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“We can both take cold showers,” she said, turning to take the plates to the kitchen.
Justin left after they walked Brulee, and then she locked everything up and sat on the porch, with the rest of the wine and the horses as company, and called Kelly.
***
Earlier that afternoon, Amber had arrived at the vet clinic shortly after one. Kelly and Maggie had left, and Ted and his assistant, Gerald, were cleaning up after the rough delivery of twin lambs. “I only know two things about sheep,” the farmer had said. “They’re either well or they’re dead. This lady has been in labor for a full day, so I’m not taking any chances.”
After delivery, the sheep was fine with her twin lambs, and the farmer was going to take them home the next day. The baaing of sheep added a new twist to the barn, along with horses and donkeys, alpacas and llamas. And with the cages of cats in the trailer, their mewing as well.
“Gosh, this is just like a vet clinic,” Amber said, deadpan, and Ted laughed out loud. “It’s a vet clinic all right. By the way, if you know of anyone looking for a cat…”
“Oh yeah, I’ve got a ton of friends just crazy for another friggin’ cat.”
Appointments came and filled the reception area, and Ted and Amber went from room to room while Gerald saw patients on the other side of the clinic. Amber wasn’t exactly Ted’s usual type. She was tall and buxom and intimidating. The inseam of her jeans had to be forty inches long, and when she was standing in cowboy boots with her hip thrown to the side, he could imagine her naked with those long legs wrapped around his waist. He counted backwards from ten if she stood too close, and wondered how he’d survive the day at the rate they were going. As soon as he could, he handed the rest of the patients over to Gerald, got in the truck, and drove like a maniac to Bayou Cottage.
He wasn’t aware that Maggie didn’t have a car, so when he arrived and the gate was shut and no car was in sight, a flood of depression washed over him. Then he saw the dock. He got out of his truck and hopped the fence. The cottage was an old place, bordering on ramshackle, with a state-of-the-art satellite dish on the roof and a brand-new screened-in porch, the red tones of the wood contrasting with the gray weathered cottage. He looked out to the water and saw the dock and a rope hanging on a hook on the mooring, revealing she boated around. It wasn’t uncommon in those parts.
Checking his watch, he didn’t have anything better to do than wait for her to return. Twenty minutes later, two boats pulled up to the dock, Maggie and the old, grizzled dockmaster. The reception wasn’t what he’d expected. Minimally, he thought she’d be at least cordial since he was the other vet in town. And because Gus was there, he couldn’t even lie and accuse her of coming on to him.
Climbing over her gate, the retreat to his truck was humiliating, but more, it was maddening. But he was going to try to deal with it, aware that a heightening of a previously diagnosed mental illness could be responsible for his irrational behavior. The fine edge between fantasy and reality blurred in and out for Ted. Somehow, he’d try to stay on the lucid side the greater amount of time.
Justin Chastain would demand that he do so.
At eight that night, lights swept through the windows and stopped at the gate. Setting aside a string of Christmas lights he was attempting to untangle, Ted saw the lights and stood in the window, drinking a bottle of American Blond. If it was an animal emergency, the driver would call him, but the house phone was silent. His private cell phone lit up with a familiar number.
Buddy, we need to talk.
A hot flash of epic proportion flooded over his body. He went to the door and pushed the gate button, watching it swing open. The front door faced the parking area, and he stood there with his bottle, waiting.
The red pickup shined even in the dark. How Justin always kept his truck sparkling was legendary. Unfolding his long body, Justin climbed out of the cab, giving Ted the chills for the fear it induced. The reason for the visit was obvious and couldn’t be good.
“What were you thinking?” Justin called out, walking toward the house.
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” he said, standing aside so Justin could pass through.
“You scared the crap out of her.”
“For that I am truly sorry.”
“Why’d you do it?”
“Do you want a beer?”
“No, Ted. What’d you think you were going to accomplished going to her house? That was insane.”
They stood apart from each other in the spacious, dimly lit great room, the contents of the boxes stacked in the center revealed by sparkling ornaments and strings of lights spilling out. A tall fake Christmas tree stood in the corner, next to a cold fireplace.
“I just wanted to get to know her, that’s all,” Ted said. “It was stupid, I know that.”
“You’ll make trouble for her with Kelly, you know that too, right?”
“No one’s supposed to know about that,” Ted muttered, leaning over to turn a lamp on. The dim light did little to take the edge off the depressing atmosphere.
“Maggie told me you were kissing each other in front of her. That doesn’t leave much to the imagination. And you’re both single. Why the secrecy?”
“She’s got a kid,” he said. “I don’t want children. And her reputation isn’t what I want for the clinic.”
“Wait. You’re keeping it quiet because you’re a snob?” Justin barked out a laugh. “Ted, I don’t know if you’ve looked in the mirror lately, but you need to reexamine your life. You’re acting like a nutcase. Get some help. And stay away from Maggie’s place and Maggie, or I’m getting Dave involved.”
