Puppy Love in Thunder Canyon

She nodded. “Yes, dinner sounds great.”

“Tomorrow night okay?”

Something to do on a Friday that didn’t include her dog or a sibling? Tomorrow night would be perfect. “I work until six, but after that I’m all yours.”

Thomas cleared his throat and stood, rising to his feet in one smooth motion. “Where do you work?”

“At the Thunder Canyon Public Library.” Annabel mirrored his actions, grabbing her bag and slipping it over one shoulder. “I’m the librarian in charge of the children’s area.”

He waved a hand at her scrapbook. “So, all the work you do with therapy dogs is strictly volunteer?”

“Oh, yes. I don’t get paid for any of my visits, other than Smiley sometimes getting a doggy treat or two.” She hugged her book to her chest, peeking up at him through her lashes. “But I love the work. The therapy program is one of my many passions, along with books and my family. I guess I’m just a passionate person by nature.”

His eyes deepened to a dark blue as their focus shifted to her mouth. A slight tilt of his head, a restrained shift in his body that brought him just a hint closer.

Her tongue darted out to lick her suddenly dry lips. She couldn’t help it. Not that she dared think he might—

Yes, she had thought about the man, probably too much, over the past two weeks. She’d been looking forward to this meeting for more reasons than convincing Thomas to allow a therapy group here at the hospital. One she would be in charge of.

Annabel could admit, at least to herself, she’d wanted to find out if the quivering sensations she’d experienced when they’d first met had been all in her head.

They weren’t.

“I know a great Italian bistro, Antonio’s, over in Bozeman. Where should I pick you up?”

She blinked again, breaking the spell the doctor seemed to weave around her. Antonio’s? A dinner there cost more than she made in a week. “Oh, we don’t have to go that far. Any place in town would be fine by me.”

“My treat, so I get to pick the place.”

His tone was persuasively charming, so Annabel simply rattled off her address. And her cell phone number. “You know, just in case.”

Thomas nodded, then gestured in the direction of the door with one hand, signaling the end of their meeting. “Until tomorrow night, then.”

Annabel stepped in front of him, sure she could feel the heat of his gaze on her backside as he followed her. She turned when she reached the door, but found those blue eyes squarely focused on her face.

“I’ll pick you up around seven?” he asked.

She smiled. “I’ll be waiting.”

She waited.

And waited and waited.

Palming her cell phone, Annabel paced the length of her bedroom, her bare toes scrunching in the soft carpet. Smiley lay at the end of her bed, watching her stride back and forth like he was a spectator at a tennis match.

She’d changed out of the sundress with its matching knitted shrug and into a cropped T-shirt and yoga pants an hour ago, kicking her cute kitten heels back into the bottom of her closet.

After she’d accepted the fact Thomas had stood her up.

She’d really been looking forward to tonight. Yes, the chance to talk more about her idea of a weekly therapy session with Smiley at the hospital was a big draw, but darn it, getting to know Thomas better appealed to her even more.

“It’s after nine thirty,” Annabel said softly, eyeing the clock on her bedside table. “Why hasn’t he called?”

Smiley offered a sympathetic whimper and lowered his head to his paws until a quick knock at her bedroom door grabbed his attention.

Seconds later, her sister popped her head in. “Hey! We’re about to start a Mr. Darcy movie marathon now that Dad has gone off to bed. You coming downstairs?”

Annabel gave Jordyn Leigh a forced smile, knowing the “we” she was referring to was herself, their older sister, Jazzy, and their mother, all of whom shared a deep affection for the beloved Jane Austen literary character.

As did she.

“I don’t think so,” she said. Not even Colin Firth’s portrayal of the dashing hero could lift her disappointment—or erase the tiny flicker of hope she still held.

“You know, Mom said she can’t believe the three single Cates sisters are all home on a Friday night.” Jordyn Leigh nudged the door wider and leaned against the frame. “Of course, you taking a pass on dinner tonight had us all thinking you had other plans.”

“I did.”

Her sister eyed her outfit. “Dressed like that?”

Annabel sighed and glanced at her phone again. “I decided to change after he didn’t show. Almost three hours ago.”

“Yikes. Hoping for the old ‘if I get into my sweats the jerk will call’ effect, huh?”

“He’s not a jerk.” Her defense of him came easily, even if she had no idea why.

Her sister frowned, but only said, “Why don’t you call him?”

Annabel had thought about it, but the only number she had for Thomas was his office. The last thing she wanted was to leave a pathetic voice mail for him to find first thing Monday morning.

“I don’t have his number,” she finally said. “He’s got mine, at least I’m assuming he does. I mean, I gave it to him, but—”

“But he didn’t write it down or put it in his phone right away?” Jordyn guessed. “So you’re thinking he forgot?”

Her number? Their plans? All about her?

Annabel didn’t know what to think.

“Well, you know where we’ll be if you decide to join us. Mom’s insisting we start with the black and white version of Pride and Prejudice featuring Sir Laurence, so you have plenty of time before our favorite Mr. Darcy appears.”

With that, her sister vanished and Annabel flopped down on her bed, immediately bestowed with a sloppy kiss from Smiley, who’d crawled next to her.

“Oh, buddy, what am I going to do?” She scratched at her dog’s ears. “Maybe I should go back to work. Goodness knows I got zero done this afternoon thinking about tonight. Or do I stay up here and drive myself crazy wondering why—”

An odd chiming filled the air. It took a moment before Annabel realized it was coming from her cell phone. Not her usual ringtone that asked a cowboy to take her away.

She sat up and read the display. Caller unknown. Her fingers tightened around her phone. One deep breath and she pressed the answer button. “Hello?”

“Annabel? It’s Thomas.”