Before the conversation went any further, they were interrupted. “Hey! Doctor Lambert!”
Trace turned to see the receptionist for the clinic wending her way through the tables. She was balancing a glass of wine in one hand. The fingers of her other hand were laced with those of a twentysomething guy who sported a scruffy beard and wore a frayed stocking cap drawn down over his ears.
“Hi, Heather,” Kacey said.
“This is Jimmy,” she said quickly; then her gaze landed on Trace. “And you’re Eli’s dad, right?” She was nodding, agreeing with herself. “How’s he doing ... oh!”
At that moment Eli came barreling back to the table. “I need more money!”
“Hey, dude, don’t we all?” Jimmy said.
Eli cast him a who-the-heck-are-you glance. “To play the games,” he said to his father.
“I think maybe it’s time to go.” Trace scraped his chair back.
“Wow.” Jimmy took a look at Kacey as she stood. “You kinda remind me of someone.”
“Miss Wallis!” Eli said; then his expression clouded as he remembered that she was gone.
“Shelly Bonaventure,” Heather said.
Jimmy snapped his fingers. “That’s it. Man, you’re like a dead ringer or something.”
“Or something,” Kacey said, and she, seeming to suddenly want to leave as quickly as Trace did, reached for the coat she’d tossed onto an empty chair.
But the kid was right. Trace was only vaguely aware of Shelly Bonaventure as an actress, but in the last week her picture had been splashed across the front of every magazine near the checkout stand of the store where he bought groceries. He’d also caught the end of an “in-depth” story on the woman when he’d been channel surfing the news for an update on the weather.
“She was from around here, wasn’t she?” Jimmy asked.
“Helena, I think,” Heather said.
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“Helena,” Trace repeated, his gaze meeting the doctor’s. Like Leanna. And Kacey.
“I think I’d better get moving,” Kacey said. “Thanks.”
Heather’s gaze swept from her boss to Trace and Eli, and she had trouble smothering a smile.
“Can we see Sarge?” Eli asked again as Trace helped him with his jacket.
“Tomorrow, bud.”
“But I want to see him now.” Eli’s gaze traveled through the window and across the street to the veterinary clinic.
“We have to let Dr. Eagle work with him.”
Eli’s lower lip protruded, but he didn’t offer up any further arguments. Kacey told Heather she’d “see her back at the office next week,” before they all eventually worked their way out of the crowded restaurant and into the icy night, where a few tiny flakes of snow were falling and the temperature was hovering just below freezing.
He and Eli walked the doctor to her car. As she fumbled for her keys before unlocking the Ford, she smiled up at him. “Thanks for the pizza.”
“No problem. Eli . . .” He nudged his boy. “Don’t you have something to say to Dr. Lambert?” His kid looked up at him and blinked. “About the ice cream?” Trace reminded him.
“Oh. Yeah. Thanks,” Eli said, remembering his manners.
“Anytime. Take care of that arm, okay?” With one last glance up at Trace, she said, “Dr. Lambert sounds a little too formal anymore, doesn’t it? It’s Kacey.”
“Kacey,” Trace repeated.