Page 87 of Clara Knows Best

“Better than you, huh?” He didn’t believe it, but he didn’t hate hearing it.

“Why do you think I put you through medical school?” she asked reasonably.

“I don’t know.Noblesse oblige?”

She laughed as though that were ridiculous. “Help me up, Yoli. Thank you. Jesse, you’d better get moving. It’s after ten now.”

He watched her careful progress towards the door Yoli held open. “Did you put me through medical school so I’d take over your practice when you retire?”

Dr. Wilder laughed again and rounded the corner out of sight.

He shot a questioning glance at Yoli. “Was that a yes or a no?”

The tech beamed at him. “She put you through school because you have a gift, Dr. Flores. A person would have to be a big, blind idiot not to see it.”

“Thanks,” he said dryly, and she, too, laughed as she walked away.

He glanced at the border collie, but she was deeply asleep and wouldn’t be waking up for several hours. Time to face the music—that is, Clara.

He unbuttoned his blood-spattered shirt as he went slowly down the hall, wishing he had a Dr. Pepper. His undershirt, at least, looked pretty good. He pushed open the antique swinging door to the reception area and paused at the unexpected crowd of people. Besides Yoli and the two Wilder ladies, there were three patients waiting in chairs and Jordan, the police deputy, was coming in the front door.

At the sight of Jesse, they erupted into applause, and Clara threw her arms around him.

He barely had time to brace himself for impact, but at least she didn’t squeeze his bruised rib. He placed one hand very gingerly on her back and left the other hovering a few inches away from her. “Don’t cry or anything,” he said awkwardly.

“I’m not crying,” she answered with a laugh, holding him tightly around the waist and leaning into him. How easy it would be to put his arms around her—but he resisted. “Thank you so much, Jesse. Mom said the dog is going to be fine!”

“Well, that’s not a sure—”

“I knew you could do it,” she said over him. Her brown eyes were luminous, her smile one of pure bliss. Well, bliss with a little hero-worship mixed in.

“Clara, we’re not out of the woods by any—”

She pulled his head down and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I want you to have the honor of naming her. What name do you like?”

“Uh…Mrs…Milkbone?” he suggested blankly.

“I’ll name her,” Clara decided, and kissed his cheek again. “But I owe you one, seriously. ’Long as I got a biscuit, you got half.”

The phrase startled a laugh out of him, but he cut it off just as abruptly when he saw her father entering the room, and liftedboth hands like a man under arrest. The Colonel’s somber eyes took everything in and gave nothing away.

He tried again. “Clara, I’m trying to tell you that I still think she might—”

“Shh! Don’t jinx it,” she said, covering his mouth. “She’s going to be fine. And you have patients to see now. You have to get cleaned up.”

“I’m sorry to keep you all waiting,” he said in the direction of the waiting room as Clara pulled him toward the offices. “I didn’t realize it was so late. Yoli—”

“I can see you myself, Barbara, if you’ll come into Dr. Pike’s office,” Dr. Wilder said to one of the women who waited. “Yoli, take Mr. Driscoll into Room 2 and get him started. You shouldn’t have to wait too long, Patty. Jordan, what do you need?”

“Just came to see how the pup was doing,” the deputy explained. “Made Clara mad earlier, I think, joking around.”

“Well, Clara’s not mad anymore,” Dr. Wilder assured him, and the deputy saluted and took off.

Clara nudged Jesse into her mother’s private office and followed him in.

“You don’t need to be in here,” he said instantly. “I can change my own—” He broke off, seeing a twenty-ounce Dr. Pepper on the desk. He looked at her, askance. “Did you…how did you know?”

“Yep, I talked to Margo. She said you always have Dr. Pepper after surgery.”

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