Bentley glared at her. “Four!”
“Oh. Only four.” She rolled her eyes. “That makes me feel better.”
“Don’t you have a patient waiting, Dr. King?” he drawled, eyes flashing.
She sighed. “Yes, I do, thank God, but I came out here to get our clerk to schedule her next appointment. I suppose I’ll be doing that myself!” She looked pointedly toward the back where Antonia was audibly sobbing.
He cursed.
She made a face. “Oh, like that’s going to help!” she grumbled. She sat down in Antonia’s chair and used the computer to schedule the next visit for her patient. While she was at it, she added up the charges and printed out a sheet listing them.
“I could help you do that,” Keely offered.
“No, you could not,” Dr. Rydel muttered. “I need you to help with examinations, not making appointments.”
“Speaking of which, Keely, could you carry this dog out to Mrs. Reynolds’s car for her?” Dr. King asked, and smiled gently.
“Of course,” Keely answered at once, and walked off with Dr. King, leaving a fuming Dr. Rydel behind.
* * *
AFTER THAT MORNING, it was open war between the two senior veterinarians in the practice. Dr. King was three years younger than Dr. Rydel, married with two children, and she needed her job. But she threatened to leave if he didn’t stop using the clerks for target practice. Keely and the senior vet tech and the other veterinarian, Dr. Dave Mercer, tried to keep out of Dr. Rydel’s way until his temper improved. Nobody knew what had set him off, but he was like a prizefighter walking down the street wearing boxing gloves. He was spoiling for a fight.
It was a relief for Keely when the workweek was over and she could get away from the tension. She was still mooning over Boone and reliving the tender kisses he’d shared with her on the patio of the community center. She didn’t understand his behavior at all. Everything had been fine until she’d mentioned Misty. Then he’d withdrawn as if he’d felt guilty about touching Keely. He’d left the dance rather than risk having to talk to her again.
Worse, people were gossiping about the two of them. Tess Hart had teased her about going out onto the patio with Boone and coming back inside flushed. She’d mentioned it to Cag. Probably he’d told his brothers and they’d told other people. So Keely got teased when she went to the grocery store, because one of the checkout girls had a boyfriend on the Hart Ranch properties. Then she got teased at the bank, because one of the tellers was married to Cag Hart’s livestock foreman. That teller’s married daughter worked at the 911 center with Winnie.
“You and Boone are the talk of the town, did you know?” Winnie teased her friend when they had lunch together at Barbara’s Café that Saturday.
“Boone’s going to kill me,” Keely said miserably. “Clark’s probably going to want to kill me, too, when he realizes that Boone knows what he’s up to.”
“Oh, Boone always knows,” Winnie said easily. “Clark can never hide anything from him—or from me. But just between us two, I don’t think this Nellie thing is going very much further. She got mad because Clark gave her the wrong color pearls. That, after he’s given her most of a jewelry store!” She leaned forward. “And it turns out that she’s married.”
“What?” Keely exclaimed. “Does Clark know?”
“That, and more,” Winnie said. “When I left home, Boone was presenting our brother with a thick file on Miss Nellie Summers. He said Clark wasn’t leaving the house until he’d read every sordid detail.”
“Poor Clark.”
Winnie chuckled. “He was cussing mad after he read the first page,” she said. “He wouldn’t have believed it even two weeks ago, but apparently Boone picked just the right time to tell him the truth.”
“I’m glad,” she confessed. “It was putting me right in the middle, being used as Clark’s cover.”
“Clark shouldn’t have done that. Boone was angry. He said Clark had no right to use you that way.”
“Clark’s my friend. I could have said no,” Keely said softly.
“You never say no to anyone,” Winnie replied, concerned. “You’re too good to people, Keely. You won’t stand up for yourself.”
“I’m trying.”
“Clark walks all over you. So does Boone. I’ll bet Dr. Rydel does, too.”
“Dr. Rydel walks all over everybody,” Keely pointed out.
“Well, you do have a point there.” She sipped coffee and then her eyes began to twinkle. “So what was going on with you and my brother at the dance?”
“Not you, too!” Keely wailed.
“I’m your best friend. You have to tell me.”
Keely put on her best bland expression. “He wanted to talk to me about Clark without everybody eavesdropping.”
Winnie’s face fell. “Was that all?”
“What else would there be?” Keely replied. “You know Boone can’t stand me. Usually he ignores me. But he knew Clark was up to something and that I was helping him. He got it out of me.”
“He’s good at that,” Winnie had to admit. “They used to let him interrogate people when he was in the military.” She toyed with her coffee cup. “He’s changed so much since he came back from overseas. He used to be a happy sort of person. He’s not happy now.” She looked up. “He goes out with Misty, but he never touches her.”
Keely’s heart jumped. “How do you know?”
“He never picks up anything,” she said with affection. “He just leaves his clothes lying around in his room. I gather them up and put them in the hamper for Mrs. Johnson. There are never any lipstick stains on his shirts.” She paused, her lips pursed. “Well, that’s not quite the truth. Last Saturday night, there were quite a few lipstick stains on his collar.”
Keely’s face flamed and Winnie laughed triumphantly. Keely knew that Winnie would go straight to Boone and tease him if she guessed what had happened. She couldn’t let her friend know for
