Next Door Daddy by Debra Clopton Page B

and second, the vet was a she. A single she he’d been avoiding as much as possible because she was more interested in him than his animals. Pollyanna was giving him an out.
    One he didn’t feel any more comfortable taking.
    â€œWe can swing by and pick Gil up. It won’t take me long to unload the cows. We can call the vet from the truck.” He wasn’t sure what he was getting himself into, but he couldn’t ignore that Pollyanna and Gil needed his help. He thought about dinner the other night. “Besides,” he added, “Gil told me you were wanting to buy a goat. The parents of the receptionist at the vet’s office raise them. I’m sure she’d be glad to fix you up. We could probably even swing by and bring it back in the trailer today.” He glanced at her car sitting in the drive. “I don’t think a goat will fit in that matchbox.” He grinned. “So, what’ll it be?”
    She made a cute face at the car remark, but didn’t answer right away. He waited while she thought about it.
    â€œGil really wants a goat,” she said at last. “So if you’re game, we’re in.”
    â€œI’m game.” A little reluctant, but game.
    Within a few moments they were heading toward the school with Bogie sitting on the seat behind them. His left eyelid was swollen slightly. Looking at it, Nate didn’t think it was too bad, but he had a feeling Pollyanna didn’t take chances with the health of those in her care. Regardless of species.
    Nate had thought about Gil and that bird often over the past few days. And truth was he kept thinking about the dinner they’d shared that night, too. It had felt good sitting around Pollyanna’s table listening to Gil talk about his bird. Watching them interact together.
    And Pollyanna McDonald could cook. No, she could more than cook. For a man whose mealtime for the past three years had been spent leaning against the kitchen counter beside the microwave eating whatever it was that he’d just zapped or poured out of a can, a home-cooked meal was a treat. But even being that starved for a good meal, he’d recognized greatness when he’d tasted it. He’d practically made a pig out of himself sitting at her table. He hadn’t been able to help it. She’d watched him with a mixture of amazement and mirth. He had a funny notion that she understood.
    â€œThis gives me a way to say thank you for that home-cooked meal you treated me to the other night.” Boy, was that an understatement.
    â€œThat meal was my thank-you for all you’ve done for me since I arrived.” She paused, her hands clasped in her lap. “I’ll owe you another one after this.”
    Nate liked the idea of that more than he was comfortable admitting. He told himself it was because of the meal. What man wouldn’t do what he could to have a meal like that again? Nate might not be the happiest cowboy on the planet, but he wasn’t a fool.
    For the next few miles, an uneasy silence surrounded them. He found himself tossing around several conversations, but rejected them all.
    â€œWhen word gets out about your cooking, your bed-and-breakfast is going to be so booked you’re not going to have time to breathe. How do you plan to work that?” he asked at last.
    â€œWork it?” She tilted her head and looked at him quizzically.
    â€œYeah, the business, Gil, the animals you’re wanting to get. Are you going to hire someone to help you?”
    â€œI’ll eventually hire some help.”
    â€œYou might need to do it sooner than you think.” He knew the minute he said it that she didn’t appreciate his comment. Her green eyes flashed fire and her shoulders stiffened. Nate chastised himself. If she was tying herself down too tightly to the place, that was her business and he should have kept his mouth shut. “Look, I don’t know where that came from. What