Moyra Tarling - Denim and Diamond

“Upstairs, on the phone,” his daughter replied with a grin. “Who’s that?” The child twisted in her father’s arms and pointed to Piper who was once again fending off the two dogs.

“It’s rude to point,” Kyle scolded his daughter as he captured her hand. “This lady’s name is Piper.”

“That’s a funny name.”

Piper laughed softly, charmed by the smiling cherub-faced child. “What’s your name?”

“My name’s April Franshish,” the little girl replied.

“April…ah…Francis,” Piper repeated in sudden understanding. “That’s a lovely name.”

“That’s Mutt,” April said, pointing to the Doberman. “And he’s Jeff.”

“We’ve already met. Hi, Mutt. Hello, Jeff.” Piper scratched Mutt’s ear while Jeff sat at her feet wagging his tail frantically.

“You’re going to have a baby, aren’t you?” April asked and at her question, Piper almost burst out laughing.

“April!” Kyle spoke a little sharply.

“That’s okay,” Piper said, thinking Kyle must indeed have his hands full with such a precocious child. “Yes, I am going to have a baby.”

“Kyle. Something’s happened and I—”

They turned to the newcomer, a woman in her midsixties Piper recognized as Kyle’s aunt. Vera looked anxious and upset.

“What’s happened?” Kyle asked, as he lowered April to the floor.

Vera hesitated, her glance shifting from Kyle to Piper and back. “Mary Bellows just called from Frank’s office.”

“And?” Kyle prompted.

“She thinks he might have had a heart attack. The ambulance is there now. They’re taking him to the hospital.” Her hand came up to cover her mouth, and Piper saw tears gathering in her eyes.

Kyle led his aunt to a nearby chair. Frank was obviously a close friend of his aunt.

“Do you want me to drive you over to the hospital?” he offered.

“Would you?” Her relief was obvious.

“Of course,” he assured her.

“Can I come, too?” April asked.

Kyle turned to his daughter. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, sweetie. You better stay here.”

“Who’s going to look after me?” the child asked.

Kyle’s gaze shifted to where Piper stood by the desk. She’d watched the entire exchange, unaccountably touched by Kyle’s concern for his aunt.

“Piper’s here. She’ll look after you till I get back. Won’t you, Piper?”

“Well…yes, I—” Piper began, but the rest of her reply was drowned out by the wail of the siren as an ambulance, lights flashing, drove past the window and down the street.

Kyle turned to his aunt. “Get your things. I’ll meet you outside at the truck.”

Vera rose from the chair and hurried from the room.

“Can’t I come with you?” April asked her father again.

Kyle lifted his daughter into his arms. “I’ll be back before you know it. You stay with Piper and show her around the clinic. Put the dogs out back in their run. Okay?”

“Okay,” April reluctantly agreed.

“Atta girl.” He kissed her forehead before setting her down.

He glanced at his watch and turned to Piper. “I have a few appointments this morning, they’re marked down in the blue book,” he told her. “I shouldn’t be more than half an hour, but if anyone wants to reschedule that’s fine. And thanks, I really appreciate this.”

“I’m ready,” Vera said as she reappeared in the doorway. With a reassuring smile, Kyle ruffled April’s hair then joined his aunt.

Piper tried to quell the butterflies fluttering madly inside her. She’d never been left to look after a four-year-old child before. What if something happened?

Suddenly she felt a hand slip into hers and glanced down to see April staring up at her.

“Is Uncle Frank going to be all right?” April asked with a slight hitch in her voice.

Piper drew a steadying breath and managed to smile. “They’re taking him to the hospital where the doctors will take care of him,” she said, sounding more confident than she felt.

April frowned. “I was in the hospital once.”

“Really?” Piper commented, finding the conversation both interesting and distracting. April didn’t appear to be upset at having been left with her, and the fact that the child had confidence in her somehow dispelled her initial anxiety.

“Daddy told me. He said I was born too early, and I had to stay in a cubator for a little while, until I got bigger, then he took me home,” she explained solemnly.

Piper smiled. “Well, I’d say they must have taken good care of you.”

April nodded. “And they’ll take care of Uncle Frank, too.”

That she was a well-behaved, well-adjusted child was apparent, and Piper admired the wonderful job Kyle was obviously doing as a single parent.

Surely if Kyle Masters could do such a good job, there was hope for her.

Half an hour later Piper glanced over at April who was sprawled on the floor flipping through a coloring book. As her father had instructed, April had taken the dogs outside and put them in their run.

Being around April was proving to be educational, and it helped that Martha Cummings and her cat Gypsy had arrived early for their appointment with Kyle.

“I think I saw Kyle’s truck pull in,” Martha Cummings said, cutting into Piper’s wandering thoughts.

Since arriving at the clinic ten minutes before nine, Martha had been casting disapproving glances at Piper.

When Kyle entered, Piper felt a mixture of relief and joy at the sight of him. His mouth curved into a polite smile, but she could see the lines of worry around his mouth.

“Daddy, you’re back!” April hopped up and ran to her father. “Is Uncle Frank all right?”

“Hi, sweetheart! I’m afraid I don’t know how Uncle Frank is. I’m sure Nana will call and let us know. Have you been a good girl?”

April nodded. “When is Nana coming back?”

“I told her we’d pick her up later. Right now I need to take care of things around here.” He turned to the small group of people seated with their pets. “I’m sorry I kept you all waiting. If you’ll give me a few minutes, we’ll get started.”

He crossed to where Piper sat at the desk. She held out a file folder. “Mrs. Cummings and Gypsy are first.”

“Thanks. How was April? No trouble, I hope.”

“None at all,” Piper replied.

“I see you managed to find your way around the filing system,” he said, waving the file at her. His smile this time reached his eyes, and Piper felt her heart kick into high gear.

“In a fashion,” Piper answered. From what she’d been able to determine as she sifted through the papers on the desk, major reorganizing was necessary.

“Thanks,” he said before turning away. “Mrs. Cummings, if you’d like to bring Gypsy into examination room one, please.”

“Daddy, can I come with you?” April asked.

“Sure,” Kyle replied easily. For the next hour Kyle, with his daughter’s help, took care of the pets brought in by their owners.

Relieved of her responsibility to watch over April, Piper turned to her task of sorting through mail and searching for pertinent files.

Without a computer to keep track of billing or an updated list of clients and their pets, his system seemed somewhat archaic. From what she could discern after a quick perusal of his filing cabinets, his previous receptionist had devised a system all her own.

And as for his financial records, his receptionist had had to run things the old-fashioned way, using ledgers. A search of the desk drawers had uncovered several years’ worth, along with a metal cash box with a key taped to its underside.

Each time Kyle emerged from an examination room, he dropped the departing patient’s file into the wire basket on Piper’s desk. Clipped to the outside was a sheet of paper with a breakdown of the reason for the visit and the charges.