Chapter 2

That chore done, he went to the front office to get the list of farm calls he would be making that day. Rose, a matronly grey- haired woman with a kind heart, was the office manager. She got up from her desk as he approached the counter.

“Good morning, Dr. Parker,” she said with a smile. “How are you doing today?”

He could tell from the expression on Rose’s face, and her motherly tone of voice, that her inquiry as to how he was feeling wasn’t a casual, polite greeting. It was more a question of how he was doing with the divorce situation. It carried the subliminal message of, What can I do to help?

The two Dr. Parkers had been popular with the staff of the practice and many were shocked when the apparently happy pair had gone their separate ways.

Dan wondered how long it would be until the sympathetic inquiries would cease.

He ignored the implied question and answered with, “Fine. And you?”

She gave him a skeptical look before replying, “Couldn’t be better.”

“What’s on the docket today?” Dan asked, hoping to move on.

“I’ve got the schedule right here. Sorry, but it’s going to be pretty heavy,” she said, turning to go to her desk.

Fuck! Dan thought. He’d hoped to be able to be done early so he could get started on his plans of self-discovery.

Before Rose could leave the counter, however, another of the equine vets came in. “Hey, Dan! How’s it going?” a tall, red haired man with a pleasant smile asked.

“Fine, Ezra,” Dan replied.

“Morning, Dr. Devlin,” Rose said.

“And to you,” Dr. Devlin replied. “Say, Dan. How’d you like to join Marty, Bill, and me tonight? We’re going over to Chesterton to see the Bullfrogs play.”

Marty and Bill were on the staff of All Creatures, too. Both worked in the small animal clinic. Marty was a vet assistant and Bill was the new veterinarian replacing Christine.

Dan had never been much into sports, and baseball was the most boring of them all, as far as he was concerned. Besides, it would be a little awkward going out with Bill, the man who’d just replaced his ex-wife on the staff.

Dan glanced at Rose. She was giving Ezra a look that showed she was on the same page as Dan regarding Ezra’s insensitivity.

“Thanks, Ezra. But I think I’ll just spend the evening with a good book.”

“A good book? Come on, man. It’s the first game of the season. You’re a free man now! No more ball and chain. Don’t let yourself go all hermit. Life does go on, you know.” Ezra then turned to Rose. “Got our schedules ready, Rosie?”

“Not quite finished yet,” Rose replied, raising an eyebrow. She went to her desk and sat at her computer.

Odd, Dan thought. Didn’t she just tell me she had the schedules done?

As Rose worked, Dan and Ezra made small talk, discussing clients and other work related topics. When Rose returned to the counter she handed the men their schedules. Dan glanced at his then over at Ezra’s. He noticed Ezra’s list of farm calls was much longer.

Ezra furrowed his brow, studying his list. “Man! I’ll be out there till dark.”

Dan quickly folded his schedule so Ezra couldn’t see and said, “Yeah, and on a Friday, too.”

Ezra said goodbye and left. Dan looked over at Rose. She had an I gotcha lookin her eye as she watched Ezra leave.

She turned to look at Dan. “You have a wonderful evening with your book. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to relax and read.”

“Thanks,” Dan said. “You’re a gem.”

As he drove away from the clinic, he chuckled softly. Anyone who didn’t think the office staff had all the power was in for a surprise. In one fell swoop Rose had given Dan a nice easy day, put Ezra in his place, and Ezra had no idea what had just happened.

* * * *

Four-thirty, Dan thought with a smile. He’d indeed had quite an easy day. He silently blessed Rose for sticking it to Ezra and getting him home early at the same time. He hadn’t been home at this time in…well he couldn’t remember when.

Couldn’ta been sweeter, he mused. He’d only had one transrectal palpation to check if a mare was pregnant: she was. There were several stops to give spring inoculations and draw blood to test for equine infectious anemia, an almost always fatal disease. The state required every horse to have this test yearly in order to travel to shows or out of state. There were no emergencies, no sick horses, and no hysterical horse owners. Dan sighed as he pulled into his drive. His path to his new life adventure was cleared.