Always For You (Always Love Book 1) (5 page)

“Apparently not.” I thought briefly of Felicia. There wasn’t pain there anymore, if there ever had been; not even regret now. I was mostly grateful for her kindness and for her class in handling an uncomfortable situation. She deserved every bit of happiness she’d found with her new husband, and I was glad I’d gotten a chance to tell her that before I moved.

“Well, we’ve got plenty of available women here in Burton.” She ran a slow glance down my body and then back up to my face. “And I have a funny feeling that once they get a look at you, you’re going to find a bunch of single ladies whose pets suddenly need your attention.”

I grimaced. “But you’ll run interference for me, right? You won’t let them run me over?”

Maureen smirked. “Sorry, buddy, you’re on your own.”

Sighing, I reached around to tug at her ponytail. “I’ll remember that when you need someone to cover a late-night call.”

“Ah, ah, ah.” She shook her finger at me. “We’re partners. Equal time, equal pay, equal late calls.” She bumped up against me, her shoulder nudging into my chest. “But I
will
give you a hand carrying your stuff up here. I assume you have luggage or something?”

“A couple of bags. The moving truck should be here by the day after tomorrow with my furniture and crap.”

“Good. Well, until then, if you need to use my kitchen, be my guest. Just make sure you keep the specialty undies on this side of the door.”

She turned toward the stairs, but I caught her hand as she passed. “Baby, one day soon you’re going to be begging to get a look at these skivvies.”

“If and when that happens, you can do the I-told-you-so dance from your flying pig. Now come on, we need to get your bags inside. I’m going to order a pizza for our dinner, and Franco’s doesn’t deliver after eight.”

“After eight? Isn’t that a little early?”

Maureen rolled her eyes. “You’re not in Boston anymore. Welcome to Burton.”

“S
O THIS IS ONE OF
our exam rooms.” I pushed open the door and flipped on the light, illuminating the stainless steel table, wooden cabinets and linoleum floor. “We have two more, right down the hall.” I stepped inside and opened the interior door. “All the exam rooms back up to the lab and surgery suite. That way, you can easily take the patients back for tests.”

Smith grinned, taking it all in. “This is seriously awesome, Reen. I have to admit, when you told me about Dr. Yancey’s practice, I pictured an old house, with the living room doubling as the waiting area. But this is perfect.”

I laughed. “If you’d come down a few years back, that’s exactly what you’d have seen. But Dr. Yancey was open to change. When I suggested we move here, make this place over to be right for us, he was ready to go.”

“Yoo hoo!”

We both turned at the sound of the main door opening and heels clicking toward us. I leaned into the hall. “We’re back here, Millie.”

Our receptionist came around the corner, her face wreathed in smiles. “Good morning, Maureen! And this must be your Smith.” She held out both of her hands. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m Millie Sutton.”

“Millie is the real brains and energy behind this whole operation.” I glanced over my shoulder at Smith, hoping to gloss over the whole ‘
my
Smith’ part of her welcome speech. “She worked for Dr. Yancey for years and graciously agreed to continue with us after he retired.”

“And we’re tickled that you’re with us now. Poor Reenie was having to cover all the patients. With you coming on board, maybe now she can have a little bit of a life.”

I gritted my teeth. “It hasn’t been that bad, Millie.”

“Oh, honey, it has been. When’s the last time you were on a date? I can’t remember you ever having a special guy. And you’re not exactly getting any younger.”

“Okay, then!” I pasted on a smile. Who needed self-esteem, anyway? “I was just giving Smith the grand tour before hours begin. How’s it looking for today?”

“Heavy.” Millie rolled her eyes. “Good thing you’ve got help.”

“Oh.” I bit the side of my lip. “Smith just got here. His moving truck dropped off all his stuff yesterday, and I’m sure he needs to unpack.”

“I can work on that tonight. Not like I’m expecting company.” Smith dazzled Millie with a charming smile. “Can you lend me a stethoscope? I left mine at home.”

“Of course. We’ve got extra. Now, if you come up front with me, I’ll give you a quick rundown of how we chart and bill.”

The two left me, chatting like old friends. I shook my head and made my way to the office at the far end of the hall. It was a large room with two desks that faced each other; I hadn’t shown it to Smith yet, but I assumed Millie would.

I’d just sat down and opened the first file to review when my phone buzzed. Ali’s picture, with the goofy face she’d made when I’d taken it, blinked up at me.

“I’m at work.”

“Is that any way to answer your phone?”

“When I’m at work, yes.”

“But I’ve been good for days, not calling to bug you while Smith was getting settled. Now I want the juicy details. Is he still hot? What did he say when he saw you? Does he think
you’re
still hot?”

“Good God, Ali. You’re making this whole situation into a much bigger deal than it is. Smith got here, everything’s good. He loves the apartment. His stuff arrived yesterday, and today I showed him around the office. Millie put him right to work. What else do you need to know?”

“Did he kiss you?”

“Yes.” I paused for dramatic effect. “On the cheek. When he said goodnight.”

“Reenie! You know what I mean. Does he have a girlfriend?”

“Not that I know of. As a matter of fact, he said he was still single and looking.”

“Fabulous. He won’t have to look very far, will he?”

“Ali.” I leaned over to look out the door and make sure Smith wasn’t skulking in this end of the hallway. “You need to stop. Smith came here for a fresh start, and I’m so grateful he did. If he hadn’t agreed to go in with me on buying the practice, I’d have had to move. In case you’ve forgotten, there’s only one veterinarian office in Burton.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But Maureen, it’s like . . . what’s that called . . . kismet! Like it’s meant to be. The two of you back together after all these years, both of you single, after the way you felt about him back then . . . I still remember the emails you sent me. And the phone calls. You practically had an orgasm every time the man walked down your hall. I don’t mean that metaphorically, by the way. I mean your dorm hall. Not your lady hall.”

I shook my head. “Ali, I don’t even know what that means—and don’t try to explain,” I hastened to add as she started to speak again. “I was a kid. He was a college crush. He was the first guy I really fell for. But we were friends then, and we’re friends now, and that’s all it is. Are we clear? If you come over, are you going to be able to handle being an adult around him, or do I have to speak to my brother?”

“Ha.” Ali huffed out the word. “Like that’s going to change anything. I’m not afraid of Flynn.”

It was true. My brother was so completely gone over his wife that he’d probably end up taking her side and joining in on Operation Embarrass Maureen In Front of Smith. I swiveled my chair away from the door and lowered my voice. “Whatever. Listen, Ali. I’m being dead serious here. I know you mean well, but if you try to push things between us, it’ll end up backfiring. Smith will be uncomfortable if he finds out how I feel. How I felt, I mean. Back then. In college. And I need him both as a partner here at the clinic and as my tenant at the house. If he thinks I’m looking for more, he’ll feel like he either has to ante up or leave. So please, don’t put Smith in that position.”

“Put Smith in what position?”

The deep voice made me jump, and my heart skipped. I spun around, my hand flying to my chest. “God, Smith, you scared me to death! Don’t sneak up like that.”

He smirked. “I didn’t sneak up. I came down the hall like a normal person. Millie sent me down to check out my office and to pick up a file from your desk. Fleming? The dog’s name is Sylvester.”

“Oh, yeah, I have it here.” I flipped through the pile and found the right one. “Here you go.”

He took the folder but didn’t move. Instead, he eased his ass onto one corner of my desk. “You didn’t answer my first question. What position do you not want me put in?”

I became suddenly aware that Ali had gone very quiet on the other end of the phone. Listening, I was sure. Mentally, I snarled at her a line of curse words that would have sent my mother into permanent catatonia.

“Uh, sorry. I’m talking to my sister-in-law.” I pointed to the phone in case he didn’t understand what I was saying. “And she . . .” I cast my mind wildly for any plausible explanation.

“Tell him I wanted to invite him to dinner tonight, but because he’s not moved in yet, you were afraid he’d feel pressured to do something he didn’t want to do.” Ali supplied me with an excuse.

“Uh, she’s having a dinner tonight, and she wanted me to ask you to come, too. But I know you need to unpack and get settled, so I told her not to put you in the position of having to say no.”

Smith raised his eyebrows. “For real? I’d love to go and meet your friends.” He grinned and used the folder to bop me on the head. “What’s this obsession with me unpacking? I promise, I won’t live in boxes forever. Please, wicked stepmother, may I go to the ball tonight?”

On the other end of the phone, Ali giggled. “I like this guy already. Okay, party at the farm tonight. I’ll call Meghan and tell her she’s having company.”

I pasted on a smile and put the phone down for a minute. “Of course you can do whatever you want to do. I just didn’t want you to feel pressured. Ali says she can’t wait to meet you.”

“Excellent. I’ll get the details from you later.” He shot me a grin over his shoulder and walked away, leaving me with an enticing view of his very fine backside.

“Ali, as God is my witness, I’m going to kill you.” I hissed the words into the phone.

She laughed. “No, you’re not. You’re going to bring your new friend to the farm tonight and let us all check him out. And when the two of you get it together and officially become snuggle bunnies, you can thank me.” She was quiet for a minute. “Now Meghan, she may kill me. I hope she and my brother didn’t have plans tonight.”

“This whole mess is your idea. Why don’t you have it at your house?” Ali and Flynn had built a small house on the Reynolds’ farm property, and they lived there during the months they lived in Burton.

“I don’t have the room. Not for ten people.”

“When did this dinner get to be ten people?” I counted possible guests in my head.

“I can’t have a dinner party without inviting Rilla and Mason. And they’ll bring Piper. I wonder if Mason can get away from the bar tonight. I need to call Rilla.”

“Is she going to want to come out? She’s weeks away from delivering.”

“Yeah, and Mason is like a crazy man, he’s so protective of her. Well, I’ll just have Flynn drive her out here if Mason’s working. Let’s say seven, okay? I gotta go call Meghan.”

And she was gone. I held the phone in front of me, staring at it, feeling like this day had just spun out of my control.

“Tell me who’s going to be there tonight. Who’s going to be checking me out?”