Page 39 of Deadly Vendetta

“What I’d really like is for Sadie to bring in the mom for a nice, quick spay.”

“Which she won’t, because every time one of her cats has a litter, she tells us how sweet and precious the kittens are, and how she loves each and every one.”

Dana sighed. “If the County Health Department ever visits that house, they’ll condemn it and put Sadie in a nursing home.”

“Giving up her animals would break Sadie’s heart. But is that woman even safe, living alone? From what I’ve heard, she belongs in the Pack Rat Hall of Fame. Not,” Francie added, “that I would ever win any housekeeping awards myself.”

Dana finished the rest of the kittens, then bent down to survey the inhabitants of the cardboard box on the floor. Seven bright-eyed faces peered back up at her, while one of the kittens sulked in a corner by itself. “Do you want to drop them off at her house, or should I?”

“I have to go through town anyway, so I will.” Francie rested a slim hip and one crimson-tipped hand against the counter. “But first you have to tell me about your Saturday night.”

Dana reached for a spray bottle of sanitizer and cleaned off the table. “Okay, I had a colic call at the Meyers’. We arrived around eight, and the horse was showing the usual signs. They’d turned him out in the corral adjoining his stall, and he was pawing, biting at his flanks. Went down and rolled a couple of times. His bowel sounds were almost absent, his pulse at over seventy beats a minute. I gave him some Banamine IV and—”

“I know the routine. I want to know about Zach. Did he sweep you off your feet? Take you on a major trip down memory lane? Is he still the best kisser you ever met?”

“Francie! I never, ever said that.”

“I’ll admit that you’re one of the more repressed people I’ve ever met. But I also remember the stars in your eyes back when we were high school seniors. When you and he dated back then—” Francie tipped her head back and fanned herself with one hand. “It seemed like 100 percent true love.”

“I think,” Dana retorted as she started transferring kittens back into the carrier, “that you must be confusing my life with yours.”

“Not likely. I never went out with the James Dean of Fossil Hill High.”

“Okay, here it is. He went along on the vet call. He assisted me, made polite conversation, and didn’t make a single inappropriate move the entire night. We didn’t get back until eleven or so, and when we walked in the door Katie was still awake and crying for him. So he took her home. That’s it.”

Left unmentioned was the brief, heart-melting kiss he’d given her on the porch of her house after they returned.

If they’d been anywhere but there, with the sound coming through the door of Katie crying and Molly’s efforts to placate her, Dana would have threaded her hands through his hair and pulled him down for a longer kiss. Just the thought sent flickers of warmth racing through her...even though she knew that would be playing with fire.

“Inappropriate?” Francie pursed her lips. “Exactly what would be an ‘inappropriate’ move be for a thirty-three-year-old who hasn’t had a date with someone exciting—and Tom doesn’t count, because you say he doesn’t make your heart race—in three years of widowhood?”

“Weren’t you recently warning me against becoming involved with Zach again?”

“I don’t know...he seems different now. More mature. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

“But he’s not staying in town, and that’s probably for the best.”

Dana turned to look at herself in the mirror over the hand sink in the corner. Her dishwater-blond hair was a tumble of wisps going in every direction. The light makeup she’d applied in the morning was long gone. “I am truly pathetic, aren’t I? It’s crazy to think any guy would look at me twice.”

“You could let your aunt Francie help you out a little.” Francie fluffed her newly platinum hair and ran her palms down her slender hips. “It’s fun to experiment with hair color and makeup, and we’re almost the same size.”

“Yeah, right.” Clad in that tight red T-shirt and those epidermal-tight Levi’s, Francie could stop a speeding train with a single sultry glance. Which probably wasn’t the image a small-town vet and mother of two ought to impart. “There are miracles...and then there are hopeless cases. But thanks anyway.” Dana lifted the carrier and handed it to her. “I think I’d better just concentrate on keeping the financial wolves at bay.”

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