When Pigs and Parrots Fly (2 page)

Leaving the rest of the order for Brittany to sort, she called Scruffy into the back of the clinic, closed the door to the reception area, turned in the direction of Josh's store, which was only next door, and sighed.

She'd developed a silly schoolgirl crush on Josh when she'd been much younger than Brittany—far too young to really know what true love was all about. She'd probably been eight years old, and Josh had been all of eleven.

She turned and stared blankly at the wall, picturing Josh in his younger years. As a little girl she'd thought him so handsome, even though he'd really been fairly average. But now, as an adult, nothing about him was average. Josh had grown from a geeky boy into the epitome of a tall, dark, and handsome man. Maybe not so dark, but certainly tall and handsome. Added to his royally straight nose and that impish dimple in his chin, and that one wisp of his dark brown hair that never behaved, when he smiled, her knees nearly melted, even after knowing him so many years. Or maybe it was because she'd known him so many years and been completely enamored with him, even before the transformation into adulthood.

All through her growing up years, because Josh and her brother Tucker were best friends, she'd seen Josh often, which had been both good and bad. Good that she'd seen him almost daily, and bad for the very same reason. The pathetic little-girl crush had lasted until he'd left for college when neither of them had been that little. After Josh graduated and returned to Bloomfield, he'd taken a job as manager of Bloomfield Pets; Sarah had gone off to veterinary college. By the time she graduated, old Mr. Carruthers had shut his business down and retired, and Josh started a business of his own. After all that time, she'd put her childish feelings aside. Likewise, Josh had also grown up when they'd gone their separate ways. Yet, in all the time they'd been apart, she'd never found that elusive man of her dreams.

Now, as mature adult professionals, they had grown to be friends, and business associates of a sort.

She'd started her veterinary clinic the same year Josh had opened his own store. To save on the cost of shipping, they'd placed their orders with the wholesaler together. In the years that followed, both their businesses had grown and become established so they no longer needed to split shipping costs, but they still did.

Like most vets, she sold some high-end pet foods, treats, and anti-flea products from her lobby. Not wanting to compete with each other, Sarah and Josh had made a friendly agreement that they would never stock the same products. Therefore, every Tuesday they ordered take out for supper and sat together to go through the suppliers' catalogs. She suspected that it wasn't just to save money for their customers, but mostly so Josh didn't have to cook on Tuesdays, since he always picked up some kind of take out for supper.

Her friends often teased her about their standing date night, except it wasn't anything like a date. What little it had once been had expired long ago.

She'd almost finished sorting the vaccination serums when Brittany tapped on the door. “Excuse me, Dr. Faire? There are a couple of dog toys in here that aren't on the list. What do I do?”

Normally, Sarah would have just sent Brittany next door, but with things heating up between the two teens, she knew Brittany would never simply hand the items to Will and leave within a few minutes. Most likely it would turn into a half-hour visit, and Sarah didn't want to lose Brittany for that long. Nor did she want to call Will back. Saturday was the busiest day for both of them. Unlike Josh, she closed for lunch. On Josh's busiest day, he couldn't spare Will's time, and Sarah was still on her lunch break.

She clipped Scruffy's leash to her collar. “I'll take the toys. I have to talk to Josh about something anyway. I'll be back in a couple of minutes. If my first appointment is early, tell them I'll be right back.” Most of all, she didn't want the lobby to be empty when people started coming in for their appointments.

The phone rang, sparing the need for more explanation, or Brittany's rebuttal. Sarah picked up the bag and headed next door.

The displayed sign indicated a guest dog in the store, meaning she needed to keep Scruffy leashed. If Scruffy and Rufus were the only dogs in the store, she would have let Scruffy go without it.

Instead of one dog present, though, there were five—four big dogs and a small dog that looked like a mixture of several different toy varieties. The four larger dogs remained at heel with their owners, checking out the treats and toys their masters picked up with avid interest. In comparison, the small dog yipped and yapped constantly, while the owner, a man she didn't recognize, laughed.

Sarah gritted her teeth. It was a small dog, but it was still a dog, and while in the store, dogs were expected to have manners.

At the sight of Scruffy, the little dog stiffened, crouched, and then lunged with all his miniature might. The leash slipped out of the man's hand, and the small dog blasted off toward Scruffy.

Sarah gave a small tug upward on Scruffy's leash to signal Scruffy to sit. “Stay,” she said, positioning her palm toward Scruffy's nose. While Scruffy sat obediently, if a little anxious, Sarah took careful aim and ran forward a few steps, stomping on the trailing leash. She halted the dog's trajectory a second before the animal would have latched onto Scruffy's hind leg.

“Bad dog!” She pointed to the ground and stared the small dog in the face, making direct eye contact. The dog hunched, cowered, then looked up at her, baring its teeth.

The owner approached, not running, and apparently not concerned at his dog's aggressive behavior. “Sorry,” he snickered. “He thinks he's a big dog, but he couldn't hurt a flea.”

Not lifting her foot off the leash, Sarah glared at the man. “No, but he could hurt a dog. A bite is a bite, and bad behavior is bad behavior.”

Behind her, one of the other dog owners clapped and another whistled.

He snickered again. “It's okay. There's a vet next door. He could have put on a Band-Aid.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I'm the vet.”

“Oh.” His smile dropped, just as Josh came running round the corner.

“What's going on?”

Sarah drew her fingers through her hair and turned to the man. “I don't know you, but I see this kind of thing all the time. Just because your dog is small, that doesn't make him any less a dog. A small dog still needs to be a dog, and that means they have to follow the orders of the pack leader. A good dog needs to have a good leader.”

“It's not my dog. It's my wife's dog. She usually carries it around in her purse, but I wasn't going to put the dog in a tote bag. Maybe I should have.” He held up a small bag of dog food. “I think I'll just pay for this and leave.”

Sarah lifted her foot off the leash, allowing the man to pick it up.

“Hmm,” the man muttered. “He shut up. He's also sitting still. How did you do that?”

“I showed him I wasn't pleased with his behavior. This isn't going to stop him from doing the same next time, but if you are consistent in showing him you're displeased when he does this, eventually it will stop.”

One eye narrowed and his head tilted marginally as he stared down at her. “Do you do dog classes? I should send my wife.”

Sarah pointed to the rack of books next to the cash register. “No, I don't. Buy a book on obedience and follow it. Or take a class by a registered instructor. Or both.”

The man bent to lift his wife's dog. The second he touched the dog, it started yapping again.

This time, Sarah grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck. “No,” she said firmly.

The dog silenced, no doubt out of shock that a human had actually expressed displeasure in his behavior.

“Wow . . .” The man's voice trailed off. “You really should do classes. Like that guy on television.” Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked toward the cash register.

Josh grinned. “Nice work. His dog does the same thing every time he comes in here. Thank you.”

“It's nothing.” She handed him the bag. “This was in one of my boxes by mistake. I have to go. I've been here much longer than I thought I'd be. I'm late for my next appointment.”

She turned and hurried toward the door with Scruffy faithfully at her side. As her hand touched the handle and she pulled the door open, a round of applause echoed inside the store.

“Whoo-hoo! The Vet Whisperer!” someone called, just as the door closed behind her.

She sighed and headed to her clinic. Her first patient of the afternoon was a guinea pig who needed his teeth trimmed, a welcome and silent improvement.

Chapter 2

J
osh gritted his teeth and watched from a distance as Sarah spoke to the people surrounding her about problems with their pets. This was church. No one asked for medical advice from Dr. Platt on Sunday. The good doctor was here to worship, and unless it was an emergency, his office was closed. People respected that. Likewise, no one pestered Chuck for legal advice on Sunday. Today, Chuck wasn't a lawyer; he was just another Christian brother.

But today, both before and after the service, people had found Sarah and asked for advice about their pets' behavioral issues.

Josh rammed his hands into his pockets and tried not to glare at those who waited not so patiently for their turn to see her.

While he waited, he watched her talking and smiling at everyone who spoke to her.

Since he had nothing else to do but watch and wait, Josh studied Sarah surrounded by the crowd of pet owners. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before, but Sarah had a beautiful smile. Watching her from a distance, from this different perspective, he was seeing her as others saw her. Just like a model in a magazine, she had high cheekbones that emphasized her lips and smile. Her hair kind of floated around her face, and somehow made that smile even more bright, even without the special lighting in a magazine that made the models prettier than they probably really were.

He wondered what Sarah would say if he told her what he'd been thinking.

“Hey, dude,” a male voice said from beside him. “You're looking a little left out of the conversation.”

Josh turned to the side to see his friend Stan Wilson approaching, grinning like an idiot. In the past few months, Stan wore that grin a lot. If one could say such a thing about a man without sounding sappy, he would say that since Stan got married, he glowed. In fact, the glow had started the day Stan and Amber got formally engaged and hadn't stopped.

Josh dragged one hand down his face, and he forced himself to smile. “Hey, dude. Where's the little woman?”

The glow intensified. Josh nearly groaned.

“Amber's gone to the ladies' room. She'll be back in a few minutes.”

It wasn't often that Josh felt lost for words, but he couldn't think of anything to say while he watched everyone else monopolize Sarah's attention. “How's married life been treating you?” he asked, more for distraction than because he actually wanted to know. From the way Stan walked around smiling, the answer was a foregone conclusion.

“Good. Great, actually. We should have done it sooner. Why are you asking? You thinking about it?”

Josh nearly choked, then forced himself to keep breathing. “No. Not really. Well, maybe a little. It's not like I have an aversion to marriage or anything like that. I just haven't met the right woman yet.” Actually, he'd always assumed that one day God would put that one perfect woman in his path, and he'd soon be that happily married guy with his wife smiling at the door, waiting for him to get home from work, with 2.4 kids and a dog playing in the backyard.

Lately, he'd wondered if realistically that was ever going to happen. At thirty-one, all he had was the dog.

Stan shook his head. “From what I've seen, you haven't been looking that hard.”

Josh shrugged his shoulders, still keeping his hands in his pockets. “I've been busy. You know that. Almost every time we see each other on game night, you're always reminding me that I need more free time.” Although, come to think of it, lately Stan had been missing fairly often from the weekly routine of sports night with the guys. Most of the others had said some uncomplimentary things about Stan forgoing his cherished time with the guys and staying home with the little woman, but deep down, Josh felt a little jealous of his friend.

“I've been even busier on weekends lately. Saturdays I've had to go to the store two hours before opening so I can help my staff do the stocking. You know what it's like. On Saturdays, something always goes wrong.”

“You got that right.”

“Then Sunday I have to get up early for church.” Although, really, it wasn't that early. He just wasn't going to admit to one of the guys that by the time he got home Saturday, he was simply too tired to do anything. Sunday after church was his time to relax. Most of the time on Sunday afternoons he took Rufus for a long walk to finally have some quiet time, but sometimes he spent the afternoon relaxing with Sarah, who also saw people all day, every day. Lately, Sunday afternoons had been their private quiet time to hide from the rest of the world. Then Monday it was back to the same routine.