Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Cassie stepped out into the parking lot of the Chesapeake Downs Casino.
She straightened the strand of pearls on her neck.
The stakes were uncomfortably high today.
She needed to impress Tina’s friends and gently plug the sanctuary while in the company of the man whose mouth had been on her nipples.
She was going to need a cocktail. Maybe two.
Her phone beeped, and she checked the message. It was a picture of Mochi, curled up in his cat tree at home.
Lyra: Thank you, Aunt Cassie! We snuggled all night. Well, until 3 a.m. when he slapped me in the face.
She smiled to herself and tucked her phone away. Mochi had made a full recovery, and all of the equipment she’d used in caring for him had now been tested. She might have been utterly useless at the administrative side, but her clinical skills were still intact. Things were looking up.
She had another message. This one was from Lucia, her new veterinary assistant.
Lucia: Heyyy, boss, I’m so sorry. I forgot that I have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. Could I start on Wednesday instead?
Cassie hesitated. The fact that her brand-new employee was already asking for favors kind of felt like a red flag. But she had forgotten an appointment or two over the years. And what if it was something serious?
The clinic wasn’t even open yet. They could manage one day without an assistant. She sent over her consent, then pocketed her phone.
Time to make some new friends. She found the entrance to the casino and followed the signs to the lounge overlooking the paddock. She definitely should’ve worn flats.
“Dr. Thompson,” someone said in greeting. Ah, there was Tina. “I’m so glad you came. You look lovely.”
Cassie shook her hand. “Thank you for inviting me. And please, call me Cassie.”
“We’ll compromise. Dr. Cassie. You earned that title, honey, you might as well use it. Can I get you a drink?”
“Oh, sure. A dirty martini, please.”
“Perfect. Put that on my tab, won’t you, Jorge?” Tina said to the bartender.
“Thank you, Tina. This is all so exciting. I’ve never been to a horse race.”
“We’re a little early. I thought you might come with me to watch the prerace parade in the paddock. We’ll have to go downstairs, but I think it’ll be good to see them all up close and in person.”
Cassie suppressed a smile. She’d wondered if this might be part of the reason for her invitation. Tina wanted an expert scoop on the health of the other horses.
The martini landed at Cassie’s elbow, and she took a sip. “Of course. Let’s go. I’ll let Noah know where to meet us.”
“The others will be very excited to meet him. They love a grump,” she whispered conspiratorially. “There’s a book club every other month. It’s a whole thing.”
Cassie fired off a quick message to Noah. He had been quiet all morning. Would he even come? He’d be foolish not to.
They walked out the doors and back down the stairs to the grass surrounding the paddock.
“I’m excited to meet your friends. So they all have horses in this race?”
“Yes, and Eloise is being absolutely insufferable because Neighoncé is favored to win. But I know for a fact that his jockey is hungover today, so I’m not convinced.”
“Interesting. You’ll have to point him out to me.”
Tina stopped by a white picket fence. “They should be out any minute.”
“Hey,” came a grumbly voice behind her.
She turned to see Noah looking uncharacteristically dapper. He wore a suit jacket and even had a pocket square. Holy shit.
“Noah. You look so…nice,” she said. Everything in her body had perked up at the sight of him.
He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Her heart thumped at the close proximity. Instead of his usual sawdust and sunscreen, he smelled like a touch of aftershave, something musky and warm. It made her toes curl in her shoes.
“You sound surprised,” he said. “Tina, nice to see you. Is Cassie picking out your winning horse?”
“I would never take advantage of Cassie’s expertise,” Tina said. “But, you know, if she did happen to notice anything, it would be helpful to know before we place our prerace bets. Oh, here they come.”
Though it was hard with the very distracting Noah by her side, Cassie shifted her attention to the paddock. One by one, the horses paraded past them with their handlers. Tina pointed them all out by name.
“That’s Deez Nuts,” Tina said. “He’s scrappy and fast but not favored to win.”
Cassie considered him with a watchful eye as she sipped her martini. He was beautiful—strong, big but not massive, and didn’t appear to be nervous at all. She didn’t have all the data, but he seemed like a strong contender.
“And of course you’ve already met Al Capony,” she said fondly as her own horse walked by. He looked good—powerful and calm.
“You don’t think Al will win today?”
Tina shook her head. “He’s still in training, so it would take a miracle. It’ll be good experience for him though. Oh, and there’s Neighoncé,” she said with a note of irritation in her voice.
Another beautiful horse. But the jockey was looking pale, and he slouched a little in the saddle.
The rest of the horses plodded past them.
“That’s weird,” Tina said. “I don’t see Itchy.”
“Itchy?” Noah asked.
“Itchy Pickles. My friend Melissa’s horse. He’s favored for second. I hope something didn’t happen to him…” She stared in the direction of the stables. “We’ll check in with her at the box.”
“So what do you think?” Tina asked. She had her phone out, ready to text her husband for the bet.
Cassie considered. “I’m not a betting woman. But if I was, Deez Nuts would be my pick. He looked strong and calm. And his jockey probably didn’t shotgun a Four Loko last night.”
Tina seemed to debate, then fired off a text. “Excellent. Let’s get up there before the race starts.”
They returned their empty barware to the lounge, then the three of them walked together toward the box seats.
It had turned out to be a gorgeous day. The humidity had lifted, and the sun beat down overhead.
Everything was lush and green from the recent rains, and the air smelled like freshly mown grass.
The door to the box opened, and yelling and cigar smoke came from within. Cassie flinched and tensed up, immediately transported to her childhood home.
It was always something. Her dad’s work travel. The nanny. Sammy and Cassie’s extracurriculars.
Noah put a hand on the small of her back, and she quickly centered herself. She wasn’t a little girl anymore, and this wasn’t her problem to fix.
“I knew Juan rode him too hard yesterday,” said a red-faced man. “You never should’ve let him practice that long the day before a race.”
“Me?” a woman exclaimed. She was middle-aged with a diamond ring the size of a small planet. “Do you think I supervise every single practice session? I was on a conference call, Geoff. I can’t do everything.”
“There’s no telling how long this is going to set us back,” Geoff said.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now,” the woman replied. She picked up her phone and put it to her ear.
Or maybe it was her problem to fix.
Tina sighed. “Melissa, Geoff. This is Dr. Thompson and Noah. Was Itchy injured?”
“The stable hand didn’t like the look of his gait, so we had to pull him,” Geoff muttered. He flapped his blazer, sending a waft of expensive-smelling cologne in their direction.
Melissa stabbed at her phone. “The vet’s office is closed. We’ll have to try in the morning. I don’t trust the emergency vet we saw last time.”
Tina grabbed Cassie by the shoulders and gently pushed her forward. “Cassie here is a veterinarian.”
Geoff looked up from the half bottle of whiskey he had just dumped into a glass. “Any experience with racehorses?”
“Some,” Cassie said. “The practice I worked for in San Diego provided care for some of the horses at Del Mar.”
“So you’re a large animal vet?” Melissa’s eyebrows had risen.
“Not strictly. I’m opening a mixed clinic next month. Small animals, equines. Tigers,” she said with a nervous smile.
Geoff and Melissa exchanged a look.
“I’d be happy to examine Itchy before I leave. Some injuries are very time-sensitive,” she added. “The sooner you start treatment, the faster the recovery.”
“Cassie was the one who assisted with Millie’s difficult birth a few weeks ago,” Tina added.
“We would be very grateful,” Melissa said carefully with another look at Geoff.
He nodded curtly.
“Great. I’ll head down there after the race.”
Noah leaned over. “Do you need your bag?” he whispered in her ear.
She nodded.
“Give me your keys.”
She handed them over, and Noah disappeared. Now that Melissa was about to be indebted to her, it was time to start schmoozing.
Before she could open her mouth, however, another woman sidled over.
“Dr. Cassie. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Eloise Dunleavy. We own the casino. Tina’s been raving about how you helped Millie for weeks now.”
“Tina’s too kind. I’m just glad I was in town. It was a life-changing night.”
“So you’re new to Maryland?” Eloise sipped at a lemon drop martini.
“Not exactly. I grew up in Baltimore, but I lived on the West Coast for the last ten years.”
They chatted for a couple minutes until Noah reappeared with her bag.
“I’m also volunteering with the Willow Bend Animal Sanctuary,” Cassie said pointedly to Eloise. “Have you been there?”
“I can’t say I have.”
“You’ll have to stop by. It’s a great place for families. Noah here is the son of the owner.” She gripped Noah by the arm and pulled him to stand next to her. “He recently rescued a tiger named Huckleberry. It’s how we met.”
“Oh my,” Eloise purred, pressing a hand to her chest. “It’s nice to meet you, Noah.”
She extended a hand, and Noah shook it.
In seconds, the other wives had surrounded them, pelting them with questions. It was the Real Housewives of the Chesapeake.
“So you two are together?” one woman asked as she eyed Noah’s biceps.
Cassie froze. Something told her the right answer was yes, whether or not it was true.
“We are.” Noah looked at her, and she nudged him.
“Of course you are, you look so beautiful together,” Eloise said.