Hill Country Reunion

“No, go ahead. I’ve got it from here.” Hauling in a breath, he stepped into the exam room. “Hey, Di...ana.”

Her arched brow said she’d caught his near slip of the tongue. “Thanks for working me in. I didn’t have anyplace else I could take these kitties.”

Kitties. Tripp couldn’t help grinning at the tender way she spoke the word. Or the compassionate gleam in her eyes as she stroked the purring mother cat. Laying the folder on the counter, he cast an appraising eye over the scrawny mother cat, a yellow tabby who’d obviously been surviving on her own for a while. The kittens, probably not more than two or three days old, looked healthy enough, but unless their mother got better care so she could feed them, they wouldn’t last long.

“Well?” Diana caressed the mother cat’s ears. “Can you help me with them?”

“First thing we need to do is get the mother started on some vitamins and quality food.” Stethoscope in his ears, Tripp listened to the cat’s heart and lungs, then gently palpated her from neck to tail for any signs of growths or infection. The worst he found was matted fur and a small cut on one shoulder, probably from a fight.

The cat wouldn’t like what he had to do next, but he needed to take her temperature, check for worms and take a blood sample. Turned out she was a lot more cooperative than Sue Ellen Jamison’s Siamese. After setting aside the specimens, Tripp jotted some notes in the file. “The initial results will only take a few minutes. Do you mind waiting?”

“That’s fine.” Diana’s expression remained neutral, but her tone suggested it had taken every ounce of willpower to bring the cats to Tripp.

With a quick smile, he excused himself and slipped down the hall to the lab. When he returned, he found Diana seated on the padded bench with the cat box in her lap.

“You get why I can’t keep you,” she murmured as she tenderly stroked the mother cat. “I would if I could—” Noticing Tripp, she straightened abruptly and cleared her throat. “What did you find?”

“No visible evidence of worms, and no problems I could see from preliminary tests. I’ll have to send samples to our outside lab for a more complete report. That’ll take two or three days.” Tripp came around the exam table and sat down at the other end of the bench. With the tip of one finger, he rubbed a sleeping kitten’s soft, fuzzy belly. “I gather you want help finding homes for these little critters.”

Lips in a twist, Diana nodded. “Guess you’ve seen from my file that I already have a houseful. To borrow a phrase, there’s no more room at the inn.”

“You always had a soft heart for animals. Remember the baby squirrel—”

“It was so tiny.” A tender smile stole across Diana’s face. Just as quickly, it vanished. She cleared her throat. “If you can keep the cat and her babies here, I’ll put up adoption flyers around town. And I’ll cover the vet bill and boarding costs.”

“No problem. Since you’re a regular, I’m sure we can cut you a deal.” Tripp winked. “Or maybe barter vet services for coffee and pastries?”

Diana’s eyebrows shot up. “You’d do that?”

“Considering Doc Ingram’s affinity for your scones, I think we could twist his arm.”

The mother cat was purring loudly now, the sound appearing to have a calming effect on Diana. She glanced up at Tripp. “I appreciate this. More than you know.”

Tripp felt like he could sit there all day, basking in the warmth of Diana’s presence. Man, how he’d missed this woman! All the years apart seemed to melt away like ice cream on a hot sidewalk, along with all the reasons Tripp had used to justify their breakup.

Maybe...maybe they really could start again. He’d been feeling better every day since getting out of the city. Yes, it had only been a few days now, but his health could only go uphill from here, right? Anyway, in the years since his diagnosis he’d heard of lots of people with Crohn’s who went on to live normal, healthy lives, even raised families. Was it possible he’d been too quick to give up on his own chance at happiness?

Diana’s sharp sigh brought him back to the present. “I didn’t realize how late it was. I need to get back to the shop.” She slid the cat box onto the bench between her and Tripp, then stood, her hand lingering on the mother cat’s head. With a tentative glance at Tripp, she said, “You’ll take good care of them, right?”

“Of course, the very best.” He rose as well and picked up the box. “Want to walk back with me and see the kennel where they’ll be staying?”

“No, that’s okay. I should make this a clean break.” She winced, and Tripp could guess exactly where her thoughts had taken her.

“Diana...”

“Gotta run.” Her perky smile was back in place. “Tell Doc Ingram y’all can drop in anytime to collect on your coffee and doughnuts. Bye!”

Her brusque departure left him feeling like he’d just been sideswiped by a semi.

And also shocked him back to reality. He had no business entertaining thoughts of rekindling what he and Diana had once shared. She might give lip service to the possibility of starting over as friends, but the flicker of hurt in her eyes made him wonder if she’d ever fully forgive him.

* * *

Diana tried hard not to call the clinic every day to check on the mother cat and her babies. Even though Tripp had called a couple of days later to report that mama cat was healthy and her kittens were thriving, Diana couldn’t help being concerned. She’d already prepared adopt-a-kitten flyers to post around town as soon as the kittens were old enough to leave their mother.

In the meantime, she spent most of her spare time working out details for the therapy pets program. She still needed to enlist her volunteers, but working all day at the doughnut shop didn’t leave much time for recruitment efforts. It was the first week of October, and unless Diana had her volunteers lined up and ready by the end of the month, she’d have to postpone Agnes Kraus’s evaluation and training visit. Time to speed things up, and tonight’s service committee meeting at church might be her best chance.

Around midafternoon, a couple of Main Street business owners stopped in for coffee. Diana cheerfully filled their orders, and the customers had barely sat down at a window table when Tripp and Doc Ingram breezed in.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen. What can I get for you?” Diana tried to keep her attention on Doc Ingram, but her eyes kept betraying her with darting glances at Tripp. The last time she’d actually seen him was at church last Sunday, and then only in passing. Seth and Christina had kept him occupied as they introduced him to the pastor and other acquaintances.

“Two coffees, for starters.” Doc palmed his Stetson. “Then I’d like to bend your ear about catering an open house for us at the clinic.”

“Sure. Meet me at the corner table over there and you can tell me all about it.” Diana filled two mugs, then a third one for herself. As she set the mugs on a tray, she remembered Tripp had asked for soy milk on his first visit, so she filled a small ceramic pitcher. Still wearing her pink Diana’s Donuts apron over her T-shirt and jeans, she carried the tray to the table.

As she distributed the mugs and handed Tripp the container of soy milk, his smile conveyed both appreciation and surprise. “Thanks,” he murmured in the mellow tone that once set her heart racing.

And apparently still did, if the heat rising up her cheeks meant anything.

She straightened her apron and took the chair on the other side of Doc Ingram. “So. About your open house. When is it, and what’s the occasion?”

“If it’s not too short notice, I’m thinking next Sunday afternoon, say from two to four,” the doc answered. “It’ll be a welcome party for Tripp here, a chance for the community to drop in and meet him.”

“Sounds fun.” With a smile and nod in Tripp’s direction, Diana pulled a pen and notepad from her apron pocket and jotted down the date. “What would you like to serve?”

“Thought I’d leave the menu in your capable hands.” Doc chuckled. “Consider it part of Tripp’s bartering agreement for seeing to those cats you dropped off last week.”

Tripp caught Diana’s eye and mouthed, Not my idea.

Something she should have guessed. Tripp had never been much of a socializer. If they went out with friends, there would be only one or two other couples. If someone hosted a party, Tripp would steer Diana to the less noisy perimeter, and he was always ready to say their goodbyes long before Diana had run out of conversation.

She gave a mental shrug. One more indication they weren’t right for each other.

“I was teasing about the cat thing,” Doc Ingram said. “Planned on doing this anyway, so I’m more than glad to pay.”

“No, it’s perfectly all right. A deal’s a deal.” Diana tapped the pen against her lips as she considered what to serve. “We can do coffee, doughnuts, minimuffins...and maybe some cranberry punch for the kids.”

“Great. I’ll start getting the word out.” As Doc Ingram took a sip of his coffee, his cell phone chirped. Reading a text, he grimaced. “Horse down with colic at the Hendersons’. Gotta skedaddle. Hate to strand you, Tripp, but the Henderson ranch is clear the opposite direction from the clinic.”

“No problem,” Tripp said. “I’ll find my own way back.”

Halfway to the door, the doc halted and snapped his fingers, a mischievous look curling his lips. “Hey, since your appointment calendar’s clear for the rest of the day, why don’t you hang out here? Y’all can hash out the open house menu together.”

Suddenly nervous, Diana arched a brow. But with only a few customers and Kimberly covering the counter, she didn’t have an obvious reason to excuse herself. She offered Tripp an empathetic smile. “So...an open house, huh?”

He hiked one shoulder. “Like I said, not my idea.”

“It’s a small-town thing. People like to get to know the folks they’re doing business with.”