Page 33 of The Fixer and the Fugitive

“As time goes on, I find I’m more than ready to air my feelings about you in a public forum,” Celeste said. Caldwell fought a snicker and bit her lip.

“You two are cute,” she murmured when they darted her a questioning glance. “How long have you been together?”

“It’s new,” Celeste said. “We’ve run in the same circles for years, lots of mutual friends, but the timing was never right.”

“That was why I surprised her. I wasn’t certain of my welcome,” Sam explained. “But of course she was thrilled to see me.”

“More thrilled than Edward Jonas, at least,” Caldwell interjected.

“Barely,” Sam mouthed when Caldwell wasn’t looking. He mimed pointing a finger gun at Celeste, reminding her of when she’dalmost shot him.

“I’m going to apply the topical numbing cream now. It’s cold.”

“Yah,” Sam said, squeezing Celeste’s hand.

“Such a baby,” she mouthed.

He nodded his agreement and tugged her closer, pressing his face into her as Caldwell opened the suture package. She started to sew and Sam swallowed hard, squeezing Celeste painfully tight. Unbidden her hand began smoothing over his head and he relaxed, taking deep breaths through his mouth.

“Almost over,” Caldwell said after a few moments. And then it was done and she was cleaning up. “I would offer you a treat for being such a good patient, but I only have dog biscuits and alfalfa pellets.”

“What do those taste like?” Sam asked, aiming for funny and coming off shaky instead.

“Oh, wait I have something,” Celeste said. She let go of him, reached into her pocket, and took a mint she’d nabbed from the bank a few days ago.

“Thanks,” he said, sounding unduly grateful for something that had been in her pocket a questionably long time.

“I hope this earns me a few points with the girlfriend board of commissioners,” she said.

“You get all the points,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. There was an unmistakable “zap!” when his lips touched her skin, at least on her part. And she thought maybe on his, too, because he sat back, blinking at her in a dazed sort of way.

“You’re going to want to keep an eye on this,” Caldwell said.

So mesmerized were they by staring at each other it took them a moment to realize she wasn’t talking about the strange and budding attraction between them. “If it oozes, come see me. If it begins to smell bad, feel hot, get red streaks, I need to know. And, as I tell all my patients, make certain the nose is wet and the tail is dry.”

“How does a girl such as you get to be a country vet in the middle of nowhere?” Celeste wondered aloud. It wasn’t that she was skeptical that Caldwell was old enough to have an advanced degree. Rather that she was always searching for her own inspiration.

“Divine intervention,” Caldwell said so sincerely they thought maybe she wasn’t joking.

“I guess that leaves us out of it,” Sam said, motioning between himself and Celeste.

“That’s the beauty of it, it doesn’t,” Caldwell said.

They had no idea what she meant, and both were too wary of delving into a theological discussion with a stranger to ask. So they merely smiled politely and waited on her to dismiss them, which she did after tossing her gloves in the trash and reaching invitingly for the door.

Chapter 18

“That was odd,” Sam said as they climbed back into Celeste’s SUV.

“Which part?” Celeste asked. For her it had been those moments when she cradled him, giving comfort, and he responded by kissing her on the cheek. Easy affection was so far out of her comfort zone as to be declared odd, for certain.

“The part where a horse doctor sewed up my bullet hole and then talked casually about God like they’re besties.”

“I think her husband is a pastor,” Celeste said. Now that she thought about it, she had seen him standing outside one of the two churches in town, changing the letters on the sign.

“Ah, well. There you go,” Sam said, sounding relieved.

“Do you think she absorbed religion by osmosis?” Celeste asked.

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