Chapter 8
eight
. . .
Cage
“So we agree, it’s time to get Mr. Wigglestein neutered. Go ahead and make the appointment up front with Kate.” I pushed to my feet because I wasn’t going to spend one more minute discussing this with her.
It was ridiculous at this point.
The little horndog had the whole town in a fucking uproar, and everyone wanted to take it up with me. My phone was ringing off the hook, and the dog didn’t even belong to me.
“Well,” Mrs. Remington said as she stood and smiled down at the Don Juan of Cottonwood Cove. “Isn’t this a little barbaric? Maybe I should do a little more research.”
Really?
Your dog is the horniest fucking pug on the planet.
Remove his fucking testicles and call it a day.
“Mrs. Remington, there are Wanted signs hanging on posts downtown with a photo of Mr. Wigglestein’s face. You’ve had several opportunities to keep him contained, yet you continue to let him run free. The only responsible choice at this time is to neuter him.”
“You mean castrate him,” she huffed.
“I mean, stop him from impregnating all the female dogs in town.”
“Why don’t they get their dogs fixed?” She stormed toward the front office.
It always ended the same way. We’d have a nice therapy session about the situation, and then she’d get worked up on her way out the door and change her mind in the end.
“Most of the dogs that are currently carrying little Wigglesteins aren’t even of age to be fixed.
You are allowing your dog to go to the dog park unleashed and mount every dog he comes into contact with.
It has already been reported to animal control, and at some point, this is going to become a legal matter.
” There, I said it. I’d threaten her ass to get her to just agree to make the appointment before someone put a hit out on the little dude.
I crossed my arms over my chest and raised a brow.
“I hope no one ever castrates you, Dr. Reynolds,” she snipped.
“Well, I hope they don’t either. But I’m not mounting non-consenting women in the park, am I?”
That didn’t sound right. It wasn’t like I was mounting consenting women anywhere, but that was beside the point.
“Fine. But I want you to do it,” she said as she looked at me. “I will not allow anyone else to touch Mr. Wigglestein’s testicles.”
Who the fuck else would do it?
“Consider it done.”
I’d take a lot of pride in ending Casanova’s reign over all the bitches in Cottonwood Cove.
She made the appointment for next week, and I waved goodbye as Kate burst out in laughter once Mrs. Remington was out the door.
“The day in the life of a small-town animal doctor,” she said as the office phone rang.
“Anyone calling to discuss Mr. Wigglestein is not to get passed through to me. Tell them we have it under control. I need to go get Gracie in twenty minutes, so I’m heading out soon.”
“You got it,” she said as she answered the phone, and I started down the hall. “Oh, let me check with him.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose because I hadn’t even made it the ten feet to my office, and I wasn’t in the mood for anything more today.
“Hey, Doc!” she shouted.
“I’m already gone,” I grumped.
“It’s Presley Duncan, and she sounds upset.”
“I’ll take it in my office.” I sat down and picked up the phone. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Of course.” Her voice quaked. “I, um, I hate to do this, but I need a favor.”
“Tell me.”
“I took Honey out this morning for the first time, and she was really off. Lethargic and tired. I’ve noticed she’s lost some weight, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen her, so I thought maybe it was due to her age.”
“Doesn’t your dad have a private equestrian doctor that he flies here from the city weekly?
” I knew this because he’d come to me about working for him when I’d first moved back to town, but I couldn’t run this practice and take care of his ranch.
Not when I was balancing a newborn at the time, as well.
“Yeah, Dr. Flank was here, and he completely ignored my concern. He said she’s old and that this happens.
But I asked Butch about her, and he said she hadn’t been eating or drinking much in the last two weeks.
He shared it with Dr. Flank, as well. Yet the guy doesn’t appear to be concerned at all!
” Her voice cracked on the last word, and I could tell she was getting worked up.
Presley was always in control of her emotions, unless it involved her horses. She was fiercely protective, but she also knew a whole lot about them, and she wouldn’t be concerned if there wasn’t reason to be.
“Any other symptoms?” I asked as I closed my computer and reached for my keys.
“Aside from her not eating or drinking, I’ve noticed that she’s drooling a lot, and her mucus appears to be tinged with blood.”
“Stay with her and keep her comfortable until I get there. I’ve got to grab Gracie from school, so I’ll need to bring her with me.”
“You’re coming here?”
“Is that not why you called?” I asked dryly.
“I thought you’d give me some medical advice. I didn’t mean to pull you away from work.”
“I’m done here for the day. I can’t assess her over the phone. I have an idea what it is, but I can’t be certain until I come and look at her for myself.”
“Thank you. I can watch Gracie while you examine her.”
That same sharp pain hit me square in the chest again. It was my gut warning me to back the fuck off. Seeing her with Wes the other night had me on edge. They’d left together, so who the hell knew what that meant. Maybe they were staying together.
At the end of the day, she wouldn’t be here long. Whether she stayed with her asshole ex or not, her life was not here. It was important that I remembered that. And being around her again after all these years had me feeling completely out of control.
I’d been ready to knock her ex the fuck out.
I had Gracie to think about now. I couldn’t act recklessly.
“I’ll see you soon.”
I made my way out of the office and picked up Gracie from school. She talked a mile a minute from the moment she was buckled up in the back seat, just like she always did.
“This isn’t the way to our house, Daddy. Where are we going?”
“Do you remember that friend of mine that you met the other day?”
She started clapping her hands. “Presley? Of course, I remember her. She shares your heart with me.”
I thought kids were supposed to be fucking forgetful. Why did mine have to be the one that remembered every single thing she’d ever heard?
“Listen, Gracie girl… You’ve got my whole heart. We’ve got to stop by Presley’s family’s ranch to check on a horse that isn’t feeling well. How about we don’t talk about Daddy’s heart while we’re there because I’m working, okay?”
“You can’t talk about your heart at work?”
“I’d rather not,” I said as I pulled down the long driveway and headed toward the barn.
“Because you’re a doctor, and you don’t want people to know you have me and Presley in your heart? It’s a secret, Daddy?”
I put the truck in park. “Me loving you is never a secret. But I just don’t want to be talking about it when I’m at work. Does that make sense?”
For the love of God, just let her say yes.
“Oh, so other people don’t know. Okay. I promise I won’t tell the other people about your heart, Daddy.”
For fuck’s sake, I was making this worse by the minute. I jumped out of the truck and grabbed my medical bag before coming around to get Gracie unbuckled and help her out. I pulled her hat down over her ears and kissed the tip of her nose, which made her giggle.
“I think we’re going to get more snow soon, but it will be a little warmer in the barn. Keep your hat and mittens on.”
“I wonder if it will snow at my Valentine’s Day party in a few days. You’re coming to my party, right?” she asked as her little mittened hand slipped into mine.
“Of course, I am. You know you’re my valentine.”
“We’re at work now, so you shouldn’t be saying that.” She looked up at me with wide eyes.
“It’s fine.” I laughed.
“Can I ride a horse yet?”
“You’re too young to ride horses, but maybe in a few months, we can give it a try,” I said. She’d been asking about learning to ride for a while, but the whole idea scared the shit out of me.
I looked up to see Presley hurrying toward us, and her eyes landed on my little girl, her lips turning up in the corners. “Hey there, Gracie. I’m so happy you’re here.”
Gracie’s hand slipped from mine, and she started running toward Presley, which took me by surprise.
She hardly knew her, yet here she was, putting all her trust in a complete stranger as she flung her little body through the air.
Presley caught her on a whoosh and settled her on her hip, pressing her lips to the very same spot I’d just kissed her.
“You kissed me on the nose just like Daddy did.”
“Well, it’s a cute nose, isn’t it?”
I cleared my throat. “All right, do you want to show me where Honey is?”
“Yes. Of course.” She carried my daughter and led us into the barn, heading for the back stall. I stopped and shook hands with Butch, whom I hadn’t seen in a few months since I last ran into him at my brother’s restaurant.
“Well, if it isn’t Dr. Dreamy. Isn’t that what the ladies call you?” he said with the laugh of a man who sounded like he’d been chain-smoking for 150 years.
“No one calls me that.” I rolled my eyes.
“I’m calling you Dr. Daddy Dreamy,” Gracie said over a fit of laughter.
“This just keeps getting better,” I said as Butch said hi to Gracie. They’d met a couple of times.
“You’re getting so big.” He winked before heading out to check on the other animals.
I moved into the stall and ran my hand along Honey’s face. “Hey there, pretty girl. Do you remember me?”
She was one of the prettiest horses I’d ever laid eyes on, although I’d always seen her with Presley sitting on her, smiling at me, so that was probably part of it.
“Presley?” I heard Gracie whisper from behind me as I lifted Honey’s jowls to take a look inside her mouth.
“Yeah?”
“How old were you when you started riding horses?”