Page 25 of Unlikely to Stay
Brant groaned.They must’ve used his picture from the newspaper when he had first been hired to work in Parker.They had done an article on Dr.Harvey retiring and who was taking his place.They could’ve at leastaskedhim before they plastered his face on posters all over town.It was going to make Annie winning him a lot more difficult.
“I guess they made my decision for me then,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.“I’m up for auction.”
June’s eyes lit up with excitement.“Just you wait, Doc.I’ve been saving my money for a time like this.”
“You have a stash of money you’ve been saving for an eligible bachelor auction you didn’t know was going to be held?”
June laughed, a deep, loud belly laugh that made Brant want to cover his ears.
“You’re such a jokester, Doc.How would I know that?Nuh-huh.I was saving my money to go on one of those singles cruises.You know…where you meet other people who aren’t hitched to anyone else?The one I was going on was calledSingle and Ready to Mingle—for Farmers!Can you imagine that?Perfect for me!”
Brant just nodded.
“The only downfall was they wouldn’t let me take Romeo and I didn’t have no one to watch him.He gets kinda cranky if his momma isn’t the one to tuck him in at night.”
Brant didn’t even want to know what constituted tucking a donkey in at night.
“But I was going to do it, anyway.I need me a man to keep me warm at night.”
Brant didn’t know how he managed not to shudder, but he did.
“Butthenthem two girls started telling everyone about their auction and who all bachelors were going to be in it.I always felt like you and me had a connection, you know?I don’t suppose you’d fix up just any ol’ gal’s donkey, now would you?”
“Like I said before, just doing my duty,” he whispered.But his whisper fell on deaf ears.June continued in her ramblings.
“No, Doc.I feel it, too.The invisible string binding us together.And now, once I win you at that auction, we can finally tell everyone how we’ve been feeling all along.”
The only feeling Brant had at the moment was the feeling of running out the damn door and never returning.
“I’ll let you go for now,” she said with a wink.“But remember.This weekend, you’reallmine.”
As soon as the door slammed behind June, Brant collapsed on the examination table and put his head between his legs.Taking deep breaths, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent Griffin a text.
Brant: Your plan better work.June Adams just told me she was going to spend all her money she’d been saving for a single farmer’s cruise to win me at the auction.
Brant was granted with a million laughing until crying emoticons.
Griff: No shit?
Brant: No.Shit.
Griff: Maybe I should just let her win you then.It’d be a lot more entertaining.
Brant: I know ways to make you die and no one would suspect foul play.
Griff: Damn, Brant.You’re scary when you’re serious.
Brant: Don’t let June Adams win.She even baked me a mush pie and wore makeup…and daisy dukes.My eyes might never recover.
Griff sent him a bicep flexing emoticon.
Griff: Don’t worry.We won’t let you down.
Brant put his phone down next to him and slid down the table until his head was resting on the pillow at the top.He needed to tell Patty to find some crime scene tape to put in front of examination room one.Everything bad happened in that room.It was obviously cursed.