A Merger...or Marriage?

“There’s my Lilli-girl.”

Her tiny dog gave one short yip of greeting then did a standing leap on all four legs, jumping almost to Anna’s knees. She laughed at the dog’s antics and bent to scoop Lilli into her arms, all five pounds of her.

“Did you have a good day, sweetheart? I hope those two big monsters didn’t run you ragged.”

Lilli—short for Lilliputian—yipped again and wriggled in her arms maneuvering so she could lick eagerly at Anna’s chin with her tiny sandpaper tongue.

Anna smiled and cuddled the dog closer. What a blessing this duplex had turned out to be, one of the few bright spots in her life since she had been ordered by the NHC CEO, Alfred Daly to come home to Walnut River to wrap up the hospital merger.

She hadn’t been able to find a single hotel in town that would allow pets, but then she’d stumbled on this furnished place near the river that would allow a temporary lease for the short time she expected to be in Walnut River.

The duplex itself wasn’t anything fancy, just bare bones lodging with little personality or style. But it had a good-sized backyard for Lilli to play in, and the landlady had two gentle yellow labradors who already adored her little Chihuahua-pug mix and kept her company all day.

Yeah, Anna was paying an arm and a leg above her per diem for the few weeks she expected to be here. But she figured it was worth it if she didn’t have to kennel Lilli during her time in Walnut River or confuse her with a temporary placement with one of her friends or coworkers back in Manhattan.

She adored the dog and had from the moment she heard her tiny whimpering squeaks from a Dumpster near her subway stop in the financial district. Anna had been on her way back uptown on a cold dank January evening after working late and only heard the puppy by a fluke when she had paused for a moment to fix a broken heel on her shoe.

Another night, she might have been in too big a rush to investigate the sound. But that night, something had sparked her curiosity and she had dug through the Dumpster until she found Lilli, bedraggled, flea-infested, half-starved. The tiny puppy had looked at her with pleading dark eyes and Anna had been lost.

That had been six months before, just after her father died. She freely admitted that while dog ownership had been an adjustment, especially with her hectic schedule and the added complications of city life, she had never once regretted her decision to rescue the puppy. Lilli had brought boundless happiness into her world.

Not that her life hadn’t been fulfilling before, she reminded herself. She had carved out a comfortable life for herself in New York. She enjoyed her job and found it challenging and interesting. She had good friends in the city, she volunteered at an after-school mentoring program, she enjoyed a full and active social life.

Still, somewhere deep in her heart, she sometimes yearned for the comfortable pace and quiet serenity of Walnut River and she couldn’t deny that she missed her family, especially Ella.

She remembered the heated anger that had flashed in her sister’s eyes earlier at the hospital and hugged Lilli a little closer to her. She had ruined her chance for any kind of reconciliation with her family by deceiving them for two years.

Understanding and accepting her own culpability in the situation somehow didn’t make it any easier to endure.

She sighed. “I need a good ride to clear my head. What do you say, Lilli-girl?”

The dog gave a yip of approval and Anna smiled and set her down, then hurried into her temporary bedroom. The dog followed on her heels, then danced around the room impatiently as Anna changed from her business suit to lycra bike shorts and a matching shirt. The transformation only took a few moments, with a few more needed to change her work chignon to a more practical ponytail.

A short time later, they set off with Lilli in her safety harness, watching the world pass from her perch inside a custom-made basket on the front of Anna’s racing bike.

Almost instantly, Anna felt some of the tension leave her shoulders. Even in the city, this was her escape, riding along her favorite trails in Central Park, exploring new neighborhoods, darting around taxis and buses.

Rediscovering the streets of her hometown had been a particular pleasure these past few days, and she could feel herself relax as the bike’s tires hummed along the asphalt.

Early summer had to be her favorite time of year, she decided, when the world was green and lovely. As she rode down one street and then another, she savored the smells and sights, so different from her life the past eight years in Manhattan.

The evening air was thick with the sweet smell of flowers, of meat grilling on a barbecue somewhere, of freshly mowed lawns.

She pushed herself hard, making a wide circuit around the edge of town before circling back. By the time she cut through the park near her duplex, she felt much more centered and better equipped to tackle the mounds of paperwork still awaiting her attention that evening.

The trail through the park took her past a baseball diamond where a game was underway. Because it seemed like such a perfect ending to her ride, a great way to celebrate a June evening, she paused to watch for a moment in the dying rays of the sun.

The players were young. She had never been very good at gauging children’s ages but since many of them still had their baby fat and seemed more interested in jabbering to each other than paying attention to the game, she would have guessed them at five or so.

She smiled, watching one eager batter swing at the ball on the tee a half-dozen times before he finally connected. The ball sailed into right field, just past a player who ran after it on stubby little legs.

“Run for it, bud. You can catch it. That’s the way.”

Anna jerked her head around at the voice ringing from the stands and stood frozen with dismay.

When Richard claimed another commitment, she had assumed he meant a date. Instead, he sat in the bleachers looking gorgeous and casual in jeans and a golf shirt, cheering on the towheaded little outfielder she assumed was his son.

For just an instant, she was tempted to ride away quickly so he didn’t think she was stalking him or something, but Lilli chose that inopportune moment to yip from her perch in the basket.

Drawn to the sound, Richard turned his head and she saw his eyes widen with surprise as he recognized her.

For one breathless instant, she thought she saw something else flicker there, something hot. But it was gone so quickly she was certain she must have imagined it.

She raised a hand in greeting and then—mostly because she didn’t know what else to do amid the awkwardness of the chance encounter—she climbed from her bicycle, propped it against the metal bleachers then scooped Lilli out of the basket before joining him in the stands.

“That must be Ethan out there,” she said.

“It is. We’re up one run with one out and just need to hold them through this inning and it will be all over.”

He turned his attention back to the game in time to cheer as the next player at bat hit the ball straight at the shortstop, who tossed it to first base. The fielder on first base looked astonished that he actually caught the ball in time to pick off the runner.

“I have to admit, I’m a little surprised to see you here,” Richard said after a moment when the crowd’s wild cheers subsided. “I wouldn’t have expected a T-ball game to be quite up your alley.”

Anna gave a rueful smile. “I only stopped on a whim. We live just a block away from here and have ridden through the park several times. This is the first game I’ve stopped at.”

“We?”

She held up Lilli and Richard raised one of his elegant eyebrows. “Is that a dog or a rat with a bad case of indigestion?”

She made a face. “Hey, watch it. This is the queen of my heart. Lilli, this is Richard Green. Say hi.”

The dog deigned to lift her paw but Richard only blinked.

“You’re kidding.”

Anna shook her head, hiding a smile. “I’m afraid not. She’ll be offended if you don’t shake.”

With a sigh, he reached out a hand to take the dog’s tiny paw in his, which was all the encouragement Lilli needed to decide he was her new best friend. She wriggled with delight and gazed at him out of adoring eyes.

This wasn’t the first time Anna had noticed her dog had a weakness for handsome men.

“So you said the center fielder is your son?”

Richard nodded. “He’s the one picking dandelions,” he said wryly.

Anna laughed. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I see three kids picking dandelions out there.”

He smiled and she wondered how she could possibly have forgotten the devastating impact of his smile. “Mine’s the one in the middle.”