Bittersweet. Laura Browning

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      Anna opened the diaper bag and grabbed one. “Yes, I did bring one.”

      “Excuse me a minute and I’ll warm this.”

      Anna looked after her with curiosity. In a moment, the woman was back and gave her a reassuring smile. “Why don’t you step inside the kitchen for a moment, and I’ll call you.”

      Anna did as requested, her curiosity aroused. She peeked around the corner after about five minutes and looked in to find Becca cradled in the older woman’s arms, sucking at the bottle.

      “Stand over there where she can’t see you, Dr. Barlow,” the older woman instructed.

      “What did you do?” Anna whispered.

      The older woman chuckled. “Nothing. Becca just knows the difference between the bottle and the real thing. Why should she take an artificial nipple when you’re right there? Without you present, she can focus on the milk in the bottle rather than the milk in your breasts.”

      Anna had seen enough. The woman was a godsend. She collected the paperwork needed to enroll Becca and said she would be there the next morning.

      Daycare might be a blessing. It would certainly make her life easier, but Anna couldn’t help the lump in her throat as she handed her daughter over the following morning.

      “If you have any problems, just call me. The clinic’s not far away, and I always have my pager on…”

      “We’ll get along just fine, Dr. Barlow.”

      Anna nodded, biting her lower lip a little as she returned to her truck. She took a deep breath and glanced at her watch. She would be late if she didn’t go. Out of habit, she looked back to check the carseat, but Becca wasn’t there.

      Anna headed straight for Jim Douglas’s office. The clinic’s senior veterinarian was seated behind his desk, reading glasses perched on the end of his nose as he studied the charts in front of him.

      “Got a minute?” Anna asked.

      “Sure, Anna. Come on in. What’s on your mind?”

      “It’s about this weekend.”

      “Rough one on call?”

      She prowled around Jim’s office. “Yes and no. I had to go to Fincastle Saturday night to stitch their stallion, Bart.”

      “Nothing serious, I hope. Chris loves that stud.”

      “Not too serious. Caught his hip on a gate, and it tore through the dermis. I think it will heal fine.”

      Jim relaxed in his chair and removed his reading glasses. “What was the problem?”

      Anna stopped her prowling and faced her boss. “I had a run-in with Mr. Stevenson. I’ll admit, I was rude to him. I’m afraid I might have made him angry.”

      Jim rocked forward and rested his elbows on his desk. “Would you like to sit and explain what happened?”

      After taking the seat across from him, Anna went through both visits, from Stevenson’s attitude Saturday night to the altercation on Sunday. She finished by looking at him and offering, “I’ll apologize if you want me to.”

      Jim smiled. “If he complains, we’ll deal with the issue. But I don’t think you’ll need to worry. Let it blow over, Anna. Now, what I will tell you is I won’t cut you any breaks in working with our clients. If a call comes in and you’re the one available, you’ll handle it no matter who the client might be, unless they request otherwise. Understood?”

      “Yes, sir.” She might not be happy with his answer, but his response was what she had expected to hear. And at least now, she’d brought her concerns in the open.

      Her calls that day were routine, and her schedule stayed on time despite one barn where they added in a couple of additional horses for Coggins tests. With the local show season getting underway, there were always owners who decided last minute they wanted to compete.

      As she headed back to the clinic at the end of the day, Anna realized she wasn’t nearly as exhausted as she had been. Once she’d finished up her paperwork, she grabbed her keys and headed over to pick up Becca.

      “So how did things go?” she asked as she came in.

      The daycare owner looked up and smiled. “Not a hitch. She took the bottles with no problem whatsoever, but I think she’s ready for Mama now.”

      Becca waved her arms and legs, squirming as she saw Anna.

      “Hey, baby!” Anna laughed, feeling her heart turn over at how excited her daughter was to see her. “Did you miss me?”

      She cuddled her close and pressed her lips to the baby’s cheek. Turning back to the older woman watching them, Anna said, “Thank you. You just can’t imagine how wonderful it feels to know she’s in such good hands.”

      The only cloud on her horizon was Chris. The less she encountered him, the better. Still, she had to admit to a small pang when she thought that. And the pang surprised her, but who was she kidding? They’d had one brief encounter. He obviously didn’t remember, even if she did…but she couldn’t let herself go that road. That was the old Anna. She had more than herself to think about. She had Becca. Doing what was best for her daughter meant keeping Stevenson, and his family, as far away as possible.

      So she put him out of her mind. She had a lot of calls that week, most of them routine. On Thursday, she accompanied Dr. Douglas to Pheasant Run to help with routine physical exams and health certificates for their jumper barn. Since the farm was another of the clinic’s major clients, Jim wanted her to meet the owners.

      They had almost finished pulling Coggins tests when she heard a familiar voice in conversation with a woman behind her.

      “Thanks, Wynter. You know you and Nelson are the only ones I would trust to campaign this mare for me.”

      Chris Stevenson. Anna slid farther back along the horse she was examining. As short as she was, remaining unseen wasn’t too difficult. There were some advantages to being petite.

      “I still don’t understand why you’re laying off, Chris,” the woman replied—Wynter Anderson, Anna wondered? She’d seen pictures of the tall redhead, wife of Nelson Anderson and an accomplished rider in her own right. They were about the same age, if she remembered what she’d read in The Horse Journal.

      “I need a break, Wyn. I’m burned out.” The conversation paused as they reached the horse Anna and Jim were examining.

      “I understand. Oh hi, Jim. How are you?” Wynter asked. “Thomas is still working with a client in the ring, but he mentioned you’d have your new colleague with you.”

      Anna cringed. The last thing she wanted right now was to be noticed in any way. She did not want to see Chris in particular. In fact, after another rather awkward discussion with Jim, she had arranged things so he was going to check on Chris’s stud tomorrow. Now it looked as if she had no choice. As usual when she spent much time around a barn, СКАЧАТЬ