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“That must have been it.” That, and the total adoration in Katie’s eyes when she’d looked up at him, as if she couldn’t even comprehend such a wonderful gift.
“I’m still mad at him for hurting you in high school, but watching how sweet he is with that little girl has restored my faith in men. Maybe there are a few guys around who are capable of commitment and fatherhood.”
From the other side of the stainless steel table, Francie wiggled an eyebrow as she swabbed the beagle’s belly with a povidone-iodine solution. “Who knows? Zach might have changed enough over the years that he could be a good prospect.”
“Francie!”
“Just a thought. But hey, tell him you can’t go. Then tell him your beautiful, sensuous, and very intelligent friend happens to be available instead.”
“I can’t.” Her Bard-Parker Number 15 scalpel poised, Dana measured off two finger-widths distal to the dog’s navel, then started the first, careful midline incision through the skin, then through the subcutaneous tissue. “Molly and Alex are excited about helping Ben babysit Katie for the evening, and now it’s too late to cancel.” She glanced up at the clock and sighed. “It’s already five o’clock.”
Francie laughed. “You make this sound like a dreaded dental appointment.”
“He insisted he owed me a dinner for helping him out, and said he just wanted to be a good neighbor. What could I say?”
“No?”
“He looked so...so earnest.”
But that hadn’t been it at all. An electric fence couldn’t have given her a greater jolt than she’d felt the moment she first saw him again. The mesmerizing appeal he’d had as a teenager was nothing compared to what he possessed now.
“Earnest, huh?” Francie gave her a knowing grin.
“He said he hoped there were no hard feelings between us. Refusing would have made it seem like I’d held some sort of torch for him all these years—or like I’d been so pathetically in love that I never forgave him.”
Which had been the case, for more years than she’d ever admit. It scared her even now. Long after the heartbreak and initial anger, he’d dominated her dreams and filled her thoughts, until she might have given everything she owned just to see him one more time.
With a history like that, she needed to keep her distance, not play with fire.
“To tell you the truth, I couldn’t take your place tonight, anyway.”
“Do you have a date with Jack? Or Kip?” Dana laughed, thankful for a switch of topics. “I swear, I can’t keep up with you and your guys.”
“Jack is history—said he’s going back to his ex-wife. Kip’s cast came off and he’s back on the rodeo circuit, so he probably won’t be back for months. One of these days I’m going to find a keeper, and that cowboy isn’t going to get away.”
“Who’s your best prospect now?”
“I don’t have one.” Francie checked the pulse oximeter monitor, then pressed a finger against the dog’s gingiva to check capillary refill time. “She’s at 85 percent oxygenation. You want me to decrease the anesthesia a little?”
“Let’s go with one percent for now, and increase the oxygen flow.”
Francie adjusted the settings. “Got it.” Her breezy tone softened. “Gil Tabor asked me to go out dancing tonight. Remember him? We dated a few years ago and it just didn’t work out, so here’s to second chances.”
Dana carefully isolated one of the dog’s ovaries. After clamping off the blood supply, she removed the ovary and then began ligating blood vessels. “If I remember right, he was an awfully nice guy.”
The phone starting ringing in the front office. “Are you okay in here?”
Dana nodded without looking up. “Go ahead.”
Stripping off her gloves, Francie went up front to answer the phone. In a few minutes she returned to the door of the surgery. “The Walters’ place. One of their cows went through a fence, and has several full-thickness lacerations on the chest and forelegs. She needs sutures.”
“Did she nick any significant arteries?”
“They’ve got the bleeding under control, but Pete wants you out there as soon as possible. He says this is one of his best cows.”
“That’s what he always says. Tell them I’ll be out as soon as I finish here. Twenty minutes, tops.” Dana completed the procedure, then checked for any intra-abdominal bleeding before suturing the layers of tissue back in place. “I may have to cancel my evening plans after all.”
“As if you’d be sorry.” Francie helped move the dog into a clean pen. “Honestly, barring any further emergency calls, you should be done in plenty of time.”
