The Place I Belong Read online

  He cast a quick glance over the table before moving back to Tim’s desk. Hannah forgot about her salad as she watched him flip open several bags to unpack covered plates at high speed. He arranged them on the desk before he pulled storage containers from the bags and began to add to each plate’s contents. His movements were fluid and economical; his concentration total.

  “Oh my goodness, this is unbelievably delicious.” Sonya’s exclamation yanked Hannah’s attention back to the table.

  “I never thought I could like a salad this much,” Lucy agreed, chewing with her eyes closed.

  Hannah snatched her fork up and jabbed it through a slice of apple and a leaf of what she assumed was kale. She cast a surreptitious glance at Adam to find a smile playing around his lips as he continued his preparations. He was definitely not immune to their praise. That made her like him more, rather than less.

  She put the bite of salad in her mouth and felt a burst of flavors on her tongue. Adam’s minimalist description did not begin to encompass all that had gone into the dish.

  “You seem surprised.” His voice came from right beside her and held an undercurrent of amusement.

  “It’s, well, it’s more than a salad. You’ve done something to it.”

  He nodded and the amusement showed in his eyes. “That’s a good way of describing most gourmet cooking.”

  “I’m sure you’ve heard this before but it’s extraordinary,” Hannah said as she lifted another forkful to her lips.

  “I’ve also heard it’s extraordinarily awful,” he said with a wry smile.

  “I can’t imagine that,” Estelle said, dabbing the corner of her mouth with her linen napkin. “Not only would it be untrue, it would be rude to say such a thing.”

  “Ah, but food critics aren’t being rude, they are being discerning,” Adam said.

  “Saving our less-developed palates from the assault of terrible dishes like this one.” Hannah pointed at the plate with her fork.

  Adam’s voice held mock sorrow. “You sound like one of them. That’s not a wig you’re wearing to disguise your true identity as a secret diner, is it?”

  Her hand went up to her sloppy ponytail, and suddenly she wished she had taken the time to remove the elastic and brush out her hair. She noticed Sonya had done so, her long, dark hair falling in glossy waves around her shoulders. “If I were going incognito, I’d come up with a better-looking wig than this one.”

  He shook his head. “It’s beautiful, like corn silk.”

  She slanted a peek up at him, thinking it was some sort of chef joke, but he was assessing her hair with focused seriousness. When she brought her gaze back to her dining companions, Sonya gave her an encouraging nod and Estelle raised her eyebrows with a prim little smile.

  “You can assault my palate again if you have another one of these,” Sonya said, chasing the last leaf around her plate with determination.

  Adam turned to whisk the empty plate from in front of the vet tech. “I see it’s time for the next course.”

  Relief and regret washed through Hannah as she quickly finished her salad. Adam’s attention was becoming too addictive; she didn’t want to feel so pleased by his description of her hair. It had sounded sincere, but so had Ward’s compliments and she’d found out how little they meant. When Adam cleared her plate, she deliberately kept her eyes averted from his hands.

  “Dr. Linden, how does Mr. Cahill’s parrot decide what to say?” Matt’s question was a godsend.

  “Well, when it comes to telling jokes, I think Mr. Cahill cues him, either verbally or with a gesture. Otherwise I think Pappy responds to the words and body language of the people around him. If he says something and you react in a way Pappy likes, he’ll repeat that in a similar situation.”

  “So you don’t think he knows what he’s saying?” Matt seemed disappointed.

  “Not really, no,” Hannah said. “His brain hasn’t developed in that way.”

  “Do you think dolphins can understand human language?”

  “There’ve been some interesting studies that seem to indicate they could learn at least some, but I don’t know enough about their brains to be sure. Why?”

  “It would be cool if we could talk to them,” Matt said.

  “Sometimes I think we should try to learn their language instead,” Adam said, startling her. She thought he was busy with the food, but his son’s voice seemed to have drawn him back to the table. “Their experiences and perceptions would be fascinating.”

  “They just use a bunch of clicks and squeaks,” Matt scoffed. “We’d never be able to figure that out.”

  “So you think we’re dumber than dolphins?” Hannah interjected to keep Adam from becoming a target.

  “Maybe.” Matt slumped back in his chair and went silent again. Adam waited a moment, his eyes on his son, before he turned back to the food on the desk.

  Hannah wondered what had caused Matt’s sudden burst of conversation. She was glad he wanted to join in, but his topic seemed oddly arbitrary. “What would you ask a dolphin if you spoke the same language?”

  Matt shrugged. “I dunno.”

  “I’d ask them if they could talk to whales,” Lucy said.

  “I’d warn them to stay away from fishing nets,” Estelle commented.

  Matt sat up. “If they’re so smart, you’d think they would have figured that out by now.”

  Hannah saw Adam’s movements slow as he listened to the conversation. This time he did not attempt to join in.

  “Maybe they just swim too fast to avoid them,” Hannah said.

  “But they use echolocation,” Matt said. “They should be able to hear where they are.”

  “I guess nets are hard to spot with sonar,” Sonya said.

  Plates appeared in front of the diners as Adam did his smooth tango around the table again. He finished and stepped back. “Brook trout over apple-parsnip puree with an apricot Grenobloise. My local supplier delivered the trout five minutes before I grilled it.”

  The fragrance wafting up from the steaming dish in front of her made Hannah groan with appreciation. “Who needs to eat? I’m just going to sit here and inhale.”

  Adam wore his practiced smile, but his attention was on Matt. His son’s opinion was the one he cared about. Hannah took up her own fork and flaked off a bite of trout as she surreptitiously watched the two Bosch males. The smile moved all the way up into Adam’s eyes when Matt seized his fork and shoveled up a mouthful of fish and parsnips.

  The rest of the meal passed smoothly, with a dessert of chocolate pots de crème bringing moans of ecstasy from all but one of the diners. Matt made no comment, but Hannah noticed he swirled his finger around the empty bowl and licked it when he thought no one was watching.

  As everyone rose amidst a general surge of gratitude for the spectacular meal, Adam leaned down beside Hannah and murmured, “May I speak with you alone for just a minute?”

  She nodded and signaled Sonya to take Matt out of the room with her. The door closed behind them and Adam turned to her, his smile vanishing like snow in June. “I know you’re busy so I’ll just ask. How is Matt doing?”

  “Fine,” Hannah said, putting conviction in her voice. “He’s a smart young man. He gets the message. He seems genuinely sorry Trace was injured.”

  “You don’t think it was deliberate?”

  “Definitely not. It was pure carelessness that he covered up with bravado.”

  She could see the tension in Adam’s posture ease. “You seem to know humans as well as you know animals.”

  The gross inaccuracy of that made Hannah shake her head emphatically. “I’m a vet for a reason. People lie. Animals don’t.”

  Surprise flashed across his face before speculation took its place. “One of the less impressive attributes of higher intelligence.”

  How had he found
that crack in her carefully maintained professional façade? Irritated with herself for revealing too much, she checked her watch. “Matt and I have to get going on my farm rounds. Thanks for a delicious lunch.”

  “I’ll take Matt home with me,” Adam said. “I’ve imposed on you enough already. If I hadn’t been at the end of my rope, I never would have asked you to do this.”

  Relief swept through her. Matt had been unenthusiastic about visiting the large animals, and now she didn’t have to drag him along with her on her farm rounds. Then she remembered his admission of guilt over Trace. She’d breached his defenses for a minute there.

  Some impulse of charity made her say, “He might prefer to go with you, but I’d like to find out more about his interest in dolphins.”

  He scanned her face with a questioning gaze. “You must be trying for sainthood. Thank you.”

  His comment shocked a short laugh out of her. Maybe she did have a yen for martyrdom, considering her recent personal and professional history. Except people didn’t usually bring it out in her. Just Matt with his air of a half-wild dog, wanting to trust someone but afraid of having his trust betrayed.

  Hannah started toward the door.

  “Dr. Linden, I’d like to ask another favor.”

  Dismay zinged through her as she stopped.

  “Would you have dinner with me Monday and tell me what you learn about Matt and the dolphins? It might help me talk to him.”

  What was he up to with the dinner invitation? His refusal to take no for an answer was causing flashbacks to her ex again. Ward had kept asking her out until she finally accepted.

  No, this was different. She’d seen how Adam watched Matt at lunch. He wanted so badly to connect with his son that he was bribing her with food to give him any tools he could use. The charmer routine was just a way to cover his desperation.

  “You don’t have to feed me,” she said. “I’ll meet you at Moonshine on my way home from work. You can buy me a glass of wine.” That would keep their meeting short, as the wine bar didn’t serve meals. She didn’t want to get drawn any farther into Adam’s situation than she already was.

  “Feeding people is what I do,” he said, “but they have some excellent cheese at Moonshine. Five o’clock?”

  She nodded, knowing she was crazy to think he seemed disappointed when she turned down dinner. The same thought prompted her to say, “I’ll drop Matt off at your house when I’m done with my farm visits. We’ll be driving around in the truck anyway so it’s no trouble.”

  “Do you need directions?”

  She snorted. “Everyone knows where The Aerie is. The hard part is getting reservations.”

  He laughed before he turned serious. “For you there will always be a table.”

  His dark eyes were locked on her, and she felt wrapped in the sensuousness of black velvet against her bare skin. The sensation was so vivid she had to give her head a tiny shake to bring herself back to the reality of standing in Tim’s office in her polo shirt and khakis. “See you later,” she said and fled.

  Adam stowed the dishes in the insulated bags without conscious thought. He was contemplating the enigma of Dr. Hannah Linden. There was a kindness in her that extended beyond the animals she cared so deeply for. Yet she didn’t seem to warm up to him. He wasn’t offended, just puzzled. His job required the ability to make his customers feel as though they were the center of his attention, and he’d gotten good at it. Most people enjoyed it, yet Dr. Linden kept backing away.

  Maybe he’d scared her with his anguish over Trace and his desperation over Matt. He’d twisted her arm into mentoring a surly boy, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising she wanted nothing further to do with him.

  Although when he’d offered her the perfect out for the afternoon, she’d rejected it. She actually wanted to spend more time with his son.

  “What does that say about me that she prefers Matt’s company to mine?” he muttered, zipping up a bag.

  Despite that, he wanted to comb his fingers through her straight, corn-silk, blond hair, an impulse he had squelch every time he bent down to serve her a dish. He wondered if her blue eyes would widen in shock or flutter closed in pleasure. He’d only had a few glimpses of her standing without her lab coat, but it looked as though there were some interesting curves there. Maybe it was because he was a chef that he liked women whose figures showed a certain appetite.

  He shook his head. Given her reaction to him, he shouldn’t bother to speculate on her body. Although he would see her again Monday.

  He piled the bags into a big plastic carrier and hefted it in both hands.

  He would just have to be more charming at their next meeting.

  Chapter 3

  HANNAH DROVE THROUGH the gates marking the road to Healing Springs Stables, Sharon Sydenstricker’s world-class breeding and training facility and horse rescue center. Sharon spent all the money she made from her high-paying clients on the horses she saved from bad situations. “Have you been here before?” Hannah asked.

  Matt shook his head.

  “Ms. Sydenstricker is an Olympic gold medalist.” Boys liked athletes, didn’t they?

  “Cool.” His voice was devoid of enthusiasm.

  Hannah had tried at least six different topics, including dolphins, and Matt had refused to participate in any conversation. She pulled the truck over to the side of the road and slammed on the brakes, making Matt brace his hand on the dashboard and swing his gaze around to her. “What the−?” he said.

  “Enough with the silent treatment,” Hannah said, twisting around in her seat and crossing her arms.

  He dropped his gaze. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m tired of getting one-syllable answers from you. It’s rude and annoying.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am.” He put the tiniest bit of emphasis on the last word, and Hannah felt an unwelcome admiration for his slyness. He was using good manners in a way she had specifically asked him not to.

  “Two points for the inverse courtesy,” she said, raising a finger to mark the score in the air. “Now lose the attitude or I’ll tell Sharon you love to muck out stalls.”

  He sighed. “It’s not an attitude. I don’t like farm animals.”

  “Because why?”

  “I dunno. They’re big.”

  “Did you grow up in a city?” Hannah had no idea where he’d come from before he’d landed with Adam.

  “I guess so.”

  She cast a weary glance at the roof of the truck. “Does that mean yes or no?”

  “I lived in a bunch of places,” he said, giving her a sullen scowl. “A couple were cities.”

  She gave up, deciding it was too much trouble to drag the information out of him. “Dolphins are big too,” she said, reverting to his original complaint about farm animals. “People don’t realize that because they’ve never been in the water with them.”

  “I have,” Matt said abruptly.

  Progress. “Where?” She kept her tone lukewarm. Too much enthusiasm might scare him off the topic.

  “Disney World.”

  Back to short answers. She tried a more open-ended question. “What did you think?”

  He shrugged. “They were bigger than I expected. And strong. You could tell even though we didn’t swim with them.”

  Hannah noted the “we” and wondered if he’d been with his mother. “So what did you do with them?”

  “We stood on a platform in the water and they swam up to us.” He turned toward her, his left leg bent at the knee and flat on the seat. “The trainer would signal and the dolphins would let us hug them or they’d roll over so we could scratch their bellies. They’d even open their mouths so you could touch their tongue and their teeth. I was pretty nervous but my mom got into it.”

  Hannah wasn’t sure how to keep him talking so she just to
ld the truth. “That’s an amazing experience. I’d like to try it myself.”

  “The hugging part is when I realized how big they are. The dolphin came right up and kind of put his chin on my shoulder. My arms went about half way around him and I could feel his tail moving to keep himself in position.” Matt curved his arms as though the dolphin was in them, and all his surliness dropped away. His blue eyes were alight with remembered excitement. “That’s when I realized how strong he was.”

  “So that’s how you got interested in dolphins?”

  He let his arms fall onto his lap. “Yeah. We were supposed to go back there when I was old enough to swim with them.” A shadow passed over his face, and he turned to look straight ahead through the windshield.

  Hannah tried to bring the animation back. “How old were you then?”

  “I forget.”

  She’d lost him. She could see it in the stiff set of his shoulders; he had closed down on the memory, maybe because it reminded him his mother wouldn’t be taking him to Disney World again. “Hey, you’ll get back there for that swim,” she said, unable to resist reaching out to give him a brief comforting touch on his arm.

  He didn’t acknowledge the contact but he didn’t jerk away, either.

  “Maybe you could just think of horses as dolphins on land. With hooves,” she said, putting the truck in gear and pulling back onto the road.

  “Sure. Thanks.” His tone was sarcastic but not hostile, so Hannah figured she’d done all right.

  She spent the few minutes it took to reach the barns explaining what vaccinations she would be giving the horses and why. Matt nodded occasionally but made no comment.

  Parking the truck in the gravel lot, she jumped out and walked around to the back. Matt surprised her by following. “Want me to carry one?” he asked, as she flipped down the tailgate and reached for the cases she’d packed at the clinic.