Bloom of Love (Long Valley #10) - Erin Wright Page 0,35
nanny that the rest of us are screwed,” Christian admitted baldly.
Adam let out a bark of laughter at that. “The bar keeps gettin’ higher, that’s for damn sure. All I had to do to win over Kylie was hire her. Next thing I know, guys are going to have to rent helicopters to take a girl out in the valley.”
Christian let out his own belly laugh at that. A helicopter ride in a tux was one of the date ideas he’d been sure Carla was going to require if he was ever going to talk her into going on a date with him. Thank God that theory hadn’t ended up being true.
“So Carla has a cat, and it’s causing you allergies?” Adam mused, bringing the conversation back around. At Christian’s nod, Adam said, “I’m an animal doctor, not a human doctor, to be clear. But from what I understand, it’s best to start out with allergy pills like Benadryl, and if that doesn’t keep it under control, you can look at doing shots.”
“Shots?” Christian tried to play it calm, but his heart went into overdrive just hearing the word. He didn’t like needles.
“Yup. It ain’t guaranteed, but the idea is, they give you a series of shots and over time, your body stops attacking the cat dander and just ignores it instead. It’s a sight easier to just not be around cats, though.” He shot Christian a sideways glance. “How serious are you about Carla?”
Christian shrugged, not sure he knew the answer, and not willing to tell the vet in any case. Adam nodded sagely and left it at that. Just one of the many things to like about the vet.
“Well, I better get to it,” Adam said, pushing away from the pole and settling his hat back on. “The cows are in the solitary corral, right?”
“Yeah, we separated them as soon as we noticed the problem,” Christian said, and they walked together towards the pen where Stetson kept the cows that needed extra attention. “Stetson’s out in the back forty, so I’ll help you out.”
After the vet finished his work and headed off to his next appointment, Christian decided to take a quick stroll up to the main house and get a glass of Carmelita’s world-famous lemonade to cool down with, and maybe oh-so-casually ask her for some help while he was there.
“Christian,” Carmelita said with her soft, Hispanic accent, beaming at him as he came in through the kitchen door. “It is hot today. Do you want some lemonade? You come sit at the table. I will get you a glass, and some cookies too.”
He smiled to himself. With Carmelita around, no one would ever starve to death. She wouldn’t allow it.
“Here, here,” she said, fussing over him and setting out a spread worthy of a king at the kitchen table. “I will get you more cookies. Stetson works you too hard. You are only skin and bones. You must eat more.”
Just then, he heard the crashing of metal against metal, and even before he turned to look, he was sure he knew who it was.
“I’m sorry, abuelita,” Flint wailed, crawling out of the pantry over clanking pots and pans. Once on the other side, the sturdy three year old climbed to his feet and threw his arms around Carmelita’s legs. “I was going to make you a secret pie.”
“You are my best pie-maker,” Carmelita agreed solemnly, winking at Christian over the blond boy’s head. “You pick out which bowl you want to use, and then you need to put the rest back on the shelf. I am too old to bend over so much.”
Flint seized a huge bowl out of the bottom of the pile, causing the rest to crash and rattle yet again, and held it up triumphantly. “We will make a secret HUGE pie!” he said gleefully.
Christian laughed into his glass of lemonade. Stetson and Jennifer should count their lucky stars every night to have such a wonderful abuelita for Flint such as Carmelita.
“After you two are done making your huge pie,” Christian said, “could I talk you into doing a favor for me?”
“Of course, of course,” Carmelita said, bringing over a large ham sandwich and chips, not even asking if he was hungry. Maybe she knew he was always hungry. “What is going on?”
“I’m dating Carla Grahame.” The words were hard to say, but he managed to get them out. Would it ever be easy to refer to someone as his girlfriend? Even someone