A Moment in Time (15 page)

She grabbed her shoulder bag and went into
the bathroom and flipped on the light. Looking into the mirror, she
applied fresh pale pink lipstick, then a little blusher. She was so
tanned from being out in the sun working in her garden that she
hardly needed any makeup. Her hair, in its single long plait, was
rolled into a knot at the nape of her neck.

Take it down or leave it?
she asked
her reflection. She knew that Teddy didn't like her practical work
look, especially her hair, but she decided to leave it exactly as
it was. She had to return to work, after all, and Teddy would
simply have to learn to like it. That or quit complaining about it.
She flipped off the light and went back into her office. "Let's go,
Elvis," she said, and stooped down and put his leash on.

Daphne Collins was in the reception area,
tapping a chart against the desk. "Hi, Val," she said with a smile
on her face. "I hear that Colette was here."

"Yes," Valerie replied. "Her African pygmy
hedgehog."

"Oh, really!" Daphne replied. "I wish I'd
seen her and the hedgehog. She's so wonderful. I bet it was as
adorable as she is. What will she think of next?"

"There's no telling," Valerie replied. "By
the way, have you got a minute?" she asked. "I need to have a quick
word with you and Charles."

"I'm getting ready to go to lunch," Daphne
replied, "but I can give you a minute, if Charles isn't busy." She
turned to Annie. "Does Charles have a patient?" she asked.

"No," Annie replied. "He's in his
office."

"Let's go," Daphne said, already heading down
the hallway to Charles's office.

Valerie followed her with Elvis, and when
they reached the door to his office, Daphne knocked and went on in
without waiting for a response.

Charles looked up from the desk. In his gray
eyes there was an expectant expression.

"Val needs a word with both of us," Daphne
said.

"What is it?" Charles asked.

"The people at Stonelair want me to take care
of their animals," Valerie replied.

"You mean you exclusively?" Daphne asked.

Valerie nodded.

The news did not sit well with Daphne. She
turned to try to hide the disgruntled expression on her face, but
Valerie didn't miss it.

Charles took off his glasses and looked at
Valerie. "You know we don't generally operate that way," he said.
"Except under special circumstances."

"Of course," Valerie said, "but they're
pressuring me to ask about it, so—"

"This has happened time and again," Daphne
said abruptly, her voice tinged with anger. "I don't know why you
don't recommend one of us so that the workload is more spread
out."

"I made it clear that we have a
share-and-share-alike policy," Valerie said, "but they don't like
that. They want to see one vet consistently, and since they've met
me . . . well, they want me to handle it. There are a lot of
animals out there, and it would generate a lot of income for the
clinic."

Daphne stared at her, her brows knit crossly,
but Charles barked a laugh. "You must've made quite an impression
on the Mafia guys out there," he said. "What did you do for them,
Val?"

She decided to ignore his remark, but could
feel her face blushing heatedly.
Well, I am not going to stand
here and be insulted,
she thought.

"Yes or no?" she finally said, her voice
steely with determination.

"What do you think, Daphne?" Charles
asked.

"I don't like it," Daphne replied. "She
knows—"

"If I don't agree to do it," Valerie
interjected, "Stonelair will take its business elsewhere. They
won't use this clinic at all."

Daphne's mouth opened in a silent gasp, then
snapped shut. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at
Charles. "Well, it would generate a lot of income," she said. "Like
Val said, there're a lot of animals out there. Think about it,
Charles."

As if taking a cue from her, Charles looked
thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose so," he finally said. Then he
smiled. "It's not a bad idea at all, come to think of it. Valerie
here would be taking care of their animals, and we wouldn't have to
deal with the slimy people." Charles nodded. "I think you're right,
Daphne," he said. "But there'd have to be a couple of
conditions."

"What?" Valerie asked, keeping strictly to
business.

"We'd have to triage emergency situations,"
he said. "You wouldn't be able to drop everyone else for those
people, you understand. You'd still have your usual duties."

"Of course," Val said.

"So if more than one emergency arises at a
time," he went on, "you'll have to make a decision about which is
more urgent and see to it first. And it may not be theirs."

"Yes," Valerie said, becoming impatient since
he was stating the obvious.

"And don't forget," Daphne added, "if you're
away for some reason, on vacation or whatever, then they'll have to
agree to use one of us. Isn't that right, Charles?"

He nodded. "Absolutely."

"I understand," Valerie said. "Is that all?"
she asked.

Charles looked at Daphne, and a silent signal
seemed to pass between them.

"I believe so," Charles said.

"Thanks," Valerie said. "Let's go, Elvis."
She turned on her heel and left the office quickly, then heard the
door slam with a loud bang when she got farther down the hall.

Jeez
, she thought
, the sooner I get
my own practice the better. I can't take this crap much longer.
They are jealous, plain and simple, and want to put me through
hell.

In the reception area, Tami called to
her.

"What is it, Tami?" she asked.

"If we're not too busy here this afternoon,"
Tami said, "I wondered if I could go with you out to Stonelair and
help."

"I don't mind at all," Valerie said with a
smile, "if Daphne and Charles agree to it."

"It would be sort of special to me," Tami
said.

"Why's that, Tami?" Valerie asked.

"Well, you know, when I was little we lived
out in the woods near there," Tami said, "so my brother and I used
to play there a lot."

"At Stonelair?" Valerie asked, surprised.

Tami nodded. "There wasn't anybody but a
caretaker, and Jimmy and I knew how to get in and out of the place
through the fences in the backwoods. We even got in and out of the
house without anybody ever knowing it."

Valerie laughed. "Then you're the only person
I know who's ever been there," she said. "Talk to Daphne and
Charles and see what they say. I'll be glad for you to come along,
even though it wouldn't be much of a learning experience for you.
It's just vaccinations and stuff like that."

"That's okay," Tami said. "I'd just like to
see the place again."

"Well, if you can't come this time," Valerie
said, "there'll be others, because I'm going to be taking care of
all the animals out there."

"Great!" Tami said.

"I'd better run," Valerie said. "I've got a
lunch appointment."

"Teddy?" Tami asked, smiling.

"Yes," Valerie replied, already heading to
the door.

"Have fun," Tami called after her.

"I'll try," Valerie said.

She hurried out to her car, and began to
wonder what she'd gotten herself into with this Stonelair deal.
Stonelair
, she thought.
A truly forbidding place
. And
why did this Conrad guy insist on her? She didn't think she'd ever
actually felt so pressured into handling a person's animals before.
And certainly not for a person she'd yet to meet or see.
I guess
the mysterious Mr. Conrad thinks he's too important to take care of
mundane affairs himself.

Suddenly she began to wonder about all the
rumors that swirled around Conrad and the goings-on at Stonelair
and if there was any truth to them
. But so what if they are
true?
she thought.
I'm only the vet. How could they hurt
me?

Chapter Nine

At Apple Hill Farm, Valerie and Teddy sat
under the protection of a large market umbrella out by the
sun-drenched pool. Hattie had set the big weathered teak table for
lunch, which she was serving. No fool, Elvis was stationed between
Valerie and Teddy, ideally positioned to beg. At his most charming,
his eyes shone with gleeful greed, and his tongue was stuck out,
making his mouth look as if it were spread in a giant smile. His
blue-black tail swept the stone terrace at regular intervals,
anticipation in every swipe.

"Thanks, Hattie," Valerie said, "this looks
delicious."

"You're welcome," Hattie replied. "Do you
want me to take Elvis inside with me?" she asked tentatively. "I
can give him a little something in the kitchen."

"Well. . . ," Valerie stalled, reluctant to
say yes, for she knew that Hattie would let him have anything he
wanted—and a lot of it. "I think he'll be all right out here,
Hattie."

"Oh, come on, Val," Teddy prodded. "Let him
live a little. It's not often he gets to eat really good food."

Valerie laughed. "Is that a reflection on my
culinary abilities, Mr. de Mornay?"

Teddy smiled. "I know how you feed him at
home," he said. "Yourself, too. Shall we just call it exceedingly
healthy?"

"Oh, okay," Valerie conceded with a growl.
"Elvis," she said, looking down at her attentive treasure, "you go
with Hattie. Have a party."

"Let's go, Elvis," Hattie said, beckoning to
him as she started toward the house.

He immediately sprang to her side, knowing
what was in store for him.

Valerie watched them leave, convinced that
Hattie and Teddy prearranged these little trysts to get Elvis out
of the way. It worried her, because Teddy didn't seem to really
like having Elvis around. Oh, he did a good job of pretending, she
supposed, extending his generosity to Elvis as he did almost anyone
around, but she sometimes wondered if Teddy actually liked
animals—any animals—at all. He didn't have any pets, and poor
Kaiser, his horse, went largely ignored.

Teddy picked up the chilled bottle of Pouilly
Fuisse that was sweating in its silver wine coaster and was about
to pour some into Valerie's wineglass, but she quickly put her hand
over it. "Unh-unh. Not for me, Teddy," she said. "I've got a long
day ahead of me yet."

"Christ, Val," he groused. "Just a
glass?"

"No," she said firmly. "I'll stick with the
mineral water."

"What? You afraid you'll butcher a poodle or
something?" he joked.

"Not funny, Teddy," she replied. "What if
your doctor had a couple of drinks before . . . say ..."

"Okay!" He laughed. "Let's don't go
there."

"Thought you might see it my way," she
said.

"Well, cheers, anyway," he said amiably,
lifting his glass.

"Cheers," she echoed, lifting her glass of
water and clinking it against his wineglass. "This looks yummy,"
she said, gazing down at her plate.

"Hattie loves to cook for you," Teddy said,
forking up a large bite of lobster salad.

Valerie buttered a cheddar-scallion biscuit,
one of Hattie's specialties. "I'd forgotten about these scrumptious
little goodies," she said before taking a bite.

Teddy smiled, taking pleasure in her delight.
"I'll have to live on rabbit food when I get back to the city," he
said. "Between the food here and the food out in the Hamptons the
last few weekends, it's going to be time for lettuce, lettuce, and
more lettuce."

"Maybe so," Valerie said, "but you're really
lucky to have Hattie. She's not only a treasure around the house,
but she clearly adores you like a favorite son."

"She could be your treasure, too," Teddy
said.

Valerie's fork paused midway to her mouth,
but then she continued eating, deciding not to respond to that
remark.

Teddy continued to watch her as he took a sip
of wine. "Just think, Val," he continued. "Hattie would do all the
cooking and cleaning. Lydia would run the office, pay all the
bills, hire all the workmen and everything. You wouldn't have to do
a thing because it would all be done for you. You'd just have to
show up." He took another sip of wine. "You'd be the queen of Apple
Hill."

Valerie felt her stomach lurch.
The queen
of Apple Hill?
she thought.
That is so ridiculous. I'm a
veterinarian, for God's sake.

"The queen of Apple Hill, huh?" she said with
amusement. "I don't think I'd look too good in a crown."

With that, Teddy launched into the joys that
her future life at Apple Hill would entail, reiterating what he'd
just said, but embellishing with great detail the host of benefits
she would enjoy being the mistress of such a perfect estate.

She tuned him out almost entirely, picking at
her food. She knew exactly where this conversation—or monologue,
she corrected—was headed, and she didn't like it. She didn't need
this pressure from Teddy. Not now.

She expelled a silent sigh, pretending to
listen to him, while at the same time she began to feel an
unpleasant sensation of guilt.
I swear
, she thought,
he
learned his techniques at my mother's knee.

She realized that, in effect, she'd been
leading Teddy on for a long time now, unwilling to discuss her
feelings with him, letting their relationship just coast along as
if there were nothing wrong.

When they'd first started dating in college,
she was so thrilled with his pursuit of her that she'd genuinely
confused her feelings for him with true love. As they gradually
became an item, their relationship was prodded along by their
families and friends, who viewed them as an appropriate match.
Later on, while he'd worked on his MBA and she'd gone to veterinary
school, their relationship had continued long-distance.

There'd been the occasional boozy weekend and
holiday parties that had been exciting and fun for her, opening up
a whole new world of sophisticated acquaintances. Teddy was
extremely popular and good-looking, and her acceptance by his
friends had helped give her more confidence in herself. She had
also blossomed physically, that gangly, gawky body maturing into an
enviable tall and elegant beauty. She had gradually begun to see
that there were myriad possibilities for her out there.
Possibilities other than Teddy de Mornay.