Chapter 10 - Take Your Time

Grace poked her head around the corner of the B and B looking for Dani. She hoped she was already gone, because she desperately needed lunch without a side of drama.

“She hasn’t come down yet,” Mary Jane said. “She came in around three this morning. Heard that was quite a party.”

“Lunch ready?” Grace grabbed a Diet Coke and purposely avoided the reference to the cookout. Mary Jane would spill the rest of her news soon enough without encouragement.

“Finishing up. Have a seat.” Mary Jane pointed to Grace’s usual spot.

She’d just settled when cautious footsteps sounded on the squeaky stairs followed shortly by Dani standing in the doorway looking flushed and too appealing for someone who’d been up most of the night. “Hi,” Grace said.

“Morning.” Dani turned and walked out the front door without another word.

“Well,” Mary Jane said. “Guess I don’t have to wonder if the gossip was true. You two definitely had a moment at the cookout, and it appears not all warm and fuzzy. It’s colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra in here.”

“Please, MJ, you know better than to believe town gossip.” She paused and took a few sips of Coke, hoping Mary Jane would fill in the blanks. When that failed, she couldn’t resist. “So, what exactly did you hear?”

Mary Jane grabbed her coffee cup and sat across from her at the table, lowering her voice for effect. “At church, I heard the new vet, that’s Dani, and some young girl named Michelle had a very public breakup right in front of everybody. And there was speculation that Michelle might be under age, but Clarabelle said she knows for a fact Michelle is at least twenty-one because she went with her grandson to an event where alcohol was served and had to show ID. May overheard talk that you and Jay Griffith were making out near the pool. Then, not five minutes later, one of the visiting choir members said she saw you and Dani sneak into a bathroom together…and you didn’t come out for ages.” Mary Jane gave her the equivalent of the stink eye. “Thought I taught you better. Two women in one afternoon? Any truth to the rumors? Want to comment on what went on?”

Grace heated, whether from her irritation with Trip at throwing her into the uncomfortable situation with Jay or at Dani’s behavior or their kisses, she wasn’t entirely sure. “No.”

“That’s all I get? No? How will I hold my head up in this town when I live with one of the main characters in these juicy stories and can’t even get a firsthand account?”

“Don’t gossip.”

“Exactly my point. If you told me what happened, it wouldn’t be gossip, and I could set the record straight.”

“Nope.”

The room was quiet for several seconds before Mary Jane whispered, “You know you can talk to me.” She reached across the table and squeezed Grace’s hand.

“Thanks, but we need to revisit something relating to the B and B. Are you still sure about Harry living in the sunroom? I’ll be responsible for feeding him and cleaning his cage.”

“How will you do that? He hates you.”

“I’ll try, because I don’t want you taking on any more work, and he’s going to be part of the family. We have to figure out how to get along.”

“I’ll clear out a spot in the corner of the sunroom this afternoon.”

“Thanks, MJ. You’re the best.”

“Of course I am.” She looked down at her hands before one more attempt to get Grace to open up. “Did Dani do something to you, something rude?”

She didn’t know how to explain what had happened between her and Dani. She’d run the scenario through her mind since last night with no new revelations. “Nothing I can’t handle, MJ. Dani is just a little confused right now, and I’m letting her work through it.”

What else could she do? She liked Dani a lot, and something about her forced Grace to stand up for herself, which wasn’t a bad thing. If this was Dani’s lesson to her, the message was worth an unrequited attraction.

“That’s probably best, honey. Now, can I get you some lunch?”

“I’ll make a plate in a bit. Thank you for looking out for me.”

Mary Jane grabbed her in a hug and squeezed until Grace kissed her cheek and pulled away. They’d played that game since she was a kid, and Grace still loved that the comfort of Mary Jane’s arms felt like home.

* * *

Dani couldn’t face Grace after her unchivalrous behavior at the party, much less sit across the table from her and eat a meal pretending nothing significant had happened between them. Her jealousy had been unexpected and totally uncharacteristic, and when Grace called her on it, Dani balked. She couldn’t even tell Grace how she felt—that she was starting to care for her and was afraid of hurting her. So, like a coward, she’d snuck out of the B and B. Work was what she needed, so she’d decided to relieve some of Trip’s Sunday workload at the clinic. She’d taken in the alcohol steadily last night and might need a hand.

Dani was inserting a new IV in the leg of an Irish setter who’d pulled his previous one out during the night when Trip walked into the treatment room. “Hey, haven’t you read your contract? You’re not scheduled to come in on Sundays. That’s my job because you cover Saturdays while I go to horse shows.”

Dani glanced up and smiled as she finished taping the IV securely to the setter’s leg, then ruffled the dog’s ears affectionately and softly scolded him. “Now leave that one alone or you’ll get a cone of shame next time.” The dog wagged his tail, oblivious to her threat.

“I don’t think your scolding penetrated his thick Irish setter skull,” Trip said in a teasing tone.

Dani shrugged. “You know what they say in vet school…”

“Some dogs have brains and others have red coats,” they quoted together.

“This is his last bag of fluids, anyway,” Dani said, hefting him from the table and walking him back to his cage. “He’s feeling a lot better. I’ll call his owner to pick him up tomorrow. I doubt we’ll have to worry about them being careless with antifreeze again once I show them their bill.”

“Their teenager was the careless one, but it won’t happen again. Not only did he come close to losing his best friend, he’ll be working off most of that bill slinging hay bales for my property manager, Jerome. Trust me, that’s hard work he won’t soon forget.”

While Dani gently checked the IVs and administered medicine to a pair of Yorkie pups suffering from parvo, Trip pulled a terrier mix from a smaller pen and checked the multiple stitched wounds he’d earned in a fight with a dog five times his size. “This guy looks like something out of a horror movie, but he should be good to go home tomorrow, too.”

“You were right about the cookout, by the way.”

“How so?”

“I met a lot of great people and even picked up a new client.”

“Do tell,” Trip said.

“A terrier mix with a gastric problem. She was a shelter pup, so her medical history is sketchy. It’s a chronic issue, and several visits to specialists have helped the owner manage it somewhat. But she’s worried because the pup seems to be having some abdominal pain and has lost interest in food.”

“Could be intestinal cancer,” Trip offered, closing the terrier back in his pen. “Who’s the owner?”

“Jamie Grant. It’d be a shame if it is cancer. The terrier came from a program that turns the most unwanted shelter dogs into service animals. Jamie works for the sheriff’s office and trained the dog herself to sniff out drugs and explosives.”

Trip stood by the terrier’s pen staring off in the distance.

“Trip? Are you all right?”

“Fine. My brain just sidetracked to something else for a minute. It’s still a little foggy. What were you saying?”

“I’ve already been through the cat room, so we’re done.”

“Oh, right. Remind me why you’re here on a Sunday?”

Dani ducked her head. “Well, I saw you, uh, napping in the chair on the front porch and had an idea you might not be up for dealing with clogged drainage tubes and double diarrhea from the Yorkie twins.”

Trip couldn’t meet her gaze. “Yeah. Not usually my style. At least, not since I graduated vet school a decade ago.” She rubbed her temples. “And it’ll be two decades, if ever, before I’ll do it again. But thanks for having my back.”

“No problem,” Dani said.

Trip started to leave but stopped in the doorway. “Did Jamie make an appointment for her dog?”

“Tomorrow. Nine o’clock. Before they start their shift.”

“My morning is flexible. I’ll handle that one if you don’t mind. Jamie and I were teammates on the basketball team where I did my undergrad. I’d like to take this one personally.”

“Sure, no problem. Jamie didn’t mention you were friends. I sure hope it isn’t cancer so you don’t have to give her bad news.”

“Yeah. Thanks. See you tomorrow morning.”

* * *

“Glitter Girl to Fast Break and Paint Ball, do you copy?” Grace tried a second time to reach Trip and Clay on her CB radio. Texting or calling would’ve been easier, but she still enjoyed using their high school method of communicating, a reminder of simpler times. She hadn’t talked to Dani since their kisses at the cookout and needed their advice. “Come in, guys.”

“Paint Ball here. Go, Glitter Girl.” Clay’s concerned voice sounded crisp and loud over the radio, and Grace breathed easier.

“Where are you?”

“On a pickup near the county line, about thirty minutes outside town. Are you okay?”

“Fast Break, I copy. What’s up?” Trip cut in.

“Any chance you guys could meet me at Mosquito Alley for a powwow?” They’d adopted a portion of the Altamaha River as their private meeting place and dubbed it after the pesky occupants.

“Paint Ball ETA about five thirty.”

“Fast Break same.”

“Thanks. I’ll bring some food and drinks. Glitter Girl out.” Even though they saw each other almost daily somewhere in town, the alley gatherings were special, just the three of them.

She packed the beer into a cooler in the trunk of her battered Corolla, covered them with ice, and gathered some of their favorite snacks on the way out of town. When she arrived at Mosquito Alley, she parked behind Trip’s clinic truck and Clay’s wrecker but didn’t see either of them. “Hey, where are you guys?”

She glanced out across the water at the rope swing swaying from the mammoth old oak tree. They were in the water already. Those two could probably recite exactly where the Altamaha originated and the path it took to the Atlantic, but she didn’t really care as long as it came by Pine Cone.

Trip’s voice drifted up from the river, “Taking a quick splash. Bring your mosquito spray.”

“I could use a hand with the food,” she called back. She emphasized the magic word that assured both would show up quickly. Clay and Trip scrambled up the riverbank, their shorts and tank tops dripping and their hair plastered flat from swimming. They both had bodies to die for, and if they weren’t such great friends, she could go for either of them, but that ship had sailed years ago with a pact to never cross that line, drunk or sober.

“Did somebody mention food?” Clay grabbed Grace and gave her a big wet hug. “Where’s your swimsuit, woman?”

Before she could answer, Trip hugged her from the back, effectively soaking her from both sides. “Who needs to swim when I have you two?”

Clay grabbed one side of the cooler and Trip the other in a time-honored act of chivalry that always made Grace feel special. At the water’s edge, they set it down on Grace’s favorite flat rock, and Trip gave Grace a mischievous grin.

“Don’t even think about it, Trip Beaumont. If you throw me in the water, neither of you will get anything from that cooler.”

Trip shrugged, nudged Grace closer to the water, and then darted around her and jumped in, splashing just enough to cool Grace’s legs. “Chicken,” she called to Clay.

“No can do, pal,” Clay said. “She threatened my energy source.” Clay helped Grace spread a picnic blanket on the rock and then stared across the river toward the sunset. “Isn’t this view just amazing? All the texture, colors, and the light…the light is so good.”

“You’re such an artist, Cahill,” Grace teased her. She glanced at Clay’s hands and saw fresh paint stains around her nails. “Painting for real again?”

“Yep. Had an image in my head that wouldn’t go away.”

“I’m so glad, Clay. You were born for it.”

“I know, right?” She blew Grace a kiss before jumping back in the river.

Grace poured herself a plastic cup of wine and rested against the slick-sided rock while watching Trip and Clay splash and dunk each other. She usually joined them, but today she was too pensive to play. She needed to talk. When Clay and Trip showed no signs of letting up, she reached into the cooler and rattled the beer bottles loudly. Clay’s and Trip’s heads popped out of the water and looked toward her. “Cold one?” Before she could twist the tops off two bottles, they were beside her.

“Okay, hand over my money.” Trip held out her hand to Clay.

“What did you bet on this time?” Grace asked.

Clay riffled through her dry clothes until she found her wallet and handed over a ten-dollar bill. “How long you’d wait to talk. I said thirty minutes, and Trip guessed fifteen. So, what’s up, Gracie?”

Grace reached toward the food containers. “Are you hungry? I brought all your favorites. Chicken wings, ribs, cracklings, and potato salad.”

Trip cocked her head. “You’re stalling. We know where the food is. What’s up?”

“Dani Wingate.”

Clay and Trip stared at each other for several seconds, but neither spoke. Finally, Clay fished another ten from her wallet and handed it to Trip.

“Seriously, guys?”

“I’m a sucker for a sure bet,” Trip said and gave Grace her cutest femme-slaying smile. “Besides Jolene at the diner is telling everybody the two of you’ve already slept together.”

“What?” Grace glared at her. “I hope you set her right.”

Trip shook her head. “She could know something I don’t.”

“She is your type,” Clay said shyly, taking another swig of beer.

“And what exactly is my type?”

“Over to you, pal.” Trip looked out over the water.

Clay shrugged. “You know, like…us.” She wagged a finger between herself and Trip. “Handsome, butch, sporty…did I mention handsome?”

Trip added, “Yeah, what Clay said. In other words, if we weren’t like sisters, we’d probably be dating each other.”

“There’s a significant difference between the two of you and Dani. She doesn’t even want to be around me half the time.”

“Explain,” Trip said.

“She barely speaks to me one day, almost kisses me the next, shies away if I get too close, can’t talk about her feelings, and goes to Savannah twice a week, probably to get laid.”

Trip frowned. “You mean when I send her to the airport to ship or pick up semen?” She tossed her chicken bone into the woods. “This is breeding season and frozen semen is big business in the horse world. I’ve been sending Dani to Savannah to keep her from feeling so isolated in Pine Cone.”

Grace considered Trip’s comment and studied the river. She’d basically just met Dani and already had the hots for her, but Dani was running hot and cold. She took another sip of wine, and when she glanced back at Clay and Trip, they were both studying her with a look she knew too well. “No, no, no. I’m not falling for her. Really.”

“Then why can’t you look at us? You’re a crap liar,” Trip said.

“And what were you doing in the alley with her the other day?” Clay waved a rib in front of her face like a magic wand.

“Yeah. Wait. What?” Trip looked back and forth between them. “What alley?”

Clay gave Trip the abbreviated version of finding Grace and Dani practically tit to tit between the hardware and drugstore. “She said nothing was going on, but it looked cozy to me.”

“You’re seeing things.” If Clay imagined their coziness, so did Grace because she’d felt the connection too.

“Did I imagine seeing the two of you heading into my office yesterday?”

“She was upset because she saw me with Jay but couldn’t talk about it. I’m not falling for her. She’s afraid of getting involved, I mean really involved.”

“What do you want, Grace?” Trip waited while Grace twirled her wine glass.

“I can’t stop thinking about her, but I refuse to chase her. I tried that once, and we all know how that turned out. Am I doing something wrong?”

Trip washed down some potato salad and turned to Grace. “Dating is a dance. If you yank on the lead rope to force a horse to follow, he’s either going to balk or his flight instinct will kick in and he’ll drag you off your feet. So, instead, you guide the horse to go where you want by teaching them to give in to pressure. It’s how a stallion moves a herd, or a boss mare leads it. Before you know it, she’ll be following you around like a puppy.”

“I thought we were talking about dating, not dancing or riding lessons.” Clay shook her head. “Seriously, dude, how did you ever get a woman, much less bed half of Pine Cone, with advice like that?”

“Dancing, training horses, and dating—a lot of the same techniques apply. That’s why I’m so good at all three.” Trip blew on her fingernails and brushed them against her T-shirt.

“Okay, I get it, maybe,” Grace said. “But you know I’ve got no game.”

“Absolutely none.” Trip scooted closer.

Clay draped her arm around Grace’s shoulder on the other side. “The important thing is to just be yourself, Gracie. You’re a people person who enjoys chatting and spending time. Let Dani see the real you.”

“Yep,” Trip added, reaching for another chicken wing.

“The other night, she bolted from the cottage like her butt was on fire.” She realized her error too late.

“Your cottage?” Trip eyed her.

“What night?” Clay rolled her hand, encouraging Grace to say more.

She shook her head. “It wasn’t like that. She’s trying to figure out why Harry hates me, so I asked her to come by and check out my place. We had a couple of drinks and…”

Two pairs of eyes locked on her like sights on a target.

“And we almost kissed. We moved together at the same time, and it almost happened, but it didn’t. All I saw were elbows and dust shooting up from her shoes on her way back to the house.” Grace paused, her face heating. “But then she kissed me at the cookout. Totally clumsy. It just happened because she was upset or something. Who knows?” She gave Trip a shy glance.

“Yes.” Trip pumped her fist in the air. “And what’d you do?”

“Well, it was awkward. Sort of like, ‘There. I did it.’” Grace ducked her head and grinned. She’d been so moved by that simple, clumsy kiss that she’d initiated another. It had been sizzling and emotionally arousing. “Then I showed her how to really kiss.”

Clay hooted, and Trip reached behind Grace to bump fists with Clay.

“Sounds to me like she’s coming around,” Trip said.

Grace frowned. “I don’t know what to do next.”

“Cook for her,” Clay added, her stomach never far from any conversation.

“Screw her brains out at the first available opportunity,” Trip said. “She can get good food at a dozen restaurants, but great sex—”

“Worthless I say, totally worthless. She’s probably had more sex than all of us combined, and I’m not going to sleep with her to try and convince her to stay. She either wants me or she doesn’t. End of story.” Grace poured another cup of wine. “Let’s talk about something else. Like maybe Clay scoring with the gorgeous River Hemsworth?”

“Wait, what?” Trip looked at her.

“Nothing,” Clay said.

“Come to think of it, why did you leave yesterday in such a hurry? You didn’t even say good-bye. And you left River poolside looking kind of upset.” Trip’s attention was fully focused on Clay now.

“I don’t want to talk about me. We’re here for Grace, remember?”

“Too late,” Grace chimed in.

“So? What happened yesterday?” Trip wasn’t letting this one go.

“We had a misunderstanding,” Clay said.

“And?” Her answer clearly hadn’t satisfied Trip.

“We spent last night sorting it out.” Clay’s cheeks turned pink under the scrutiny.

“All night?” Grace’s high-pitched question ended in a giggle.

“And this morning.” Clay couldn’t stifle a big grin or stop the deeper flush of her cheeks.

“I knew it.” Grace was smiling too, her own worries forgotten for the moment in the presence of Clay’s happiness. “I knew she was into you that very first day under the maple tree, sitting on that stupid fake plastic deer.”

“Yeah, well, it just took me a little longer to figure it out.”

“Maybe you’ll finally cheer up. I miss my pal, Clay.” Trip reached over and playfully punched her shoulder.

“And what about you, Fast Break?” Clay asked. “Anybody catch your interest?”

“Not really.” Trip shook her head. “It’s…complicated.”

“Oh, do tell.” Grace rubbed her hands together.

Trip peeled at the label on her beer bottle before finally answering. “I sort of like someone from my past, but she’s not the forgiving type.”

“Ouch,” Clay said. “Did you sleep with her girlfriend or something?” Trip’s look said it all. “Oh shit, dude, really?”

“The girl from college?” Grace asked. “You were all friends until…She told us about that, Clay. Remember?”

“But she’s not here, is she?”

Grace couldn’t recall the girl’s name, but there weren’t that many new women in town, only River, Dani, and… “Jamie? My Jamie?” Trip looked vexed. “I don’t mean my Jamie, just my officer Jamie.”

Clay shook her head. “I’m confused. The one who’s been laying parking tickets all over your truck like she’s hanging wallpaper?”

Trip nodded. “The girl knows how to make an impression.”

“She’s just doing her job, Trip. I’ve asked her to use more discretion, but she’s military.”

“I’d be happy to pay every single ticket if she’d just talk to me.”

“We’re a sorry bunch,” Grace said.

Trip sighed. “Pathetic.”

They were silent for a few long moments, staring out at the river while they contemplated their woman issues.

Then Grace threw her head back and laughed. “You can sit down here and sulk if you want, Trip Beaumont.” She turned both her thumbs toward herself. “Glitter Girl is putting her heart out there again.” She pointed to them. “Clay has River now. When you’re done with your little pity party, Trip, go home, put on your big girl pants, and go courting like the Fast Break from our high school days. Show Jamie you’ve still got what it takes to sweep her off her feet.”