18
Savannah’s friends turned out to be lovely people, just as she’d promised.
Drew couldn’t exactly follow the conversation—which mostly flowed around clients and owners and isolation procedures—but he didn’t feel unwelcome, either.
There were plenty of other spouses and significant others who knew just as little about parvovirus as he did, so that helped.
“So, are you a deer hunter?” Daniel Callen, Julie’s husband, asked while staring at a mount over the cabin’s central fireplace.
Drew looked up at the ten-point buck and nodded. “Yes, sir,” he answered. Daniel gave him a stern look, and Drew remembered that the other man had already asked him not to call him “sir” twice now, but using a stranger’s first name felt weird.
“Gotten anything yet?” Daniel asked.
Drew took a sip from his Coke and glanced toward where Savannah was standing a foot or so away, talking to Julie about someone they both knew who was expecting a baby.
She talked animatedly with her hands and was miming the size of the woman’s belly when she looked up and caught Drew’s eye.
She smiled, pausing only a moment before launching into the rest of her story, but that second of connection did wonders for Drew’s confidence.
He hated that he’d been so dependent on her all night, but she’d been as good as her word not to leave him alone—a fact for which he was grateful.
“Several,” he answered vaguely.
“What’s your goal for the year?” the other man asked.
Drew shrugged. “My dad and I fill the freezers for my mom and grandma. It takes quite a bit, but if we didn’t hunt them, the deer would eat everything we grow,” he explained. “It’s not just about meat; it’s about population control.”
Daniel made a noise of understanding. “I get that,” he said. “I did more hunting when I was younger, but Julie doesn’t like the taste of venison, so I haven’t gone much in recent years. My dad was more into turkeys. Do you go for those?”
“Never have, really,” Drew said. “I have a cousin who hunts squirrel, but I don’t have time for game that small.”
Daniel nodded over his drink, and Drew felt a surge of pride. He’d just had a whole conversation with a man he barely knew, and he hadn’t embarrassed himself! Maybe there was hope for him in this world after all.
A touch at his elbow made him turn.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Savannah said, leaning in to whisper near his ear. “You gonna be okay?”
He swallowed and looked at Daniel, who was talking to his own wife now. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m a big boy.”
She gave him a meaningful look, and he lifted his chin to press a kiss against her forehead.
“Really, I promise. I’m fine,” he assured her.
“Okay. I won’t be long,” she answered, then she squeezed his arm as she moved away. He spent a second watching her go, admiring the strappy heels that put her much closer to his own height. He was going to have to take full advantage of that when they got back to his house.
“Hello! I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Stewart Timson.”
Drew blinked away from Savannah to find an older man standing in front of him with his hand outstretched. He shook it automatically, praying his palm wasn’t damp. “Drew Tanner,” he supplied. “I came with Savannah Reynolds.”
“Ah, Savannah! Yes, I know her—brilliant young woman, reminds me of my granddaughter, actually. They seem to be about the same age,” Stewart said.
“Do you work at her clinic?” Drew asked.
“Sometimes. I’m one of the owners, so I float among the branches. I was in Cypress Valley last week, actually.”
Drew nodded, though he felt his eyebrows pinch.
If this man owned the clinics, then he must be one of the veterinarians.
The name “Timson” sounded familiar for some reason .
. . and then he remembered: this was the guy whose wife wanted him to wear a tux.
Drew’s gaze darted down over the older man’s attire; apparently, Mrs. Timson had lost the fight, because the man in front of him was wearing a regular black suit with a maroon tie.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, sir,” Drew said, at a loss for what else he might add.
“Likewise. You must be very proud of Savannah. It’s smart to tackle a specialty this early in her career, but I know Dr. Madden will be sad to lose her.”
Drew paused, his drink partway to his lips. What did Dr. Timson mean lose her?
“Of course, nothing’s a done deal, you know. They’ve had quite a lot of qualified applicants this time around, but I’ll be surprised if she’s not on the short list,” the man went on, clearly believing Drew knew what he was talking about.
Drew nodded in what he hoped was a convincing sort of way while his thoughts started to spiral. Qualified applicants? Short list?
Was Savannah looking for another job?
This thought plagued him all through dinner, while both clinic owners praised their staff and listed the company’s various accomplishments during the previous year.
There were awards for best veterinarian, best technician and best receptionist; then there was a round of silly superlatives—titles like “most likely to track in poop” and “most likely to have their face clawed off” were given out to great laughter and well-meaning ribbing.
Drew was quiet through the festivities, barely remembering to clap when Savannah was called up to receive the “most likely to forget their scrub cap” award.
She accepted the tiny trophy to great applause and did a little curtsey for her raucous audience, but he barely processed it.
Instead, all he could hear inside his mind were Dr. Timson’s words from earlier.
Finally, the meal ended and everyone was dismissed from their tables. Drew looked down at his plate and realized he’d barely eaten a thing.
“You still okay?” Savannah asked as she reached down to grab her handbag off the floor. “You’ve been sort of distant for a while. Are you just ready to go home?”
Yes, he was ready to go home, but not for the reasons she thought.
“Yeah, um, I’ve just been up a long time, and it’s late,” he lied.
“Okay, well let me say goodbye to the girls, and then I’ll meet you near the door. Sound good?”
“Yep,” he replied. He knew it was curt, but he couldn’t help it. He was dying to talk to her, to find out exactly what the older doctor had meant about her leaving, but this wasn’t the time or the place to do it.
Savannah turned and walked over to the coworkers she’d spent the most time with.
Drew rose from his seat and dusted off the front of his slacks before making his way toward the front door.
There were a number of other people doing the same thing, and he was forced to wait for Savannah in a small alcove to one side of the entrance hall.
When she finally appeared, she smiled up at him and smoothed her hands over his shoulders. “Have I told you how handsome you are tonight?” she murmured. “I mean, since you’ve been fully dressed?”
Drew shook his head but didn’t answer. Savannah either didn’t notice or just wasn’t expecting a response.
“Ooh, look!” she said, glancing at the curved archway above their heads. “Mistletoe!” A mischievous glint appeared in her eye, and she tugged on the lapels of his sport coat, but something about the pressure around his neck frayed his weakening hold on his temper.
“Savannah, stop!” he snapped, reaching up and removing her hands from his jacket.
She froze, her eyes wide—hurt and confusion evident within them.
Drew saw an opening in the crowd heading for the door, and he quickly pulled Savannah toward the exit. She followed, but probably only because she was too surprised to object. They crossed the parking lot without a word, and he unlocked the passenger’s side door of his truck before holding it open.
She paused on the ground beside him. “Andrew, are you mad at me?” she asked.
Drew huffed out a breath and bit the inside of his cheek, trying to keep his simmering emotions under control. “Just get in,” he ordered.
She gave him another questioning look before turning and climbing inside as gracefully as she could in her long skirt.
When she was securely in the seat and her dress was tucked in after her, Drew shut the door and rounded to his side.
It wasn’t until after he’d started the car and pulled out onto the dark highway that he found the words to speak again.
“Are you going somewhere that I don’t know about?” he asked. His tone was harsh and his words sharp, but he didn’t have it in him to try and soften them at that moment.
Savannah’s head whipped toward him. “What?”
“Are you going somewhere?” he repeated. “Leaving town? Taking another job?” He turned his attention from the road to her face and was surprised to see her smile.
She waved one hand dismissively. “Oh, that. Yeah, I applied for a job a while ago, but I don’t think anything will come of it.”
He tightened his hands around the steering wheel, hurt and frustration bubbling up inside his chest. “Well, were you going to tell me or were you just going to disappear?” he barked.
The amusement slid off her face, and he could feel her staring him down from her seat. “If I got an interview, I would have told you,” she said, slow and serious this time, “but since I haven’t, it hasn’t been worth bringing up.”
“Not worth bringing up? Seriously? You might be moving to who-knows-where, and you didn’t think it was worth bringing up?
” There was a part of Drew’s mind—a small part—that knew he was overreacting, but he couldn’t seem to rein it in.
This is what always happened! The people he got close to found bigger and better things and moved on with their lives, leaving him behind.
Every time. Why had he thought she would be any different?
“Andrew!” Savannah cried, clearly shocked by his anger. “Somebody obviously mentioned the job to you, but what makes you think it’s not something in this area? Why do you automatically assume I’d be moving away?”
“Is it in this area?” he demanded, looking her way again.