LITMIR.BIZ

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to her that snakes are protected in Tennessee, she hit him so hard he’d had a bruised shoulder for a week. He’d walked over and checked, then reported back that the snake had removed itself from the porch, no doubt annoyed that its nap was interrupted. She refused to get out of the car. Ever.

      They’d spent that night in the local motel. Not exactly the Peabody. She’d been upset about that, as well. It was clean, and the Patels were nice people, but the towels were thin. Clare hated thin towels. He’d finally convinced her to come back to the house, after he spent a couple of hours patrolling the yard and shed for the snake, but that was the beginning of the end. A week later, she moved out. A week after that, she served him with divorce papers. He never saw the snake again; Mother Nature might say that snake had done its job by getting rid of her. Took him a long time to admit that, even to himself.

      He’d give Emma French about three days before she moved out and back to the city. At that point, the skunks would become his problem. Hell, they already were.

      He checked his watch and was surprised it was only a little after nine. He dug out his cell phone and hit his speed dial.

      He got the clinic’s voice mail. “This is Dr. Barbara Carew. The clinic office hours are eight thirty till six, Monday through Friday. Saturday eight thirty till one. If this is an emergency, please call our emergency service at...”

      He waited to leave a message, then said, “Barbara, it’s me, Seth. I need some advice. Please meet me at seven tomorrow morning at the café. I’ll buy you breakfast. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume you’ll be there. This is important.” He hung up. She’d pick up her messages before she went to bed. If she wasn’t out working on a colicky horse or birthing a calf, she’d meet him. He let his head fall back against the sofa. He could feel that Scotch down to his toenails. Or maybe he was feeling simple exhaustion. He was too damned tired to feel lust.

      Whom was he kidding? A man would have to be dead and buried not to lust after Emma French. But in his present state of weariness, he might not be capable of doing much about it.

      * * *

      ACROSS THE STREET Emma called her father to tell him she had a roof over her head that didn’t leak and a dry, if lumpy, bed to sleep in. She got his answering machine. Of course. She could call her stepmother Andrea’s cell phone instead, but decided she was too tired for explanations.

      She didn’t mention her invaders on her message to her father. He would be horrified. He was already haranguing her about moving to the country instead of coming home to stay until she found a new job. Which he would no doubt find for her with one of his cronies regardless of whether they needed her.

      Not happening. At least, not yet. She had enough savings to survive for a bit. If she rented out her town house, she’d be able to hold out quite a while.

      She got ready for bed, set her alarm for midnight—four hours since the babies were last fed.

      She hadn’t answered any of Trip’s calls on her cell phone. Sooner or later she’d talk to him, but not yet. He’d sworn he still loved her, wanted to make things right between them. As if. He’d even fooled David French. Her father had welcomed him as her fiancé. Although in this case his usual mantra—that the man wasn’t good enough for her—was accurate.

      She was always afraid men would realize she wasn’t good enough for them.

      * * *

      THE MIDNIGHT FEEDING went okay, but at four, Emma hated slipping out of her warm bed and into the cold house to heat up...whoa, she should’ve asked Seth how warm the jar of milk that presently resided in her refrigerator should be. She put her hand on her cell phone to call him, then set it back on the kitchen counter. The man was exhausted. She couldn’t repay his kindness by waking him from a sleep he obviously needed.

      She ran the jar under hot water in the sink to take the chill off, but not enough to heat it up. That should be safe.

      As she cradled Sycamore, who already had this nursing business down pat, she wondered whether her semiconscious state was what human mothers felt during the late-night feedings. Remembering her half brother and half sister as newborns, she decided that these skunk babies were a bunch cuter than their human counterparts and didn’t scream blue murder between feedings.

      Would she ever have that mother feeling with her own newborn? Didn’t look like it at the moment. She wanted a man she could count on, who believed in fidelity. Trip obviously did not. If he could cheat on his fiancée, what would he do to his wife?

      The whole situation had looked so perfect at the start. Even her father had finally agreed that marrying Trip would be a good choice. Well—goodish. Daddy’s take was that no man who’d ever lived was good enough for his Emma, but Trip would keep her safe and happy.

      Now, she’d come to the realization that even if Trip wanted her back, she did not now or ever want to marry him. Whatever she’d thought she felt for him, she knew it was never love. Convenience? Appropriateness? Timing? She wasn’t sure she’d recognize real love if she ran into it like a brick wall.

      Maybe she’d move to Montana or Alaska or somewhere there were more men than women. The pool of eligible bachelors in west Tennessee that she hadn’t already crossed off her list was getting smaller and smaller.

      Okay, she’d been raised to be picky. Even in high school her father had second-guessed her crushes.

      He’d guessed wrong on Trip. Daddy simply couldn’t understand why she’d broken her engagement. If she had her way, he’d never know.

      Actually, losing her job working for Nathan was worse than losing Trip. Maybe she should take up fostering abandoned baby scapegoats. She’d be right at home being the mother of that herd. Accepting blame for something that was her fault was one thing. Being fired because of someone else’s screwup made her angry. She hadn’t even had a chance to plead her case before Nathan fired her.

      She settled Rose next to Sycamore and picked up Peony. She could already tell them apart not by their looks—although their stripes were different—but by their personalities. Sycamore was a bit of a bully and certainly greedy. Rose was gentle and liked to be cuddled. Peony was sweet, but Emma decided she didn’t have a brain in her soft little head. The poor baby tried to figure out the nursing thing, but the practical aspects simply eluded her.

      Eventually Emma managed to get enough milk down Peony’s throat, rather than on her fur, that she felt comfortable returning her to the nest. She put the remaining milk back in the refrigerator and realized she’d have to make a run to the grocery for another gallon or so come morning. She had enough for only one more feeding.

      Seth had left a couple of cans of dog food on the kitchen counter, but she’d better do some internet research on how to feed her charges before she offered them dog food. She’d ask Seth tomorrow, as well. Maybe just a tiny bit mashed up in the milk. But how would she get the solid food into their mouths through that syringe?

      Relishing the still-warm bed, she snuggled down again. This time sleep eluded her. The whole country-life thing had turned into a major fiasco. She ought to pack her duffel bag and go home. What did she know about living in the country? Rehabbing a run-down house? Feeding skunks?

      A niggling voice in the back of her mind whispered, “But Seth knows how to help me.”

      Another niggling voice followed. “Yeah, but I’ll bet he won’t.”

      * * *

      BARBARA CAREW’S MOBILE vet van was already sitting in the parking lot at the Forked Deer Café when Seth pulled in beside it. She was reading the Marquette County Gazette in the back booth of the café and cradling a giant mug of coffee.

      “You ever sleep?” he asked as he slid into the banquette across from her.

      “When the animals let me,” she said. She folded the paper, put it down on the patched leatherette bench and took a swig of her coffee. “This helps. Good morning, Seth.”

      A brawny

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