel
looked
at him
. “She’s an older, more accomplished version of
Danni
, to my way of thinking.
Wouldn’t you agree?”

Ben
’s face
warm
ed
. “Never thought of it that way.”

“One other thing, Ben.
”
Joe
l
put away the procedures file he was
look
ing at. “
You’re doing a fine job
here
. I have no complaints
,
except for wrecking your hand. Don’t let
it
happen again
.
Now,
let’s go over
th
at
list of procedures
you’re
want
ing
to do before you go back to Pullman
.
”
 

While they talked, Ben’s mind kept returning to
Dannilynn
and Steve.
He’s gotta be the one.
He wondered if she was safe,
with
Steve
hang
ing
around campus
knowing
Danni
was there.

Chapte
r
7

Is i
t him?
Dannilynn
shied away from the man
in front of her
as she walked through campus
.

The
auburn-haired
subject of her concern
turned
and pulled his collar closed against the late October wind
.
H
e has a beard
.
Danni
sighed with relief.
Not Steve.
I’ve got to stop thinking he’s around every corner
.
She continued walking toward the
b
iology
department
, found the professor’s office and took a seat across from his desk when he waved her inside
.

“Professor Compton,
”
she began.
“Do you—will you—raise my grade, since I redid my paper?”

He
looked at her solemnly for a moment.
“It’s a good one,
Dannilynn
. I’ll talk to the Chairman and get back to you.”

“Thanks.
I really appreciate it.
”

Feeling more hopeful, s
he
retraced her steps
to
her
apartment to study for mid
terms.

That
afternoon
, as
she finished her second
h
istory
paper, she
looked
out her window. A
large ship
with lumber stacked on the topmost deck moved
across the bay
, its lights winking
across the water.
She
set
the paper a
side
, glanced at the clock, and
went
in to bathe
. After sliding under the water in the tub, she allowed her hands to float next to her expanding
belly
. While lying there, she felt a little flutte
r. There it was again
.

“Hello in
there
,” she murmured
.
“
Are you
swimming inside—like
Doctor
Wright said
? I’m not sure what to call you
, so I’m just going to use Ben’s name
for you
—bump.
If I call you something else
, I won’t be able to
ask Pastor Peter to find a nice family for you and
say good-bye
.
I’m not sure I know enough t
o be your mother. It’s
all really easy now. Y
ou just
float
around inside
and
grow, and I just walk around getting fat
ter
, and
not
that many people notice when I’m wearing extra-large shirts with my jeans unbuttoned and the zipper only halfway closed
.
”
Danni
stroked the rounded lump that now protruded above the water when she arched her back.
“
I keep thinking
about after,
you know, after you’re born
.
I’
ve never been a mother. I’m afraid I would do something wrong if I kept you.”
Ben’s smiling face came to mind and she
said out loud what she’d been thinking.
“
I wish
Ben
was your father. Maybe if he was, I wouldn’t feel so alone.
”

As if i
n answer
to her words and the stroking of her fingers along the top of her stomach
, the fluttery sensation continued
.
When
Dannie
went to bed
that night, she
dreamed of babies, visible in
all respects except their faces,
which
remained
hidden from
view
.

The next day, Sarah waved at her
as she walked across campus
. “Hey,
Danni
, how are you?” She pointed
to
Dannilynn
’s abdomen.
“
Oh
wow
,
you’re bigger than you were before
.
”

Danni
smiled. “Nothin
g I can do anything about. How’
s your new roommate working out?”

Sarah
grimaced. “
She left after three weeks.
Didn’t you hear what happened?
”
 

“
All I do these days is
go to class
,
study and sleep.”

“She was raped. S
ome guy grabbed her
from behind
when she was taking the trail through the woods
toward
the dorm
,
the one we used to
use
. Her folks made her quit
school after it happened.
”

“That’s terrible!
Did
they ca
tch
him
?”
Her pulse jumped at the thought, recalling how often she’d used that shortcut from the main part of campus to the dorm
.

“
Don’t know
. Most of us don’t use
that
pat
h
anymore
.
Are you taking
any trails
through the woods on the way
to campus?”

Danni
shook
her head. “No
. I have to trek
up the hill at least four blocks to get to the Japanese gardens on the far side of campus, a
nd I don’t usually go that way.
Why don’t you come by
my
apartme
nt?
It’s
cute
.
I
even
have a view of the bay.”

“
I’ll do that
.
See you later
.”
Sarah
waved as she ran to catch up with friends.

Dannilynn
trudg
ed
home from class, slower than usual, extra
book
s
weighing down
her backpack. Suddenly,
someone
came up behind her
,
grabbed the strap of her
pack,
and
pull
ed
her off balance.
One of her shoes slipped off the sidewalk,
and
she
sat down hard.