“Well, I can’t say what he was like back then,” Cynthia said. “But he sure is fun now.”
“Fun? What are you talking about?”
“I was at the City Limits on Friday with Shannon and Eve and Tasha. Wow. That man can really dance.”
Russell froze. “Luke was there?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“And you danced with him?”
“I think every woman in the place danced with him.”
Russell started to ask if he danced with Shannon, then bit his tongue. He couldn’t think of a covert way to say it without looking as if he was jealous.
“Except Shannon, of course,” Cynthia said. “She doesn’t dance. But I guess you know that.”
Relief surged through him. Actually, he didn’t know that because he didn’t dance himself, but it was only one more piece of proof that he and Shannon were made for each other, wasn’t it?
But he still couldn’t get Luke Dawson out of his mind.
Sooner or later, that man was going to be a problem. Russell could feel it in his bones. The more he thought about that, the more his stomach turned over with apprehension. Didn’t it always happen like this? Always?
No. Not this time. This time Russell was coming out on top. Wasn’t he the one who could take Shannon to elegant places like the Majestic? He doubted Luke even knew a Pinot Noir from a Pinot Grigio. And Russell was hedging his bets by sponsoring the petting zoo. Let Luke Dawson try to pull that off on a caretaker’s salary.
He grabbed his coffee and went into his office. Right away he smelled something funny. Lavender?
“Cynthia!”
After a moment, she came to his office door, a Starlight mint clacking against her teeth. Damned candy. She was going to have a mouthful of cavities before she turned thirty.
“Yes?”
“Why do I smell lavender?”
“Well, Jessie had another…issue.”
“Issue?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“I thought I told you to use the pine carpet cleaner.”
“Pine? Really?” She blinked those Betty Boop eyes. “I’m sorry. I could have sworn you said lavender.”
“Lavender sounds nothing like pine.”
“I’ll use pine next time.”
“Next time?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll have a word with Jessie.”
“A word with her? She’s a cat.”
“Hmm. I see what you mean.” Cynthia smiled brightly. “So I guess that’d be kinda pointless, wouldn’t it?”
Before he could say anything else, she left his office, closing the door behind her.
Talking with Cynthia was like playing Whack-A-Mole. Just as he followed the conversation in one direction, she whipped around and took it in another. Drove him nuts. And he knew for a fact she’d heard him say pine and not lavender, because she told him the lavender smelled better.
Insubordination, plain and simple.
But when it came to organizing his practice, at least she was competent. Because competency was a hard thing to find in a town the size of Rainbow Valley, he gave her some latitude. But if she pushed him too far, she’d better look out. He’d find himself another office manager pronto.
Russell sat down in his desk chair, and for just a moment, he allowed himself to engage in one of his favorite activities, which consisted of closing his eyes and imagining the day he’d propose to Shannon. Jerome would clap him on the back and tell him he was the son he’d never had. Loucinda would tell all her friends what a wonderful match her lucky daughter had made, then plan a wedding that would be the biggest social event Rainbow Valley had ever seen. Other men would secretly be jealous that he’d married such a beautiful and accomplished woman. And when their kids came along, they’d be the smartest, best-dressed, most well-behaved progeny anyone in this town had ever given birth to.
Then he envisioned the day he’d tell his parents he was marrying a beautiful, intelligent woman from the best family in Rainbow Valley. He imagined his mother in the midst of selling high-priced real estate to multimillionaires, and his father reaching for a scalpel to save somebody’s life. But for once they would stop what they were doing. They would turn around, look at him…
And smile with approval.
Russell sighed with satisfaction. He was going to marry Shannon. No doubt about that. And then his life was going to come together exactly as he’d always dreamed it would.
That afternoon Luke stepped into one of the dog runs, and three of the four dogs converged on him. He gave each of them a scratch behind the ears and a pat on the ribs. It took Angus longer to come over than the rest of the