“Nice to have met you,” Kell told the vet.
“Same here,” Dr. Rydel said.
He followed Cappie out into the living room. “You’d better eat your own burger and fries before they’re cold,” he said. “They don’t reheat well.”
She smiled shyly. “Thanks again for bringing me home, and for the food.” She wondered how she was going to get to work the following Monday, but she knew she’d come up with something. She could always beg one of the other vet techs for a ride.
“You’re welcome.” He stared down at her quietly, frowning. “You sure you’re all right?”
She nodded. “I’m wobbly. That’s because I was scared to death. I’ll be fine. It’s just a little bruising. Honest.”
“Would you tell me if it was more?” he asked.
She grinned.
“Well, if you think you need to go to the doctor later, you call me. Call the office,” he added. “They’ll take a message and page me, wherever I am.”
“That’s very nice of you. Thanks.”
He drew in a long breath. His blue eyes narrowed on her face. “You’ve got a lot on your shoulders for a woman your age,” he said quietly.
“Some people have a lot more,” she replied. “I love my brother.”
He smiled. “I noticed that.”
She studied him curiously. “Do you have family?”
His face tautened. “Not anymore.”
“I’m sorry.”
“People get old. They die.” He became distant. “We’ll talk another time. Good evening.”
“Good evening. Thanks.”
He shrugged. “No problem.”
She watched him go with a strange sense of loss. He was in many ways the saddest person she’d ever known.
She finished her supper and went to collect her brother’s food containers.
“Your boss is nice,” he said. “Not what I expected.”
“How could you tell him what I said about him, you horrible man?” she asked with mock anger.
“He’s one of those rare souls who never lie,” he said simply. “He comes at you head-on, not from ambush.”
“How do you know that?”
“It’s in his manner,” he said simply. He smiled. “I’m that way myself. It does take one to know one. Now come here and sit down and tell me what happened.”
She drew in a deep breath and sat down in the chair beside the bed. She hated having to tell him the whole truth. It wasn’t going to be pretty.
CHAPTER THREE
Cappie hitched a ride to work with Keely, promising not to make a regular thing of it.
“I’ll just have to get another car,” she said, as if all that required was a trip to a car lot. In fact, she had no idea what she was going to do.
