Page 30 of Hogging the Hunk
Ellie’s posture eased, and her back touched the chair. She said nothing more, which I counted as a minor victory. For whatever reason, it was important to me that Ellie liked me.
“You’re luckier than I was. It doesn’t look like you need to be pieced back together with sutures,” I said as I opened an individual packet of antibiotic ointment. “It will be tender for a few days, so try to take it easy.”
“Okay.”
The meekness in her answer made my heart melt. Try as she might, Ellie couldn’t quite mask her fear with the tough indifference with which she presented herself. I tried to keep from wandering down the path where I considered her past—why she hadn’t lived with Milo until this year, where her mother was, if Milo had ever been married—but the hiking enthusiast in me couldn’t resist a chance for exploration, even if it was all mental. Who was this sweet girl and what past had brought her to Button Blossom with Milo?
“How come your dad didn’t take care of this?” I asked.
The question came out before I could truly consider the implications of asking. Superficially, my query was harmless enough. It was what might be implied by a child’s imagination that concerned me. What if Ellie sniffed out my motives for asking about her father?
How could she, when you’re not even entirely certain how you feel about Milo yourself?
My throbbing tension headache resurfaced. Did everything have to be so complicated? What did Granny always say? Oh, right. Only the guilty have such a heavy conscience.
Ellie laughed. “Can you believe that my dad doesn’t like the sight of human blood? He has no problem taking care of animals. People? He has to sit down. I mean, I helped him when he was all torn up by those barn cats. Changed his bandages twice without being a big baby about it.”
Or, Ellie would answer honestly because she wasn’t privy to the mess in my head.
I laughed with Ellie, imagining Milo turning green and fainting because Ellie had a fairly superficial laceration. “That’s funny. Who would have thought a guy like him ever had any weaknesses? I’ve been wondering about that cat attack. His back looked like he’d had a whipping.”
That made Ellie’s eyes flash to me. Which part of my answer piqued her interest, I couldn’t say, though a change in subject was in order for safety’s sake. Scrolling through possible conversational topics, I remembered one I’d been curious about.
“Did you ever find a goat for a pet?” I asked.
“No. Not yet, anyway. Dad says most people won’t have goats until this spring.” Ellie swung her legs. “Who’s ever heard of a veterinarian who doesn’t have his own animals at home?”
“I suppose he’s been too busy to have any. Dr. Fox always seems to be working.”
So much for not talking about Milo.
“He’s been doing better about not working so many hours since I came here.”
Scooting my chair back, I dug through the cabinet drawers, trying to find the right bandages. Ellie was too old for cartoon characters covering her boo boos, and I needed something that would stick well enough that it wouldn’t fall off the second she used her hand. “It’s important to have a work and personal life balance.”
“That’s what I told him.”
I aimed a smile and a sideways glance at her. “Then you’re very smart.”
“I also told him that.”
Grinning, I took out a handful of bandages and nudged the drawer shut with my elbow. “You’ve never said what kind of animal you’d like best for a pet. You can tell a lot about a person by the animals they keep for company. Are you a snake lover? Would you want to pick out a puppy with the sweetest, chocolatey brown eyes? Or what about a squirrel? I know a lady who’s raised several squirrels.”
Remi was one of my favorite people in Button Blossom, in part, because her heart was as big as an ocean, and also because I loved watching the dynamic between her and her usually stoic husband, Wil. No one had ever witnessed him so riled up as when Remi teased him.
“Did she keep them?” Ellie asked, apparently seriously considering whether or not a squirrel might make an ideal pet.
“Unfortunately, no. They were all wild born, and she released them once they matured. She still goes and feeds them at Fox Central Park to check on them. Rodents aren’t usually my thing, having met a few too many rats in my family’s barn. However, I will concede that squirrels are awfully cute.”
Ellie screwed up her face, contemplating the question I’d posed. There was so much of Milo in her, yet she was distinctly unique. No doubt several of her striking features that I couldn’t attribute to Milo were from her mother. I chewed my lip and held my breath ransom to force my mind to obey. I wouldn’t barge into Ellie’s past merely because I was curious. Whatever happened between Ellie’s mother and Milo, and how Ellie came to be here in Button Blossom was none of my beeswax.
“I don’t think I have one kind of animal I could choose. I love them all,” Ellie confessed.
“So you’re like your dad?”
There was no hope. Milo couldn’t be excluded from our conversation, despite my best efforts.
Ellie giggled. I liked seeing that side of her. Carefree and childlike. When she let her guard down, her maturity level matched the young woman sitting across from me. She wasn’t trying to fool anyone into thinking she was older than she actually was.