The phone rang, and he reached over to the bamboo stand to get it.
Eric Kincaid, he said giving his name because patients sometimes called his home phone.
Dr. KincaidEricIts Mindy Ryder. I just wanted to thank you again.
She sounded a little breathless which gave her voice a sexy quality he found disturbing.
You dont need to. I enjoyed He hesitated, not sure whether to admit hed liked being with her. The dinner.
Which was, he thought with some consternation, only partly the truth. During the meal hed caught himself hanging on everything Mindy said as though they were having a real date. Hed even gone out of his way to be congenial to Wayne, although he found her father good company except on the topic of his daughters love life.
Dads gone to bed, she said, but he wont take no for an answer about having you come sight-seeing with us. Can you help me out and give me a plausible reason why you cant go? What do vets do on weekends?
Good question. He had some tedious paperwork hed been putting off, and hed promised to go to a party Saturday evening.
Tell him, he began, then couldnt think of a single reason why he wouldnt be eager to spend the day with Mindy if she were his girlfriend.
Tell him Im not available tomorrow, but Ill go along Sunday morning if he wants to wait until then.
Oh, Im not trying to rope you into actually going.
Youre not roping me. Im volunteering.
Why, he didnt know. Wayne would probably want to know everything about him from how often he brushed his teeth to whether hed slept with his daughter.
No wonder Peaches adores you, Mindy said. You are so nice.
No, Im not, he denied truthfully.
Crazy maybe, for having anything at all to do with a woman who liked to reform her men, but he had an ulterior motive. His mom was giving a little dinner party Sunday evening, and he very much wanted a reason not to go. Shed joined the Mesa Civic League to get acquainted in the new city and, typically, thrown herself into their activities. They held a big fund-raiser every December to raise donations for the Maricopa County Animal Friends. It was a good cause. The money was used to get homeless pets ready for adoption. That meant spaying, neutering, grooming, shots, licenses, all the costly essentials. Last year hed gotten away with making a cash contribution. This year Mom wanted him on the committee, and the dinner was a meeting to finalize what needed to be done.
It was no coincidence that the committee was mostly women, many of them young, single and eager to meet Felicia and Ray Kincaids bachelor son.
I dont see how I can ask you to help entertain my dad, Mindy said.
Ill enjoy the trip. Well make a day of it. Have dinner in Sedona before we come home.
If youre sure.
He wasnt, but he could still feel her lips warm and soft under his. Pretending to be hot for her wasnt a stretch. In fact, he wouldnt mind a little more smoochingonly to impress Wayne, of course.
Ill drive. How does ten oclock Sunday morning sound? he asked.
Wonderful! If theres anything I can do for youI mean, anything professional. Organize your office, do your Christmas shopping
No, thats not necessary.
Really not necessary! Hed rather let a pack of baboons loose in the clinic. Already he was afraid hed made a big mistake by offering to spend the whole day with the Ryders. He couldnt help being sympathetic to Mindy, but if she tried to smear sunscreen on his face or retie his shoes, he was bailing.
He hung up, decided it was late enough to go to bed, and was settling in when the phone rang again.
Mom. No surprise. I was going to call you in the morning. About the dinner meeting Sunday.
He made his excuse. Her voice became very quiet and reasonable, not a good sign.
I know its a great cause, Mom, but I promised to spend the day with a friend. No, not Guy. Actually, its one of my patients owners. Im not breaking my rule about socializing. Just doing a small favor. Okay, yes, a female friend.
An hour or so later he pulled on a pair of gray sweats, a threadbare Iowa State University T-shirt, socks and his battered old running shoes. Maybe some cool desert air would clear his head and help him get to sleep.
SUNDAY MORNING Dad volunteered to take the dog for a walk, so Mindy used the opportunity to call her big brother. First Carly, her sister-in-law, let her talk with five-year-old Kim and Sam, who was almost three, although her nephews idea of a phone conversation was a spurt of excited babble.
Hi, Min, Dwight said, relieving his son of the phone. How are you and Dad doing?
Hes fine. We went out for dinner Friday with my pretend boyfriend.
Pretend? There was a knowing chuckle on his voice. Dwight knew all about Mindys dating woes when it came to their father.
Peachess vet. He went as a favor to me, but Im not sure it was a good idea. Id like to see him for real, but fat chance of that after I roped him into one of Dads infamous interrogations.
That bad?
No, I guess not. He likes Eric, but I dont feel good about the phony date. Dad insisted the three of us go sight-seeing together today.
Your vet sounds like a good guy to go along with it. He must be interested in you.
I doubt it, but even if he is, a full day with Dad will discourage him. Remember when we rented that lake cabin for a week and Josh Arhus came to stay? Dad was so suspicious of his intentions, he scared him away after two days.
Well, hang in there, he said, unhelpful.
Mindy hung up and hurried to get ready for the trip when her plan for the day fizzled like a dud fire-cracker. Peaches gave her the bad news, or at least thought she did as she barked furiously outside the closed bedroom door.
You little rascal, whats all the racket?
She stepped out of her room and saw her father sitting on the couch, bending over and gingerly taking off his sock.
Dad, what happened?
I took that mutt for a walk and tripped on a paving stone on your front walk. Wouldve been okay, but when I tried to get my balance, the dumb dog yanked on the leash and I went down. Lucky I didnt land on my face.
Are you hurt?
I think I twisted my ankle. He touched his right ankle, which was puffy-looking below the hem of khaki cotton slacks.
Mindy glanced at the dressy black wing tip shoe hed just removed. It looked brand-new and probably still had slippery soles, but she bit back a comment about unsuitable footwear. Dad had worn the same style shoe as long as shed known him. Pain and suffering werent going to change him.
It doesnt look good. Id better drive you to the emergency room.
Im not sitting around all day to have some wet-behind-the-ears intern tell me to take two aspirin. Ill have your Eric see what he thinks.
Hes not my Eric, and hes a vet, Dad, a vet. He doesnt treat people.
I dont want treatment. He can just take a look at it. How much trouble is that?
Your ankle could be sprained or even fractured. You need an X ray.
When did her father regress to acting like a stubborn child?
Just bring me a heating pad and a couple of pain pills. Ill be ready to go to the ruins in an hour or so.
Just bring me a heating pad and a couple of pain pills. Ill be ready to go to the ruins in an hour or so.
Dad, we were thinking of Walnut Canyon, hundreds of steps down and up again. You have to stay off your ankle until a doctor checks it.
Fine. Eric must have learned enough basics in vet school to diagnose a sprain.
Arguing with him was useless. She didnt have a heating pad, so he insisted she soak a cloth in hot water and lay it on his rapidly swelling ankle, never mind that she thought an ice pack was the way to go.
Shed been excited, even a little tingly, anticipating a whole day with Eric. Sure, he was only doing her a favor, and her father would be going along as well, but he must like her a little to go to the trouble of pretending to be her boyfriend.
When he got there ten minutes late, dressed in jeans and a faded blue denim shirt for their trip, she didnt know what to say to him. They couldnt go through with their plans, but her father would expect him to hang around and be sympathetic as any potential son-in-law would.
What happened? Eric saw her father stretched out on the couch, his foot on a pillow with a wet washcloth draped over his ankle.
I twisted my damn ankle, her father said impatiently. The dog tripped me.
Not exactly, Mindy said, unwilling to let Peaches get all the blame.
Take a look. Tell me what you think, her father said to Eric.
You need to ice it, keep it elevated, Eric said without examining the puffy ankle.
I told Mindy a vet can handle the little things, Wayne said with satisfaction.
Dad, thats commonsense first aid, not a diagnosis.
Ill drive you to the emergency room, Eric offered.
Im not sitting around there all day. Take a look. I trust your judgment.
If I were licensed to treat people, Id order an X ray to see if its fractured. Look, its as big as a soccer ball and turning purple.
Her dad sputtered and protested while she double-bagged some ice cubes and wrapped them in a dish towel.
Fifteen minutes later Eric finally convinced him to hobble out to his SUV. He settled Wayne on the back seat with his foot elevated, a pillow under his ballooning ankle and the makeshift ice bag on top of it.
An hour and fifty minutes later Wayne was wheeled in a chair into the examining area of Community General Hospital after telling Mindy to stay behind in the waiting room. A TV droned on in the cheerless tan-and-brown room, although no one among the days minor casualties was paying the slightest attention to it.
Weve got to break up, Mindy said in an urgent whisper to Eric.
Break up? He laughed so loudly a health-care worker in a pink smock gave him the evil eye. We cant break up.
You know what I mean. Dad will expect you to stay by my side in this hour of crisis. I cant ask you to hang around all day listening to his war stories.
Your father was in the military?
Accounting war stories. Tax payers versus the IRS. Youll hate it.
Im always willing to hear out an expert. Maybe I can pick up some good tax tips.
He was teasing her. She was trying to let him off the hook, and he thought it was a joke.
Please, Eric, I really appreciate what youve done
Pretending you turn me on? His teeth actually sparkled when he smiled like that.
Be serious. This has gotten too complicated. Either I have to tell my father the truth, or we break up.
Here? Now?
He looked across the room where a sallow-faced teenager was holding his arm over his chest. Beside him a gaunt woman with flamboyant hennaed hair quickly averted her eyes when Eric looked at her. Apparently she found them more entertaining than the talkie Sunday intellectuals on the tube.
What do we do? he asked. Yell at each other, stage a fight? Whats my motivation in this scene?
Ill just tell Dad it wasnt working between us.
How will you get home from the hospital if I leave?
Cab, she suggested listlessly. Or I can call my friend, Laurie Davis. Shes not doing anything today.
Ill take you and your dad home.
It really would be easier if we split up before Dads done here.
Were not going to now. You dad is going home tomorrow. Let him leave happy. Youll meet someone eventually. Thats the time to tell him it didnt work out between us.
I dont like taking advantage of you. If Dad werent so darn pushy
He is who he is.
Easy for him to say, she thought glumly.
Hell expect you to stay for dinner, she warned.
Can you cook?
We brought home lots of leftovers from yesterdays dinner.
How about ordering Chinese?
Dad wont eat it. Might have MSG in it.
Mexican?
Too spicy.
Pizza? He does eat pizza, doesnt he?
Thick crust with Canadian bacon and mushrooms. Green peppers give him heartburn.
Is he your real father? he asked with a grin.
So Ive been led to believe. Fortunately hes kind, generous, loyal, honest and all those other Boy Scout virtues except when hes trying to run my life.
I sorta like him myself. Tell me he watches basketball.
Hes still mad at the Suns because theyre out of town this weekend.
Well, love, he said, doing the worst English accent shed ever heard, I really dont think theres anything here we cant bloody well handle.
4
DAD, GOOD NEWS, Mindy said Monday morning when her father thumped out of the guest room on sturdy wooden crutches rented from the hospital.
Is the dog tied up? he asked. Im rusty on crutches and I dont want to be tripped again. I havent used these things since I tore up my knee playing high school basketball.
Peaches is outside on her line, but now that shes used to you, shell be calmer. You dont need to worry.
He grunted and plopped down at the kitchen table where his coffee was waiting.
Now whats the good news? he asked.
She knew what he wanted to hear, something to do with engagement rings, wedding bells, more grandchildren.
I called the airport. Theres no problem getting a wheelchair. You can go from my van to the door of the plane without setting foot on the floor. So far they expect your plane to be on schedule. Ill take care of baggage and everything, and Dwight will be there to meet you at the Pittsburgh airport. Even the weather is cooperating, so it should be a smooth flight.
I dont want to be pushed around like a feeble old man, he grumbled.
Its too far to walk on a sprained ankle. The doctor said its important to stay off it.
I plan to. I called the airline and canceled my ticket. Id rather wait for my ankle to heal before flying home. Itll cost me fifty dollars to reschedule, but its worth it to get to know your boyfriend better.
Dad! Id love to see more of you, but youll be bored silly sitting around here alone. I do have to work. Its my busy season.
This was very bad news. How could she continue the fantasy about having a boyfriend until Dads ankle healed?