“No, I don’t. Let me narrow things down for you. Do you think about him a lot?”
Dustin nodded, running a hand over the back of his neck. “Pretty much nonstop.”
“About what? The sex?”
“More than the sex!” Dustin’s ears burned to be talking so bluntly about a new lover to his ex, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. “I may hear a joke and want to share it. The other day I went for barbeque and wanted to call him to go with me. I even sat at the table we’d sat at the night I took him there.” He buried his head in his hands. “I’m such a sap.”
Andy wasn’t finished yet. “Picture him with Junior. Get it good in your mind. Him and Junior sitting at a table—your table—where the two of you sat.” The words took on a taunting note.
Dustin glanced up and idly lifted a pencil from his desk, flexing it between his fingers. “And?”
“Imagine him leaning over the table and laying a big, sticky smooch on the bastard.” The pencil snapped in half. “Now we’re getting somewhere.” Andy grinned. “You’re jealous. In this case, that’s a good thing.
“Now, imagine Seth is working on the house out there and falls off a ladder. He’s lying on the ground, grasping his leg and yelling.”
Dustin's jaw clicked shut, his teeth grinding together.
“Good. But maybe doctor instincts. Now, imagine Seth sitting alone at Irene’s, sad, staring at a picture of his parents.”
Recalling the previous night, Seth crying over Brenda’s journal, something in Dustin’s heart twanged. “Can you get to the point?”
“All these things might well be happening, and you reacted to every one. You care for the guy more than you’re willing to admit. Now, I’ll let you in on one more secret Junior hopes you don’t find out.”
“What secret?”
“Ms. Irene left most of the McDaniel spread to the Jack or Jill, not Seth. If Junior worms his way in, pretends to back Seth, only to issue a challenge later, no one will stand up to him. He’ll have the power, he’ll have the land, and he’ll have Seth. And he’ll use them for his own gain.”
What the fuck? Irene never mentioned any such clause in her will. “How’d you find this out?”
“The receptionist at the law office dates one of my foxes.”
Dustin’s mouth dropped open. “How many damned single foxes do you have?”
For the first time since he arrived, Andy smiled. “What can I say? Levi gets around. Now, you need to form a strategy. If you want Seth, you gotta stake your claim. And the sooner the better.”
“How can I do that when Junior’s willing to give him everything he wants?” Being a small town doctor wasn’t the most profitable field. Junior owned highly lucrative resort properties. How could Dustin hope to compete?
Andy gave Dustin’s hand a brief pat. “Give him what he needs.”
Dustin considered his friend’s advice. What did Seth need? He visualized Irene’s house, reminded of Seth’s comment about not being able to find a contractor. Calling up a patient on his computer screen, he told Andy, “I have an idea.”
“MR. MCDANIEL? I’m told you need some work done.” Two trucks
sat in Seth’s yard, loaded down with ladders, cables, scaffolds, and other equipment.
“You told me on the phone you didn’t have a free appointment until October.”
“Something opened up,” the man replied with a shrug. Doors opened on each truck, and men climbed out. “You need renovations or not?”
Seth pinched himself, figuring he must be asleep. He’d had a dream like this once, of hunky construction workers showing up at his place. His conscience gave him a resounding swat, hissing,Remember Dustin, you idiot!Amazing how much his conscience sounded like Monica Sims. “Don’t we need to talk? Work up an estimate?”
A blindingly bright smile lit up the man’s dark face. “It’s already taken care of. Doc taught us boys the meaning ofthe barter system.”
SETHturned sideways to keep from knocking over an enormous flower arrangement. He loved flowers as much as the next guy, but enough was enough.
“The kitchen next,” he told Mari the maid, the latest worker to arrive spouting the virtues of bartering for Dr. Livingston’s services. The new microwave she’d brought with her definitely made cooking easier.
Junior had provided satellite and sent roses and chocolate, which Seth had taken to sending next door to the Johnson’s. Dustin sent work crews. Irene’s house probably hadn’t looked this good in thirty years. While he appreciated the gestures, Seth wasn’t used to the attention.
