LITMIR.BIZ

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up on him was out of the question.

      She followed Lisa down the hall. “Does Adam always send food?”

      “No, not Adam, but Dr. Drake always orders takeout on the days we’re slammed and don’t have time to go out.”

      Madison had suggested that practice when she’d interned here. “Does that happen often?”

      “Often enough—especially during shortened holiday weeks. Dr. Drake has more patients than he can handle, and he hates to turn anyone away. He definitely needs a partner.”

      Kay, the receptionist, Jim, the groomer, and Susie, the kennel manager, were seated when Madison and Lisa entered. Kay was older than her predecessor, a perky twentysomething who’d shamelessly flirted with Andrew even in Madison’s presence.

      “Madison, you did well this morning.”

      Warmth surrounded Madison. “Thank you, Kay.”

      “You hit the ground running and never missed a beat. Dr. Drake was right. You’re one sharp cookie.”

      “Da—Dr. Drake said that?”

      “He’s talked about you for months.”

      Madison’s heart jolted. Months? She hadn’t agreed to come until Saturday, and yet he’d been discussing her with his staff?

      “I have a practice in North Carolina.”

      Jim laughed. “We’ve heard all about your little practice and your farm.”

      The fine hairs on her body rose. Danny had known where she was all along? How much of her business—personal and professional—had he followed? Knowing he’d been spying disturbed her.

      Lisa paused with her slice just shy of her lips. “He told us about the good ol’ days when you shadowed him and his son, but he didn’t tell us why you left.”

      The unspoken question decimated Madison’s appetite. “I didn’t feel comfortable here after Andrew died.” She forced herself to take a bite. A full mouth gave her an excuse not to elaborate.

      Kay nodded. “It must be hard coming back to the place where you worked with your husband. You were both so young—it’s such a sad story.”

      What had Danny told them? The pizza turned to a cheesy, greasy paste in Madison’s mouth. She chewed and chewed, then finally swallowed the wad. “Y’all have helped by keeping me busy.”

      Kay covered her hand. “I’m sorry, hon.”

      Madison’s eyes stung at the unexpected show of sympathy. She’d needed this six years ago, but she couldn’t handle it today when her nerves were already exposed and raw from seeing ghosts. She hadn’t cried in years and wouldn’t now in front of strangers.

      “I noticed Miss Findley’s and her dog’s diets have failed,” Jim said.

      Madison shot him a grateful glance for his obvious attempt to head off an emotional display. She let the conversation about the morning’s patients roll past her. She’d choke down her lunch if it killed her rather than let the others know how badly their revelations had disturbed her.

      Bite. Chew. Swallow. Repeat.

      Did Danny honestly believe she’d abandon her practice and return to Norcross? Everything she’d heard implied he’d been expecting her for longer than a few days’ time. How far was he willing to go to get her back? Would he, like his son had, stoop to using underhanded tactics to get his way?

      “Hernia surgeries are supposed to be a piece of cake. But you never know. Dr. Drake isn’t young.”

      Kay’s statement jerked Madison from her thoughts. “Hernia?”

      Heads bobbed around the table.

      Jim reached for a second slice. “Dr. Drake never mentioned any symptoms. He’s been lifting big dogs like nothing bothered him. I had no idea. I could’ve helped.”

      “He told you he was having hernia surgery?” she repeated to make sure she hadn’t misheard.

      “Yeah, last month when he scheduled it.”

      A month. He’d told her he’d scheduled his cancer surgery after Adam’s visit to her last week. Which was correct?

      Madison looked into the trusting faces and realized she was the only one in the room who knew the truth. Or was she the only one who didn’t? Had Danny lied to his staff? Or had he lied to her as part of some master plot to get her back to Norcross?

      But if he’d lied to her, then so had Adam and Helen. And exactly how long had this scheme been in the works?

      Was there anyone here she could trust?

      CHAPTER FOUR

      A SCUFF OF sound brought Madison’s head up from the stack of files on Dan—Dr. Drake’s desk. Andrew stood in the doorway. A shock wave slammed her back in the chair.

      No, not Andrew, she quickly corrected. Andrew was dead. She’d held his cold, limp hand until the paramedics had pried her fingers loose to put her in a separate ambulance, and that had been the last time she’d seen him alive. Despite being surrounded by memories of him today, he hadn’t come back to haunt her in his old stomping grounds.

      Shorter hair, a perpetual frown and a broader build gave away Adam’s identity. Lines of stress and exhaustion bracketed his eyes and downturned mouth. “Are you ready?”

      “How did you get in? I turned the dead bolt behind the staff.”

      “I have Dad’s keys.”

      She had no keys, which meant she couldn’t leave without explaining to Kay why she needed a set or risk leaving the office unlocked and unprotected, which she would never do since she knew how much each piece of equipment and bottle of medicine cost.

      An intentional oversight? Most likely, given the way this trip had transpired.

      “What procedure did they end up doing on Da—your father?”

      “A lobe resection.”

      Lobe meant lung, not hernia. Danny hadn’t lied to her. She should be relieved, but she wasn’t.

      “You should have warned me that he’d lied to his staff.”

      Dark eyebrows spiked upward. “About what?”

      “He told them he was going in for a hernia operation.”

      She hated liars. That was ironic since her life back in Quincey was based on a lie—one of omission, one that hurt no one. But her story was still dishonest no matter how she justified it. When she’d first arrived in Quincey she’d let everyone believe that she was a recent vet school graduate who’d just happened to hear about Dr. Jones’s practice upon graduation. No one knew she was running from a past that wouldn’t quit pursuing her.

      “Is it impossible for you to comprehend that Dad might not have wanted his employees to worry about their job security?”

      “Trust is essential in any partnership—business or personal.” A lesson she’d learned through Andrew’s betrayal.

      Frustrated by the whole messy situation, she swiped a strand of hair off her face. Unless she wanted to alienate the people she was supposed to work with over the next eight weeks, she’d have to perpetuate the lie by not revealing their beloved boss’s faults.

      “I’ll give him an opportunity to tell them the truth, but he needs to do it as soon as possible. I will not look them in the eye and lie to them. If they ask a direct question, I’ll answer it truthfully.”

      “Tell him that when you visit him tonight.”

      Alarm splintered through her. “Visit him?”

      “You’re going to stand by his bedside and tell him everything is wonderful—even

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