“Yes. I do,” Josie said, shaking her head at such a silly question. “I’m her mom, and you are talking about Rowan.”
Stacie threw her hands up in the air in mock surrender before turning serious. “She was fine. I want to talk about you.” She lowered her voice and looked behind her before asking, “Josie, what’s going on? A lady at the farmer’s market told me one of the things you asked for is some kind of folk medicine. Something for kidney problems?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ve just been having some problems with my legs swelling and someone recommended I try this special tea.” Josie leaned back against the headboard and plucked at her pillows restlessly. “It’s nothing, really. You know how much trouble I had with the twin’s pregnancy. I guess my body never fully recovered.”
She wasn’t a doctor, and as a vet she would never profess to have the knowledge to treat a person, but Josie was acting as stubborn as a mule. She was used to patients that couldn’t talk and tell her what hurt, now she turned that talent on her friend and took a closer look, really seeing her. In addition to the weight loss, Josie looked pale and tired. Dark circles made her gray eyes stand out even more dramatically and her hair looked dry and brittle. She frowned, still suspicious but unwilling to call her friend out, she searched Josie’s face for any sign she was lying. “Are you sure that’s all it is?”
“Stacie, I’ll be fine.” Josie reached out and took her hand. “Give me a week or two and I’ll be as right as rain. It comes and goes, usually when I try to do too much, and the tea helps when it gets bad. Do you really think I’d only be taking an herbal remedy if it was something serious?”
“No, I guess not.” Stacie shook her head. She was willing to be convinced…wanted to be convinced that there was nothing more to it than what Josie was telling her. She tried to remember the last time Josie had begged out of something or Dee had made an excuse for her that she was sick. No more than the usual annual cold and flu type complaints came to mind, although she couldn’t rely on her memory. There were too many semesters, months in a row where she was caught up in school and tests and internships where her visits and phone calls had slacked off to almost nothing. Between that and trying to break into the “good ole boys” club of ranch owners surrounding her, she was lucky she had a practice at all. Dee and Josie had been a Godsend in that department. They were her first big client and Dee’s recommendations had gone a long way towards swaying a few stubborn souls who weren’t used to having a woman vet coming out. She had to prove she was just as tough and stubborn as they were, overriding their preconceptions that she would be too soft or sensitive to make the hard decisions.
Josie was busy digging around in the bag and laying out the miscellaneous packets on the bed to realize her friend was examining her closely. “I don’t see the tea.”
From the way she looked at her, Stacie got the sneaking suspicion Josie was accusing her of not buying the herbal remedy. “She didn’t have any, but I met a lady there who said she had some.”
“You mean Maria?” Rowan piped in. As quietly as she had snuck in, there was no way to tell how long she had been listening. The two women looked at each other. Josie silently begged her to drop the subject, squeezing her hand almost painfully. Stacie narrowed her eyes but let it drop, shrugging her shoulders noncommittally. Too many contradictions, she thought, deciding right then to keep a closer eye on her friend.
“Maria?” Josie asked, holding her arms out towards her little girl. Rowan bounded onto the bed and bounced like rabbit across the coverlets until she was curled up tight against her mother, accepting the tender kiss across her forehead with a small scowl. “Oof, you’re getting big, little girl.”
Rowan giggled and cuddled in closer. “Stacie was supposed to ask you if you wanted some ice cream, but she didn’t come back.”
“Not right now, sweetie.” Josie pegged Stacie with a stern gaze, raising one eyebrow in unrelenting inquiry. “Who’s Maria?”
“Just a woman who was there shopping at the same time.”
“She gave Stacie her phone number,” Rowan offered, piping in again.
“Did she now?”
“Oh, no,” Stacie groaned and covered her eyes. She was done for now. Her oldest friend was staring at her with way to much interest. Ever since she told Josie she was gay, the woman had turned matchmaker on her. It was an exasperating trait she wished she could appreciate more, rather than feel like Josie was trying to push her away. Her response had been to stop talking about women altogether, especially specific women, then with school and work the purposeful absence had become a reality. It had been years since she had dated anyone and she was perfectly okay with that.
“What else did she do, Rowan?” Josie inquired.
“She told Stacie to call her and that she would give her the tea and also…” Rowan scrunched her face up for a second before grinning triumphantly. “And also, that she hoped Stacie liked Mexican.”
Stacie’s eyes widened and she felt her face blush, the two flames burning along her cheeks lit by words that hadn’t sounded quite so innocent when a certain dark haired woman had suggested them. She had no idea that Rowan had paid that much attention to what was going on but she should have
