Page 36 of Puppy Christmas

Lila fought an inward groan. Unless she was mistaken, Helen understood very little.

“My sisters will tell you the same thing,” she protested with a glance at the pair of them in the living room. They might find this whole situation hilarious, but like her, they wouldn’t lie if asked a direct question. “Until last week, I’d never even heard of Ford Ford, let alone—”

Directly behind them, the phone rang. Lila would never presume to answer the telephone in someone else’s house, but Helen had no such qualms. Drying her hands on a dish towel, she reached for the handset and held it to her ear. “You’ve reached the Ford residence. This is Helen speaking. How may I help you?”

She placed her hand over the mouthpiece and said in a low voice, “It’s okay. I work part-time as a receptionist in a dental office. I’m used to this.” She paused as a low male voice sounded on the other end of the phone. Lila couldn’t make out all the details of what was being said, but it was only a few seconds before Helen’s brows went up and an amused smile flickered across her face. “Yes, just a moment, please.”

She held the handset out to Lila. “It’s for you.”

“For me?” Lila echoed.

“Last Saturday, huh?” Helen laughed and tapped the side of her nose. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Lila held the handset between two fingers, dangling it as if it contained a curse. Which, for all she knew, it did. The only two people in the world who would feasibly call her at a client’s house were spinning plates in the next room. In fact, they were also the only two people in the world who knew she was here right now.So, who—?

“Hello?” she asked, holding the phone tentatively to her ear.

“Oh, hey, Lil. I thought I might find you there.”

“Patrick?”

“I hope you don’t mind me calling like this,” he said. Without waiting to hear that she did, in fact, mind, he went on. “I know you always turn your cell phone off during client visits.”

It was true, and for a perfectly good reason—because it was highly unprofessional to take personal calls while in someone else’s home. Then again, it was just as unprofessional for her sister to be throwing tea plates all over a client’s living room. And for her to be harboring highly suspect feelings for a man she barely knew. Every ethical and personal boundary she’d ever put up was crumbling to pieces around her.

“I’d rather you didn’t, but there’s not much I can do about it now, can I? What do you want?”

“To apologize. You didn’t let me finish at the restaurant.”

That almost caused her to drop the phone. Drawing a deep breath, Lila gripped the handset more tightly and did her best to look calm. Helen’s attention was focused on the dishes, but she kept sneaking sideways glances at her.

“Okay, Dr. Yarmouth,” she said in hopes that the other woman would hear the worddoctorand realize this was no social call. “You may proceed.”

Patrick chuckled. “Gee, thanks. Only you could turn an apology into a funeral.”

Well, obviously. Turning perfectly ordinary situations into gloom and doom was exactly what he’d accused her of before. If Patrick’s idea of an apology was to call her up at a client’s house and remind her, however, she had no intention of lingering long enough to hear it. “Could we move this along, please? Puppies don’t train themselves.”

“Did I hear you say ‘Dr. Yarmouth’?” Ford’s voice sounded from directly behind her, causing her to jump.

If she’d been paying attention, she’d have noticed that Helen had given up on dish duty to make way for Ford’s approach. In the ordinary way of things, shewouldhave been paying attention, since focusing on details was the way she liked to work. But her ex-boyfriend calling her at a client’s house while she wore a yellow sundress in the middle of winter was hardly ordinary.

“Yes,” she said, suddenly seeing a way out. “Helen must have been mistaken. It’s for you.”

Although she heard a murmur of protest coming from Patrick’s end of the phone, she held the handset out until Ford took it. Patrick would just have to come up with a believable lie—or, failing that, pretend he dialed the wrong number. That would teach him to call her during working hours.

She smiled blandly at Helen, hoping that would end the intrigue, but she’d underestimated the amount of romanticism in the other woman’s soul. As Ford took the phone, Helen bumped Lila with her hip, a knowing gleam in her eyes.

“One of these days, you’re going to have to tell me therealstory of how you two met.”

“I already did,” Lila protested.

She might as well have not spoken for all the attention Helen paid her. “I warn you—I’m awfully persistent when I like someone. I won’t rest until you’re sitting in my kitchen with a glass of rosé in hand. I’ll kidnap you if I have to. Don’t think I won’t.”

Lila looked inadvertently to Ford. She was sure he’d share her amusement at Helen’s willingness to hold people hostage in the name of friendliness, but he was holding the phone to his ear with a strange look on his face. She had no idea what Patrick was telling him, but it couldn’t be good. That look was strangely bleak, in no way suited for the handsome, laughing man he was most of the time.

“Oh God.” Lila’s mind went directly to all the potentially devastating news a child’s otolaryngologist might be forced to impart over the phone. She waited only until Ford hung up before pouncing. “What did he say? Not anything bad? Not…Emily?”

Ford shook his head, still somewhat dazed, though the smile had returned to his expression. It was his usual grin, equal parts charming and disarming, but for the first time, it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Those orbs still held their usual blue brilliance, but they were distant. One might almost saycold.