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  “Oh, you didn’t hear? One of her grandparents was ill and she stayed to take care of them. She’ll be back soon.”

  “Oh, okay. Someone should have told me as I’ve been rescheduling her appointments,” she lightly admonished him. She was actually a little angry since she should have been informed.

  “I thought Chuck had told you. Sorry,” he dismissed as he went back to work.

  When Fiona did return she looked distracted and a bit out of sorts. She confided that her grandfather was acting a little strange and her grandmother had a touch of pneumonia. “Being so far from town they didn’t want to drive in and get checkups. They waited until we were all there and noticed. I took them in as soon as I could. We caught the pneumonia before it could get worse.” She shook her head at the foibles of her grandparents.

  “I wondered,” Allyssa smiled her welcome, strangely relieved to see the brunette doctor. She had worried about her until she spoke to Bruce.

  Despite the warnings sent out, there were many emergencies between Christmas and New Year’s. Sadly, some of these could have been prevented if people would just know that poinsettias, a popular Christmas flower, were poisonous to pets. Even tinsel from the Christmas trees was bad for their pets, especially the stuff that was reused year after year and was quite old. It kept the staff at the clinic quite busy even after the holidays had passed.

  It was a good week or so after New Year’s when Allyssa got a call for Fiona. Putting it through, she got a weird feeling about it as the man had formally asked for the doctor. When she asked what it was regarding, she was told it was a personal family matter and would she please get the doctor. She knew Fiona was doing paperwork in the back and buzzed through to her. As soon as Fiona picked up, Allyssa resumed her other work. She looked up a while later to see Fiona dashing about and looking frazzled. They had no patients and Allyssa got up from her desk.

  “Are you all right?” she asked her friend, concerned.

  Fiona stared at her blankly for a moment, blinking as though to try to understand what she had asked. “What?” she finally asked, not understanding what Allyssa had asked.

  “Fey, are you all right?” she asked again, coming forward to stand nearer to the doctor.

  “Um, no,” she shook her head. “No, I’m not. That was my father on the phone. There’s been a fire. My grandparents are both gone,” she sobbed the last of that.

  Allyssa found herself putting her arms around her friend to offer her some sort of comfort. “Shhh, shhh,” she tried to shush the sobs that turned into a torrent of cries from the older woman. She maneuvered her to a chair, using her foot to pull another over and sit herself so she wouldn’t have to let go of the crying woman. It took a long time for the doctor to get a hold of herself.

  “What happened?” Allyssa finally asked her when she began to calm down.

  Shaking her head, she blew her nose into the tissue the blonde had offered her. “Apparently there was a fire out at the ranch. Both my grandparents were asleep and died in the fire. My father told me the test results from when I took them in had come back too,” she waited for Allyssa to nod, remembering their previous conversation about when her grandmother had the beginning stages of pneumonia. “He had dementia and grandma was covering for him for a long time. My father suspects the fire may not have been an accident.” She started to cry again and Allyssa held her tightly, imagining how she would have felt. She had never known either of her sets of grandparents.

  Slowly the doctor got a hold of herself again and Allyssa released her. Wiping her face with a wet cloth that Allyssa fetched for her, she felt better for having let it out. She had that drive to the airport and she had to get going, but first she had to stop at home and pack. She had to…she looked up at Allyssa. “I have to call Chuck and let him know I’m going. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

  “Deep breaths,” Allyssa advised, not sure how she could help, but realizing on some level that her presence was helping the other woman. “You can’t break down now. That drive will kill you,” she said without thinking and raised her hand to her mouth in horror when she realized.

  Laughing weakly, Fiona agreed. Taking in deep breaths, they could both hear the shudders in her. “You’re right,” she said, getting a grasp on the situation and blocking out her feelings for now. “The snow will be all through the passes and I’ll have to drive carefully once I get in from the airport.” She rose and cleaned herself up, blowing her nose again. “I’ll call Chuck now and take care of that,” she said sadly.

  Allyssa watched her go into the doctor’s office. Bruce came in and she looked up in surprise.

  “What’s up with you?” he asked, surprised to see the state she was in.

  Allyssa rose and walked away from the office so they wouldn’t be overheard. “Dr. Herriot’s grandparents were killed in a tragic fire on the ranch. She just found out and is calling Dr. Robinson now to tell him she is leaving.”

  “Oh, my God. That’s terrible!” he answered looking towards the closed office door. “Is there anything we can do?”

  Allyssa shook her head and hearing the phone ringing in the receptionist area she headed for it. She had a chance to hug Fiona and say goodbye before she left.

  It was a long two weeks before they would see Dr. Herriot again.

  * * * * *

  By the time Fiona returned, Allyssa had her own problems. Her report card had come in, and while she had high marks, her parents were furious about the animal husbandry and the science courses.

  “You don’t need such courses. What a waste of an entire semester!” her mother raged, ignoring the grades and the other courses that she did like. “This is not going to help you towards a business degree.”

  “I don’t want a business degree,” she tried again, but as usual they weren’t listening.

  “How do you expect to graduate in two years if you don’t have the right courses?”

  “I never took such courses,” Carmen chipped in.

  “You weren’t ever interested in such courses,” Allyssa pointed out.

  “You are going to ruin your chances to get an internship this summer,” Derek mentioned casually.

  “Since when are my classes any concern of yours?” she wanted to shout at her brother-in-law and sister. Instead she took their abuse, noting that while her father was present physically, he hadn’t contributed and didn’t seem to be interested in the latest family drama.

  “It’s that clinic you work at, isn’t it?” her mother rounded on her.

  “What?” Allyssa asked, astonished. “Didn’t you see the grades I got at least?”

  “That’s it, isn’t it? That place is turning you away from your career goals. You are just going to have to quit. It won’t look good that you worked there anyway, but we can put it down to something on your resume. Maybe human interest,” she speculated.

  “I am not quitting my job, Mother. I need that job to help make my car payments,” she pointed out.

  “Pish, posh, that car. You don’t need such a nice car. Maybe we should trade it on something more practical. What do you think, Bob?” she turned to Allyssa’s father for his input.

  “What? Huh?” he asked, suddenly aware he was being included.

  “That car of hers. Apparently, she won’t quit that job at that clinic because she needs the money to pay for it. I think we should trade it in on something more practical, something she could afford. What do you think?”

  “Is something wrong with the car, Allyssa?” he asked, suddenly sounding concerned and angry. “Did you hit another dog or something?”

  “No, Daddy. I didn’t hit anything. The car is fine. Perfect actually...” she began to defend it.

  “Nonsense. She says she needs that job at the clinic to pay for it. I don’t like the people she is hanging around with there. They are influencing her to take courses such as this,” she held the offending transcript in front of Bob who took it and looked at it blankly.

  “Wel
l, these are fine grades, Sweet Pea,” he said as he looked up at Allyssa.

  It was the first kind words she had gotten and she was proud of those grades. She had worked hard for them.

  “But, Bob!” Helen protested. “Look at what they are for! We did not agree on those courses,” she pointed out angrily.

  “What’s that?” he asked, confused, as he read them again. “What is this Animal Sciences? Husbandry? You’re taking courses in what?” he looked up again and all the warm feelings regarding the good grades passed as Helen’s words sunk in.

  “I took those courses because I was interested in them, Daddy,” she pleaded for him to understand. “I did well in them,” she pointed out.

  “Yes, I see that. As you should in all your courses. I thought we agreed to drop these last year. I thought they were on your course schedule by mistake?” He squinted at her as though trying to remember the conversation they had late last summer regarding her schedule.

  “No, Daddy. You agreed I should drop them, I didn’t,” she answered and saw his eyebrows shoot up.

  “You watch your tone, young lady,” her mother stepped back into the conversation. “We are paying for that university education and we have the right to choose what courses you take. These aren’t going to help you with a degree in business.”

  Allyssa gave up. She knew they were going to be furious and they were, but mostly her mother. Her father was just so … distant. Her sister and even her brother-in-law were jumping on the bandwagon, haranguing her about what courses she had taken. The entire time she was home Allyssa felt oppressed and couldn’t wait to get back to the clinic.

  “That nice young Bradley Pierce called again. He said you won’t take his calls at the clinic,” her mother put in before she could leave with her clean clothes.

  Allyssa closed her eyes for a moment to draw some inner strength. She had hoped to get through this awful time without mention of that moron. He had called her at the clinic, repeatedly. She had turned him down, repeatedly. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Mother, you can tell him I’m not interested. I can’t take his calls at the clinic because I’m working.”

  “I still think you should quit that job. Your father has agreed to pay you an allowance equal to what you have been making. In fact, I think he should be making those car payments you are so worried about.”

  “Thank you, Mother. That’s a kind offer, but I enjoy my job,” she said as she put the last of her things in the back of the Jeep.

  “They are bad influences on you. Remember, we want to see your course schedule before you pay anything on it,” she reminded her of the agreement they had forced on her. Allyssa had only agreed to get them to stop harassing her about it.

  “Yes, Mother. Goodbye, Mother,” she said, making no effort to hug and kiss her, even if for form’s sake. She waved from the Jeep as she backed out of the drive, hoping that they wouldn’t bother her at work. She’d have to go in and change her course schedule on Monday when they were open again. She hoped every one of the business courses that her parents wanted her to take this semester was full.

  Chapter Ten

  “I’m going to have to quit,” Fiona told her when she saw her again.

  “Oh no! Why?” Allyssa asked, immediately devastated over the thought of losing her best friend.

  “How about I take you to dinner tonight and explain,” she offered miserably. She wasn’t happy about it either, but there were good things too.

  Allyssa closed the clinic for the night and forwarded the calls to Fiona’s phone for the duration of their meal. They’d had these meals once a month since last fall and she enjoyed them. This was the most adult friendship she had ever had.

  “My car or yours?” she asked as Fiona came to get her.

  “Let’s take yours. Mine needs some maintenance. In fact, I’m going to trade it in while I’m still here.”

  “Jeez, Fey. What’s going on?” she asked as they walked out into the freezing temperatures of mid-January, and using her remote starter that had warmed up the vehicle, they got in the Jeep Cherokee.

  “Well, as you know my grandparents died in a fire…” She sounded devastated to be making that statement and Allyssa unconsciously reached out her gloved hand to press on her friend’s arm consolingly. “Apparently, my grandfather’s absentmindedness was dementia and Grandma hid it for a long time from my father. With us all there over the holidays and her going in with pneumonia, it was harder to hide, and my father found out. He’d been pressuring them to sell the ranch and move closer to town as it’s pretty remote where the ranch is. Well, that added pressure caused my grandfather to get upset. He must have lit a fire and left it unattended or forgot. They died from it, or so the fire department believes. They can’t be sure and the insurance company is waiting to pay until it’s fully investigated.”

  “Wow, Fey. I am sorry,” she said as she reached down and squeezed her friend’s hand through their gloves.

  Fiona turned her hand over so they were holding hands and squeezed back. It didn’t last and she reluctantly let the younger woman’s hand go.

  They drove to the diner where they’d had many of the monthly meals and were recognized by the waitress as they walked in.

  “The usual?” she asked upon seeing them and they both nodded.

  “What are you going to do?” Allyssa asked as they sat in their familiar booth.

  “I’m going up to run the ranch. My grandparents left it to me outright and even put it in a trust so it can’t be sold by anyone but me, which also means no inheritance taxes. The trust can’t be touched by my father or his wife.”

  “Wow, I bet that pissed her off,” Allyssa mentioned, remembering the tales that Fiona had shared with her about that woman.

  Fiona laughed and nodded. “You should have seen her face when the will was read after the funerals. The lawyer had to repeat it too. She thought they would inherit and she would be able to distribute it between her sons and my brother and sister.”

  “What about you? You grew up there with your grandparents!” Allyssa was outraged for her friend.

  “You don’t see. This woman thinks only of her own. While my brother and sister could have inherited through my father, her sons had no right to any of that. She was threatening to contest the will, but my grandparents put it in place about ten years ago and since they were of sound mind then, it is intact.”

  “Wow, that’s foresight,” Allyssa commented as the waitress brought her water and root beer soda and Fiona’s water and glass of milk.

  “That’s the way my grandparents thought. They knew my father had no interest in the ranch. None of his other children did either, but I loved that old place,” she was tearing up as she remembered and Allyssa reached out again to squeeze her hand, this time without gloves.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to go up there and start my large animal practice. I have a lot of money saved from having worked down here in the big city. Chuck agreed to sell me one of the older trucks that is still in great condition. I’m going to stock that sucker up and put a camper on it.”

  “Why a camper?” she asked as she took a sip of her soda.

  “Because of the distances between ranches, there will be times I’ll have to sleep in my truck. It will be best if I’m safe in the camper. I can keep a nice bunk in that and some food and clothes.”

  “That’s a good thought,” she complimented her friend, already missing her as she told of her plans. She looked on sadly.

  “Yep, I’m my grandparents’ granddaughter,” she complimented herself with a smile.

  They were quiet, both lost in thought as they waited for their orders, which came up promptly. Sally, the waitress delivered them with a smile. “There you two go. Enjoy!”

  As they dug in to their respective meals, they were both still lost in their own thoughts. Neither was really hungry and only ate because they needed to fill their stomachs.

  “I’m going to miss
you,” Allyssa finally said as she finished half of her first sandwich. It was getting hard to gulp down the hard, toasted bread and crisp bacon.

  “I’ll miss you too. I’ve missed this…friendship,” she confided.

  Allyssa nodded, agreeing with her.

  “Allyssa,” Fiona began, waiting for the younger woman to look up. “I’ve got a proposition, if you care to hear it.”

  Allyssa, interested, looked on and waited. When the older woman began to fidget, she wondered what it was all about. She wasn’t used to her friend looking so agitated. “What is it?” she finally asked as the time stretched interminably.

  “I need a partner in this,” she said in a rush and glanced down at her meal before looking back up at her friend. “You are so good at the office skills that I know nothing about. Sure,” she shrugged, “I could muddle along and do the billing and stuff, but I need someone. I want you to come along and be my partner in this.”

  “Your partner?” she asked, confused at what Fiona was getting at. She frowned as she waited for her to explain.

  “I need someone to do exactly what you have been doing at the clinic. I’ve seen that Robinson’s Clinic is a presence on the internet now. I know nothing about computers. You have skills, lady,” she teased, trying to lighten the mood. “I want you to be my partner in this. In exchange, I can give you that hobby farm you said you wanted.”

  “My hobby farm?” she repeated, still a little confused.

  “Yes,” she said, enthused. “The ranch isn’t stocked now. I didn’t know it, but they had been selling off their stock for years and putting the money in the trust. My sister and brother and father got some of that, but the rest is for the ranch. We can get deals too as I expand my business. It won’t be right away, but in time...” she left off as her enthusiasm waned. Allyssa wasn’t acting as excited as she was in the plan. Maybe she wasn’t interested. “Or, I guess I could hire you,” she finished desolately, crushed that Allyssa hadn’t gotten fired up at the offer of the hobby farm.

  “Fey, I don’t have the money to come in as a partner,” she confessed. Her heart was thumping, just like Rex’s tail did when he was excited. “I’d love to do that, what you said, but I can’t see my way clear and I can’t afford it.” She sounded unhappy; she was losing the best friend she had ever had.