From the Hat Down, page 8
And right into her heart.
Like a lot of Gina did.
She shut the lights off in the front rooms, but stood listening to the next song, an old George Strait tune she liked. Then she turned the radio off and headed to bed.
Meg spent Sunday morning and early afternoon demonstrating roping techniques to guests, chatting with ranch staff, and riding fence with Bruce, one of the hands. Late that afternoon, she finally managed to catch Stan in his office. She plopped down in one of the chairs on the other side of his desk and put her hat on the other.
“Hello, darling daughter. What brings you to my private domain?”
“I’m thinking about opening my own practice.”
He regarded her over the rims of his bifocals and leaned back in his desk chair, thoughtful. “Well. That’s a good reason to invade my domain. You have a place in mind?”
“Saratoga.”
A slow smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I like it,” he said. “You knew I would, though, because I’d love to have you closer. And not just to put you to work.”
Meg smiled back. “Right. Of course. Because you never want to put me to work.”
He raised his eyebrows at her. He wore a blue denim shirt that brought out the gray in his eyes. He was pushing sixty now, and gray colored the hair at his temples, once dark as crow feathers, but he hadn’t lost much of it. Meg had always favored him in physical appearance down to hair and eye color, but also personality. “Two peas in a pod,” Alice and, ironically, Irene had both said about Meg and Stan. Alice meant it kindly. Irene did not.
“You think you’d have a house in town?” he asked, lacing his fingers together over his chest.
“Probably. It’s easier.”
He nodded slowly. “What about someone else?”
“Definitely. I’d like two more with me, and I’ve been thinking about getting certified as a post-doc venue so I could get vets just coming out of school who might want to do a bit of research and learn something about rural veterinary care. That way, I wouldn’t have to pay out of pocket so much.”
“Cuts down on the overhead,” he said, smiling. “Where’d you get them business smarts?”
She shrugged and he laughed.
“However,” she said, “I need some capital. I have some money saved, but I was wondering what you thought about a business loan and where I should go to get one.”
“What about renting space for an office? Saratoga’s got one vet already. And there are only a couple thousand people.” He pulled thoughtfully on one end of his mustache.
“I’ve thought about that. And I’ve thought about making an offer on an extant practice. I’m not sure yet. And I’ve been thinking about the people who don’t live in town, and who might have emergencies at their ranches. That’s really what concerns me. Vets are few and far between these days, and I’d like to help fill that gap. I figured I could do rounds.”
He pursed his lips, thinking. “All right, here’s another angle. What about putting an office here?”
Meg stared at him. “On the DR?”
He gave her a “duh” look. “Sure. Low rent, since I’m the best dad in the world—”
Meg snorted and he picked up a magazine and tossed it at her. She caught it and tossed it back onto his desk.
“Where was I?” He said. “Oh, yeah. Best dad in the world. Anyway, low rent, which means you’d have enough money to really get started. And yeah, get you one of those vet trucks and you could make rounds. That’s really what we need out here is a large animal vet who can go directly to a spread. You know this area of Carbon County like the back of your hand. Plus, you specialize in large animals. So why not base here eventually and be like a traveling country vet?” He leaned forward, eyes shining. “What do you think?”
She ran a hand through her hair, thinking. “Wow. I don’t know. I mean, there’s lots of stuff to think about with that. Not sure how it would work, to put a public practice on private land. Might be kind of a hassle. And you’re so damn busy with guests and this place is so busy all the time.”
“Only four months out of the year. The rest of the time it’s off-and-on retreats for whoever wants to come. That leaves eight months where we all sit around in the dark and sigh, watching the clock. If you were here, we’d at least be able to play ‘Go Fish’ or something.”
“Jackson still hasn’t taught you how to play poker?”
“Nah. He knows I’d whup ’im. But I see your points.”
She hesitated. “What about parking? And boarding for some of those large animals if I have to keep ’em close?”
“Hell, there’s plenty of room. Obviously, you need to visit more because you’d see that,” he teased. “How about next week, let’s go scout some locations? Just to see if there’s a place something like that could work.”
“Okay. But I still think that I should set up in town, first. And I’ll make some calls to the county and city, see what’s entailed in building a practice. Literally.”
“Do you have a timeline?”
“Not really. At least three more years in Laramie. Probably longer. I figured that would give me some time to really get to know the market here and what people are really looking for. I know a mobile vet would come in handy, but I’d like to see what people want and need.”
“Sounds smart. Like you’ve been thinking.” He winked at her.
“I do that sometimes.”
“So I heard. Let’s scout locations anyway. No sense waiting on that.”
Meg picked her hat up and stood. “That would be great.”
“Yep.” He stood as well. “Besides, it’ll get us away from your mom for a few hours,” he said conspiratorially.
“And Phil,” she added as she moved to the door.
He laughed. “Forgot about that. Yeah, him, too.” He came around the desk and followed her outside. “We’ll talk more about this later. Get on back to Laramie before I decide I like having you around too much.”
She put her hat on. “Sure thing. Thanks, Dad.”
He squeezed her shoulder and followed her to her truck. Meg had adjusted the passenger seat all the way forward so Moonshine had room in the extended cab area behind the seats. She checked to make sure he had enough blankets to lie on.
“Thanks for taking care of that old mutt,” Stan said as Meg picked Moonshine up and put him in the truck. “I was thinking he needed a decent retirement. Let me know what you find out about him. He’s family, too.”
“Will do.” She made sure Moonshine got comfortable before she shut the door. “I’ll make sure he calls every day.” She smiled.
“You do that.” He regarded her for a few moments. “It’d be a hell of a thing, to have you back at the DR. Or at least in Saratoga,” he said, thumbs hooked on his belt. He still looked twenty years younger than his age, broad-shouldered and slim-hipped, though the deep laugh lines at the corners of his eyes broadcast the years he wore on his lean frame and the decades had written themselves on the skin of his hands. He could pass as a frontier sheriff, with his big mustache and black cowboy hat. Meg envisioned him in a long black duster, breaking up a cattle rustling ring or maybe branding a few calves and cracking a few jokes.
“Yeah, it would.” She studied him, seeing herself in the tilt of his head and the clear gray of his eyes, in the set of his jaw and the way he stood, like he drew lifeblood from the soil through the soles of his boots.
“All right. Drive carefully and let us know what you want for your birthday dinner. Because I’m guessing you didn’t talk to Alice about that.”
“Dad—”
“Nothing fancy, hon. But I love your birthday and the guests get a kick out of it, too. How about we have a barbecue that Saturday? Before the bonfire?”
Meg relented. He was like a kid at Christmas with other people’s birthdays. “That sounds like fun. Whatever’s easiest for Alice.”
“She loves your birthday, too. She’s already talking about the cake she’s going to make.”
Something in his voice caught Meg’s attention. A little goofy note she hadn’t heard. She looked at him, puzzled.
“Meg,” Alice said as she walked toward the truck in her no-nonsense way. She wore her years well, like a favorite pair of jeans.
“Yeah?”
“Are you bringing anyone next week?”
“Besides Moonshine, no.”
Alice gave her a look. “What about Sean and Ted?”
“Busy. But don’t worry, they already took me to dinner.” She did an exaggerated sigh. “My social life is sadly lacking.”
Stan shook his head, pretending sadness. “Woe is you.”
“Besides, I’ve got enough to deal with here,” she said. “Mom’s going to be a handful. And I’ll be breaking poor Phil’s heterosexual heart.”
Alice laughed. “Let him down easy, sweetie. I know you’ve left a trail of broken male hearts from here to Laramie and back again.”
Meg raised her eyebrows. “Please. He’ll take one look at you and forget I ever existed.”
“That does happen when the menfolk see you,” Stan said to Alice with a little smile.
And Alice blushed. She actually blushed. Just a bit, showing over the top of her collar, but definitely a blush. Meg glanced at Stan, but he had turned to wave Bruce over.
“Excuse me a minute, ladies. Important business needs conducting,” he said with mock gravitas as Alice gave him a “WTF men” look.
Meg grinned. “I know. He’s a handful.”
“That he is,” Alice said, and her gaze lingered on him before she turned back to Meg. “If you find any birthday orphans out there, just let me know a couple days before so I can plan the menu accordingly.”
“Will do. But I doubt it.”
“You never know.” Alice leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. “Do you have a preference for your birthday dinner?”
“I don’t know. Something easy for everybody. How about we grill out? You can put Bud and Bruce to work doing that.”
“Doing what?” Bruce looked past Stan’s shoulder at her.
“Something fun,” Alice said. “You’ll see.” She turned her attention back to Meg. “What about the cake?”
“Surprise me.”
“I’ll try.” She smiled.
“And Dad’ll fill you in on the vet thing I’m thinking about. It’s cool, actually. You’ll see.”
“Sounds intriguing. If it means we get to see more of you, then I support it completely.”
“It might.” She gave Alice a quick hug. “Thanks for the Scotch,” she whispered conspiratorially. “And cookies.”
“Any time.”
Meg moved to the driver’s side door of her truck.
“Ladies,” Stan said, “I’ve got to take care of some more damn ranch stuff, so I’ll be seeing you. Meg, drive carefully and I’ll talk to you later.” He leaned in and moved her hat so he could kiss her on the forehead, surprising her. “Love you,” he said, smiling, as he stepped back so she could open the driver’s side door.
Alice stepped away from the truck, too. “Be safe,” she said.
“Yep. Love you, too,” she said as she started the engine and Moonshine sighed happily from his spot behind the passenger seat. Meg reached over to pet him before settling in for the drive back to Laramie.
Chapter 6
Meg lifted Moonshine out of the truck and set him gently on the ground. He moved stiffly up the steps to wait for her by the front door while she grabbed her backpack and locked the truck. She took him into the house and through the kitchen into the small utility room, where she opened the back door. He limped past her out to the small fenced back yard. Fortunately, he didn’t have to go up or down any major steps. Just a three-inch drop off a concrete patio. She had a few patches of grass and she knew he’d stretch out on one of them after he attended to his business against the one big elm growing along the back fence. She left the back door open so he could come and go and she put a bowl of water down and another filled with kibble.
Moonshine taken care of, she loaded the washer in the utility room and swept the hardwood floors throughout the house, thinking about Stan’s suggestion. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. She’d start researching what she’d need with regard to equipment and how much that would set her back financially. She’d still need to take out a loan, and she needed to check with the veterinary boards to find out how to certify a new structure like the one her father was proposing. But she might be able to get a place up and running five years down the line, maybe a little longer.
She brought the vacuum out of her study and took care of the rug in the hall and living room. Tomorrow, she’d get a couple more runners for the living room and bedroom so Moonshine would have a little more traction with his bum leg. She started organizing her office when Moonshine appeared in the doorway, looking at her hopefully.
She smiled. “Bed time, huh?” she said to him as she took him into her bedroom where she lifted him onto the bed. “You’ve earned it, pal.” She stroked his head for a few seconds and he seemed to smile at her as he stretched out and sighed. She returned to the other room and turned on the computer then logged into her email and her heart did a little somersault when she saw Gina’s message in the inbox. She clicked on it.
Hey, Cowgirl!
What a great surprise to get your mail! Service here is spotty, so it was really cool to see that I got it within a day of you sending it. They’ve got us in a rundown hotel that journalists use. I’ve been touring the city and taking photos. I attached a few for you so you can see what this place is all about. Hope they get through. Hey, don’t worry. I’m okay. Just burned out, I think. And maybe a little concerned. The shit going on in the Middle East always spills over somewhere else and I’m tired of it. I’m ready to do something different. Speaking of which, I was interested to hear about you wanting to start your own practice. What a great idea. Keep me posted on that, would you? I’d love to see it when you have the grand opening. Knowing you, it’ll be sooner rather than later.
Holy hell about your mom. Good luck getting through that. I’m sure your dad and Jackson will find ways to keep you occupied and inaccessible. I feel kind of bad for Phil, actually, because I know you’ll take him aside and tell him what’s what. I always loved that about you, Meg. If something warrants saying, you generally say it. Along those lines, I’ll quit dancing around the issue now. I’m really sorry to hear about you and Kate. I wish I could say something that’d make it easier for you or take away some of the sadness. I hope you know I’m thinking about you. I know you’ll get through it, but if you want to talk, just go ahead and email. That’s not really your way, I know, but it’s all I can offer since I’m here and you’re there.
Which reminds me, I did put in a request to get “shore leave” the second week of August. I’ll be coming in to L.A. and then going to Sacramento. I’m taking almost a month off, so please please please check your schedule and pencil me in. All right, I have to run. Thank you so much for the message. It means a lot to me. I’m going to be on the road for the next couple of weeks starting tomorrow or the next day, so I won’t be able to check email much, if at all. But if you do want to write back, it’d make my day when I finally do check in. And don’t forget to check your email on that Friday before your birthday.
Trippin’ in Turkey,
Gina
Meg’s pulse raced. What the hell? It was Gina. Just Gina. They’d known each other for years. So why the hell did an email affect her like this? She ran both hands through her hair. Breakup baggage from Kate. That’s all. That stupid rebound shit after a breakup, where every ghost from your past shows up asking for a damn handout. Almost convinced, she clicked on the attachments.
The photos had indeed made it through, and Istanbul was gorgeous, a mixture of old and new, golden-domed mosques and labyrinthine streets fronted by whitewashed mud brick structures. Marketplaces with cramped stalls packed with people wearing traditional and western dress. Elsewhere, gleaming western-style office buildings and modern cars. Gina had included a picture of a McDonald’s with the caption “god help us!” Meg smiled and clicked on the last photo. As it downloaded and coalesced on her screen, she sucked her breath in sharply.
Gina, standing in front of the hotel Meg guessed was where the journalists stayed. She had captioned it “a couple weeks ago.” Meg stared. Gina hadn’t really changed much physically in the last five years, though she wore her hair a bit longer, now. It fell past her shoulders and framed her face in a way that made Meg feel twenty-five again, standing in the parking lot outside Saratoga Feed, introducing herself to a woman whose eyes sent sparks ricocheting through her chest.
She studied the picture. Gina was dressed in loose tan pants and a white button-down shirt that looked like it was made out of some kind of gauzy material. She was grinning at the camera, her teeth a flash of white against her complexion and her eyes drilled into Meg’s even through the monitor. Her stomach plummeted to the floor. She enlarged the image and noticed laugh lines around Gina’s eyes and what might have been a streak of gray at her right temple.
She stared at the image for a long time, trying to sort through a rush of emotions that slammed the past against the present. Without really thinking about it, she adjusted the resolution and printed it out, then wrote a quick response:
Hey—
Great to hear from you, too. The pictures came through fine. You look great, Gina. Damn, you only get better with the years. Notice how I didn’t make any comment about your age. ;-)
I know you’ll be on the road for a bit, but if you do manage to check your email, I just wanted to let you know I got yours. Thanks. Please take care of yourself. I’m definitely clearing some space in August.
Workin’ in Wyoming,
Meg
She was about to press “send” when she clicked on “attach” instead and browsed through her photo file until she found the one she was looking for. Sean had taken this picture the month before on a visit to the ranch with Ted. In it, Meg was leaning against one of the columns on the lower veranda of the motel, grinning about something Ted had said. She had her thumbs hooked on her front pockets, relaxed, and she was wearing her black cowboy hat. Sean loved this photo. Meg reluctantly agreed that it was a pretty good one of her.
Like a lot of Gina did.
She shut the lights off in the front rooms, but stood listening to the next song, an old George Strait tune she liked. Then she turned the radio off and headed to bed.
Meg spent Sunday morning and early afternoon demonstrating roping techniques to guests, chatting with ranch staff, and riding fence with Bruce, one of the hands. Late that afternoon, she finally managed to catch Stan in his office. She plopped down in one of the chairs on the other side of his desk and put her hat on the other.
“Hello, darling daughter. What brings you to my private domain?”
“I’m thinking about opening my own practice.”
He regarded her over the rims of his bifocals and leaned back in his desk chair, thoughtful. “Well. That’s a good reason to invade my domain. You have a place in mind?”
“Saratoga.”
A slow smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I like it,” he said. “You knew I would, though, because I’d love to have you closer. And not just to put you to work.”
Meg smiled back. “Right. Of course. Because you never want to put me to work.”
He raised his eyebrows at her. He wore a blue denim shirt that brought out the gray in his eyes. He was pushing sixty now, and gray colored the hair at his temples, once dark as crow feathers, but he hadn’t lost much of it. Meg had always favored him in physical appearance down to hair and eye color, but also personality. “Two peas in a pod,” Alice and, ironically, Irene had both said about Meg and Stan. Alice meant it kindly. Irene did not.
“You think you’d have a house in town?” he asked, lacing his fingers together over his chest.
“Probably. It’s easier.”
He nodded slowly. “What about someone else?”
“Definitely. I’d like two more with me, and I’ve been thinking about getting certified as a post-doc venue so I could get vets just coming out of school who might want to do a bit of research and learn something about rural veterinary care. That way, I wouldn’t have to pay out of pocket so much.”
“Cuts down on the overhead,” he said, smiling. “Where’d you get them business smarts?”
She shrugged and he laughed.
“However,” she said, “I need some capital. I have some money saved, but I was wondering what you thought about a business loan and where I should go to get one.”
“What about renting space for an office? Saratoga’s got one vet already. And there are only a couple thousand people.” He pulled thoughtfully on one end of his mustache.
“I’ve thought about that. And I’ve thought about making an offer on an extant practice. I’m not sure yet. And I’ve been thinking about the people who don’t live in town, and who might have emergencies at their ranches. That’s really what concerns me. Vets are few and far between these days, and I’d like to help fill that gap. I figured I could do rounds.”
He pursed his lips, thinking. “All right, here’s another angle. What about putting an office here?”
Meg stared at him. “On the DR?”
He gave her a “duh” look. “Sure. Low rent, since I’m the best dad in the world—”
Meg snorted and he picked up a magazine and tossed it at her. She caught it and tossed it back onto his desk.
“Where was I?” He said. “Oh, yeah. Best dad in the world. Anyway, low rent, which means you’d have enough money to really get started. And yeah, get you one of those vet trucks and you could make rounds. That’s really what we need out here is a large animal vet who can go directly to a spread. You know this area of Carbon County like the back of your hand. Plus, you specialize in large animals. So why not base here eventually and be like a traveling country vet?” He leaned forward, eyes shining. “What do you think?”
She ran a hand through her hair, thinking. “Wow. I don’t know. I mean, there’s lots of stuff to think about with that. Not sure how it would work, to put a public practice on private land. Might be kind of a hassle. And you’re so damn busy with guests and this place is so busy all the time.”
“Only four months out of the year. The rest of the time it’s off-and-on retreats for whoever wants to come. That leaves eight months where we all sit around in the dark and sigh, watching the clock. If you were here, we’d at least be able to play ‘Go Fish’ or something.”
“Jackson still hasn’t taught you how to play poker?”
“Nah. He knows I’d whup ’im. But I see your points.”
She hesitated. “What about parking? And boarding for some of those large animals if I have to keep ’em close?”
“Hell, there’s plenty of room. Obviously, you need to visit more because you’d see that,” he teased. “How about next week, let’s go scout some locations? Just to see if there’s a place something like that could work.”
“Okay. But I still think that I should set up in town, first. And I’ll make some calls to the county and city, see what’s entailed in building a practice. Literally.”
“Do you have a timeline?”
“Not really. At least three more years in Laramie. Probably longer. I figured that would give me some time to really get to know the market here and what people are really looking for. I know a mobile vet would come in handy, but I’d like to see what people want and need.”
“Sounds smart. Like you’ve been thinking.” He winked at her.
“I do that sometimes.”
“So I heard. Let’s scout locations anyway. No sense waiting on that.”
Meg picked her hat up and stood. “That would be great.”
“Yep.” He stood as well. “Besides, it’ll get us away from your mom for a few hours,” he said conspiratorially.
“And Phil,” she added as she moved to the door.
He laughed. “Forgot about that. Yeah, him, too.” He came around the desk and followed her outside. “We’ll talk more about this later. Get on back to Laramie before I decide I like having you around too much.”
She put her hat on. “Sure thing. Thanks, Dad.”
He squeezed her shoulder and followed her to her truck. Meg had adjusted the passenger seat all the way forward so Moonshine had room in the extended cab area behind the seats. She checked to make sure he had enough blankets to lie on.
“Thanks for taking care of that old mutt,” Stan said as Meg picked Moonshine up and put him in the truck. “I was thinking he needed a decent retirement. Let me know what you find out about him. He’s family, too.”
“Will do.” She made sure Moonshine got comfortable before she shut the door. “I’ll make sure he calls every day.” She smiled.
“You do that.” He regarded her for a few moments. “It’d be a hell of a thing, to have you back at the DR. Or at least in Saratoga,” he said, thumbs hooked on his belt. He still looked twenty years younger than his age, broad-shouldered and slim-hipped, though the deep laugh lines at the corners of his eyes broadcast the years he wore on his lean frame and the decades had written themselves on the skin of his hands. He could pass as a frontier sheriff, with his big mustache and black cowboy hat. Meg envisioned him in a long black duster, breaking up a cattle rustling ring or maybe branding a few calves and cracking a few jokes.
“Yeah, it would.” She studied him, seeing herself in the tilt of his head and the clear gray of his eyes, in the set of his jaw and the way he stood, like he drew lifeblood from the soil through the soles of his boots.
“All right. Drive carefully and let us know what you want for your birthday dinner. Because I’m guessing you didn’t talk to Alice about that.”
“Dad—”
“Nothing fancy, hon. But I love your birthday and the guests get a kick out of it, too. How about we have a barbecue that Saturday? Before the bonfire?”
Meg relented. He was like a kid at Christmas with other people’s birthdays. “That sounds like fun. Whatever’s easiest for Alice.”
“She loves your birthday, too. She’s already talking about the cake she’s going to make.”
Something in his voice caught Meg’s attention. A little goofy note she hadn’t heard. She looked at him, puzzled.
“Meg,” Alice said as she walked toward the truck in her no-nonsense way. She wore her years well, like a favorite pair of jeans.
“Yeah?”
“Are you bringing anyone next week?”
“Besides Moonshine, no.”
Alice gave her a look. “What about Sean and Ted?”
“Busy. But don’t worry, they already took me to dinner.” She did an exaggerated sigh. “My social life is sadly lacking.”
Stan shook his head, pretending sadness. “Woe is you.”
“Besides, I’ve got enough to deal with here,” she said. “Mom’s going to be a handful. And I’ll be breaking poor Phil’s heterosexual heart.”
Alice laughed. “Let him down easy, sweetie. I know you’ve left a trail of broken male hearts from here to Laramie and back again.”
Meg raised her eyebrows. “Please. He’ll take one look at you and forget I ever existed.”
“That does happen when the menfolk see you,” Stan said to Alice with a little smile.
And Alice blushed. She actually blushed. Just a bit, showing over the top of her collar, but definitely a blush. Meg glanced at Stan, but he had turned to wave Bruce over.
“Excuse me a minute, ladies. Important business needs conducting,” he said with mock gravitas as Alice gave him a “WTF men” look.
Meg grinned. “I know. He’s a handful.”
“That he is,” Alice said, and her gaze lingered on him before she turned back to Meg. “If you find any birthday orphans out there, just let me know a couple days before so I can plan the menu accordingly.”
“Will do. But I doubt it.”
“You never know.” Alice leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. “Do you have a preference for your birthday dinner?”
“I don’t know. Something easy for everybody. How about we grill out? You can put Bud and Bruce to work doing that.”
“Doing what?” Bruce looked past Stan’s shoulder at her.
“Something fun,” Alice said. “You’ll see.” She turned her attention back to Meg. “What about the cake?”
“Surprise me.”
“I’ll try.” She smiled.
“And Dad’ll fill you in on the vet thing I’m thinking about. It’s cool, actually. You’ll see.”
“Sounds intriguing. If it means we get to see more of you, then I support it completely.”
“It might.” She gave Alice a quick hug. “Thanks for the Scotch,” she whispered conspiratorially. “And cookies.”
“Any time.”
Meg moved to the driver’s side door of her truck.
“Ladies,” Stan said, “I’ve got to take care of some more damn ranch stuff, so I’ll be seeing you. Meg, drive carefully and I’ll talk to you later.” He leaned in and moved her hat so he could kiss her on the forehead, surprising her. “Love you,” he said, smiling, as he stepped back so she could open the driver’s side door.
Alice stepped away from the truck, too. “Be safe,” she said.
“Yep. Love you, too,” she said as she started the engine and Moonshine sighed happily from his spot behind the passenger seat. Meg reached over to pet him before settling in for the drive back to Laramie.
Chapter 6
Meg lifted Moonshine out of the truck and set him gently on the ground. He moved stiffly up the steps to wait for her by the front door while she grabbed her backpack and locked the truck. She took him into the house and through the kitchen into the small utility room, where she opened the back door. He limped past her out to the small fenced back yard. Fortunately, he didn’t have to go up or down any major steps. Just a three-inch drop off a concrete patio. She had a few patches of grass and she knew he’d stretch out on one of them after he attended to his business against the one big elm growing along the back fence. She left the back door open so he could come and go and she put a bowl of water down and another filled with kibble.
Moonshine taken care of, she loaded the washer in the utility room and swept the hardwood floors throughout the house, thinking about Stan’s suggestion. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. She’d start researching what she’d need with regard to equipment and how much that would set her back financially. She’d still need to take out a loan, and she needed to check with the veterinary boards to find out how to certify a new structure like the one her father was proposing. But she might be able to get a place up and running five years down the line, maybe a little longer.
She brought the vacuum out of her study and took care of the rug in the hall and living room. Tomorrow, she’d get a couple more runners for the living room and bedroom so Moonshine would have a little more traction with his bum leg. She started organizing her office when Moonshine appeared in the doorway, looking at her hopefully.
She smiled. “Bed time, huh?” she said to him as she took him into her bedroom where she lifted him onto the bed. “You’ve earned it, pal.” She stroked his head for a few seconds and he seemed to smile at her as he stretched out and sighed. She returned to the other room and turned on the computer then logged into her email and her heart did a little somersault when she saw Gina’s message in the inbox. She clicked on it.
Hey, Cowgirl!
What a great surprise to get your mail! Service here is spotty, so it was really cool to see that I got it within a day of you sending it. They’ve got us in a rundown hotel that journalists use. I’ve been touring the city and taking photos. I attached a few for you so you can see what this place is all about. Hope they get through. Hey, don’t worry. I’m okay. Just burned out, I think. And maybe a little concerned. The shit going on in the Middle East always spills over somewhere else and I’m tired of it. I’m ready to do something different. Speaking of which, I was interested to hear about you wanting to start your own practice. What a great idea. Keep me posted on that, would you? I’d love to see it when you have the grand opening. Knowing you, it’ll be sooner rather than later.
Holy hell about your mom. Good luck getting through that. I’m sure your dad and Jackson will find ways to keep you occupied and inaccessible. I feel kind of bad for Phil, actually, because I know you’ll take him aside and tell him what’s what. I always loved that about you, Meg. If something warrants saying, you generally say it. Along those lines, I’ll quit dancing around the issue now. I’m really sorry to hear about you and Kate. I wish I could say something that’d make it easier for you or take away some of the sadness. I hope you know I’m thinking about you. I know you’ll get through it, but if you want to talk, just go ahead and email. That’s not really your way, I know, but it’s all I can offer since I’m here and you’re there.
Which reminds me, I did put in a request to get “shore leave” the second week of August. I’ll be coming in to L.A. and then going to Sacramento. I’m taking almost a month off, so please please please check your schedule and pencil me in. All right, I have to run. Thank you so much for the message. It means a lot to me. I’m going to be on the road for the next couple of weeks starting tomorrow or the next day, so I won’t be able to check email much, if at all. But if you do want to write back, it’d make my day when I finally do check in. And don’t forget to check your email on that Friday before your birthday.
Trippin’ in Turkey,
Gina
Meg’s pulse raced. What the hell? It was Gina. Just Gina. They’d known each other for years. So why the hell did an email affect her like this? She ran both hands through her hair. Breakup baggage from Kate. That’s all. That stupid rebound shit after a breakup, where every ghost from your past shows up asking for a damn handout. Almost convinced, she clicked on the attachments.
The photos had indeed made it through, and Istanbul was gorgeous, a mixture of old and new, golden-domed mosques and labyrinthine streets fronted by whitewashed mud brick structures. Marketplaces with cramped stalls packed with people wearing traditional and western dress. Elsewhere, gleaming western-style office buildings and modern cars. Gina had included a picture of a McDonald’s with the caption “god help us!” Meg smiled and clicked on the last photo. As it downloaded and coalesced on her screen, she sucked her breath in sharply.
Gina, standing in front of the hotel Meg guessed was where the journalists stayed. She had captioned it “a couple weeks ago.” Meg stared. Gina hadn’t really changed much physically in the last five years, though she wore her hair a bit longer, now. It fell past her shoulders and framed her face in a way that made Meg feel twenty-five again, standing in the parking lot outside Saratoga Feed, introducing herself to a woman whose eyes sent sparks ricocheting through her chest.
She studied the picture. Gina was dressed in loose tan pants and a white button-down shirt that looked like it was made out of some kind of gauzy material. She was grinning at the camera, her teeth a flash of white against her complexion and her eyes drilled into Meg’s even through the monitor. Her stomach plummeted to the floor. She enlarged the image and noticed laugh lines around Gina’s eyes and what might have been a streak of gray at her right temple.
She stared at the image for a long time, trying to sort through a rush of emotions that slammed the past against the present. Without really thinking about it, she adjusted the resolution and printed it out, then wrote a quick response:
Hey—
Great to hear from you, too. The pictures came through fine. You look great, Gina. Damn, you only get better with the years. Notice how I didn’t make any comment about your age. ;-)
I know you’ll be on the road for a bit, but if you do manage to check your email, I just wanted to let you know I got yours. Thanks. Please take care of yourself. I’m definitely clearing some space in August.
Workin’ in Wyoming,
Meg
She was about to press “send” when she clicked on “attach” instead and browsed through her photo file until she found the one she was looking for. Sean had taken this picture the month before on a visit to the ranch with Ted. In it, Meg was leaning against one of the columns on the lower veranda of the motel, grinning about something Ted had said. She had her thumbs hooked on her front pockets, relaxed, and she was wearing her black cowboy hat. Sean loved this photo. Meg reluctantly agreed that it was a pretty good one of her.
