Checking on everyone’s progress, Theresa observed that Lily was doing more than just planning. She was also baking a tray of what appeared to be lighter-than-air crème-filled pastries.
“Did you decide to do a dry run?” Theresa asked, coming up to the young woman.
“In a manner of speaking,” Lily replied. Then, because Theresa was more like a mother to her than a boss, Lily paused for a moment and told the woman what was on her mind. “You know that vet you had me bring Jonathan to?”
Theresa’s expression gave nothing away, even as her mind raced around, bracing for a problem or some sort of a hiccup in Maizie’s plan.
“Yes?”
“He wouldn’t let me pay him for the visit,” Lily concluded with a perturbed frown.
“Really?” Theresa did her best to infuse the single word with surprise and wonder—rather than the triumphant pleasure, laced with hope, she was experiencing.
“Really,” Lily repeated. “I don’t like owing people,” she continued.
“Honey, sometimes you just have to graciously accept things from other people,” Theresa began. But Lily interrupted her.
“I know. That’s why I’m doing this,” she told Theresa, gesturing at the tray she’d just taken out of the oven. “I thought that since he was nice enough to ‘gift’ me with his knowledge by checking out Jonathan, I should return the favor and ‘gift’ him with what I do best.”
By now, Theresa was all but beaming. Maizie had gotten it right again, she couldn’t help thinking.
“Sounds perfectly reasonable to me,” Theresa agreed. She glanced at her watch. It was getting to be close to four o’clock. Maizie had mentioned that Christopher closed the doors to the animal clinic at six. She didn’t want Lily to miss encountering the vet. “Since we’re not actively catering anything today, why don’t you take a run back to the animal clinic and bring that vet your pastries while they’re still warm from the oven?” Theresa suggested.
Lily flashed her boss a grateful smile since she was perfectly willing to do just that. But first she had to take care of a more-than-minor detail.
Lily looked around. “Where’s Jonathan?”
“Meghan’s keeping him occupied,” Theresa assured her, referring to one of the servers she had in her permanent employ. In a pinch, the young, resourceful blonde also substituted as a bartender when Zack was otherwise occupied or unavailable. “Why?” She smiled broadly. “Are you worried about him?”
“I just didn’t want to leave the puppy here on his own while I make a run to the vet’s office.” She didn’t want to even begin to tally the amount of damage the little puppy could do in a very short amount of time.
“He’s not on his own,” Theresa contradicted. “There are approximately eight sets of eyes on that dog at all times. If anything, he might become paranoid. Go, bring your thank-you pastries to the vet. Sounds as if he might just have earned them,” the older woman speculated.
At the last moment, Lily looked at her hesitantly. “If you don’t mind,” Lily qualified.
“I wouldn’t be pushing you out the door if I minded,” Theresa pointed out. “Now shoo!” she ordered, gesturing the pastry chef out the door.
She was gone before Theresa could finish saying the last word.
* * *
When the bell announced the arrival of yet another patient, Christopher had to consciously refrain from releasing a loud sigh. It wasn’t that he minded seeing patients, because he didn’t. He enjoyed it, even when he was being challenged or confounded by a pet’s condition. Plus, his new practice took all his time, which he didn’t mind. It was paperwork that he hated. Paperwork of any kind was tedious, even though he readily admitted that it needed to be done.
Which was why he had two different receptionists, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, to do the inputting and to keep track of things.
However, on occasion, when one or the other was away for longer than ten minutes, he took over and manned the desk, so to speak.
That was what he was currently doing because Erika had taken a quick run to the local take-out place in order to buy and bring back dinner for the office. He looked up from the keyboard to see just who had entered.
“You’re back,” Christopher said with surprise when he saw Lily coming in. The moment she stepped inside, she filled the waiting area with her unconscious, natural sexiness. Before he knew it, he found himself under her spell. “Is something wrong with Jonathan?” It was the first thing that occurred to him.
And then he noticed that she was carrying a rectangular pink cardboard box. Another animal to examine? No, that couldn’t be it. There were no air holes punched into the box, which would mean, under normal circumstances, that it wasn’t some stray white mouse or rat she was bringing to him.
* * *
“You brought me another patient?” he asked a little warily.
“What?” She saw that he was eyeing the box in her hand and realized belatedly what he had to be thinking. “Oh, this isn’t anything to examine,” she told him. “At least, not the way you mean.”
He had no idea what that meant.
By now, the savory aroma wafting out of the box had reached him and he could feel his taste buds coming to attention.
“What is that?” he asked her, leaving the shelter of the reception desk and coming closer. He thought he detected the scent of cinnamon, among other things. “That aroma is nothing short of fantastic.”
Lily smiled broadly. “Thank you.”
He looked at her in confused surprise. “Is that you?” he asked, slightly bemused.
Was that some sort of new cologne, meant to arouse a man’s appetites, the noncarnal variety? He could almost feel his mouth watering.
“Only in a manner of speaking,” Lily replied with a laugh. When Christopher looked even further confused, she took pity on him and thrust the rectangular box at him. “These are for you—and your staff,” she added in case he thought she was singling him out and trying to flirt with him—although she was certain he probably had to endure the latter on a regular basis. Men as good-looking as Christopher Whitman never went unnoticed. From his thick, straight dirty-blond hair, to his tall, lean body, to his magnetic blue eyes that seemed to look right into her, the man stood out in any crowd.
“It’s just my small way of saying thank you,” she added.
“You bought these for us?” Christopher asked, taking the box from her.
“No,” Lily corrected, “I made these for you. I’m a pastry chef,” she explained quickly, in case he thought she was just someone who had slapped together the first dessert recipe she came across on the internet. She wasn’t altogether sure what prompted her, but she wanted him to know that in her own way she was a professional, too. “I work for a catering company,” she added, then thought that she was probably blurting out more details than the man wanted to hear. “Anyway, since you wouldn’t let me pay you, I wanted to do something nice for you. It’s all-natural,” she told him. “No artificial additives, no gluten, no nuts,” she added, in case he was allergic to them the way her childhood best friend had been. “It’s all perfectly safe,” she assured him.
“Well, it smells absolutely terrific.” He opened the box and the aroma seemed to literally swirl all around him. “If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I’d died