The Vixen and the Vet (16 page)

“I understand, sir.”

“Do you still want to go ahead?”

Savannah’s face appeared in his head, and his answer was quick and easy. It was time for him to make plans to live
in
the world, not outside it. “Yes, sir. Yes, I do.”

The colonel slid a stack of forms across the desk. “A little light paperwork. You know the drill. Need it all back ASAP.”

“Yes, sir.” He placed his hand on the stack for a second, then looked up, meeting the doctor’s eyes. “And my face, sir?”

McCaffrey opened a file and looked at it with furrowed brows before closing it and handing it to Asher. “Now wait a minute, son, before you go looking at that. Never liked these digital projections, because medicine, especially reconstructive procedures, is not an exact science. I’d hate for you to look at that and feel excited or disappointed because the reality is that there are no guarantees. It’s just a guess based on the procedures the doctors would be trying. But, well, it’s our best guess of what you’d look like after the initial surgeries.”

Asher stared at the manila file that held the answers to whether or not it would ever be possible to live a normal life again. He took a deep breath, surprised by the burning behind his eyes, and opened the folder. What he saw inside made him gasp, and he blinked repeatedly so he wouldn’t cry in front of a colonel.

No, the man looking back at him wasn’t perfect. His skin had an irregular texture and tone. His nose was still slightly misshapen. But he had two symmetrical ears, his cheek and jaw looked almost normal, and his right eye socket didn’t droop. If you glanced at him for more than a second, you’d notice he’d been through something, but he would mostly blend into a crowd. He wasn’t beautiful, but he’d mostly be able to lead a normal life.

“Sir, I … I don’t know … I mean …” Asher looked back down at the picture and blinked.

“It’s all right, son. I know.” The doctor paused, then spoke gently. “There are no guarantees. This is a forensics rendering based on what you’ve got and what we’ve been able to do in the past. Could be a little better; could fall short. Only way to know is to try.”

“How many procedures?” asked Asher.

“They think four, minimum. Possibly up to seven.”

Asher winced. “How many years?”

“That’s the good news. If all goes well? About six months. We’d start with your ear. They’re building ears out of cartilage these days, but I’d start with a prosthesis. We’d have to smooth out what’s there, but then we could do an operation to implant a magnet so that the ear stays in place. We’ll take a graft from your forehead to reconstruct your right eye socket. Mend your cheek and even out your jaw with silicone implants. Smooth out some of that burned skin on your lower cheek. I know your leg bothers you too. You may opt to have something done for that as well.”

Asher shook his head. “Seven’s enough, doc. I can live with my leg as is.”

“You’ll be back and forth a lot, son. Four hours each way to Virginia during some pretty traumatic reconstructions.”

Asher thought of Savannah again, her sweet face and bright eyes. He couldn’t ask her to join him on this hellish six-month journey, and he couldn’t ask her to wait for him either. He’d have to let her go. She’d head to Phoenix, and he’d head to Maryland. And whatever the future held in store for them would reveal itself later.

For now, he still had two weeks left with her, and he wouldn’t let anything get in the way of that time.

“What’s our time frame?”

“First available OR table opens up in three weeks.”

Asher nodded, feeling relieved. “Thank you, sir.”

“You’ll rent a place here in Bethesda? You’ll need to be local for most of July, August, September. You might be able to commute back and forth by October. And if all goes well, you’ll be finished completely by Christmas.”

Christmas. Damn. That felt like an awfully long time. He had no right to ask, but he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d still want him, still be available, by Christmas. It made his heart clench to think that she’d have moved on by then.

“I’ll arrange for housing, sir.”

The colonel nodded, gesturing for the file. “Can’t let you keep it.”

“I know, sir.”

“Any questions, Asher?”

“No, sir.”

The colonel stood up, extending his hand. “Well, I guess we’ll see you next week. For the fitting. Don’t forget, you’ve got the casting at four o’clock today.”

Four o’clock. Everything important in my life happens at four o’clock.

“Yes, sir.” Asher shook his hand and followed him from the room.

“I’m glad you’re finally taking this step, Asher. Mind if I ask what changed your mind?”

Asher felt the phantom touch of her hands on his skin, her body pressed against his, her cries as they climaxed together this morning. What happened in private between him and Savannah was too special, too sacred, even to share with his doctor, whom he trusted and liked very much. “I’m sorry, sir. Personal reasons.”

Colonel McCaffrey slapped him lightly on the shoulder and gave him a knowing grin. “I bet she’s beautiful.”

“She is,” said Asher, grinning as he pulled the door behind him.
She’s the most amazing girl in the world.

***

A few hours later, in Myrtle Beach, the most amazing girl in the world had definitely had too much to drink. Savannah looked at the half-finished steak on her plate and felt her stomach rumble in protest.

They’d arrived in town by lunchtime, spent the afternoon sunning on the beach, and found the boys next door barbecuing when they finally walked back up to their house at dusk.

Trent had grabbed his bride-to-be around the waist and invited all of them to come over for dinner, promising steak, sausage—the Beavis and Butt-Head style chuckle after this menu item wasn’t lost on Savannah, though she could have sworn Lynnie looked confused—and plenty of cold beer. How could they say no?

Also not lost on Savannah was the smoldering smile she was given by Lance Hamilton, Trent’s older brother, whom Savannah had briefly (and disastrously) dated in high school.
She later heard that Serena Shepherd had lost her virtue to Lance. According to what she’d gathered, Lance had been sipping Rum and Cokes without the Rum all night, and Serena had been an easy mark.

Lance Hamilton had since married some sweet thing he met at Chapel Hill and settled back down in Danvers, only to be caught with his secretary in a compromising position a few years later. The sweet thing turned out to be not so sweet in the wake of his betrayal, packed up their three-year-old daughter, and returned to Tennessee for a divorce and a fresh start. Which left Lance, unfortunately, available.

At dinner Savannah took the very last seat at the very long picnic table, beside Goosey, since they were the last two to arrive. Then Lance weaseled his way between the two women.

“Hey Goose, let the old folks sit together, huh?”

Goosey shrugged apologetically at Savannah and slid down to make room. Savannah rolled her eyes. “You always did know how to kill a compliment, Lance.”

“You’re
lookin’ real good now, Savannah Carmichael,” he said, his face turned to her in all its blinding beauty. He had perfect lips, high cheekbones, and an Old South patrician nose. His dirty-blond hair was slicked back like a Wall Street banker’s, and he wore a polo shirt of deep cerulean blue, the same color as his eyes.

“Again, bowling me over, Lance. I guess I looked shabby before?” She looked down at her scoop-neck black sheath dress. It wasn’t exactly a floral sundress, but she knew Scarlet wanted all the girls to be fanciful this weekend, and this was about as close as Savannah could get. She took hold of the chunky silver necklace around her neck, playing with the large links.

“Hard to tell under the one-piece you were wearing when you walked up from the beach. I like my women in
bikinis
.” He ran his index finger down her arm. “You have a bikini, Miss Savannah?”

“If I did,” she answered sweetly, “I wouldn’t be
paradin’ around in it for
you
.”

“Whew! So cold. That time up in New York made you frosty, honey. I’d like to warm you up a little.”

She picked up her beer and downed it in a gulp. It was her third or fourth, and she was light-headed, but being a little drunk also meant that she could keep thoughts of Asher and articles at bay, which—if she couldn’t have Asher with her and if she couldn’t decide how to write her story—felt better right now.

“Come on now, honey. You and me had a good thing once upon a time.”

He cracked open another beer from the large iced basin on the table in front of them and handed it to her.

“
A good thing
? We went out on three dates, Lance. You tried to grope me. I called it quits.”

“We were just getting’ to the good part.” He licked his lips and smiled at her, putting the beer bottle to his mouth and throwing back his head. Okay, Savannah had to admit, though she wasn’t sure if it was the beer talking or the sight of Lance’s throat sucking down those suds: he
was
awfully pretty.

Asher’s face flitted through her mind, and she grasped for it, taking a long draw on her own bottle. “I’m
seein’ someone, Lance.”

“Now, I think I heard
somethin’ about that, but I didn’t imagine for one moment it was true.” His eyes narrowed as he cut off a chunk of steak, chewing thoughtfully.

“Well, despite your tawdry imaginings, it
is
true.”

“
Asher Lee? The old war hero? The cripple?” Lance turned to Savannah, laughing. “You that hard up, Savannah? You have to date circus freaks?”

She stared at her half-finished steak as her stomach rolled over. She’d had enough. She didn’t have to sit here and be polite as Lance Hamilton ripped into the man she
loved. “You always
were
an asshole, Lance.”

She swung her legs over the back of the bench and stood up.
Oh Lord. Spins.
She dropped her hand to Lance’s shoulder to steady herself, and he covered her hand with his, bolting up and put his arm around her waist.

“
Oopsie, Miss Daisy.”

Goosey looked up from Lance’s other side. “You okay, Savannah?”

Savannah didn’t much like the way Lance was holding on to her, but she feared she’d fall over if he let go, so she patted his hand gratefully. “Just fine, Goosey, honey.”

Lance tightened his arm around her and gave Goosey his most panty-melting grin, flicking his eyes down the table where Trent and Scarlet were holding court before smiling at Goosey again.

“No need to trouble everyone, silly goose. If they ask, just say Savannah needed to walk off the spirits and I was lendin’ some moral support.”

Savannah looked at
Goosey’s worried eyes and smiled reassuringly before hiccupping rather loudly. She giggled, putting her hand over her mouth.

“Don’t tell Scarlet I’m drunk, Goose,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper.

“You be careful now, Savannah.”

Savannah rolled her eyes at small-town Goosey. Savannah had lived in New York City, for heaven’s sake. She could handle Lance Hamilton for a quick, bracing walk on the beach, couldn’t she? Of course she could.

Lance started leading her away, and when they’d rounded the house, she jerked away from him. “Keep your hands to yourself, Lance.”

“I was just
tryin’ to be a gentleman. Help out a lady in distress.”

“The day
you’re
a gentleman …,” said Savannah, missing the way his eyes narrowed at her criticism.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the rapidly darkening, deserted beach. “You be nice, now. I heard you. You’re with Lee. I’m not
gonna make a move. We can just go a little closer to the water and look at the lights. You can take some deep breaths of sea air, and I bet you feel right in a snap.”

His words were friendly and reassuring, and aside from holding her hand, he wasn’t being
Handsy Lancey, so she relaxed.

“Breathe in,” he said, slowing their pace. “Smell that sea air?”

“Mmmm.” Asher was right. Even a quarter mile from the Strand, she could smell popcorn and cotton candy, funnel cakes and suntan lotion. “It’s just like he said.”

“Just like
who
said?” asked Lance, slipping an arm around her waist.

She didn’t like that, but she still didn’t feel too steady either, so she ignored it.

“Asher.” She smiled, thinking about him. “He used to come here.”

“Before his face got all blown off? Is it true what they say? That he’s all deformed?”

Savannah tried to yank away, but Lance held her tight against his hip. She looked back toward the house, but they’d walked a considerable distance now and the house was much more than a stone’s throw away.

“Don’t talk about him like that,” said Savannah, starting to feel anxious. She wiggled against Lance to free herself, but his grip was strong.