Читать книгу The Perfect Couple - Valerie Hansen - Страница 11

Susan giggled. “Well, well. What have we here?”

“Not what it looks like,” Kara countered. “Mr. Corbett found an injured dog and we were…I was…just setting its broken leg.”

“Okay. If you say so.” Susan laid the pizza box on a chair and stepped up to the table so she could steady the puppy. It licked her hand and she smiled down at it.

“I do say so,” Kara insisted, stripping off her latex gloves and dropping them in the trash. “If I'd known you were coming back tonight, I'd have waited till you were here to help.”

“Looks like you did okay without me.” Her eyebrows arched as she glanced over Kara's shoulder at the flustered man who was doing his best to appear unconcerned. He'd thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans, hiding them as if they might be considered evidence against him.

Now that the atmosphere in the small room was no longer romantic, Kara was easily able to resume her professional bearing. “Give that a few more minutes to set,” she told Susan, gesturing at the puppy, “then put him in one of the empty cages up here. I want him close so I can observe him tonight, just in case he has internal injuries, too.”

Tyler spoke up. “You're going to stay here? All night?”

“She does that all the time,” Susan explained. “That's why I brought the pizza. I figured she'd need something to eat besides the one brownie left over from lunch.”

“I didn't mean for you to have to go to so much extra trouble,” Tyler said, addressing Kara. “I just didn't know what else to do with him. Once I spotted him, I couldn't drive off and let him die. I wouldn't have brought him here if there'd been any other vet hospital close by.”

“Of course you wouldn't,” she said, trying to ignore the implication.

“I didn't mean it like that.”

“Don't apologize,” she said flatly. “And don't worry about me. I have a couch in my office where I sleep whenever I have to stay over. I'll be fine.” She turned her attention to the drowsy pup. “He looks good so far. I'll check on him every hour or so till I'm sure he's going to be all right.”

Susan was glancing around the room. “Where's the paperwork?”

“Well…” Kara's expression was apologetic. “Would you believe we didn't get around to making any?”

“In a heartbeat,” Susan said. She looked to Tyler. “I'll need a name to put on the cage for identification. What do you call him?”

He drew the fingers of one hand down his cheeks to his chin, thinking. “All I've called him so far is 'Road Kill.'”

“Okay,” she said. “Road Kill Corbett, it is.”

Kara interrupted. “You can't give that poor little innocent thing a name like that.”

“Why not?” Tyler was grinning broadly, obviously pleased with his witty selection.

The boastful look on his face did something strange to Kara's usually even disposition, making her decide to say exactly what she was thinking. “Because it isn't fair. What's he ever done to deserve a terrible slur like that?”

“You mean besides get hit by a car and nearly die?” Tyler's brows knit above deep-brown eyes that punctuated the question.

“Oh, that,” she said sweetly, smugly. “I didn't mean the Road Kill part. I meant Corbett.“

“I thought he was never going to close his mouth,” Susan said, smiling at her sister as they got the puppy settled in his cage and went back to straighten up the exam room together. “Did you see the look on the poor man's face?”

“See it? I'll never forget it. It was all I could do to keep from busting up laughing. If he hadn't stormed out of here when he did, I might have exploded!”

“I couldn't believe you had the nerve to say something like that in the first place. What came over you?”

“I don't know. I guess he made me mad when he told us he only came here because he had no other choice. I wasn't very Christian, was I?”

“No. But the whole situation sure was funny.”

“It was, wasn't it?” She grew thoughtful. “When, exactly, did you decide I needed a pizza?”

“On my way home. Why?”

“Oh, no reason.”

“Come on, Kara. We've been sisters for too long. You can't hide stuff from me and you know it. Fess up. Why is the pizza important?”

She busied herself wiping down the stainless steel table as she answered, “I just thought it might have been the answer to a prayer. But the timing's wrong. I didn't even ask for anything until long after you decided to come back.”

“It could still be an answer.”

“I don't see how.”

Susan put her arm around her sister's shoulders. “Because God knows what we need before we even ask Him.” She stopped being serious and added, “Although, I must say, I've never asked Him to get me a pizza before.”

“That wasn't what I prayed for.”

“I figured as much. What was it you wanted? Me?”

“Sort of. I wasn't that specific.”

“Then what?”

“You're not going to drop this subject till I tell you, are you?”

“Nope.”

Kara made a face at her. “Okay. I'd prayed for a little help. That's all.”

“With the puppy?” Puzzled, Susan studied her.

“Something like that.” A blush warmed Kara's cheeks. She turned away, hoping Susan hadn't noticed, but she had.

“What? Tell me. Maybe I can help?”

Kara was sorely tempted to make up a problem rather than have to let Susan in on the truth. Instead, she opted for honesty. “I just wasn't comfortable with the situation, that's all.”

“Because of Tyler Corbett? You weren't afraid of him, were you? Oh, don't be. Mark says he was so goofy in love with his late wife that he won't even look at another woman. The man's branded for life.”

Kara understood completely. All her emotions blended together when she remembered Alex.

I won't ever let myself be hurt like that again, she vowed. Not ever again.

Susan had gone, leaving Kara to her thoughts and sole ownership of the now lukewarm pizza. Taking a piece of it with her, she strolled out to the waiting room to look over her practice and assess it while she ate.

Alex's death had left her with a lot of unpaid bills she hadn't expected. Most of those accounts had been settled but there was still the day-to-day running of the hospital to consider. Overhead like that wasn't cheap.

Susan had taken one look at the books and offered to work for no wages. Kara had insisted she be paid. As soon as they could afford to add another warm body, they planned to get a kennel boy—or girl—to keep the runs and cages clean. Until then, they shared the dirty work, too.

Sighing, she switched off the office light. Darkness had frightened Kara before she'd married Alex. After a few months with him, however, she'd welcomed the dark as a place to hide whenever he got so angry he lost control and began screaming at her. Living with him had been like sharing her life with a time bomb.

She was about to return to check on her latest patient when she saw headlights and the shadow of a truck bearing down on the glassed-in front of the animal hospital.

Startled, she stepped back just in case the driver misjudged the distance and didn't stop in time. Whoever it was, he sure was in a hurry. She wasn't up to tackling another emergency. Yet she knew she wouldn't—couldn't—turn anyone away.

The truck slid to a halt in a shower of mud reflected in the outside light. Someone jumped out and ran up the steps to the porch.

Kara dropped the slice of pizza into the trash, reached for her keys, and headed for the door. When she looked up she was face-to-face with Tyler Corbett. He was waving a white slip of paper.

She unlocked the door.

He burst through, his boots thudding on the tile floor. “I thought you didn't answer the door at night.”

“I do when I can see who it is. What's wrong?” She followed him down the hall.

When he got to the place where light from her office illuminated the paper in his hand he stopped and whirled to face her. “This,” he said, waving the paper.

Kara stood her ground. “Well, if you'll hold it still, I'll take a look.”

“You don't have to look, Doctor,” he said, exaggerating her title. “You sent it to me.”

“I what?” Suddenly, she realized what he had to be holding. Except he couldn't be. Not yet. Susan had only put the monthly statements in the mail that evening.

“Whoa,” Kara said firmly. “That's impossible.”

“Oh? Then what's this?”

“Well, it looks like one of our bills but it can't be. The postal service isn't that good.”

“This didn't come in the mail,” Tyler said. “It was hand delivered.” He unfolded the bill and held it up in front of her face. “Look at the part on the bottom. If you wanted me to pay for the puppy's care up front, you should have said so when I was here, not fired off a new bill before I even had a chance to drive all the way home!”

Susan. Kara's shoulders sagged. Of course. Her sister knew how badly she needed to keep her accounts current and in a fit of efficiency, she'd changed Tyler Corbett's bill to reflect the latest charges and hand delivered it to him, rather than put it in the mail with the others.

“I'm really sorry,” Kara said. “She…we… shouldn't have done that.”

“Well, you're right about that.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of crumpled money, thrusting it at her. “Here. Consider this a down payment. If there are more charges before the dog gets well, I'll pay whatever it costs. In spite of what you seem to think, I'm not a deadbeat.”

“This isn't necessary.” Cupping the bills in both hands so she wouldn't drop them, she realized she was trembling. “You can write me a check later. When everything's done.”

“No way, lady. I came here to pay up and I intend to do just that. Your brother-in-law works for me, remember? The last thing I need is to have my foreman think I'm dishonest.”

“I'm sorry. I'll see that Susan doesn't do anything like this again,” Kara promised, chagrined. Her voice grew more faint. “It wasn't fair.”

That sincerely apologetic attitude gave Tyler pause. The woman wasn't acting nearly as mercenary as he'd imagined she would. She hadn't even pocketed the money he'd shoved at her.

He had an attack of conscience. “I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to scare you.”

“You didn't,” she said.

“Then why are you shaking?”

Kara stood taller, her chin jutting out, and alibied, “I'm probably just hungry.”

“Didn't you eat that pizza?”

“I managed half a slice before you got here.”

“Well, no wonder you're shaky. Come on.” Without waiting for her consent, he ushered her into her office where the open pizza box rested in plain sight atop a file cabinet. He took the money from her hands, tossed it onto her desk and said, “You go wash up. I'll wait here.”

“That's not necessary,” Kara insisted. “I'm fine.”

“No, you're not. And it's my fault. First I made you work overtime, then I kept you from enjoying your dinner.” He scanned the office. “Got a microwave?”

“In the back. I use it to warm food for some of the animals.” The wary look on his face made her smile in spite of her unsteadiness. “It's perfectly clean if that's what you're worried about. Anyway, I prefer my pizza cold.”

“Good. Me, too. Go wash up while I find us some napkins.”

“Us?”

Tyler shot her a lopsided smile. “If you don't mind, I'll join you. I was so busy blowing my stack I forgot to eat. I've just realized I'm famished.”

Kara shrugged. “Sure. Why not?” Taking a deep, settling breath she left the room. There was no way she could tell anyone, especially not Tyler Corbett, why she'd been trembling. Hunger had nothing to do with it. When he'd burst in and shouted at her, her panicked response had been instinctive. Fresh fear had taken control. Alex's legacy of intimidation lived on.

After two years, she'd thought she was through being frightened. Tonight, when Tyler had confronted her, uncalled-for dread had returned as if it had never left.

Procrastinating, she splashed water on her face at the bathroom sink and stared into the mirror. “I'm going to be okay,” she said to the image. “I'm smart and capable and I can make it on my own. It doesn't matter what Alex thought. He can't hurt me anymore.”

And God loves you, she heard echoing in her head, in her heart. Kara nodded as she reached for a towel to dry her face. Remembering that she was a child of God was the most important part of her ongoing healing. It was His opinion that was important. No one else's counted.

“I looked in on Road Kill while you were gone,” Tyler said. “He's asleep. I watched and he's breathing fine.”

“I know. I checked him just before you charged in.”

Tyler shrugged. “Yeah, well, I'm sorry about that. I'd had a pretty rough day. I had to throw away my favorite shirt and I'll probably have to give up my good jacket, too, thanks to the mess he made of it when I was trying to keep him warm.”

“You don't need to throw the clothes away. A little household hydrogen peroxide will get rid of those stains. I use it all the time.” She walked over to the file cabinet and picked up the flat, white pizza box, then returned to him and held it out. “Here. Help yourself. I could never eat all this anyway.”

“Are you positive? Now that I think about it, I feel kind of bad about inviting myself.”

“Nonsense. Somebody has to clean up the leftovers. If it hadn't been you, it would have been someone else.”

Tyler took one slice and laid it on a paper towel. “You mean you have a steady stream of clients pounding on your door at all hours, begging for food?”

“Not as a rule. I was thinking of my dogs at home. They love leftovers.” She placed the box on her desk and served herself.

“I'm taking food out of the mouths of your pets?”

“I won't tell if you don't. Besides, this has pepperoni on it. It doesn't agree with them.”

“Oh, I get it.” He started to smile. “Protect the dogs by feeding the spicy stuff to the testy client.”

“Something like that.” Circling the desk she plopped down in the leather chair and leaned back, pizza in hand. It was strange to be sharing an impromptu meal with a man again. The fact that they were alone in her office, the office that used to belong to Alex, made the encounter seem even more bizarre.

With that thought, Kara's appetite vanished. She laid the pizza aside on a paper towel and tried to suppress a shiver. Tyler Corbett wasn't acting at all intimidating. Yet she found herself nervous, as if an obscure threat lurked in the otherwise tranquil environment.

Thoughts of her late husband continued to intrude and refused to go away. Alex wouldn't have liked her eating at this desk. His desk. Alex wouldn't have approved of sharing a meal with a client, either, even if the person was also a friend. And he'd have been absolutely furious if she'd opened the door after hours and welcomed a man who'd once threatened a lawsuit. A man like the one casually perched on the edge of the desk across from her. Her mouth went dry in response to her mental rambling.

Tyler noticed Kara's psychological retreat. One minute she'd been fine. The next, she was looking at him as if he were an escaped criminal, ready to hold a knife at her throat. As far as he could tell he hadn't done anything to trigger that kind of reaction, except raise his voice when he'd arrived. Surely, that couldn't be what was bothering her now. She'd seemed normal enough, even friendly, once he'd apologized.

Tyler got to his feet and wiped his hands on a paper towel. “Well, I guess I should be going.” He expected Kara to observe polite custom and disagree before finally giving in when he insisted on leaving.

Instead, she stood and headed for the office door. “That's probably a good idea.”

Dumbfounded, he stared after her. “Who put the burr under your saddle?”

“No one.” Starting down the hall she called back, “I'll unlock the front for you.”

There was nothing more to say. Tyler grabbed his hat and coat and stomped out the glass door as soon as she'd jerked it open. He strode quickly to his truck. Kara Shepherd might be good with animals but she sure lacked the normal social graces where people were concerned. No wonder she'd stuck with that underhanded bum she'd married. They'd been perfect for each other.

Tyler jammed the truck in reverse and floored it. It didn't matter what that woman thought of him. After all, she was Shepherd's widow. The widow of the swindler who had cost him the health of his herd and nearly ruined everything he and Deanne had worked for.

He swung onto the highway. It would be just fine with him if he never had to deal with Dr. Kara Shepherd again, personally or professionally. And as soon as he got Road Kill bailed out, that was exactly how it was going to be.

Kara maintained her composure until Tyler was gone. Then she collapsed against the wall, hugging herself. What was it about her that brought out the worst in men? First her father. Then Alex. And now…

She wanted to weep, to wail, to wallow in self-pity. Blinking, she waited for the flood of tears that usually accompanied such poignant retrospection.

Nothing happened! No hysteria, no devastating gloom, not even one solitary tear.

Kara was astounded. She took a deep, slow breath. She was healing! The nightmare was finally coming to an end.

Overcome with a sense of God's presence she closed her eyes, lifted her hands in praise and accepted the gift with a whispered, “Oh, thank you, Father.”

The simple prayer didn't begin to express the soul-deep joy suddenly filling her heart. Peace flowed over her, enveloping her in the warmth of her Heavenly Father's abiding, miraculous love.