Chapter 5 - Take Your Time

Grace rested her pounding head in her hand. Why had she drunk so much wine at the river with Clay and Trip last night? She took another bite of a ham biscuit and prayed it would absorb the bitter taste in her mouth. She chased the food with coffee and forced a smile as River Hemsworth came into the dining room and eyed the pastry platter. Despite her head, her duty as a representative of the B and B forced her to sound cheerful and welcoming. “You should try one. MJ’s cinnamon rolls are not to be missed.”

“If they taste half as good as they smell, I’m in serious trouble.” River placed one of the generously sized buns, oozing icing on all sides, onto a small china plate and turned, scanning the room.

“Please join me.” Grace motioned toward the empty chair across from her. “Unless you’re less of a morning person than I am and prefer to be alone.”

“Not at all. Thank you for the invitation.” She glanced at Grace’s uniform and quickly back down at her plate.

“Don’t let the uniform scare you off. I’m really quite docile.”

“You were very helpful and not at all scary yesterday.” River’s cheeks flushed a lovely shade of pink. “It’s just…you’re so…I better shut up before I sound prejudiced and uncivilized.”

“It’s okay. I’ve heard the gamut. ‘You’re too cute, too sexy, too feminine, too nice, blah blah blah to be a police officer.’ No offense taken.”

“I imagine you have.” River sipped her coffee and hummed with approval.

“How is your head this morning?”

“Excuse me?”

“Where you bumped it on the steering wheel.”

“Oh. Fine. MJ was kind enough to give me an ice pack yesterday. That really helped.”

“Good.” Grace studied her. “It doesn’t even show.”

River smiled and forked a small bite of the pastry into her mouth and groaned. “Hmm, you weren’t kidding. These are deadly. So yummy.”

“Hmm, yes. Yummy indeed.” Grace could barely whisper the words. The view over River’s shoulder had sucked the breath from her lungs. Dani stood by the serving table pouring coffee into a paper cup. She was totally wearing the hell out of those jeans, and the plaid shirt made Grace drool. Dani glanced in her direction shyly and then left.

River turned to follow Grace’s gaze. “I was talking about the pastry, not tall, dark, and handsome over by the coffee pot.”

Grace laughed. “You saw that, huh?”

“Was that your attempt at subtlety?” River smiled and took another bite of the pastry.

“Maybe I need more practice.” Grace sighed.

“Do you know her?”

“I wouldn’t say I know her.” Grace leaned forward, holding her coffee cup between both hands, and spinning it on the saucer. “But I’d like to. That’s Dani Wingate. She’s the new veterinarian at Trip’s clinic.”

“Well, she’s super cute.” River’s eyes glazed over for a second, and Grace tried to decide if it was from the sugary pastry, how cute Dani was, or if she was thinking about something else. “This is the best cinnamon roll I’ve ever had.”

“I warned you.” Grace laughed.

“Does MJ make these every morning?”

“Thankfully, no. If she did, I’d be as big as this table.”

“Do you…do you live at the B and B?” River seemed almost shy about asking Grace anything personal. “I don’t mean to pry. I blame it on the sugar rush.”

“If you don’t ask personal questions around here, you’ll be tagged as an outsider for sure. You can ask me anything. Everybody’s life is an open book in this town. I own the B and B, but I live in the cottage out back.” Grace motioned with her thumb over her shoulder. “I took over the place from my parents.”

“Wow, you’re a police officer and you run a B and B? When do you sleep?”

“I probably wouldn’t if it weren’t for MJ. She keeps everything going smoothly, and I get to eat breakfast and dinner here every day. That sounds like I get all the benefits. Don’t tell her I said that, or we’ll be renegotiating terms.”

“Well, it’s a beautiful place. Very charming and inviting.”

“I hope you don’t feel pressured to say that because I’m armed.”

River laughed. “Not at all. Wait. Dani is staying here? At your B and B? My brain is finally waking up.”

“Yes,” Grace said cautiously, not sure where River was headed.

“So, you get to see Dani coming and going every day?”

“She just moved in. When she took the job, she was staying in a hotel a few miles outside of town, according to MJ. But yes, I’m sure it’ll be torture going forward now that I’ve met her. Thanks for pointing that out,” Grace said.

“I’m so sorry.”

They both laughed.

Grace waited until River finished her cinnamon roll and coffee before scooting her chair back. “Guess I better get to work. I have a boss too.”

“I don’t suppose you know where I could get a rental car?”

“The closest rental office is in Savannah.”

“Oh,” River said.

“But I think they might have a loaner you could use at Cahill’s garage, where Clay took your car.”

“Really? I’m supposed to meet the Realtor today to go over my aunt’s property. I suppose I could call her and see if she’d pick me up—”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I’m sure Clay can find something.” Grace finished her final sip of coffee. “I can drop you off on my way if you like.”

“If it’s no trouble.”

“None at all. Then you’ll have a chance to see Clay again.”

River’s face flushed bright pink. “I suppose I need some lessons in subtlety too.” River followed Grace toward the door.

“Heightened observational skills are part of my job.”

“Noted.”

Grace turned partway to look at River, and she had a quizzical look on her face. “Something you want to ask, River?”

“So, you know Clay well?”

“We’ve been close since high school. She and Trip are my best friends.”

River sighed and suddenly couldn’t meet Grace’s eyes. “Is she single?”

“Yes.” Grace could tell by the way River fidgeted with her handbag strap that she had other questions, but maybe wasn’t ready to ask them. River Hemsworth didn’t seem like the kind of woman who beat around the bush for long.

Grace gave River the nickel commentary on the town as she drove toward the garage. She had a feeling if River stuck around the two of them would become friends. It would be great to have another femme to talk to. She dropped River in the garage parking lot and sped away before Clay made it to her car. If Clay didn’t see her face, maybe she wouldn’t know Grace was purposely putting River in her path, just like she and Trip had agreed yesterday at Mosquito Alley. Besides, Clay had a fancy Italian motorcycle that she adored, all black and chrome badass with some fancy name. She could loan River her truck.

Grace was fixing her second cup of coffee at the station when Clay badgered Patsy into putting her through to Grace. “You know we don’t have rental cars, Grace Booker.” Clay’s tone said she wasn’t nearly as upset as she wanted Grace to believe.

“The woman needed a car, Clay. You have two vehicles. You should at least try to be a full-service business. And invite her to the night market. She’s new in town.” Clay hung up before Grace could say more. Clay and River would work it out. Grace was too busy with arrangements for this evening’s market to play full-time matchmaker.

* * *

Dani searched for a parking spot near the Pine Cone Diner for lunch and finally stopped on the street behind a truck with a hound dog sitting in the open bed and black smoke belching from its tailpipe. A group of men smoking cigarettes watched a deputy release the windshield wiper of Trip’s vet truck with a slap to secure the ticket she just wrote. The deputy, definitely not femme Grace Booker, rested her hand on the holstered gun at her hip for a moment shaking her head as if Trip’s truck had somehow personally offended her.

Everything about the scenario chafed—polluting the environment, endangering a dog not properly secured in a truck, and a cop with an attitude, just like the authoritarians who’d harassed the residents in her low-income housing neighborhood as a child. One year in this town tops, less if another decent zoo job opened. She hoped something materialized before she lost her mind or started drawling her words.

She walked toward the diner and frowned at the memory of her newest patient, not a hound dog or a farm animal, but an exotic bird with health challenges. The owner, to her surprise, was the proprietor of the B and B where she was staying, and very easy on the eyes. But Grace already had three strikes against her on Dani’s scorecard. She was obviously unqualified to care for her parrot, she was a cop, and she’d admitted never wanting to leave Pine Cone—unlike Dani whose hopes and dreams, along with most of her possessions, awaited her in a storage unit in Baltimore.

Dani pushed Grace from her mind and entered the diner. Too many people crowded the tiny space, their voices competing, reminding her of the nightly shouting matches in the apartment high-rise of her youth. And the décor, if it could truly be called decorative, consisted of antique cups, saucers, and coffee pots on shelves, and pictures of livestock tacked to the walls, all covered with a thin layer of dust. In the civilized world, this place would fail a health inspection and be closed as a public hazard. She turned to leave. Contracting a disease from an unclean restaurant occupied last place on her list of new things to try. She should’ve eaten Mary Jane’s semi-healthy breakfast before rushing out this morning, but Grace had been eyeballing her like a tasty cinnamon roll causing an unwelcome spike in her hormones.

“There’s a spot at the end of the counter,” a waitress yelled and pointed to the far side of the room.

“Never mind.” Dani held onto the door, but everyone stopped talking and stared as if leaving was a social faux pas. “Well, okay.” She folded to the pressure, slowly released the door handle, and wound her way through the throng of people to the vacant barstool.

“Hey, everybody, this is Danielle Wingate, Trip’s new vet,” the waitress, whose nametag read Jolene, called out.

Jolene, the town crier Brenda warned her about. Great. Dani hated being in the spotlight for any reason. “It’s Dani,” she barely whispered and covered her face with the menu.

“I was beginning to think you were never coming in. What can I get you, darling?”

Dani held the menu firmly in front of her, refusing to make eye contact or encourage conversation with the brash stranger. “Coffee.”

Jolene placed a finger on the edge of the menu and slowly lowered it, forcing Dani to look at her. “Didn’t quite catch that. Did you say coffee?”

Dani nodded.

“Something to eat?” She smiled and warmth lit her face.

Dani perused the offerings for something that required high heat and was hard to mess up. “Can I still get breakfast?”

“All day long.” Jolene cocked her hip against the edge of the counter.

“Special, please, wheat toast instead of biscuit.”

“Gotcha.” Jolene turned around and shouted toward the kitchen. “Special breakfast, deep six the biscuit, lay on the wheat.”

Now that the whole town knew who she was and what she ordered for breakfast, they resumed talking in low tones that quickly built to a loud drone. She pulled her cell phone from her back jeans pocket to ward off any unwelcome conversation, pleased with the two bars of signal strength. She searched Google for lesbian bars in the area and watched the color wheel of doom spin.

“Is this seat taken?”

Dani recognized Grace Booker’s low, sexy voice and the combination of sweet flowery perfume before she saw her, annoyed that she could already identify both. When she spotted the leg of Grace’s uniform pants from the corner of her eye, she shifted on her stool to put distance between them but didn’t answer. Grace attracted people and conversations like Dani repelled them and being near her raised the risk of more talk and sharing. Not good.

“Hi, Jolene, Diet Coke and a BLT with Duke’s, please.”

“Coming up, Sheriff.”

Grace shook her head. “Still just a deputy.”

“You’ll always be the sheriff in my book.” Jolene placed a Styrofoam cup of Coke and crushed ice in front of her.

Grace waited for the bubbles to settle before taking a healthy swig. “Oh my God. This is a lifesaver.” She turned sideways to face Dani, her knees brushing Dani’s thigh and producing a jolt of sensation. “Haven’t seen you since the breakfast bar. Busy morning?”

Dani sucked in a quick breath at the contact and tried to parlay the unusual sound into a question. “So, what’s Duke’s?”

“Seriously? You must be a city girl. Duke’s Mayonnaise. No self-respecting Southerner eats any sandwich without Duke’s. What do folks put on sandwiches where you’re from?”

“Baltimore and Hellman’s.”

Grace leaned in conspiratorially, and Dani caught another whiff of her delicious-smelling perfume, and her skin tingled. “Don’t say that too loudly or you’ll be run out of town.”

If a job came with her exile, Dani would gladly run through the streets of Pine Cone declaring her love for everything above the Mason-Dixon Line. If only escape were that easy.

“How’s Harry today?”

Dani fought the distraction of Grace’s continued contact with her thigh. Grace was very touchy-feely, and that kind of person was too hard to figure out. Touch equaled sex for Dani. She pressed her knees together and refocused on Grace’s question. “Seems okay.” She finally glanced at Grace but looked away before they made eye contact. Her eyes were clearer today, and she looked rested and sounded more chipper, but Dani shouldn’t be noticing any of those things.

As if somehow intuiting what Dani had been thinking, Grace said, “I should thank you for a great night’s sleep.”

Jolene placed their food on the counter at the same time. “What? The two of you slept together? Already?”

Dani slapped her napkin over her mouth to stop a spurt of coffee.

“No, Jolene, we did not,” Grace said. “She kept Dirty Harry at the clinic overnight, and I finally got some peace and quiet.”

“I like my version of the story better. I heard Karla dumped you for some redhead from North Carolina who drives a pickup. Redheads are always trouble. What are you going to do about Harry? He hates you.” Without waiting for a reply, Jolene sashayed to the other end of the counter, pouring coffee, and talking all the way.

“Thanks for cutting her off.” Dani nodded and stirred a glob of something that vaguely resembled oatmeal but was whiter. “What’s this?” Grace laughed again, and it vibrated into Dani where they touched, producing warmth and discomfort. She scooted farther away until her ass barely clung to the barstool.

“Grits, a delicious Southern delicacy. You really should try them.”

Dani spooned the strange mess to the side of her plate. “Hard pass.”

“Jolene, an order of hash browns for Dani please.” Grace slid Dani’s plate closer and scraped the grits onto hers. “Never met a grit I didn’t like. It’s an acquired taste.”

The way Grace took care of her, removing the offending food from her plate and ordering hash browns for her, both pleased and annoyed Dani. She wanted to know things about Grace besides her preference for grits and propensity for touching but filed her curiosity under not a good idea and dug into her eggs, which were surprisingly good. “Weather report says rain this afternoon.” Lame, but keeping things simple and impersonal was necessary around Grace.

“You weren’t listening to WPCG radio, were you?”

“Not sure. My clock radio alarm—”

“Yep, Cloudy McClain. Don’t believe a word he says. Last winter he predicted only a few clouds one day, and we got over five inches of snow, the first significant snowfall in these parts in twenty years. You’d think he would at least be in the ballpark.”

“Thus, the Cloudy nickname?”

“Exactly. Folks around here are unforgiving about flagrant infidelity, crops, livestock, and weather. Trust me, it’s going to be hotter than a goat’s butt in a pepper patch all day.”

Dani muffled a chuckle in her napkin. “Thanks for the tip, but back up. Flagrant infidelity?”

Grace crooked her finger for Dani to come closer, but they were already too close. She felt the heat from Grace’s body tumbling and stirring her insides. She held her ground, but Grace leaned in slightly and said, “Just between you and me, there’s probably more infidelity in this town per capita than in the entire state of Georgia, but if you keep it on the DL, nobody bothers you. Southerners take pride in their public reputations.”

“I see. And how’s the dating pool around here?”

Jolene slapped a saucer of hash browns in front of Dani. “Here you go, sport. If you’re asking about available women of your persuasion, there’s a nice selection, but—”

“Seriously, Jolene? We’re having a conversation.” Grace shooed her away. “Don’t you have other customers?”

“None as interesting as you two, all cozy and getting to know each other.”

Dani stood and dug into her pocket for some cash, her face burning. She didn’t want the whole town thinking she and Grace had something going. In fact, she didn’t want these people thinking about her at all. Grace touched her arm and heat penetrated before she pulled away and slapped her money on the counter.

“Don’t leave, Dani. Jolene has a big mouth, but she’s harmless.”

“Maybe, but I’m—”

“You’re a private person. I get that.” Grace followed her toward the door but stopped at the checkout to pay. “Hold up a minute.”

But Dani couldn’t wait a second longer. She exited the diner, eager to put distance between her and Grace, and noticed a man with ragged clothes standing near the door watching each person come out. A baseball cap pulled low over his forehead shielded his eyes, and weathered lines on his face hinted at middle age. She pulled a twenty from her pocket and slipped it into his hand.

“Bless you,” the man said as she crossed the street to her car.

“Wait.” Grace fast-walked toward her and stopped beside her car, eyes wide. “Wow. We can see you coming for miles in this thing, midnight blue, Acura SUV. Won’t find another one like this around here. Cool.”

Dani shook her head at the outdated slang. “Need something, Grace?”

“You asked about the dating pool.”

“Yeah?”

“Like I mentioned about the cookout, we have a lot more lesbians in town than you’d think, and there’s also a contingent of straight and married women who’d take you on just because they’re bored. You won’t have any trouble amusing yourself.”

“What about you, Grace?” Damn, that sounded like she was asking if Grace was available, which she didn’t want to do, but might’ve been and didn’t want to be quite so obvious about. “I mean, are you able to amuse yourself?”

“Amusement isn’t what I’m looking for, but is often exactly what I find,” Grace said.

“Still pining over Karla?”

“Hardly. We both knew what we were getting into.” She gave Dani a crooked smile. “So, you’ve been asking about me, Doc? I don’t remember mentioning a name when I told you about my ex.”

Rookie mistake. “Brenda might’ve mentioned it.” Totally believable. “If you’re not happy with your dating results, maybe you should adjust your expectations.”

“I do all right, but thanks for your concern. You’ll probably have more luck,” Grace said.

“Why’s that?”

“I get the feeling we’re not after the same things.”

“Probably.” Grace was definitely right, but Dani couldn’t pretend she wasn’t a little disappointed. Grace was physically attractive, with only a few negative traits Dani was willing to overlook in the short-term, but no amount of Southern charm could convince her to abandon her dreams and settle in a rural area like Pine Cone. She needed the pace and variety of the city.

“Well…I enjoyed having lunch with you. Next time, I’ll give you a rundown on the townsfolk, if you’d like. They all have a story, and everybody has an opinion about everybody else’s story.”

“What’s the general opinion about Grace Booker?”

“I’m impressed, Doc. See, this is how it’s done, back and forth, questions and answers. That’s how we get to know each other.” Grace studied her for a second before answering. “They’d probably say I’m ill-suited to be a sheriff’s deputy because I’m too kind and don’t like to fight, and I should’ve been a social worker or nurse instead.” She shifted the heavy-looking belt around her waist as if to emphasize the weight of her words.

“Do you agree?”

“Sometimes. And what about Danielle Wingate? What do people say about you?”

“What you see is what you get.” Dani unlocked her car door. “You can come by the clinic and check on Harry anytime.”

“Thanks.”

Dani got in her car and rolled down the window, the heat inside already like a pizza oven. Grace offered her hand, unusual under the circumstances, but Dani was learning that touch was important to Grace and dangerous for Dani. She shook Grace’s hand quickly to be polite, but the brief contact was enough to set her insides roiling and her mind spinning through a list of possible encounters that could never happen. She sped off toward the clinic, willing away the lingering sensations and the desires they stirred.

* * *

Grace stared at Dani’s car until it disappeared at the edge of town, sparks from their handshake still shooting up her arm like static from a summer lightning storm. No doubt about it, she was attracted to Dani, but Dani was a bad bet in the future department. A familiar question tumbled over in Grace’s mind. Was she willing to get her heart broken again by a woman who was not long for her small part of the world? Her pain from the last time wasn’t fresh, but it still lingered making her wary.

Dani had been stingy with any personal information at lunch, fueling Grace’s curiosity. Maybe Dani’s city upbringing just made her overly cautious. Jolene’s suggestive comments embarrassed her, something Grace hadn’t expected from a city woman. But she’d seen another side of Dani when she slipped money to Beetle Bledsoe, the homeless town drunk, on her way out of the diner. Grace doubted Dani would’ve helped Beetle if she’d known anyone was watching. What did that say about the kind of person she was or about her past?

Grace wanted to know what made Dani tick, about Dani’s past, her family, her likes and dislikes, and how she ended up in Pine Cone. Everything. The process required time, and she’d tread carefully, probe discreetly, and hold her heart in reserve for now. But Dani Wingate might prove a challenge in the sharing department, a walking cautionary tale in every aspect.

She glanced down Main Street and saw Trip jogging in her direction. “Hold up there, hoss. You could get heat stroke. Where’s the fire?”

“Sorry. I was looking at your car. I thought it was my stalker until I noticed the scratch on the fender. When are you going to let Clay fix that?”

“I haven’t had time. I had a new officer I needed to drive around for orientation, then…well, other stuff happened. I’ll probably get it over to the garage later this week. Anyway, what’s this about a stalker?”

“Your new cop—”

“Officer Grant?”

“Yeah, I definitely think Grant is stalking me.”

“Stalking you?”

“More than twenty parking tickets in the past two weeks.”

“You poor thaang.” Grace drawled the word just enough to let Trip know she didn’t feel any sympathy at all. She’d warned Trip several times about her parking habits.

Trip glared at her sarcastic tone. “It’s not funny. It’s police harassment.”

“Why don’t you try parking in a legal spot?”

“Grace.”

“What do you want me to do? Tell Officer Grant she shouldn’t enforce the law because you’re my friend?”

“You can explain that I’m usually on important business. I have emergencies and…did you say she? Does she play on our team? Is she hot?”

“Down, girl. I’ve been trying to get the town council to allot money for a drug detection dog for the past five years, but they’re expensive. I got a two-for-one deal with Officer Grant. She owns a detection dog she trained personally, and I need for them to stay. What I don’t need is Fast Break bird-dogging her, breaking her heart, and running her out of town.”

“I was just going to suggest you bring her to the cookout this weekend. If she knows how charming I can be, maybe she’ll stop slapping tickets on my truck every time she sees it.” Trip wiggled her brows suggestively.

Grace frowned. “I’m pretty sure she’s a lesbian, so I’ll see if she wants to come to the cookout so she can meet some people. But you stay away from her.”

Trip waved off Grace’s last comment and opened the door to the diner. “See you this weekend. Oh, and go check on your damned bird. I caught Brenda sharing her ham biscuit with him this morning. If those two bond, I’m going to let Essie roast him for dinner.”

“Headed there now.” Grace smiled broadly, gave Trip a mock salute, and rushed to her car. The radio was quiet and the street mostly deserted because of the noon heat, so it was the perfect time to check on Harry. Doctor’s orders, nothing to do with Dani Wingate. She ignored the little voice in her head snickering at the fib and sped toward the clinic.

“I surrender, Deputy.” Brenda raised her hands when Grace entered the front door. “If you’re going to arrest me, please search me thoroughly. I could use a good groping.” Her throaty laugh descended into a hacking cough as Grace headed to the exam area.

“One of our new techs is back there with Dani right now working on an injured shepherd. Her name’s Michelle, the tech not the shepherd, and she’s gussied up like she’s at a beauty pageant. Her britches are so tight her legs look like cased sausages. Lord knows what she’s up to besides work.”

Grace kept walking, unwilling to engage in Brenda’s speculation about Michelle’s motives, but noted her disappointment that Dani wasn’t alone. No way around it now. She followed Dani to the clinic to spend more time with her. She wouldn’t deny it, and she couldn’t blame Michelle for disrupting a foolish plan she knew nothing about. Maybe they were sniffing after the same quarry. “Dani, it’s Grace.” She announced her presence because Dani didn’t strike her as the type who liked surprises.

“Room three, near the back,” someone, not Dani, replied.

Grace peeked through the observation square in the door and saw Dani and Michelle hunched over a large German shepherd. Michelle’s T-shirt plunged just this side of indecent, long blond hair hung loosely around her face, and her strong perfume wafted under the door and into the hallway. She wouldn’t attract any of the local boys wearing that fragrance because her smell would interfere with their dog’s scent-tracking abilities and scare off any game. Maybe Brenda was right and Michelle wasn’t hunting male prey. Grace shook the thought from her mind along with a twinge of discomfort.

She returned her attention to the scene inside the examining room as Dani explained the procedure for treating the shepherd’s injury. If Michelle asked questions, Dani described what she was doing and why the process was necessary. She was kind, and her tone patient, unlike the clipped exchanges they’d shared earlier at the diner. Where animals were involved, Dani was caring, devoted, and communicative, but her view of humans had seemingly been skewed along the way making her suspicious and untrusting. Grace felt a desire to help change Dani’s opinion.

Michelle edged closer to Dani, and Grace noticed the right side of the dog’s coat was shiny with fresh blood. Dani held a needle with stitching in one gloved hand and a syringe in the other. She lowered the syringe toward the dog, and Grace looked away. She didn’t tolerate pain well, hers or any other creature’s. “I’ll just wait out here.”

“Harry is in room one, right next door, if you want to visit while I finish up. I’ll join you in a few minutes,” Dani said.

She turned toward Harry’s room, leaving the shepherd in Dani’s capable hands and Dani too close to Michelle. Grace did a peekaboo into Harry’s room and watched him enjoying a feast of orange and seeds. He hopped from the food dish to the higher perch and back, twisted his head around, and squawked new, tamer words. He looked nothing like the anxious bird she’d brought in, except for the bald patches on his body.

“What do you think?”

Grace jumped away from the door, and Dani grabbed her waist just above her utility belt to keep her from falling backward. Dani’s solid body pressed into hers, and excitement scuttled across her skin. She might’ve actually wilted a little before Dani released her.

“Jumpy for a cop, aren’t you?”

“You shouldn’t sneak up on someone like that, especially when she’s armed.” Dani grimaced and the tiny space between her top teeth looked so sexy Grace almost swooned. She reluctantly returned her attention to Harry. “He seems better.”

“I took blood and checked for contagious diseases, anemia, parasites, organ failure, basically everything, and didn’t find any problems. He was dehydrated, but that’s better today.”

“How do you take blood from a bird exactly? Stupid question, I guess, but I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Same way you do in a human. Needle in, blood out.” Her grin widened.

She enjoyed teasing Grace, and that was just fine—at least she had a humorous side. “Cute, Dr. Wingate. Maybe I should be more specific. Where do you draw blood from a bird? And please don’t say veins.”

“Neck or wings, but I prefer the feet for easier access, and the bird tolerates it well. Shall we go in?” Dani opened the door and held it for Grace, the little courtesy a welcome change from her speedy retreat from the diner.

“Good morning, Harry,” Grace said. “How are you?”

“Five-O,” Harry shrieked, bobbed up and down, and furiously beat his wings. “Watch your six.”

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Grace moved closer, and he flapped harder.

“Grace, why don’t you step away?” Dani edged in front of her. “Harry, it’s okay. She’s not going to hurt you.”

“Of course I’m not going to hurt him. I don’t understand why he behaves like this every time I’m around.”

Dani glanced at her, suspicion oozing from her eyes. “There has to be a reason.”

“Well, it’s not that. I’d never hurt anyone or anything, intentionally.”

While they chatted, Harry flailed, feathers and dust swirling into a mini tornado around the small cage. “Police. Run. Po-lice.”

“You should probably wait outside so I can calm him down.”

“Dani, I don’t want you to think—”

“Please, Grace, just go.”

She shot Harry a parting glare. Now she understood how a wrongly accused suspect felt. “I’ll wait in the hall, but we need to talk before I leave.”

Michelle swished by Grace on her way out, giving her a pointed stare before joining Dani in the room with Harry. Soothing voices mingled with Harry’s screeches until they eventually tapered off and quieted. When they exited Harry’s room, Michelle touched Dani’s arm. “Want me to stay?”

Dani shook her head and waited until she walked away before turning to Grace. “You wanted to talk?”

“Seriously? You can’t possibly believe I abuse that poor bird.”

“I don’t know what to think, Grace. I can’t find any organic reason for his behavior, but he definitely dislikes you. I don’t believe it’s a good idea to take him home when he has such a bad reaction to you. It’s not healthy.”

“You might want to clear keeping him with Trip. She’s anxious to get rid of him before Brenda turns him into the Beaumont Clinic mascot.” Grace hesitated before asking her next question, unsure of her motives. “What if you come by my place one evening and check it out?”

“What good would that do?” Dani asked.

“Maybe you’ll spot something that’s offensive to him or birds in general that I’m not aware of. And you are right next door.”

“That wouldn’t account for what happened just now.”

“True.” She could let Dani find Harry another home, cut her losses, and celebrate, but having Dani believe she was an irresponsible pet owner set her teeth on edge. “Please, help me figure out what’s going on with him.” She might not want the bird, but she cared, particularly if she’d inadvertently done something wrong.

“I’m not a bird psychologist, but maybe he associates you with his missing mother. Leave him another day, and I’ll watch him closely, see how he responds to other people. He seems okay with Michelle.”

“Of course he does,” Grace mumbled.

“Sorry?”

“Whatever you think.” Michelle was the one who should be caged, if only for Dani’s protection and Grace’s peace of mind, not that she had any more right to Dani’s attentions.

“I’ll see what I can arrange,” Dani said.

“Great. I’ll be at the night market this evening, but any time after that should be fine.” She stomped out of the clinic toward her car without acknowledging Brenda’s parting comment, annoyed with her own ungracious thoughts and possessive behavior over a woman she didn’t even know. Damn it. She wasn’t some clichéd small-town girl who lusted after the first attractive stranger who came along. She’d had that heartbreak before and wasn’t anxious to go back. She simply wanted to figure out Harry’s problem…and spend a little more time with an interesting woman. Nothing complicated about either.