“You bet. I need help stretching out my IT band.” She said rubbing her hip next.
“My two favorite clients. What are the odds?” Bobby Reeves an ex-marine himself was now a physical trainer here and one of the best. Without his motivation I probably would have resorted to binge watching Netflix and losing most of the mobility in my knee after the surgery.
“Hey Bobby.” We lean in for a manly hug of back pats and chuckle.
“So who’s the girl?” He asked punching me lightly in the shoulder.
“What girl?” I smiled pushing him back.
“Because I only see you when you want train and look good for a girl.”
“Right and he doesn’t mean me, Doc.” Kiara nudged me playfully.
I thought for a second about my mother’s Fourth of July party, obligations, and pinched the bridge of my nose. The only woman coming to mind was the girl who fainted in my arms. If I was doing this, I might as well go all in taking the risk.
“Alright. Her name is Winnie, but I haven’t asked her out yet.” They both heckled me with ooos and ahs as we made our way into the gym.
“Someone has a crush.”
“She’s here for the summer pet sitting for her aunt who is out of town. I don’t know if anything will come of it.” I had no hope of hooking up with Winnie. The summer would end and she would return to the city. I didn’t do long distance well and I wasn’t moving my vet practice from a place I loved.
“Well, Doc, we better get your flirting muscles in shape then to impress the pretty lady.”
Bobby had me exhausted and sweating in under an hour. Unfortunately, I think I was more sexually frustrated leaving the rehab center than when I came.
5
Winnie
The house phone rang as I rushed inside putting down groceries, a juice smoothie, and a premade pie from the farmer’s market that looked better than anything I could throw together or microwave. Hey, I could order a mean take out but who needed that stereotype floating around? City mouse was about to embark on some country fixings.
Mere seconds separated me from smoothie disaster as multiple sets of legs were tangled in mine. I barely put the items down before I fell back landing on my ass. The sting smarted and the phone kept ringing before I answered it on the fall.
“Damn it!” I rolled to my side and got my eye licked by a Husky who thumped her tail whacking me in the shoulder. If I wasn’t careful someone was going to ask who was roughing me up the next time I left the house. Assault by man’s best friend didn’t sound good.
The phone cord wrapped me up and I answered the phone laying on the floor with my cheek to the tiles and paws dancing dangerously close to my face.
“Winsome Grey!” The voice vibrated from the floor and I picked up the phone placing it against my ear.
“Sorry Aunt Helen!” I winced forcing myself to sit up rubbing my butt that was being sniffed by no less than two noses. Aunt Helen got stuffed between my ear and my neck as I reached up and finger shifted the smoothie into my grasp. I stayed on the floor staring at the sorry state my life had become from the slurp of the straw.
“Honey, I need you to do me a favor.” She rattled off a list of things I swore I had written down already and I rolled toward my bag that was half dumped out on the floor over looking for pen and paper to make sure.
“Of course.” I said thinking that this was probably another set of micro managed details that required my patience more than anything else.
“I need you to take the Tank and drop off the donations for the Women’s Club.” The Tank as Aunt Helen referred to it was her pristine snow white Mercedes Benz that was probably older than I was and still in working order. She babied that car as much as she babied her dogs.
“That’s it?”
“Yes dear. I worried myself into a Mylanta episode certain that I had forgotten the donations.”
“No problem.” Slowly getting to my feet I ignored the jumping dogs, and grabbed the keys.
“You know I bet those ladies are glad I’m on vacation considering I kick all their asses in Bridge anyway.”
“I’m sure your friends miss you dearly.”
I headed out to the garage to check on the car. Sure enough the backseat had been loaded up with bags of clothing donations.