Stacie watched Josie retreat back into the house. “She looks better.”
“Yes,” Maria nodded. “So do you. The color’s returned to your cheeks.”
“I’m not worried about me,” Stacie replied, casting a worried glance back in the direction of her best friend.
“Josie’s very important to you, isn’t she?” Maria asked. Stacie stopped picking at her food. There was something about the way Maria asked her that, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Yes. She’s my best friend,” Stacie replied absently. Sometimes she felt like one of Josie’s kids rather than her best friend. Without her constant mothering, she would probably be even skinnier. She certainly would have missed a lot of meals since she rarely bothered to cook for herself.
She stared down at the mountain of food Josie had left her. It was more food than she could eat in a day, let alone in one sitting. She cocked her head and listened for a second, the rest of the house had gotten mighty quiet, suspiciously so. She leaned forward in her chair and pushed the plate closer to Maria. “I think Josie forgot about us. Care to share with me?”
*
Stacie waited until the yellow Bug’s taillights shrunk down to barely visible red dots before hunting down Josie. “Okay, what gives?” she demanded. She had told Josie earlier in the week that she would call Maria back and apologize for missing their appointment. She just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. She already felt rotten about not following through.
Evidently, Josie had taken matters into her own hands, meeting with Maria and now they all seemed quite cozy with each other. Cozy enough to ambush her after a long day at work.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Josie said. “Here, take these to the kitchen. The kids are in bed already and Dee ran down to the barn to check on something.”
“Uh huh, smart man,” Stacie smirked. “What I want to know is how you managed to keep everyone out of the kitchen for so long, including yourself.”
“Shouldn’t you be asking why?” Josie responded sweetly, brushing past Stacie with her own load of dishes.
If her hands hadn’t been full, Stacie would have thrown them up in the air, or pulled out a few hairs in frustration. As it was, all she could do was follow Josie and find a clear spot on the counter to drop off her load of dirty plates and empty bowls. She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms angrily. Josie puttered around the kitchen, covering the leftovers in plastic wrap and carefully stacking the bowls into the refrigerator.
“Okay, fine. I give. Why?”
Josie straightened up and grinned at her in victory but the effect was ruined by the dark circles under her eyes and the obvious fatigue lining her face. “I need to sit down. It’s been a long day and I’m still tired.”
“Oh, jeez, Josie. Why didn’t you tell me? I would have gotten all of this taken care of for you.” Stacie ducked her head, embarrassed that she had left all of the work for Josie.
“And that is exactly why I didn’t tell you,” Josie said, pointing out the obvious. “You would have spent the evening making sure I took it easy, instead of spending time enjoying yourself for once.”
“But…”
“No. No but’s. Tell me you didn’t enjoy spending the evening with Maria and I’ll apologize, but not until then. And you need to look me in the eyes when you say it, because I’d bet dollars to donuts you’d be lying to me otherwise.”
Stacie wanted to argue, she really did. She tried to form a reasonable defense, an excuse for the hours she had spent sitting and chatting with Maria…a conversation that lasted long after they had finished eating and only ended because she was falling asleep where she sat.
“Fine, you win,” Stacie muttered, flopping down into her chair and slouching insolently. Her eyes burned from lack of sleep and she yawned around her next words. “You’re a horrible busybody, you know that?”
“Maybe, but Maria likes you and I know you like her, so why haven’t you called her?”
“I’ve been busy. Old Man Berkhamer is retiring soon and a lot of his clients are calling me for appointments. It’s shot season and everyone seems to be going out of their way to injure themselves. Hell, I spent four hours digging barbwire out of a horse’s leg this afternoon.” Josie had to know how important it was for her to build up her clientele. “If I keep getting more of his old clientele, I’ll be able to afford my own place and not have to work out of your guest house.”
Josie waved that comment away, dismissing it with a quick frown. “You know you’re welcome there for as long as you like. No one’s used it since we closed down the feed store and you spent a lot of time fixing it up. Honestly, I’d rather have it used than just sitting empty and risk it getting vandalized. Besides, having a resident vet on the property doesn’t hurt our reputation at all.” She stopped and gave Stacie a sly look. “Sneaky. Look at you, trying to change the subject on me.”
Stacie ducked just in time to avoid a balled up paper napkin, then chuckled. Even as tired as she was her reflexes were still fast, a good thing when you have to avoid the occasional hoof coming at your head. “No, I didn’t. You asked a question and I answered it.” She stood up and stretched until her spine popped. “But, I have got to go. I’m dog tired and I want to enjoy my day off tomorrow.”
“Miller’s creek, right?”
“Yup. I’ll be by with the jeep around ten,” Stacie said eagerly. She was already looking forward to the trip.
“Ten? Why so late?”
“Because I’m planning on sleeping in as late as I can. Tomorrow will be my first day off since last month.” Just saying
