“Sorry, guys,” she said. “You haven’t been invited. There will be enough commotion without you.”
At least she hadn’t been asked to drive Clint to Eve’s house.
Her cell rang. Her heart dropped. She knew. She just knew.
She looked at the name of the caller. Eve.
The phone continued to ring. She could ignore it, but Eve knew she always answered the phone in case it was an emergency. If she didn’t answer, Eve would know why.
She answered. “I’m on the way.”
“Can you run by the cabin and pick up Clint? Josh is anointing steaks with his usual care, and my budget meeting ran late.”
Stephanie sighed. There was no out. Not without making an idiot out of herself. “Okay. I’m leaving now.”
She clicked off and went to the back of the clinic where she kept the van. She pulled up in front of Josh’s cabin several minutes later.
Clint was on the swing on the front porch. He stood when he saw the van and ambled down the steps to the passenger side with only the slightest of limps, though she knew his foot must still hurt. She tried to deny the flutter in her stomach as he approached. He gave her a slow easy smile that would be devastating if she didn’t know better. “Hi,” he said. “I wouldn’t be presumptuous in thinking you’re my ride...?”
“Nope. Afraid not.” Then she realized how that sounded. “Not presumptuous, I mean,” she added halfheartedly.
His smile widened as he opened the door. “I’m happy to see you again, too.”
She had no comeback for that.
“Josh said his house was chaos,” he continued. It was more question than a statement.
“It is,” she said more cheerfully. “It will probably drive you crazy.” She hoped.
“After two wars, nothing drives me crazy.”
“Watch out for the beagle. She’s a kleptomaniac.”
“I have nothing I wouldn’t willingly surrender to a beagle.”
“Don’t sit on Fancy.”
“I appreciate the lesson in etiquette, but who is Fancy and why would I sit on her?”
“Fancy is a small dog, and she sometimes sneaks up on the sofa just when someone is sitting down.”
“I’ll try to sit in a chair.” He looked thoroughly amused. She wanted to slap him.
She decided to take another tack. “You’re not limping.” She realized the moment she said it that it was almost an accusation.
“Well, I still hurt if that’s what you’re wondering. Like the doc said...a couple of days.” He shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”
She was being petty. Ridiculous. He was just a man passing through town. A wounded man. A soldier like Josh. She owed him. The town owed him for his military service. It was the email; it had hit her like a sledgehammer.
She surrendered and described what would confront him at the Manning household. “Braveheart is a shy pit bull. He’ll probably hide from you. Miss Marple is the larcenous beagle. Fancy is the homeliest dog you will ever see, but she thinks she’s beautiful, and Captain Hook is a crotchety three-legged chihuahua who just might take a bite out of your leg.”
“I think I was safer in Afghanistan,” Clint said wryly.
“There’s more,” she said, unable to hide the slightest of smiles. “There’s Josh’s dog, Amos, who’s a very disciplined ex-military dog unless he thinks someone is threatening Josh. There’s also Dizzy, a cat with balance problems. And lord of the house is ten-year-old Nick.”
“Tell me about Nick.”
“He’s a perfectly normal ten-year-old boy.”
“You’re not telling me something.”
“Nothing more to tell.” She would let him learn about Nick’s endless curiosity himself.
He nodded, and she couldn’t tell what he was really thinking. But a house full of animals probably didn’t hold much fear for a guy who had been involved in wars for a number of years.
“How is the cabin?” she asked, struggling to be more sociable. For Eve and Josh.
“It’s great. I had a visitor today.”
“Who?”
“A Mrs. Byars, I think.”
“Brownies?”
“How did you know?”
“She’s famous for them. Her son died in Vietnam. She has a special place in her heart for veterans.”
She turned into a driveway that led to a sprawling ranch house with a big porch. A barn stood next to it, and three horses grazed in a pasture. As they drove up to the door, a tow-headed boy ran out of the house followed by a troop of dogs. Only one remained at the door.
“I’m Nick,” the boy said as he reached the van and Clint stepped out. “Josh told me to bring you inside. He’s at the grill.”
“I’m delighted to meet you, Nick,” he said formally. “And your friends.”
“I knew you would,” Nick said. “Mom suggested I leave them inside, but they wanted to meet you, too.”
“I’m very glad they did,” he said solemnly.
Nick beamed.
Stephanie followed man and boy inside and watched Clint charm the shoes off Nick, which wasn’t hard to do. Nick already worshiped his new stepfather and that was going to carry over to anyone who served in the military. To her chagrin, Clint sounded totally sincere as he talked to Nick and then bent down to let the dogs sniff his hand. Only Braveheart stood back.
It was hard to fool children and dogs. Mark had never even pretended to like dogs. That should have been a very loud warning bell, but when she’d asked him whether he had pets, he’d said he’d been too busy and it wouldn’t be fair to an animal. That had sounded logical and even animal-friendly. Get him out of your head.
Eve met them at the door, a broad smile on her face. “Welcome,” she said as the dogs sidled in alongside Clint. “I see you’ve met my motley crew.”
“I have, and I’ve had a warning about the larcenous one.”
“Just don’t take off a shoe,” Eve warned. “Would you like something to drink? A beer? Or something else.”
“A beer sounds great.”
Eve’s smile grew broader. “I’ve been anxious to meet you since Josh told me about your ‘encounter of a bovine kind’ with one of
