9. Mabel

Mabel

I woke up Friday morning feeling excited about Esmerelda’s follow up appointment. Given that I’d never had any particular emotions about a vet visit before, I knew it was about my growing feelings for the hot veterinarian I kept running into all over town.

Somehow he’d been everywhere I’d been this week. Buying food. Visiting the hardware store. Picking out greeting cards at the Walgreens. I’d even seen him at the gym.

Well, I hadn’t actually been at the gym, but I was coming out of the smoothie place next door when he was walking out of the gym, wearing gym shorts and an old tee shirt with the sleeves cut off, his defined biceps glistening with sweat. I’d damn near choked on my mango smoothie.

For a guy his age, he really kept in good shape.

I changed my clothes three times before I realized what I was doing. Esmerelda sat on the floor of my bedroom, watching me carefully. For some reason I had the feeling that she was judging me.

“I’m being ridiculous, aren’t I?” I said to my dog.

Yes, I was one of those people who carried on entire conversations with my dog even though she couldn’t answer. And I wondered why people thought I was weird.

“It doesn’t matter what I wear. I’m just a dog mom to him, he’s not interested in me, right?”

Esmerelda barked once, giving me an earnest look. I had no idea what that meant.

“I wish you would speak English,” I said.

She cocked her head.

“All right, let’s go get your check-up.”

She barked again.

Thirty minutes later Dr. Martin – Joshua – walked into the treatment room, giving me a big smile. His dark blonde hair looked a little messy, like maybe he’d been dragging his fingers through his hair. Today he was wearing green scrubs that strained against his biceps, a stethoscope wrapped around the back of his neck.

“How are you recovering, Esmerelda?” He spoke to my dog, but his eyes were on me.

His gaze made my stomach flutter.

“She seems totally fine now,” I said, even though I’d seen him so many times around town he basically already knew this. “No limping. Her wound is healing. She’s back to normal.”

“Well that’s good, let’s get you up on the table so I can take a look.”

Joshua bent to take Esmerelda from my arms just as I got up from my chair. We both froze, our faces only inches away from each other. Everything seemed to stop around us. I stared into his brown eyes, noting that there were some flecks of green in the iris. I had the strangest urge to tilt my head forward and kiss him. But then Esmerelda shifted in my arms and the moment was gone.

Josh stepped back and allowed me to set my dog up on the exam table.

“It looks like Esmerelda has made a full recovery,” he said after he’d checked everything out.

He handed Esmerelda a soft treat from the jar on the counter. “You just need to stay away from squirrels and Dobermans, okay girl?”

There was a strange kind of awkwardness in the air as we finished the appointment. Even though Joshua gave Esmerelda a clean bill of health, he recommended that I bring her back soon for a full physical.

“Just let my receptionist Elaine know that I want you to schedule with me,” he said, his voice a little gravelly.

I must have looked confused because he said, “Other than some long-time patients, I normally only take emergency cases. But I’ll make an exception for Esmerelda.”

I didn’t know what to make of that, so I just said, “Oh. Okay. Thanks.”

He looked at me for another long moment before adding, “I’ll see you later.”

For some reason I felt bereft when he left the treatment room, which was ridiculous. I had the strangest sense that he’d been about to say something else and then changed his mind.

I replayed the exchange over and over for the rest of the day, even when I was trying to do some work for my freelance clients. The distraction irritated me. I wasn’t the kind of woman who daydreamed about guys like this.

Several hours later I was in the lobby at Starlight Pi, a funky math-themed restaurant that had the best pizza in town, when I heard a deep voice behind me.

“Getting some dinner?”

I turned my head slowly, somehow unsurprised to find Dr. Joshua Martin standing behind me. For some reason it seemed inevitable that we’d run into each other again, and not just because Starlight Bay was a small town.

“Yes, Friday night is pizza night. It’s a tradition I started after my divorce.”

“Your husband wasn’t a fan of pizza?” he asked.

“No, he wasn’t a fan of pizza. Or basically anything that brought me joy,” I said with a tinge of bitterness I couldn’t quite hide.

I didn’t add that my ex-husband also wasn’t a fan of anything that made me “chunky” as he put it. My husband had been obsessed with appearance, especially mine. It’s why Joshua’s comments on my snack choices the other day irritated me so much. And the way he’d eyed my ice cream cone when we saw each other outside of Scoops.

“I think everyone should have a pizza night tradition,” he said. “It should be the law or something.”

Then the most amazing thing happened – he smiled. Not just a quirk of the lips but a full-fledged, white teeth, slightly crooked, dimple activating smile. For a second I forgot about breathing, standing mesmerized at the sight of that smile.

Which is why I found myself asking, “Would you like to join me?”

“I’d love to.”

The hostess seated up in a booth in the corner. I slid onto a bench seat across from Josh. I’d been carrying Esmerelda in a shoulder bag and I set it down on the bench seat she scooted out, circled around a few times, and promptly fell asleep on top of the bag.

“I don’t think dogs are allowed in the restaurant,” Joshua said.

“If anyone asks she’s a service dog,” I said.

He gave me a look that I couldn’t interpret. Clearly this guy was a straight arrow, one of those rule followers that made the rest of us miserable. I thought he’d say more about Esmerelda being in the restaurant, but instead he just said, “What kind of pizza do you like?”

After some debate we settled on a vegetarian pizza.

“It’s like salad and pizza put together,” I told him brightly.

Joshua rolled his lips in, like he wanted to smile but thought he shouldn’t. But he didn’t argue with my choice.

“I’m glad that Esmerelda is all healed up,” he said after we’d placed our order.

“Yeah, she seems to be doing fine,” I agreed. “None the worse for the wear after her adventure.”

After a long pause Joshua said, “Tell me about yourself, Mabel.”

It felt so much like a first date question I had to stop myself from giggling. After reminding myself that it was just Esmerelda’s doctor making conversation, I debated what to share.

“There’s not much to say,” I started.

“Oh, I’m sure there is.”

He gave me another smile, this one I interpreted as being a little flirty, which I told myself was ridiculous. First, the guy seemed to not like me that much. And second, guys who looked like that were not interested in chubby middle-aged divorcees like me. I said that not based on any insecurity – I was perfectly fine with my looks thank you very much – but on my experience as a woman over thirty-five who knew other women over thirty-five.

“I grew up in Chicago,” I started. “Then I moved to Atlanta for college and stayed there for many years.”

“I thought you had a touch of an accent, but I couldn’t place it.”

I nodded.

“Eventually I moved back to Chicago and met my husband. My ex-husband, that is. We lived in the suburbs for many years, and after the divorce, I decided I was tired of Chicago and I decided to move to Starlight Bay.”

“What drew you here?” he asked.

“Growing up I was really close with my Aunt Sue,” I explained. “She was super cool. She taught me how to read tarot cards and about crystals and magnets. And every summer she would bring me with her here to Starlight Bay. She had a friend who owned a condo near the water and we’d have the best time hanging out in town and going to all the summer festivals here. Aunt Sue died not that long after my divorce and when I was thinking about making a new start, I felt like the universe was drawing me here, to the place where I’d always been happy.”

“Well, we’re all naturally drawn to places that are familiar,” he said, clearly reacting to my universe comment.

“You don’t believe in fate?” I asked. “Or the power of the universe?”

Joshua paused, like he had an answer at the ready but briefly reconsidered it. His eyes met mine and held. I loved his eyes. In this light they were the color of those caramel squares you used to make taffy apples. I loved taffy apples.

As we stared at each other, something electric was flowing between us, something that felt a lot like attraction. Or maybe that was just me. Maybe he just thought I was some weirdo with overly aggressive eye contact.

“I’ve never believed in fate,” he finally said, speaking slowly, softly. “But sometimes things happen that I can’t explain, so I can’t discount it either.”

There really was something happening between us, it wasn’t just me. He felt it too.

Then someone’s kid screamed and the spell was broken. He glanced down at my hands, eyes fixed on my rings, then leaned back into the booth to wait for our pizza.

Feeling suddenly nervous, I said the first thing that came to my mind. “Tell me the most embarrassing thing you ever did.”