You just made yourself look like an idiot. I hope he didn’t notice.
Diana had returned to the kitchen unnoticed. When she spoke Mia and Parker both jumped.
“Breakfast as usual, Parker? Are you sure you don’t want me to serve it?” she asked “I don’t mind, plus I need to get Mia fed too.”
“Thanks, I can handle getting myself a plate,” Parker joined her at the counter “I know you have your hands full with dad’s lunch meeting here today.”
“You’re a dear, Parker,” Diana wiped her hands on a towel and patted him on the shoulder in passing. That food won’t cook itself.”
The puppy had crawled closer to my feet. I lifted her onto my lap, gazing out the windows.
The early morning landscape was both desolate and beautiful against the grey winter sky. Clouds gathered but moved too quickly to leave much rain or snow behind. I was lost in the scene in front of me.
“Mia? Mia?” Parker was saying repeatedly, I realized finally.
“I’m sorry, Starbucks Hero,” I said softly as to not wake the puppy who had gone back to sleep. “I was lost in the view.”
“I don’t blame you,” Parker said “That’s why I come in here so early in the morning when I’m here.”
“You don’t live here?” I asked “I’m confused. Did you tell me that already?”
“No, I have a place in the city, but I’ll be here for another week to help Dad with a hospital issue,” Parker said.
“Oh no, I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was ill,” I said “He seemed pretty good last night. Is it surgery?”
His soft laughter was like a warm blanket.
“No, he’s fine,” Parker explained. “Dad has recently become head of the hospital here, and I’m helping him while he cleans house and hires new doctors.”
“What do you do?” I asked. “Sorry, that sounds rude. I meant how are you helping him?”
“It’s not rude,” Parker said. “I could have explained better. I’m a doctor a cardiologist actually, and he needs a cardiologist here right now. So, here I am.”
“How lucky for this little girl that she found herself a doctor,” I said cuddling the puppy closer “What a smart girl.”
“Well, I’m a people doctor not a veterinarian,” Parker corrected. “So, I would still like her to see a veterinarian for a complete checkup, and not to mention I need more mother’s milk.”
Victoria glided into the kitchen cell phone to her ear and a waft of Shalimar perfume as she passed through to grab a water bottle. She glanced over to the fireplace in the corner and waved a finger at Mia and Parker.
Just when I thought we could go back to the conversation. Victoria ended her call.
“Mia, good morning,” Victoria said, all smiles. “I see you’re also an early riser.”
“Good morning, Victoria,” I said “Yes, I usually run in the mornings, but it is way too cold.”
I failed to mention that Sophie usually got me up this early to nosh up and that I was worried about her.
“There’s a workout room in the east wing with a treadmill,” Victoria said. “Feel free to use the room anytime. Did Parker tell you he runs in the morning as well?”
“That’s perfect, thank you,” I smiled “I didn’t know that, but we had only gotten as far as finding out he is a doctor who is helping out your husband.”
“He’s being modest, Mia,” Victoria said. “My son is a brilliant doctor, and hospitals all over the country want him. He travels and assists in difficult conditions and surgeries.”
“Ah, now the comment from the train station when I called you a life saver and you said you had heard that before, now it makes sense,” I said, palm to forehead. “Saving me yesterday must have been mundane for you.”
“Mundane it was not,” Parker said. “It was, in fact, pleasurable to rescue a damsel in distress.”
“Make that two damsels in distress, isn’t that right?” I said to the puppy. “What’s her name by the way?”
“I think the puppy should be named after me because we have the same coloring.” Victoria offered
“I don’t think we should name her at all.” Parker said “What if her family already named her?
“I need to shower and go over some papers before the board members arrive for the lunch,” Parker said. “Mia, would you be available to call local veterinarians like we spoke about earlier?”
“Sure, I can Google it and make the calls,” I said, squeezing my new little friend tighter.
“That’s sweet of you to offer to help, Mia,” Victoria said. “Why don’t I take this little sweetheart with me while you get in your run, then you can help Parker with the phone calls?”
“I really appreciate how kind you’ve been already, Victoria,” I said, placing the puppy in her arms. “I’m happy to help in any way.”
“I heard Parker say he wanted a veterinarian to look her over,” Victoria said as she snuggled the puppy to her neck. “I guess you didn’t tell him you only have one year of school left before you are a veterinarian?” Then she turned and was gone from the room.
I hadn’t told Parker I only had a year left before I am a veterinarian, and that his assumption that she needed mothers’ milk was correct.
I should tell him. Shouldn’t I?
Chapter 9
MIA
I had decided to get started on the calls first. It was well past lunchtime before I finished calling around town in search of the owners. My ears were ringing from it.
I had only made it through call number four to local veterinarians. I hoped that one of them would have a customer who had recently had a litter of puppies. The last one gave me the name of local breeder who recently had a litter.
The veterinarian had called the breeder to inquire, and she had, in fact, been searching for the puppy.
Could it be this easy? The breeder was so excited and hopeful that the puppy we found was her missing puppy. She had explained that they live right down the street from the train station and that they had looked for her everywhere and that she had been over to the train station at least five times searching the bushes.
“We will bring our little one over when Parker was out of his meeting in the next two to three hours.” I said
I glanced at the clock. Did I have time for a run before I had to meet with the puppy’s owner? I didn’t have to meet them for another two hours. I changed in to my workout clothes. I would at least try for a quick run on the treadmill.
While coming back from my run, I passed Diana in the foyer.
“Hey, Diana, I need to borrow one of the cars to go meet with the lady missing a puppy,” I said. “I don’t want to bother Victoria since she said she had a change of plans and has meetings all day.”
“No problem, Mia,” Diana said. “I will have Victoria’s driver pick you up.”
I wanted to just borrow a car to go to the address where a litter of labradoodle’s had recently been born. I was pretty sure when I saw her that she was a labradoodle.