The Best Man Plan - Jaci Burton Page 0,37
concentrated on what needed to be done for the abdominal obstruction case.
The surgery was delicate and complex, and his focus had to be on saving this two-year-old boxer’s life.
The problem with dogs—many dogs—was their utter love for chewing and swallowing things they weren’t supposed to. In Radar’s case? His owner’s sock, which had gotten stuck and festered into a rotten infection in his gut. Jason removed it and irrigated his belly, checking for any other obstructions. Fortunately, nothing else impeded Radar’s digestive tract, so Jason and his team closed him up. He gave the dog some strong antibiotics to fight off infection, and was confident Radar would recover.
After calling Radar’s humans and giving them an update, Jason did some office calls, finished up his daily reports and checked his messages. He was finally finished, and he’d made it through one grueling day. While rooting through his messages he saw there was one from his friend Clay Henry, who asked him to stop by after work if he had a minute.
Huh. He wondered if there was something wrong with Clay’s Labrador, Homer, or maybe one of his horses. Then again, Clay would just put in a ranch call if there was an issue with the horses or cattle, so that probably wasn’t it.
Maybe he just wanted a visit.
He stopped at home and took a quick shower to wash off the grime from the day, then changed into jeans and a T-shirt before driving over to Clay’s ranch. Since he didn’t know whether or not Homer was sick, he didn’t want to risk bringing Puddy with him, so he left him at home with his food and toys. He parked and rang the bell. Homer barked, which was a good sign.
Clay opened the door, a bottle of beer in his hand. “Hey, I thought maybe you’d call me.”
“Your note said to stop by.”
“Oh, sure. Come on in.”
Jason followed Clay in.
“I was just having a beer. Want one?”
“Definitely.”
Clay pulled a bottle out of the fridge and handed it to Jason.
“Rough day?” Clay asked.
“Busy one. How about yours?”
“About average.”
Since Homer had come over to greet him, Jason knelt to pet him. “Is Homer all right?”
“He’s fine. I just thought you might want to have a beer and dinner with us.”
Jason lifted his head and looked at Clay. “Us? Is Alice back in town?”
“Yeah. She got back a couple of days ago.”
He looked around. “Where is she?”
“In her office. She’s on a Skype call with a client. Since she’s on LA time, her day ends later than mine.”
Homer ran off, so Jason stood and grabbed his beer, taking a long swallow before answering. “I don’t want to interrupt your reunion with your girlfriend.”
Clay laughed. “We’ve had plenty of reunion time since she’s been back. Don’t worry about it.”
“If you’re sure.”
“About the reunion time?” He quirked a smile. “Definitely sure.”
Jason rolled his eyes. “Not what I was talking about. And I don’t want to know that part.”
He slanted a knowing smile at Jason. “You’re not interrupting us. I already told Alice I was inviting you over. She was all for it, so quit worrying. You can help me get the burgers ready.”
“Oh, well, if you’re talking burgers, then I’m definitely staying for dinner.”
“Thought you might.”
While Clay was in the process of getting the meat ready, Alice came down the hall.
“Hi, Jason.”
She came over to give him a hug.
“Hey, Alice. How’s everything going?”
“It’s going great.”
“How was the trip to LA?”
“Very productive. I picked up two new clients, and possibly another one based on my very productive teleconference today.”
“That’s great news.” He didn’t really understand how her matchmaking business worked, but according to Clay, she was damn good at it, with a high percentage of success. “Lots of happily-ever-afters in more couples’ futures, then?”
She gave him a genuine smile. “You know it.”
“Burgers are ready to go on the grill, babe,” Clay said.
“Okay. I just need to clean up my work area, then I’ll start working on the sides.”
Clay came over and slid his arm around her. “I said I had dinner handled.”
“And I told you I’d help if I finished work in time. I’m finished, so go put burgers on the grill. I’ll pour myself a glass of wine, then start on the sides.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Clay bent and brushed his lips across hers, then grabbed the tray holding the burgers, looking over at Jason. “You heard the lady. Let’s go.”
Jason followed Clay outside, Homer right on their heels.
While Clay put the burgers on, Jason took the ball Homer