“Mine, too,” Cappie replied almost at the same time as Bentley.
“He said you could bring Kell along,” the other girl added.
“Kell’s gone off somewhere with Rourke and Chet,” Cappie sighed. “No telling where. They vanish for days at a time, and nobody knows where. He’s my own brother. You’d think he could trust me.”
“And me,” Bentley added.
“I’m sure he has his reasons,” Cappie said. “Whatever they are.”
“It’s bound to be something covert and dangerous and exciting,” Keely said out loud.
“More than likely, they’re helping Detective Marquez stake out a nightclub or something,” Bentley chuckled. “He did mention that he needed a couple of willing volunteers for a special project he and that assistant district attorney are working on.”
“We owe that district attorney,” Cappie agreed. “He talked Frank’s accomplices into testifying against him for reduced sentences. He says Frank won’t get out until his hair turns gray. Made my day,” she added.
“Mine, too,” Bentley assured her. “Okay, people, back to work.”
“Yes, sir, Dr. Rydel, sir,” Cappie said, saluting him.
He made a face at her. Then he grinned.
She grinned back, turning back to her coworker behind the counter. “Who’s next, Keely?”
“Mrs. Anderson and her Chihuahua. Got the chart right here.”
Cappie took it from her and went out into the waiting room, which was full. Her eyes were bright with happiness as she exchanged a glance with her handsome husband, just before he went into the back to examine a surgical patient. She felt as if she could walk on air.
“Okay, Mrs. Anderson,” she told an elderly little woman with a smile. “If you’ll bring Tweedle on back, we’ll get Dr. Rydel to take a look at his bruised paw.”
“He’s a very nice doctor,” the little woman told Cappie. “You’re a lucky young woman!”
“Yes, you are!” Bentley called from the back. “Not every woman gets a husband who’s as accomplished and modest as I am! You should be proud of yourself!”
“I am, dear, and how do you like your potatoes…burned or charbroiled?”
There was a pause. “Not every husband gets a wife as accomplished and modest as you are, dear!” he called back.
She chuckled. “Now that will get you a nice scalloped potato dish and a beautifully cooked pot roast!”
An amused Mrs. Anderson wiggled her eyebrows at Cappie as she followed her to a treatment room. Cappie just grinned.
* * * * *
BOONE
To my sister, Dannis Spaeth Cole, and my niece Maggie in Cuthbert, Georgia, and to my other niece Amanda Hofstetter, in Portland, Oregon. Love you all.
CHAPTER ONE
Keely Welsh felt his presence before she looked up and saw him. It had been that way from the day she met Boone Sinclair, her best friend’s eldest brother. The man wasn’t movie-star handsome or gregarious. He was a recluse, a loner who hardly ever smiled, who intimidated people simply by walking into a room. For some unknown reason, Keely always knew when he was around, even if she didn’t see him.
He was tall and slender, but he had powerful legs and big hands and feet. There were rumors about him that grew more exaggerated with the telling. He’d been in Special Forces overseas five years earlier. He’d saved his unit from certain destruction. He’d won medals. He’d had lunch with the president at the White House. He’d taken a cruise with a world-famous author. He’d almost married a European princess. And on and on and on.
Nobody knew the truth. Well, maybe Winona and Clark Sinclair did. Winnie and Clark and Boone were closer than brothers and sisters usually were. But Winnie didn’t talk about her brother’s private life, not even to Keely.
There hadn’t been a day since she was thirteen when Keely hadn’t loved Boone Sinclair. She watched him from a distance, her green eyes soft and covetous. Her hands would shake when she happened on him unexpectedly. They were shaking now. He was standing at the counter, signing in. He had an appointment for his dog’s routine shots. He made one every year. He loved the old tan-and-black German shepherd, whose name was Bailey. People said it was the only thing on earth that he did love. Maybe he was fond of his siblings, but it didn’t show. His affection for Bailey did.
One of the other vet techs came out with a pad and called in Bailey, with a grin at Boone. It wasn’t returned. He led the old dog into one of the examination rooms. He walked right past Keely. He never looked at her. He didn’t speak to her. As far as he was concerned, she was invisible.
