Page 109 of Bailey

Bailey looked that way too, and Lark paused to meet her eyes. Then she darted to the open doorway. Bailey had worked in Helena at the beginning of her veterinary career before establishing her practice in Butte, and she dealt with plenty of unhappy farmers and ranchers—usually not on a Monday near lunchtime, but anything was possible when men’s tempers ran with beloved pets.

Lark wore a dark look for a moment. Then she said, “Oh, it’s just Reeves.” She turned and grinned at Bailey. “It looks like he brought lunch.”

Bailey smiled, though she hadn’t been expecting Reeves for lunch today. The man had had a very busy weekend, and he’d told her that he had plenty of computer work ahead of him to edit the camping-thunderstorm video.

He didn’t like giving away too much information about where he lived in the Teton Mountains, as there were a lot of small towns spread out between Jackson and Cheyenne. His bio said that he lived in the “wilds of Wyoming” and nothing more, and Bailey liked that he’d kept so much of his personal life private.

“See you later, Bailey,” Lark said, and she made an exit only a few seconds before Reeves ducked into the office.

“Oh, good, you’re in here,” he said. He didn’t smile, and while he was carrying bags, they weren’t the kind that would hold something delicious for lunch. Alarms went off in Bailey’s head, only getting louder when Reeves removed the doorstop and let her door swing closed.

“What’s going on?” She nodded to the plastic bag in his hand, and he looked at it as if he hadn’t realized he’d been holding it. He dropped it to the floor and sank into a chair, both hands moving up to his face, where he wiped them down his beard, and then removed his cowboy hat and pushed his fingers through all that glorious hair.

“There’s a swap meet down at the big red barn.” His eyes came to hers. “It had tons of stuff—tools, farm equipment, lawn mowers, all kinds of stuff from different ranches, stores, whatever.”

“Okay,” Bailey said, because she intellectually knew what a swap meet entailed, though she hadn’t known there was one happening at the big red barn.

“So I went,” he said. “Because I saw on social media that someone was going to have a big table saw, and I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at furniture making, and I’ve got another barn I want to build.”

Bailey waited, though she suspected she knew where this story was headed.

“Anyway, I got the saw, and I thought about stopping for lunch, but I pull off at the Sip and Stay, and they only have pastries.”

“Yes,” Bailey said, because she was well-versed with the coffee shop about a half-mile from the clinic.

“Anyway, I thought there were a couple of guys following me at the swap meet, but I didn’t think it was a big deal. Then they showed up at the Sip and Stay too.”

Bailey frowned and folded her arms.

Reeves wore a look of urgency on his face, and she sure didn’t like it. “Anyway, I got my coffee and left, and then I realized that they came out only a few seconds later—no coffee, no pastries. So they were definitely following me, and since your clinic is right here, I just turned off and came in.”

He exhaled heavily, and no Bailey didn’t like this new development.

“I’m pretty sure they’re out in the lobby.”

Bailey looked toward her closed door, almost expecting someone to knock and demand to see Reeves. She lifted her phone and dialed one-two-one, which would take her to the front desk.

“Yes, hello, Doctor McAllister,” Leslie answered after only one ring.

“Do we have men in the lobby who shouldn’t be there?” Bailey asked, her eyes never leaving Reeves’s. She pressed the speaker button so he could hear Leslie.

“Yes, ma’am,” the receptionist said. “Kayla talked to them, but they said they didn’t mean anything bad. They just want to talk to Reeves.”

“I’ve already talked to them,” Reeves said, as

“She went to get Caleb,” Leslie added. “Because we’re not really sure what’s going on. Reeves sort of…just shouted as he ran through the lobby, but he said they were following him, and he didn’t want to go home, because he didn’t want them to know where he lived.”

“I’ll call the police,” Bailey said as calmly as she could. “Thank you, Leslie.” Her thoughts moved in a million different directions, because she’d only had to call the police one other time in her life. “Will you tell Caleb to leave it for now, please, unless they’re causing a ruckus?”

“No, ma’am, they’re not,” Leslie said, her voice lowering. “They’re just sitting in the cat waiting area.”

“Okay, then I’ll handle it.” Bailey barely heard Leslie say, “Thank you,” before she reset the receiver in the cradle. She immediately picked it up again and had to move the light blue folder Lark had brought in with the blood test results to find the list of non-emergency numbers she’d taped next to her phone.

She saw some crazy things in her veterinary care, some of which she had to report to the police. She dialed the non-emergency number.

“I’m really sorry,” Reeves said. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

Bailey looked at him again. “I wouldn’t want people following me home either.” The line rang. “Heck, I don’t want them following you home. I live right next door to you.”