Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (54 page)

“Which one?”
Ben held both up.

He pointed.
“The one with the cut. I know that
taping
is going to be there for a
while.
Did you break a finger?
”

Ben
nodded,
leaned forward and showed his palm to
Joe
l
, who touched it
light
ly
and then more firmly
.

“How much d
oes t
hat hurt?”

Ben
gritted his teeth.
“I
took
a couple of pills, but they aren’t touching what I’m feeling.”

“Besides your face and your tongue, and the
broke
n finger and your slashed palm, what else hurts?”

He sighed, wishing he could down a beer, but he knew that was a bad idea, after the other two pain pills he’d popped.
“A
bout
every muscle.
I think I wrenched my back when we were on the ground. I’m taller than he is, but he outweighs me by a
fair
bit
,
maybe
fifty
pounds
.
The jerk is b
uilt like a lineman.
”

Joe
l
sat back af
ter releasing Ben’s hand. “What’s your Plan A for
tomorrow?”

“
Change places with Bronnie and a
nswer the phone?
”

Joe
l
started to
chuckle
. “If you’re talking tomorrow like you are tonight, you’re going to give people the impression I
let my help drink on the job.” He
shook
his head.
“That would be a no.
Have you got a
Plan B?
”

Ben
’
s forehead
f
urrowed
around Angela’s bandages
, the skin pulling painfully at the site of the stitches
. “If I’m careful, I think I could walk the boarders.”

“And how are you going to hang on to the
frisky ones
when you can’t bend the fingers of your left hand and your right is so sensitive
you can barely tolerate a light touch
?  I
f you’re not careful
, you’
re
likely to rip open
what’s holding it together
.
”
Joel’s voice rose
, his frustration
obvious
.

Ben looked down at his hands.
I’ll bet he’s figuring how to rearrange the surgical schedule for the week.
Of course he was. They’d had so many things planned.
He cleared his throat. “Angela
said
I should
offer to
do your filing.”

“Leave
it to
Angie
to know my weak point
in
office organization.
” Joel huffed out a snort.
“
No, I prefer Bronnie or
Danni
for
that. T
hey don’t get
the
names mixed up.”

“
Then I guess I need to give you this.”
Ben
gave a two-fingered push to the
envelope
he’d laid on the
cooler
.

Joel
picked up the envelope and
looked back at
him
.
“
What’s this?
I’m not sure I can take any more surprises
—even if you had cause
.
”

“I figured you’d ask for my
resignation
since I can’t do the work I’m supposed to be doing. So
I wrote it up.
Danni
didn’t want me to give it to you.
Says
this is
all her fault.”

“Is it?”

“No
.”
Ben
st
oo
d up to leave
, looking in the direction of the car, still parked near the edge of the dock, now barely visible in the growing darkness
. “I guess that’s about all I have to say.”

Joel’s anger
surface
d
again
when
he commanded,
“
Sit
back
down.
We’re not done. Now it’s my turn
.
” He
shoved the envelope into a pocket,
picked up the beer can and crushed it in one palm
.
“
Better yet, it’s getting dark out here. Come
in
side
. I want to see you
r face
when
we talk
.”

Ben
followed
him
in
to
the cabin of the boat
.

Joe
l
took
a seat
and
motioned for Ben to do the
sam
e
. He
looked
hard
at his extern.
He took off h
is glasses and rubbed his eyes, seeming to be rehearsing whatever he was going to say.

Ben waited for the other shoe to drop.

Joel
drummed his fingers
on the table,
folded his arms across his chest and glared at Ben
for a long minute
.
“It seems to me you’
ve decided to give up
. A
t least that’s what antici
pat
ing my response and your letter tells me
. That doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t like quitters.
”
He
tossed
Ben’s
letter
on
to the center of the table. “
I tend to run a fairly relaxed ship around here, but when I tell you I don’t want you doing something, I expect you
not to do it
, especially from the best extern I’ve ever had
.
”

Ben
looked
at his shoes
and sucked in his breath
, wanting to smile at th
e
compliment he hadn’t been expecting, but afraid to do so
.

“
When I
took
you on, I had
some
reservations
,
mostly relating to your youth
. Y
our supervisor knows
that
.
Wally
said he thought you’d make a
fine
surgeon
, that you have great hands
.
And I have to agree
, in spite of the fact that you
’
re younger than any of the other
third-years
I’ve had the
misfortune to nursemaid.
You’
re a lo
t brighter.
Wally
told me that
, too
,
which is why I
took
a chance
on
you
.
And—” he paused to take another swig of his
second
beer
,
the icy bottle
pulled
from the nearby tiny refrigerator
—“
that’
s
probably one reason you
graduated
when you
were a baby
and
were
barely out of diapers when they let you into
vet school
.” He
glower
ed at Ben
, his voice rising.

In the silence that followed
,
Ben
gaz
ed at his mentor
, his face serious to the point of frowning
,
and then away,
not sure he could
handle the studied anger he was inferring from the way Joel’s fingers were
again
tapping the table, a kind of non-rhythmic static
.
He started to open his mouth, when Joel waved him off. “I’m not
through
.”

“
You know what
thirteen-year-
olds are like, don’t you
, Ben
?
”

Ben opened his mouth
and shut it again when
Joel
continued
, “T
hat was
a
rhetorical
question
.
A
ccording to a
friend of mine
,
thirteen-year-olds are
like
two-year-
olds, only bigger. And
neither age
get
s
what the word
‘
no
’
means
. I can’t have that
,
not from
any of my staff,
and
especially not from
you
.

“Y
esterday I got the papers on an
extern
candidate
who
look
s like just the kind of person I
’d
like to have
around
here
after
you’re gone
, someone
who wo
n’t be putting the m
oves
on
Danni
, either
.
The question is, do I get rid of you
now”—Ben
grimaced
—
“
and then struggle along for
three
months without anyone,
not that you’re going to be in
any
shape
to do much for a
while as it is. O
r should I just figure that our time together was great until this la
test
escapade and then
beg
Wally
to send me
this new
female
extern
earlier than usual?
I
seriously
doubt
she
uses
her fists
to make a point
, deserved or otherwise
.”
Joel
finished
his
beer
and banged the bottle onto the table
so hard Ben was s
urprised
it didn’t shatter
.

He
stared
glumly
down
at his shoes
.

“
Now
you can talk
.
” Joel’s voice
was
scarier
in its calmness
than when his anger was showing
.
“
What do you
suggest I do
?”

Ben was quiet for a long minute
before he looked up
into his mentor’s eyes
.
“I don’t think I
’m qualified to
make a recommendation.”

“
Well,
t
hat
remark tell
s
me
you
ha
ven’t lost all your brain power
in spite of the bumps on your head
.
”
Joel
opened
the refrigerator
, fumbled around for another beer
, and frowned when he couldn’t find one.  Almost under his breath, he
mutter
ed, “
And
to think
I was actually thinking of offering you
an associate
position here
after you
passed your
Boards
.”

Ben
’s
heart took a leap before settling somewhere between his throat and his lungs
.
Not sure he’d heard correctly, he croaked out,
“What did you say?”