Page 11 of Lucky in Love

“You can take your lunch at noon,” Miss Pearl says. “Ginger and Fiona will meet you at Delaney’s.”

“Don’t you need to take your lunch, Miss Pearl?”

She pulls a brown paper bag out of the desk drawer. “I’m going to have my lunch right here,” she says tapping the desk. “Be back by one. Larry Jacobs is bringing his cat Lightning, and you’re gonna need the whole hour for that one,” she chuckles, pulling a sandwich out of her sack.

???

The rest of the appointments are a blur and Miss Pearl is right. I do need the whole hour for Lightning. At ten minutes to 3:00, I drop into a chair in the lobby, exhausted.

“Who am I interviewing?” I ask Miss Pearl.

“Hayden Marshall. Now, listen, he likes men, but I don’t hold that against him and you shouldn’t either,” she says with a stern look. “He’s a good boy, always walking dogs and feeding cats for people when they go out of town. He’s neat and organized and he’s good with animals, so he can help you out in the back when you need it until you can hire a vet tech.”

“I can’t afford to pay a vet tech.”

“But you will soon enough. Listen, your granddad is a good man and a good vet. But he was not a businessman. If you run this place right, you’ll be able to pay several techs and maybe take on another vet in a few years.”

“Miss Pearl, you’ve been a lifesaver today. I couldn’t have done it without you.” I look up, a lightbulb glowing over my head. “Why don’t you stay on as my receptionist?”

Miss Pearl laughs so hard and so long, tears are streaming down her face and she’s clutching her belly. “Oh no, honey.” At this point, she’s gasping for air and I’m starting to worry about her.

“I’m nearing eighty. I spend my days playing bridge at the senior center and gossiping.” She sighs, looking off into the distance. “It’s my passion, really. You wouldn’t believe the things I see at Evergreen Pines. Why, just the other day, Barry Van Luden went streaking through the lobby, naked as a jaybird! Carl, the security guard chased him around for ten minutes!” Peers over her glasses at me, like she's checking to see if I’mbuying it. “Well, truth be told, Carl ain’t running nowhere. He’s built like a refrigerator and he makes minimum wage, so you could understand why he just kinda walked fast in the general direction of where Barry was last seen. Anyway, Barry finally got tired and he caught up to him. When Carl asked him why he was naked, do you know what he said?”

I’m so enthralled in the story, I don’t even look up when the front door chimes and a young man walked in.

“Hayden, there you are!”

“Hey Miss Pearl,” he says, kissing her turned cheek.

“Well, I’ll get out of your hair so y’all can get to it!” Miss Pearl announces. “I’ll tell you the rest later,” she says in a stage whisper, as she picks up her purse and bounces out the door.

EIGHT

Baylor

My evil twin brother pinches the tar out of me and out of instinct I give him a shove. “What is wrong with you?” I yelp.

“You’re not wearing green.” Branson saunters over to the kitchen island and plops down with a bowl of cereal.

“What are you talking about?” The tension between my eyes intensifies as I try to understand why my fashion choice warrants the violence of a pinch.

He rolls his eyes. “It’s St. Patrick’s Day, you idiot.”

“Oh.” Comprehension dawns and I rub the spot on my arm where a bruise is starting to form.

“Are you so out of touch that you don’t even know it’s March 17?” He shakes his head. “By the way, there’s a St. Patty’s Day party at Fiona’s tonight. Green beer and all that.” He looks up at me, his head tilted to the side. “That new vet is gonna be there.”

“So?”

“So Ginger says she likes you.”

My coffee goes down the wrong pipe and I’m sputtering and coughing for a full minute before I catch my breath. Meanwhile, my brother is laughing hysterically while he watches me die.

“How does Ginger know Paige?”

“Paige. Huh.”

“That’s her name,” I say through gritted teeth.

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