The sound of the dog sniffing at the bottom of the door made both Annika and Thom smile as they looked in that direction.
“The competition,” Annika said lightly, then stole a quick kiss.
Thom froze. “My dog isn’t competition,” he said, ready to spell this out if necessary, but Annika’s smile broadened.
“I know I’m no competition for her. I get it. You and Cerberus are together for good. You and I are together for now. It was just a joke.” She stole another kiss then swung out of bed, keeping her back to Thom.
As if her world hadn’t been turned upside down and inside out, like Thom’s had been.
Her easy acceptance of this as a one-off was throwing Thom’s game. He’d never been with a woman who hadn’t tried to nudge things toward forever right after orgasm. Was she putting him on?
He got up and followed her, opening the door. Cerberus was jubilant at their reappearance and Thom patted her, telling her to lie down. She did, her tail in perpetual motion.
Annika was washing up, humming a little as she did. Thom met her gaze in the mirror. “This is the part where we decide we can only be friends,” he said quietly.
Annika began to brush her hair, her eyes sparkling as she held his gaze. “No,” she said with assurance. “This is the part where you tell me how soon we can do it again.”
“But…”
She spun and put her fingertips across his mouth to silence him. “No expectations. No promises. No conditions apply. It was great. I would like more sex like that. I’d like it tonight.”
Thom couldn’t exactly disagree. His body was completely on her side and the rest of him wasn’t far behind. It had been incredible.
“What exactly is your plan?” He had to ask.
“First, I want to shatter your convictions about women,” she said with purpose. “They’re generalizations and they’re wrong and you’re too smart to be making decisions based on faulty observations.”
“Sounds like you’re taking that as a personal challenge,” Thom said, intrigued.
“I am. Second, I have a scientific background.”
“I know.”
“So I need more information.” She was braiding her hair with quick fingers, not even looking at what she did. “Is it always that good? Was it just novelty? Can it be better? I don’t have enough data to determine whether that was particularly incredible, or whether my previous experience was incredibly mediocre.”
“I’m thinking both,” Thom said.
“Me, too, but I want to know for sure.” Her smile was wicked. “Although I find it hard to believe that it could be better and we’d survive, but I want to know.”
Thom started to wash up, fighting a smile of his own. “You think people can die of pleasure?”
“Some people do die during sex. That’s why the French call orgasm ‘the little death’.”
“Do they?”
She nodded. “They do. I never understood it until just now. I mean, it always felt good, but not epic.” She leaned closer and kissed him quickly. “Thank you.”
“I didn’t do it alone.”
“I know.” She studied him. “I suspect that teamwork is the key.”
Thom nodded agreement.
She spun around and flung out her hands. “I felt like I was going to spontaneously combust or go supernova. It was incredible.”
Thom couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. “And you want to feel it again?”
“Who wouldn’t? Was it the novelty? Or was it establishing a benchmark? Enquiring minds need to know.”
Thom pulled on his briefs, and then his jeans.
“Don’t put on a shirt,” Annika said. “I want to hear about your tattoos.”
Thom stopped. “That’s building a connection.”
“That’s curiosity,” she chided. “Don’t be so suspicious. I understand that you don’t want a thing. Neither do I. I’m done with all that commitment stuff. I’m in it for the pleasure of the moment. But that doesn’t mean I can’t admire the art on your body and ask about it. We’re going to be here for more than a week. We can’t just have sex and never talk to each other.”
“Sure, we can.”
“Speak for yourself.” She rolled her eyes, scooped up Percival’s cage and headed for the kitchen.
“Is there less tofu on the counter?” Annika asked, stopping at the counter and surveying it. Cerberus lifted her head. She was lying on the rug and her tail pounded a beat that Thom recognized as a sign of guilt.
“Good thing I put most of it in the fridge,” he said, following Annika. There was less tofu, but it was his own fault for leaving it out. He started getting groceries out of the fridge again.
“She likes tofu?”
“Crazy for it, but she’s not allowed to have hoisin sauce.”
“So protective of your girl.” Annika’s tone was teasing.
“It’s not good for her…”
Thom didn’t finish what he was saying because Annika looped her arms around his neck, then kissed him on the mouth. It was way too short of a kiss, but long enough to muddle Thom’s thoughts.
“So, what are we now?” she asked when she broke their kiss. Thom was seriously tempted to pull her close again, but her words stopped that. “Friends with benefits?”
“No such thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“The benefit is sex. Friends don’t have sex. Once you’re having sex, you’re not friends anymore.”
“Then what are we? Lovers?”
Thom shook his head. “That implies an emotional bond.”
She frowned as she considered that. “Quite reasonably, I think. I mean, who has sex with someone they don’t even like?” She fixed him with a look. “Have you?”
“No.”
“See?” Her expression was triumphant.
He opened the fridge instead of answering, planning how he’d salvage the meal.
“How about this?” she asked, apparently undeterred. “We’re going for satisfaction, by mutual agreement, and we’re keeping it simple.” She looked him in the eye and seemed deadly serious. “We have a deal. No emotional connections. No talk of the future. Just lots of good clean fun.”
“More data for your experiment.”
“Exactly!”
Funny how Thom didn’t find her easy agreement that satisfying.
Meanwhile, Annika looked down at the cutting board. “I’m starving,” she said. “How fast is your house special to finish? Do you have to start over now?”
Thom had always believed that when something seemed too good to be true, it probably was. Another week of sex with Annika and zero commitment would be like a fantasy come true—which was why he didn’t believe it would work out that way. By breakfast, she’d be spinning plans of forever and saying how they obviously belonged together. He wasn’t going to encourage that—because when the inevitable disappointment came, she’d cry.
But once more tonight was impossible to resist.
“Shouldn’t take long,” he said gruffly.
Annika laughed and got two glasses out of the cupboard. As Thom began to organize the ingredients again, she popped the cork on the Prosecco and poured him a glass.
“To experiments,” she said, eyes dancing.
And Thom was only too happy to drink to that.
Annika felt like she’d been cheated, like she’d bought a book then discovered that the last chapter was missing. She’d had no idea that sex could be so amazing. She’d wanted more before because she’d only had crumbs from the table. Now, she wanted to cruise the entire buffet, at least three times, and try every option possible. She’d always hoped for more before, but now she felt insatiable.
She realized that Leo wasn’t just selfish in his choices: he was selfish in bed. He was only concerned with his own satisfaction and if his partner found her pleasure along the way, well, good for her. He’d never gone out of his way to drive her crazy the way Thom had. He’d never made her wait for it or tantalized her with his fingers or otherwise tried to drive her insane with lust. That was addictive.
If sex could be this good between comparative strangers, it had to be off the scale when people were in love.
Annika felt a new optimism for the future, but was ready to learn all she could in the interim. She understood that Thom was skeptical that she could defy his expectations—he exuded doubt like a dark cloud—but she’d change his mind, too.
In fact, it seemed kind of like a fair trade: he was filling the deficits in her experience of physical intimacy and she was going to shake up his assumptions. In the end, both of them would be in a better place to make a new partnership. She helped Thom cook by dicing as directed, then setting the table, drinking Prosecco and dancing a little bit as they worked.
“You’re happy,” he said finally, after he’d watched her for a few moments.
“Guilty as charged,” she said and bumped his hip with her own. “Your fault.”
“And you have a plan.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. I can hear the wheels turning.”
“It’s true,” Annika agreed, not in the mood to argue about anything. “I do.”
“Care to share?”
“Wouldn’t that be building a connection?”
Thom gave a short laugh. “Point to you.”
She refilled their glasses, then leaned against the counter and watched him. He had great hands. He had, actually, great everything. “Do you still want to know?”
“You still want to tell me. Isn’t that the same thing?”
Annika laughed and poked him. “You have to ask.”
Thom sighed with forbearance, then sipped his Prosecco as if to postpone the moment. He was making her wait and she knew it by the twinkling of his eyes.
She could wait, too, and she did.
She hoped she could outwait him but soon realized the man had patience of legendary proportions.
“Well?” she asked when she couldn’t stand it anymore.
Thom chuckled again. “Got you.”
“You did.”
“Okay, tell me about the big plan.”
“I was thinking that I owe you.”
“Not really. Everyone had a good time.”
“But this is helping me move forward, to discover what I’ve missed and define my objectives for the future. It’s providing new data for the new plan.”
He lifted his brows. “Do you have a plan for everything?”
“Pretty much.” Annika didn’t give him time to think about that. “And now that one plan has failed…”
“Due to no fault of your own.”
“Except ignoring what was right in front of my eyes.” She took another sip. “I need another plan.”
“Well, you must have time.”
“Why?”
“Because Leo still has another year of med school and you’re in Portland.” Thom served the meal, filling two plates, one with more than the other. It smelled amazing. He carried the plates to the table and Annika brought the glasses and the sparkling wine.
“That’s just it. I was planning to move here. That’s why I took the train and brought Percival, so we could be together.”
Thom looked up at her in surprise. “But you have a job in Portland.”
“And the company intends to open an east coast office, based on the F5F project. I can already see that they’re going to get a lot of calls about custom work.”
He picked up his chopsticks thoughtfully. “You weren’t planning to go home then.”
“Not for long. So, now I have to review the plan and tweak it.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I should move here anyway. I like it, a lot, and I feel it’s time for a change. What do you think the chances are of my running into Leo by surprise?”
“Pretty low, unless you live in the same neighborhood.”
She sipped her drink and thought about that. “Any suggestions?”
“Well, if you’re looking for a partner who makes good money…”
Annika smiled. “The better to fund the whole babies and house thing.”
He flicked her a look, obviously not knowing whether she was kidding or not.
“That was a joke. I don’t want babies, remember?”
He raised his brows but didn’t comment on that. “Or a professional, then you’ll want to pick a prosperous neighborhood, like the Upper West or Upper East side.”
“I have to go see those areas then. Are they expensive?”
“Every neighborhood is expensive.”
“Even this one?”
“Less so.” Thom told her the rent on the apartment and she surveyed it in dismay. “I could get a studio apartment, maybe.”
“Or a roommate.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to make a suggestion, but she caught herself in time. She asked where people advertised for roommates and kept the conversation neutral, letting Thom tell her about the city.
She refilled their glasses for the last time, her thoughts swirling with possibilities. “It’s exciting,” she said. “I feel like I’m starting on a new adventure.”
“I thought you were already having one.” Thom cast her a glance, his dark eyes smoldering again.
“That look,” she said, leaning across the table for a quick kiss. “It makes you look like you’re planning something.”
Thom caught her nape in one big warm hand and turned her short kiss into a long one that showed no signs of ending.
“Of course, I am,” he said when he finally lifted his mouth from hers. Annika was simmering to her toes. “Round two has to build upon success.”
“Too soon after dinner?”
“Nope.” Thom put the dishes into the sink in record time, gave Cerberus a few cubes of tofu, then swept Annika into his arms to carry her to the bedroom. She kicked her feet and kissed him, happier than she’d been in a long while.
Then his phone rang. He’d left it on the kitchen table and they both turned to look at it.
He hesitated, then put her down. He picked up the phone and grimaced. Whoever it was, he didn’t think he could duck the call, obviously, because he cast a glance her way. “Just five minutes,” he said. “Sorry.” Then he went to the window, which only made Annika curious as to who was calling him. She knew Thom would see that question as an attempt to build connections, so went to the bathroom instead.
It might kill her but she wouldn’t ask.
It was official: Tessa had the worst timing in the world.
“Hey.” Thom said when he answered. Even though he was standing at the window, he was keenly aware that Annika could hear at least his side of the conversation. Even when she politely retreated into the bathroom, she’d still be able to hear through that thin door.
“Busy?” his sister asked brightly.
“Dinner.”
“For one or two?”
“You and Cerberus, or is there something I need to know?”
Thom knew he couldn’t hide the truth from his sister, not for long. “Leo’s fiancée is here.” He supposed that Annika wasn’t Leo’s fiancée anymore, but he didn’t know what else to call her. His hook-up didn’t sound quite right.
“Leo’s fiancée but not Leo?”
“That’s right.”
“Where’s he?”
“Gone.”
Tessa’s voice sharpened. “How can that be?”
“It just is.”
“Moved out?”
“Uh huh.”
“But she’s staying there, even though Leo’s moved out?”
“You’re right.”
“Since when did you become so generous?” Tessa demanded. “Why would you put up Leo’s fiancée? And why would she even be his fiancée if he’s broken it off?”
“Lots of questions,” Thom noted, not prepared to answer any of them. “Why did you call, anyway?”
Tessa ignored that. “Is she Leo’s fiancée or isn’t she?”
Thom frowned. “I guess not.”
“Do you not know or are you messing with me?”
“Door number two, Tessa.”
“She’s THERE!” his sister said, pouncing on that detail. “She can hear you!”
“Yes, indeed.”
Tessa chortled. “Next you’ll tell me she has freckles and that will explain everything about your attitude tonight.”
Thom cleared his throat. “Yes, Cerberus is fine.”
“Freckles? Freckles!” Tessa began to laugh.
“Um hmm. Eating really well. Bright eyes, cold nose and all that.”
“So long as she doesn’t have a ferret, you should be fine,” Tessa said.
Thom didn’t reply.
“I got it in one, didn’t I?”
“It doesn’t matter…”
“Whenever you say that, it totally does,” Tessa replied. “Okay,” she continued, taking charge in her big sister way. “I’m coming Saturday for Cerberus’ annual vet check-in.”
“No.” Thom straightened. “Cerberus doesn’t have...”
At the sound of her name, the dog looked up with anticipation.
“She does now,” Tessa said, interrupting him firmly.
“I’m working Saturday.”
“What’s she doing?”
“I don’t know.” Thom hadn’t thought about it, but Annika was working Monday to Friday. “Other plans maybe.”
“But she thought she was engaged to Leo when she arrived.”
“Yes.”
“And when was that?”
“Last Saturday.”
“She has no plans,” Tessa said with authority. “And she’s visiting the city. I’ll come to see Cerberus and then that will just naturally evolve into my showing her some of the sights.”
Thom groaned. “You’re going to meddle…”
“I’m going to fix whatever’s going on there,” Tessa said fiercely and Thom knew better than to argue. “When are you going to work?”
“Nine-thirty.”
“I’ll see you Saturday morning at nine.”
“At least take Cerberus to the East River Park,” Thom said, trying to negotiate. “She needs her long weekend walk.”
“You can do that Sunday.”
“I’ll be working.”
“Since when? Wait!” As usual, Tessa didn’t wait for a reply when she thought she’d solved a riddle. “You’re avoiding her, aren’t you? This is much more serious than I thought. Thank your lucky stars, little brother, that you have me to save you from yourself.”
“I’m not sure I should,” Thom said but Tessa was gone.
He ended the call, pinched the bridge of his nose as if that might give him strength, and tossed his phone toward the table as Annika came out of the bathroom.
“Problem?” she asked.
“Sister,” he said flatly and took a step toward her. He knew she wouldn’t be satisfied with that, but he was ready to distract her. He let his voice drop low. “Now, where were we?”
Annika smiled. “You were carrying me off to ravish me and I couldn’t wait.”
Thom scooped her off her feet again and she squealed, then he pulled her close and silenced her with a kiss.
It was a reprieve, but it might be good enough.
It was clear that Thom was annoyed with his sister. Although Annika really wanted to know why, she also understood that question would be off-limits.
And really, she had better things to do. The second time with Thom was slower and hotter, an excruciatingly deliberate build that resulted in an enormous release for both of them. They clung to each other for long moments, catching their breath, and Annika wasn’t even sure she’d be able to stand up.
Thom rolled to his back and sighed with contentment.
Annika flopped down beside him and tangled her fingers with his. She watched him smile. He turned to look at her. “Okay?”
“Best ever. New benchmark.”
“Good.”
“You?”
“In the top five, easily.” He offered his hand to her and they went to the bathroom, a slow kiss leading to another round in the shower.
“You’re melting my bones,” she complained.
“Just providing more data for your experiment.”
“Don’t stop,” she whispered and kissed him. They ended up in the kitchen eventually, Thom opening a soda and Annika having a glass of water. She was wearing her nightgown and he was in his briefs. She ran a fingertip up his arm, tracing the lines of his tattoo.
“So, why are you the walking and occasionally talking Book of Kells?”
He gave her a dark look.
“I’m not building connections,” she protested. “I’m making conversation. I’m gathering information. You made a choice and I’m curious as to why.”
“That’s building connections.”
“Pretend we met at F5F and I commented on your ink. Pretend we’re strangers.”
“But asking would be an attempt to change that situation.”
Annika gave him a glare of her own. “We’re not going to be silent in each other’s company for a whole week.”
“Clearly.”
“So, spill it. Indulge me.”
He sighed. “Because I like the imagery.”
“And the wolves and dragons?”
“Same.”
“Maybe you’re a man of myth and mystery.”
He gave her a warning look and she lifted her hands. “It’s like going to an exhibit at an art gallery. The work impresses you on sight, but you want to understand it.”
“How do you understand art?”
“Excuse me?”
“It just is. You like it—or not—and move on.”
“No, you can’t just walk on by! Art is about messages and revelations. When you understand it, you see so much more.”
“Maybe you don’t need to see more.”
“You are a man of myth and mystery,” she said, her tone dismissive. “What’s wrong with exploring the artist’s intentions and trying to understand his or her message?”
“You’d have to talk to Chynna for that.”
“Bull. You designed your body art. You chose the images and the way they flowed together. She might have drawn out the design, but you told her how it had to be. It’s your art. She just executed it.”
“She might disagree.”
“But you don’t because you know I’m right.”
He finished his soda and tossed the can into the recycling box.
“You missed a career in basketball,” she said.
“Not hardly.” Thom folded his arms across his chest. Annika watched the tattoos flex and flow with his movement. “Okay. My family is Irish. We had a reproduction of the Book of Kells when I was growing up, kind of a nod to heritage, I guess. And it fascinated me. I was always asking to look at it. I wanted to figure it out. I would trace the animals, how their tails and legs tangled together like a big puzzle. And the first things I drew myself were different animals, knotted up the same way.”
“Why did you like it so much?”
“Because there were smaller images hidden in the larger ones, like secrets, but in full view. Most people didn’t notice them and that intrigued me.”
“That something could be in full view but be overlooked.”
“Yes.”
“That makes sense,” Annika said, thinking how Thom himself was tough to miss but had hidden layers that most people didn’t see. “And so your tattoos have layers and layers of detail. No matter how long or how often I looked at them, I might see something new, maybe even something most people didn’t notice.” She spotted a small raven just as she said that, a silhouette tucked into one of the knots.
“Yes,” he said with satisfaction.
“Kind of like people, right?”
Thom looked up.
Annika continued. “The longer you know a person, the more you learn about him or her. Sometimes people have entirely hidden sides to their nature that you never guessed were there.”
“And then when that detail becomes obvious, you wonder how you missed it.” He was very intense again, holding her gaze as if willing her to connect the dots.
Then Annika did. She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, like Leo. I forgot about him already.”
“Bull.”
Annika ignored that. “And you’re right. I should have seen his infidelity sooner.”
“But you didn’t want to, because you were busy thinking about forever.”
“It’s true. And I should have realized sooner that behind his charm was a man whose only interest was in getting what he wanted himself.” Annika nodded, then gave him a smile. “Good thing I learned my lesson, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“That I’m a convert to the school of living in the moment.” She closed the distance between them and tapped a finger on his chest. “I’ll bet it can’t be better the next time.”
“Get ready to lose,” Thom growled and by the time Annika had laughed, he’d tossed her over his shoulder and headed for the bedroom.
One more time, the man was right.
Annika usually found that trait annoying but as she fell asleep, snuggled against the heat of Thom, she couldn’t find a single reason to complain. Against all probabilities, each time they were together it just got better. How long could that continue? Annika wanted to know.
She’d come to New York for sex and it turned out she was in exactly the right place.
Annika felt like she was walking on a cloud. They did it four times Thursday night, then again first thing Friday morning. She liked it in the morning, when Thom’s skin was warm and his scent was strong. It felt luxurious to feel him behind her, his hands sliding over her beneath the covers and his erection against her butt. It had been slow and sensuous and had to be the best possible way to start the day.
He headed out early, leaving her to get ready for work. She didn’t see him at F5F until the end of the day when he came in for an evening shift. They admired the progress on the wall together, as if they were just acquaintances, then he went to the weight room. Annika avoided Bruno’s overtures for the weekend, and took home three kinds of burritos from a food truck in the park. She wanted to try them all and couldn’t decide, but it was too much food. Thom came home at midnight and after they made love again, he finished the burritos.
“My sister is coming in the morning,” he confessed. “She might want to show you the sights.”
“Did you ask her?”
“No, she offered. She thought you might be at loose ends.”
“Because you’re working tomorrow?”
He nodded once, then kissed her, a tactic he’d obviously discovered was an excellent way to keep her from asking questions.
It was a method that Annika liked just fine.
There was a knock on the door at nine on Saturday morning. Annika was already dressed and Thom was waiting for his sister to arrive before heading to work. Tessa had dark hair and dark eyes like Thom, but she was tall and slender. She had a ready smile and a confident manner, the kind of person that Annika liked right away. Thom made the introductions, his eye on the clock. Cerberus greeted the new arrival with enthusiasm.
Tessa checked the dog, examining her ears, eyes and gums, then running her hands over her body. “Nice and trim,” she said with approval.
“I told you that.”
“I like to see for myself.”
“She goes to the vet,” Thom protested.
“But she’s my girl,” Tessa argued. Cerberus licked her cheek as if to agree. “Shots?”
“Of course.” Thom pulled up a file on his phone and surrendered it to Tessa. She scrolled through it, nodded approval, then handed it back to him.
“Weren’t you going to work?”
“Subtle, Tessa,” Thom complained and Annika smiled. He shook a finger at his sister. “No inquisition while I’m gone. No pestering.”
“Me?” Tessa opened her eyes so wide that Annika almost laughed. “I notice that you’re not giving Annika any warnings.”
“She’s smart enough to know better.” He shrugged into his coat, then gave Tessa a last stern look as he left.
As soon as the door was closed, Tessa turned to Annika with a smile. “I guess I have to behave, then.”
Annika laughed.
“You have a brother?”
“Three and two sisters.”
“Big family. I just have Thom and Maddy. Is this your guy?” She indicated Percival, who was watching her avidly.
“Yes, he’s a rescue. My sister has a pet grooming business and often hears of what she calls fur babies in need.” She put Percival on his harness and took him out of the cage.
Tessa held out her hand to Percival who checked her out. She had a serenity that seemed to encourage animals to approach her. “Well, you have someone now to keep you busy.”
“That was the idea. I heard that ferrets were good company but high maintenance. It sounded perfect.”
Percival crawled onto Tessa’s lap, still cautious but definitely curious. She stroked him and he slithered around her hand. “What is he, about three?”
“Yes, just over that.”
“I love when people go for rescues,” Tessa said. “It’s always nice to give a pet a second chance, and he’s really healthy. Look at those eyes,” she said to Percival and his tail flicked. “You’re just bursting with curiosity.”
He dove into the sleeve of her sweater then and Tessa laughed, making a face at him when he popped out her collar. Percival disappeared again, then emerged into her lap.
“His favorite game,” Annika said as Tessa patted the ferret.
“Hide and seek,” Tessa agreed. “Good thing you’ve got him on the harness. It’s impressive what small spaces they can fit into.” Cerberus made a little growl of complaint then dropped her chin to Tessa’s lap. “Jealous, are you?” Tessa asked, then patted the ferret with one hand and the dog with the other. They sniffed each other as she did so.
“Do you see a lot of rescues in your practice?”
“I work with a couple of rescue agencies, providing consultations and care at a discounted price. I can offer some of my time free, and charge them cost on drugs and procedures.”
“That’s a nice thing to do.”
“It feels like giving back. I like that.” Tessa looked up. “And it’s how we got Cerberus, in a way.”
“She’s a rescue?”
“Yes and no.” Tessa frowned. “There’s an affluent neighborhood near my offices and I get some clients who don’t really understand that pets are obligations. They choose a dog because they like the look of it, or the way they look with it, not with any understanding of the dog’s needs or the breed’s inclinations. Cerberus first came to me as a puppy with some people who struck me as being that way. I tried to gently give advice but sometimes that isn’t heard.”
“I bet she was cute.”
“She was adorable. Enormous feet and jet black, always wagging.” Tessa bent down to Cerberus, almost touching noses with her. “Such a friendly girl, right from the beginning.” The dog wagged her tail hard and wiggled a little closer to Tessa. “But a funny thing happened. When she came to the office for her shots or check-up, she didn’t want to leave. That’s not so common for me. Dogs often associate the vet with pain or shots and are reluctant to come in. Not Cerberus. She didn’t want to go home. Even after she was spayed and knew that I could cut her, they had to forcibly take her home.”
“She got more attention at the vet than at home?”
Tessa nodded. “I started to think so. She was well-fed, could have used a bit more exercise, and they brought her for her check-ups, so I hoped for the best.” She frowned. “Then they showed up one day. It was a Saturday afternoon. They said the dog was in the car and there was something wrong. I went out to the car and immediately realized that she had bloat.”
“Bloat?”
“It’s also called torsion. It can happen to dogs with deep chests, like Great Danes and standard poodles. Their stomach twists, sealing it off from the esophagus and then as it begins to fill with gas from the digestion process, it swells. It can happen very quickly and unless there’s surgical intervention, the dog will die.”
“What causes it?”
“There are lots of theories. Eating too fast, playing too hard after a meal, genetic predisposition. But time is the key to treating it. Cerberus was in very bad shape. She wouldn’t get up or move, her eyes were dull and her torso was round. We managed to intubate her and release some of the air from her stomach, but she needed surgery fast.” She stopped and frowned. She glanced up at Annika. “In my experience, most owners just order me to do it, but these people wanted to know the potential cost. It’s not cheap surgery, but I knew they were affluent. It’s not guaranteed that the dog will survive either, so I didn’t want to waste time chatting. Every moment counts.” She fell silent again, stroking the dog’s head.
“They chose not to pay for the surgery,” Annika guessed.
Tessa shook her head. “They told me to put her down. She wasn’t even two years old, a beautiful dog in good health with an excellent prospect of recovery. I was more upset than they were, frankly, and after they left, I just couldn’t do it. I had to try to save her. We took her into surgery immediately and everything was textbook. It was the best and quickest torsion operation I’d ever done. There was no other damage to her internal organs. By Sunday morning, she was on her feet again.”
“Oh!” Annika said. “That’s wonderful.”
“When we do this surgery, we also secure the stomach to the abdominal muscles to make sure it can’t happen again. I’d also found a toy in Cerberus’ stomach, one that was too small for her to have. It could have caused the incident. On Monday, I called the family to tell them the good news. Before I could do so, the man informed me that he wouldn’t pay the bill for the disposal of Cerberus’ remains and that he blamed me for her having torsion in the first place. I was a bit angry at that, because no one can predict this illness, and told him about the toy. He went nuts, telling me I’d had no right to do an autopsy on his dog. I told him she wasn’t dead but that we’d saved her. He assured me that if I was calling for money, I could forget it. He told me to keep the dog instead. He then informed me they’d already arranged to get a puppy of a different breed. By this time, I was really mad so I suggested that he find a different vet, since he was sure of my incompetence. I was shaking when I hung up the phone.” Tessa took a deep breath. “But in a way, it worked out, because she didn’t have to go back there.”
“What happened to the new puppy?”
“I’m kind of glad I don’t know.” Tessa nodded. “That was Christmas three years ago and Thom had come for a visit. He was moping around, kind of at loose ends after a break-up. He’s not as solitary as he thinks he is. He needs someone to drag him out of his shell. So, I’d asked him to help out at the clinic, to keep him from being blue alone. He loved it. He was great at it.” She patted Cerberus. “And this one adored him.”
Annika smiled because she’d noticed that. “They’re good together.”
“They’re perfect together. I felt so much better when he brought her back to the city with him. She gives him a routine and purpose, and he gives her all the love and attention that she deserves.”
“That’s a nice story,” Annika said.
“You know, that would mean they’re both about the same age,” Tessa said, looking between Percival and Cerberus. She shook her head. “And then, of course, he took up with Rebound Rhea, a partnership that was never going to work out.”
“Rebound Rhea? Is she the one who had ferrets?”
Tessa nodded. “And the one who trashed his heart by going back to her former boyfriend right about the time that Thom had finally fallen for her.” She shook her head. “My baby brother has the worst luck when it comes to romance.”
“Maybe he’s just too nice.”
Tessa laughed. “Don’t let him hear you say that.” She fixed Annika with a bright look. “I don’t want to be rude, but Thom said that you were Leo’s fiancée but that he had bailed on you when you came to stay.”
“Pretty much.”
“My only point here is that you might not have plans today. I promised Thom that I’d walk Cerberus, but maybe you’d like to come along. We could do some sightseeing after that, if you want company.”
“That would be great but I don’t want to take up your day.”
Tessa waved off her objection. “You know what they say. When you live somewhere, you never do the tourist things. It’s true. I’d be glad to check them out with you.”
“That would be great.”
Annika told herself not to hope that Tessa might confide more about Thom or even Rebound Rhea, even though she was curious.
She wouldn’t ask, but she’d listen if Tessa talked.
That seemed like the perfect compromise.