Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (39 page)

“I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to survive without a vet
assistant
and was wondering i
f you’d be willing to work here after
the baby
gets here
.”

“You darling man!”
Danni
hauled herself
out of the chair and hugged
Joe
l
. “I thought you would never ask. O
f course, I’
ll work here
!
I
’ll
put the baby in a backpack,
so
she
wo
n’t be in the way when I’m helping with the animals, or
working with you during
procedures, and stuff.”

“
Oh,
I don’t know about t
hat. W
e might have to keep you at
the front desk.”

Danni
grimaced
.
“
Oh,
Joe
l
,
no! I
t’s so
boring
up front compared to in the back
. I don’t see how Bronnie
stand
s
it day after day. Can’t I
be in the back with the animals and you
and Ben?”

“
That might work a couple of months after the
baby is born.
I’m not so sure I want yo
u in the back before then.  And
Ben
won’t
be
here
after May
.
He
has
to
finish
his fourth year and
take Boards
. I’m going to need an assistant and a
nother
tech,
particularly if I haven’t found a partner to join the practice
by
then
.
”

“You could hire me—
even
th
ough
I’m not
really a vet tech
.
” She shut the door to his office and
sat back down
. “Why don’t you hire B
en? He told me you thought he’
s
been
doing a grea
t job, and he’s almost done with
what he has to finish
for school, right?
”

Joel hid his smile behind his hand.
“
H
e can’t seem to keep his hands out of trouble. I’m not sure I want someone
who
get
s
into fights at the drop of a hat.”

“Oh, that.
”
She
dismissively waved
her hands in the air
.
“
It
won’t happen again. The guy he beat up is in jail now.”

The
door opened after a quick knock
, and Ben
p
ok
ed his head around the door.
“
You need anything else
,
Joe
l
?”

He
looked
up. “
Not right now, but why d
on’t you stick around for a bit?
I want to talk with you
—
later
, about tomorrow’s schedule
.”

Ben
shut the door
behind
him
.

Joel
rested his eyes on his pregnant vet assistant
.
“
For now,
you
will
stay in
front
. I know you don’t like it, but w
ith you getting bigger every day, I really don’t wa
nt you working with the animals
.”

“Even the kittens and puppies?”

“
Even them
. Bronnie knows what needs to be done in the back, and if she c
an concentrate on that and you’
re in front, we’ll get
through this
.
Kate is co
ming in three days a week again, which helps
.
A
gree
d
?”

She sighed.
“W
hat if one of the regulars w
ants me to take their dogs back?
”

“
Tell them I said
no.
I don’t want to take a chance of you slipping
on a wet spot
and falling
,
and you know Doctor
Wright doesn’t want you exposed to cat feces
.
I’ll pay you
only
for front office work,
”
his
voice firm
.

She pursed her lips.
“
You don’t look like you’re going to
change your mind.”

“I
’m not
.
See you tomorrow
in front
.
”

Two days later, the phone rang just before closing time.

“New Harbor
Veterinary Hospital
. How can
we
help you?”

“Is that you,
Danni
?”

“Yes, who’s this?”

“Steve, your best lay. Or
have
you
been using
what I taught you
to spread ’e
m for that new guy
you were
hanging with?”

Shocked, she said nothing
for a long beat. T
hen
keeping
her voice low,
“How—how’d you find me?” Her heart pounded. She placed one hand
protectively on
her belly.

“I asked around. Everyone in town seems to know you.”

“I’m at work, Steve. I can’t talk to you
now
.”

“When can you talk?”

“Not here.
And to you? N
ever
.
”

He paused for a moment then continued.
“Sarah told me
it was
you
who
swore out
that
complaint against me.”

She heard
the anger
in Steve’s voice and was sure her heart had stopped, except
that her pulse was pounding
rapidly
in her
neck
.
“
You’re such a jerk
, Steve.
It could have been anyone
.”
No way was she going to admit what she’d
done
and have him come after her
.

“I’ll get you for that,
Danni
. Nobody sics the cops on me. When I find out where you live, I’ll show you what happens to people who try to
take
me
down.
You
got that
?”

She hung up and left the desk
, her knees shaky
. “Bronnie, could you spell me for a few minutes? I need to take a break.”

“Ask Kate,
Danni
. I’ve got my hands full here with this basset hound who
…” she grunted
.
“
W
on’t
. S
tand
. S
till.”

“Kate? The front desk?”
Danni asked into the intercom.

Joel’s favorite vet tech approached the reception desk.
“Sure,
Danni
.
Are you okay? You’re so pale.
Why don’t you sit down?”

“I’m going in the back room
for
a few minutes.”

“Take all the time you need.”

Danni pulled out her cell phone and call
ed
the police chief. “That guy, the one who, you know…”

“Are you referring to the man Doctor Wright called me about a few months ago?” The chief’s voice seemed so kind.

Danni nodded. “Um, yes. Him. He called me. Here. Just now.”

“Did he threaten you, Danni?”

She imagined him standing up to Steve, maybe even hauling him off to jail.

“He did. What should I do
now
?” She balled up a tissue and pressed it against her lids.

“Does he know where you live?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then watch for him. If you see him, call the station right away. Ben will protect you, Joel, too.”

“Okay.” She hung up,
blew her nose and
washed her face, determined to be strong. Then she walked back to the front desk.

When Ben came home that evening,
Danni
kept returning
to the window
to peer out in
to
the early evening darkness
.

“You seem kind of jumpy tonight.”

“I keep hearing noises, and you know what my mom said about my dad. I keep thinking he might come by here, to see me, to see if you’re here.”

“
Not to worry
.” He looked up briefly. “I’ll take care of him if he does.” He went back to the text he was reading
.

“What are you studying
tonight
?”

“C
anine jaw cancers.
Why don’t you take a nap? Maybe you’ll feel better if you rest.”

She waved off his suggestion and continued to
wander
nervously
through the little house
,
perching
on
the overstuffed chair
for a while and
then walking from room to room
to
peer out the windows
. She debated whether to say something to Ben about Steve’s call, but feared he might jeopardize his externship
and
his future with Joel at the clinic
if he
went
look
ing
for the man
.

After dinner, with all the house lights on, s
he
sat
outside on the little porch and listened to the wind in the trees and the distant sound of the waves sliding onshore,
for the first time
afraid to walk
alone
through the woods to the beach.

She returned to the kitchen and rubbed Ben’s neck as he bent over the text he was studying.
“I’m kinda cold. Mind if I build up the fire?”

“Let me.
I’ll
bring in
some big pieces.
” Ben retrieved more logs
and set three extra ones to the side
. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m going to take a shower and
sit in front of
the fire. Do you have much more studying to do?”

“I’m almost done. Want me to rub your back before you crash?”

“I’d
love
that.”
Maybe
a back rub
will calm me down. A
shower and a back rub and then your arms around me, keeping me safe.

But
Danni’s
dreams
that night
dissolved into
a nightmare
in which Steve found her
as she walked along the beach, talking to
the faceless
baby in her arms. Then Steve
stole the baby from her
and
le
ft
her on the sand
.
Heartbroken and dying.
A
lone.

She woke shivering, her heart racing and drenched in sweat. Ben’s arms no longer encircled her.
He must have turned the other way after she’d fallen asleep. His
back
was
pressed against hers, his breathing slow and steady.
She slid out of bed and escaped to the bathroom to wipe her face. Only after
sitt
ing in the chair in the living room for nearly an hour did she return to the bed to sleep fitfully until Ben’s alarm roused them.

“You have something to ask me,
Joe
l
?”
Ben lo
unged o
n the
little couch
opposite Joel’s desk.