Page 29 of Run, Run Rudolph
Sigh.
“This side seems okay.” Haden rolled from his knees back into a crouch, his gaze drifting to the reindeer’s exposed nose. “Normally, I would suggest we wait and see, but since this is a rather time-sensitive injury, I’d like to do an x-ray.”
“Is the clinic open?” It had to be way past regular opening hours by now.
He gave me a dry frown. Right. He owned the clinic. It was open whenever he wanted it to be.
Man, his kisses had scrambled my brain a little bit. I wanted to kiss him again. You know, just to see if it unscrambled the scrambled bits.
What was I thinking? I was cracked in the head. Sure, it had been one of the best kisses I’ve ever had, and with a man I’d fantasized about as a kid. But it hadn’t been a kiss-kiss. It had been merely a distraction tactic in a high-stakes situation. That was all.
I stood, edging toward the stall’s doorway. “Well?” I prompted. “Shall we go?”
Haden chuckled, a warm, friendly sound, his attention solidly here with me and the woodland caribou. I could see the wheels turning as he worked out the logistics of secretly transporting the animal without raising any questions from our snoopy small town.
His focus was pretty sexy.
Ugh. Cracked brain. This man was not sexy. He broke hearts and led women to believe he was interested when he wasn’t. I’d had a crush on him all through elementary and junior high, but had forced myself to get over the unattainable older man when I’d started dating Kade. Unlike the single female population around here. They were still crushing. Hard.
Finally, Haden leaned forward, asking slowly, “Can you walk, Rudolph? Are you in much pain?”
“Dude, he’s a deer,” I said softly, eyes cutting to our eavesdroppers. I subtly gesturing for them to hide in case Haden could see them now, too. They obeyed, slipping below the stall’s divider, disappearing from sight. One less possible thing that might overload this man’s precious brain circuits.
“He’s a deer who can clearly understand me.”
“Okay, fine.” I gave a dramatic eye roll. “He understands us.”
Rudolph slowly got to his feet, and Haden positioned himself at the ready to help the large animal if need be. The man was strong, but he’d more likely get squashed if he attempted to catch the quarter-tonne animal.
“He can ride in the back seat again,” I suggested, “unless you’re hauling a trailer?”
Haden shook his head. “I’m not, but I’ll go get it.”
“We don’t have the time.”
Honestly, though, I couldn’t imagine putting poor Rudolph into one of those livestock carriers. They were cold, hard and bumpy rides. “What’s a little more reindeer fur in my back seat?”
“People will see him.”
“They won’t.”
“But we can.”
“Yeah, and we’re special,” I said, not wanting to get into the nitty gritty of magic right now. It was time for action, and I really didn’t need Haden’s questions or possible panic if I accidentally let it slip that there were ogres and witches out there, too. And maybe dragons.
I glanced at the reindeer, who were doing a poor job of hiding, seeking confirmation that we could ride through town undetected. Well, Rudolph would. I’d look like the crazy person in a convertible with the top down in minus thirty weather.
None of the reindeer contradicted my statement about the town seeing Rudolph.
“I’m glad I didn’t call Fish and Wildlife earlier,” Haden said, standing at the edge of the stall as Rudolph slowly exited with a hobble.
“Me, too.” I addressed our injured friend, “Wait here. I’ll drive my car in through the big doors so you don’t have to walk as far.” It would mean letting out what precious heat the barn had held on to, but the way Rudolph was moving looked painful, and I didn’t want him walking more than he had to.
Haden waited inside, ready to open the doors once I had the car in position. As I exited into the biting cold night, I wondered what I was thinking. I was going to voluntarily freeze my face off again by driving with the top down. And the drive to the clinic was even longer than the earlier ride home.
But what else could I do? There was no way I was letting Rudolph ride in a freezing metal trailer.
I unplugged my block heater and started my car, checking in with the GAL PAL texting group. There was a recent one from Josie.
