Page 52 of Tom's Chance
“Damn, that is old school.”
“Yeah, I also heard that Shelly had a high-powered executive job in some city on the West Coast and she was able to work remotely as well as be a farrier. She wanted to prove to herself that she could do both. It’s been roughly five months since Erin took possession of this place, but I’ve only beenhere for almost three months.” She shook her head in awe as she rose and got them each a cup of coffee. She didn’t speak again until she settled back in her seat. “Again, this is from Erin, but she offered Mom, Nana, and me this place to live because she didn’t want to place to sit empty. Nana wants to grow and can food for everyone, and Mom starts next month on her six-month rehabilitation course to try to get her knee better. I have no clue what she’ll do afterward. I do know that she’ll have to go back east several times for the trial against my sperm donor.” She grinned when he sputtered after taking a sip of coffee. When he frowned at her, she only shrugged.
“Trust me, that is all he was in my life. He never, ever held me as a baby, never hugged me, and never attended anything I participated in. He only came home to rest when he was between affair skanks.” The look on her face showed Tom that she wasn’t bursting his balls. “Again, trust me, the world is a better place with him and his mother locked up behind bars.”
Tom didn’t know what to say, and by her expression he knew she was serious, so he nodded, and said, “You’ll have to tell me about him sometime.”
“Sometime.” She sighed and shook her head. “What’s on your agenda for the day?”
“I’m going to go into the office. You?”
“Mom’s going to take me over to Erin’s so I cantell her I’m fine, then she’s taking me into town so I can get a police report.”
“For?”
“I have to take that, along with the medical statement over to my insurance company. Don’t quote me on this, but the frame broke on my truck, I need to see whether they’ll be totaling it out or not. I also need to gather my tools, and clean out the vehicle.”
“Remind me when the doctor told you that you could drive again?”
“Definitely three days, but he preferred to wait until the stitches come out in ten days.”
“Okay, I’m not forcing you, but if you need a vehicle to drive, you are welcome to drive my good truck. The one we went out on our date with. The one you drove home.”
“Thank you, but I’ll wait to see what the insurance company says. It’s not like I can’t afford one, but I want to see what they say first. I want a different truck than I had before.”
“How different?” Tom asked and listened to her explain what she wanted. He grabbed a pad of paper from the counter and wrote something down on it before he passed it to her. “Check these people out. When I was looking for my new truck, they had what you were looking for there. I had my work truck, or I would have purchased one of them in a heartbeat.”
“Thanks, I’ll have Mom swing by today so I can get an idea in my head,” she said, and put the paper inher pocket. As they cleaned up the kitchen, he wrapped his arms around her and leaned in to kiss her nose, her forehead, then finally her lips. They broke apart after several minutes and he sighed heavily.
“I don’t want to go, but I must.”
She laughed as he dropped his arms, and went out the door. After he left, she checked the contents of her refrigerator and freezer. She pulled a packet of meat, and sat down to make a list for the store. She only hoped her mother wouldn’t mind all the stops she wanted to make.
CHAPTER 20
Two weeks later,on a whim, Lorissa strode proudly into Tom’s vet clinic and encountered utter chaos. There were dogs barking, a bird screaming, and cats hissing. The only human she encountered was a woman screaming at the top of her lungs for everyone and everything to shut up. Taking in the situation at a glance, she immediately jumped to action. The first thing she did was get the attention of the human and told her to shut the hell up. She was so shocked she did, then she turned to the person holding a leash of a dog, but ignoring them to put a muzzle on her dog and get control of him. She said the same thing to the other person and pointed to the muzzles beneath their chairs. As for the cats, she walked over to their cages, bent to their level, and hissed back at them. That shut them up. When it came to the bird, she only walked over to the cageand stared at it. She never took her eyes off the animal until it ducked its head beneath its wing. Only then did she turn in a circle, and demand, “Anything else?” No one said a word. She looked up and shrugged when she saw Tom standing there watching her with a grin on his face.
“Thank you,” he said as he walked right up to her, took her face in his hands, and kissed her. “I was just coming out to deal with the chaos.” He kissed her again, then stepped back. “What brings you here?”
“I thought I’d stop by to see if you could get a bite to eat.”
“Unfortunately, as you can see, I’m swamped.” He turned and glared at the woman behind the desk. “Someoneoverbooked the clinic, not taking into consideration that we are down a vet.”
“Need help?”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking, I’m volunteering.” She looked at him, crossed her arms beneath her breasts and huffed so hard her bangs flew up. “Come on, Tom, I haven’t been able to do jack shit for the last two-and-a-half-weeks. Give me something to do. You even went with me out to Jared’s house to check on the horse. I had the stitches removed last week and was given a clean bill of health. I have no restrictions.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.” She uncrossed her arms and rubbed her hands together. “I’ll be honest and tell you I’ve neverworked in a clinic like this before, but I know what I’m doing. If you have routine patients, I’ll take them.”
“Okay the two Shepherds you yelled at are here for their annual check-up and three-year shots. Three of the cats are in for the same thing.”
“Got it.” She grinned and rubbed her hands together, then turned to the woman who still hadn’t said a word. It was Tom that spoke to get her attention.
“Sally, this is Dr. Gibson, she’ll take Max, Duke, and the three cats.”
