That Perfect Place Page 5

  Ida came up behind her. “I really need to update this wall. These are all old. These two are Nels and Jeanine with their mother before she died. This is young Nels during his football career with the Packers. He played for three years before his knees gave out. Jeanine was into acting at that time, and this is her in South Pacific up in Waterloo. Then, of course, here is Jakob in his marine dress uniform. He was a lieutenant, and these medals are for the campaigns he was on in Africa and Afghanistan and his Purple Heart. This one is a commendation for courage under fire. Small reward for all he went through, though.” She lovingly wiped some imaginary dust off the frame.

  After a quiet moment to reflect, she picked up a framed photo from the phone table. “Here is their father and me just after we were married. It was taken in Stockholm at my parents’ house. We went every year around my birthday. Well, I did. Some years my husband couldn’t get away.”

  “Do you miss home?” Jill caught some wistfulness in Ida’s tone.

  “I miss my sisters something fierce, but I don’t miss the long winters and short summers, not that the weather is much better here sometimes.”

  Jake came down the hall from his little annex at the back of the house, the tantalizing smell of aftershave wafting through the air around him, his hair still damp but tamed for a change. He gave a brief hug to his mother.

  “Welcome to pandemonium,” he greeted Jill and then continued into the living room to talk to his brother—but not without sneaking a peek back at his new employee. That dress shows off her curves nicely. Legs are nice too, all shapely and feminine. God, she is good to look at.

  When Jill was sent in to announce dinner, the two brothers were still engrossed in their conversation. She overheard Jake say, “I have to have proof before I go before a judge, but meanwhile I don’t want Brad over there any more than I can help.”

  Nels put his hand on his brother’s arm, and the conversation broke off. They both looked at Jill as if they didn’t know who she was. She knew they had been discussing some secret, perhaps more of the “troubles” people had hinted at?

  “Ida sent me to tell you that dinner is served.”

  “Oh, Nels,” Jake recovered quickly, “have you met the new doctor on my staff? Jillian Maitland, this is my brother, Nels. Nels, Jill.”

  Her hand was wrapped in an enormous calloused paw. Nels wasn’t as tall as Jake but twice as wide and noticeably weathered. “Glad to have you aboard. Now maybe my kid brother can make an occasional football game.” Nels steered her toward the kitchen. She noticed Jake checking his cell behind them.

  Things were being served buffet-style because of the size of the crowd. The food was good, especially Jill’s coleslaw and her treatment of the vegetables.

  Sam Jr. commented, “I never knew that veggies were supposed to be tasty. I thought things that were good for you had to be boring.”

  “Well, thank you. I just added some spices when I sautéed them. Do I call you Sam or what?”

  “SJ,” everyone responded at once.

  Jeanine threw a napkin at him. “Thanks for making me feel inferior, kid,” she said without malice. “He is right though, Jill. I don’t know what you did, but these are as good as Celia’s roast and that’s saying something.”

  “Thank you. I enjoy cooking. My Aunt Susan spent hours in her kitchen teaching me when I was in college. If I hadn’t been accepted to vet school it was my second choice.”

  “Well, I’m glad you made it through school. You’re a big asset for us,” Jake stated. “But the cooking is appreciated too.”

  Jill had whipped up a trifle for dessert that had the girls salivating and the men at the table longer than normal. She had an opportunity to get to know Stephanie, the other technician, a bit and began to understand Jeanine through Emma as they cleaned up.

  “Jeanine has been the glue that has held the whole family together since her dad got hit with the lawsuit back in 1994.” Emma informed her. “Nels Jr. was coaching in Oklahoma, so he wasn’t around. Ida is very sweet but kind of helpless. Jeanine was the one who met with the lawyers and pushed her dad to do what was prudent. She gave up her budding career as an actress to help out here.”

  “Jake went off on his own and joined the marines ROTC program without telling anyone first. Doc Nels hit the ceiling and Jeanine had to smooth that over too. For some reason he could never forgive Jake for finding his own way.” Emma shook her head. “He always treated him with contempt after that, especially because he did his vet school in California.”

  “But UC Davis is a great school, and Jake is a terrific vet,” Jill countered.

  “It was sheer stubborn pride,” Celia commented. “Doc Nels was ashamed that he couldn’t provide for his children. Also, he was still stinging from the fact that his father was leaving the property in equal shares to him and his wife and children, not directly to him.”

  “I suppose he felt as if his own father didn’t trust him to have anything left for his kids,” Emma concluded. The conversation turned to Emma’s husband, and Jill was called away to even up the sides in volleyball. It was the kids against the younger women. The men were off playing horseshoes.

  Around dusk everyone started pulling out, and Jake headed for the clinic. Jill followed to see if she could help. Her phone rang, and she answered it without thinking. Jake could tell from her expression that it was the husband, so he left her to have some privacy. He could tell she was angry when she rejoined him minutes later.

  “Would you take some advice from someone who has no right to give it?” he asked.

  “Fire away. I welcome all the advice I can get at this point.”

  “Well, you have a good reputation as a vet, and Dr. Carver does not. I checked. Decide what you want out of this and stick to it. Make this a positive move that sets you up for the life you choose and don’t worry about how he makes out. He’ll survive.”

  “You’re probably right. Tom thinks I’m incapable of being on my own.” She grimaced. “You know you have a knack for saying the right thing.”

  “Yeah, but I never follow my own good advice.”

  She wondered if that meant that he was unsatisfied with his own life just now, and she hoped that wasn’t the case. Maybe he’s just depressed. Jake is an all-around nice guy and should be happy.

  n Monday the annoying calls started for Jill. Tom called her every half hour to beg for her return. Now that she had moved on, he was getting nervous. She knew he had always assumed she would run back to him. When they were first married she had deferred to him and let him be the boss, thinking it was the right thing to do. All it did was lead him to believe she was incapable on her own. She had practiced long enough now to be sure of her skills and knew she could make it without him. The calls and letters from old clients in Marietta and her warm reception here had buoyed her confidence immensely.

  Finally, she blocked his number so she could receive the calls she did need. Using Dave’s truck, Jill headed east while Jake headed west for some farm calls. With the plat book and her GPS she was able to find her way to all but one call with no wrong turns, to her satisfaction. She phoned Jeanine and got the directions straightened out.

  “Legally, they have no permanent residence. They sort of float, but Sue will pay you in cash for seeing Willie. She loves that dog. Do whatever you think is necessary, but don’t charge more than twenty dollars. Sue can’t afford it.”

  A little silver trailer by a small stream turned out to be the temporary residence of Sue (last name and occupation unknown) and Willie, the well-groomed, gentlemanly St. Bernard. A rusty, ancient Nissan slouched tiredly in front of the trailer.

  “We just came back from shopping; can I get you some coffee?”

  “No thanks, I’ve had enough coffee to make me jittery already. Let’s take a look at Willie, shall we?”

  As it turned out, Willie just needed a nail clip and some ointment for an infected cut. Jill found a bottle of dry shampoo with Willie’s name on it when she went to ge
t the ointment. Sue handed her eighteen dirty singles in payment.

  “Jake usually cleans his ears when he comes,” she explained as she stuffed the remaining ones into her pocket. Jill obediently wiped the dog’s ears with witch hazel and refused the other two dollars.

  “Willie looks good for his age,” she told Sue. “His teeth are really clean.”

  “We brush every day,” Sue answered.

  As she returned to the clinic for the afternoon, Jill hoped the two of them didn’t use the same toothbrush and then felt mean for thinking it.

  She had lunch with Jeanine and Ellen. After Sunday, she felt more at ease with Jake’s sister. Ida brought the food over but declined to join them as she was going with Emma to see Dave.

  “Twelve calls this morning from Tom,” Jill remarked, checking her phone. “He is getting desperate.”

  “If you don’t mind me saying,” Ellen began, “you should let your lawyer know. At this point, everything should go through him unless you are reconciling.” She paused. “My sister works for a divorce lawyer in Cedar Rapids,” she added with an apologetic smile.

  “You’re right, of course,” Jill said. “My friend Trish called over the weekend to tell me to stand firm. It seems that a rather attractive real estate agent has been living in our house practically since I moved out. I wonder if Tom ever loved me at all, even in the beginning, or if I was just cheap help?” She sighed expressively.

  “It doesn’t mean you are not worthy of love, so don’t ever think that,” Jeanine pointed out. “Look at Jake. Who could say he isn’t lovable? Yet Caroline two-timed him for that creep Donny almost from the beginning. She once told me she married Jake because she had a crush on Nels, if you can imagine. The two couldn’t be more different.”

  “As a woman, I think one of our biggest secret fears is that we aren’t worthy of being loved by a man,” Ellen admitted. “I was thirty-one when I married Dwight, and I can remember despairing of ever attracting anybody. During school, I dated occasionally but nothing serious. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me. Dwight and I had been neighbors when we were kids, and when I met him again at a reunion, everything just fell into place. I remember being so relieved.”

  “Remember the old black-and-white movies? They made falling in love and getting married so…black and white,” mused Jeanine.

  “Yes, but they all portrayed the woman giving up all her ambitions and just being a wife and mother. Nowadays we all have to pull our own weight financially as well,” Ellen added.

  “And still be the perfect wife and mother,” Jeanine remarked caustically.

  “And beautiful and sexy,” Ellen added.

  Jeanine snorted. “Like that has ever described me.”

  “I like being a vet, but part of me still wants the wife-and-mother thing,” Jill said wistfully.

  “Therein lies the rub,” said Jeanine. “I like having a career too, but the days are only twenty-four hours and at least six of that needs to be sleep. I love my two, but I am tired all the time.”

  “Now you’re scaring me,” Ellen laughed. “Dwight’s good about helping out so far, but what happens when the twins are here? The good news is that my mother is hiring a day nanny for the first six weeks and paying for it. We’ll see after that.”

  “How much are you going to work while the twins are little?” Jeanine asked.

  “Cedar Vets has offered me three evenings a week. Dwight and I figure we can continue on that until the kids go to school. I’ll work more hours then so we can afford to educate them.”

  “Well, you’re welcome here whenever you need more hours,” Jeanine offered.

  “Thanks, you guys have been great.”

  Jill wondered to herself if she would ever have the problems of balancing home and family as these two did. Part of her wanted very much to try, but not unless the right man offered. She was tired of being a doormat. Looking back she realized that Tom had made comments about her weight and ridiculed her in other subtle ways from the very beginning, and she had let him. The feeling of foolishness washed over her again as it had so many times this last year. For five years, she had worked diligently while he flirted his way through life doing as little as possible.

  Jill was able to finish up by one on Wednesday, so she grabbed her clubs and headed out to a public course for a few holes of golf, her one indulgence. She had led the girls’ golf team in high school and sneaked out of a few classes in college to play.

  Her lawyer called when she was teeing off on the third hole, so she let others play through while she talked to him.

  “He just got a big lawsuit served on him from a longtime client of yours, Jill. You’re not specifically named in the suit, but he never took your name off the sign. Are you still a partner or part of the corporation?”

  “No. I was always just an employee. Tom said it was a tax benefit to list me that way. He was incorporated with his uncle.”

  “You’re kidding. Well, in this case that’s great. The malpractice happened after you left, so you have no liability.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?”

  “I don’t have the details, but it seems an otherwise healthy animal died from anesthesia.”

  “Oh, dear, well, it happens.” Especially when you are careless. “Did you get my message that he’s been calling me constantly all this week?”

  “I talked to his lawyer. If they don’t stop by Friday, we’ll get a restraining order. How’s Iowa?”

  “So far, great. The people here are really nice, and the puppies and kitties are just as cute.”

  “Good. We’ll expedite these divorce proceedings and you can get on with your life. I still can’t fathom why he thinks going to court will help him any. He has to know he is going to lose big if he does.”

  “Tom still thinks I’m going to come crawling back.”

  “Well, it will be him who does the crawling.”

  “That’s a sight I’d like to see. Thanks, Dan. Bye.”

  She had walked over to the women’s tee when a man called out to her. “Would you mind if we paired up? Things are about to get crowded. The Wednesday leagues are about to start. Maybe together we can finish nine holes before they kick us off.”

  Jill looked up to see a very attractive man with sandy brown hair and friendly blue eyes. He was about her age, well manicured, and expensively dressed.

  “I think that would be OK,” she answered, feeling rebellious. Tom wouldn’t know, of course, but it was another way to assert her independence.

  “Good. I hate playing alone. I’m Bob Mattson, by the way.”

  “Jill Maitland.” She shook his firm hand.

  Bob was an excellent golfer, and it brought out Jill’s competitive side. She shot near par all the way around the course. Admittedly, it was an easy course, but she was pleased. Golf was the one thing that she and Tom had both enjoyed, although he enjoyed it twice a week to her one. Afterward, Bob treated her to a drink in the clubhouse.

  “So aside from golf what else do you do, Jill?”

  “I’m a veterinarian. I work for the clinic in Jesup.”

  “Ah, Gundersen and Murdoch, all work and no pay. Gundersen is reported to be a decent vet, but he needs to charge more and stop doing so much charity work if he wants to succeed.”

  “My pay there is what it should be, but Jake does have a soft spot for some of his clients. Our charges are lower than Ohio but not by much.”

  “That’s where you’re from then?”

  “Actually I was born and raised in Wisconsin. I only practiced in Ohio for the last five years.”

  “A cheese head, huh? I’m an Iowa boy born and bred.”

  “And what do you do, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  “This and that. I own part of a corn-processing plant, a restaurant, and a few other things.”

  Bob’s charm was disarming, and Jill found herself agreeing to another game. They set a time for eighteen holes on Thursday and parted just as
the sun was setting. She felt elated as she drove back to the cabin. A good job, meeting new friends, and golf. Life is good.

  Thursday was one of those glorious days on the course when the sun was bright but not too hot and the air smelled of fresh grass and flowering trees. Jill shot well on all but one hole and finished just six over par. Bob gave her a few pointers and asked if she would like to join a league.

  “I’d love to give it a whirl.”

  “It just so happens I’m on the membership committee. I’ll write you a visitor’s pass.”

  So far so good, Jill thought to herself as she loaded her clubs into her car. Bob Mattson had been friendly but had concentrated only on the game, which was all she wanted.

  Jake was just leaving the clinic for some farm calls after completing the scheduled surgeries for the day. He watched Jill pull in and head into the cabin and realized watching her was becoming a habit. At first he had paid attention to make sure she was competent. Now he realized he was watching her because she was absolutely the most interesting thing any man could clap his eyes on. Shit, I’d better watch myself or I’m going to screw up the best thing that’s happened around here. In spite of his self-admonishments, he didn’t pull out until she was out of sight.

  riday was Ellen’s last afternoon, and a bunch of people stopped by to say good-bye and bring things for her family. Jeanine threw a small party at closing time. Jake was a bit late on account of some loose cows. Apparently the collies had a grand time rounding them up. He seemed a bit out of sorts, and Callie was being very clingy so Jill coaxed the little girl away from him with an offer to show her the kitten in the kennel area. When Ellen’s daughter and husband showed up, Callie went to play with Ellen’s daughter.

  “Thanks,” Jake said to Jill as he handed her a piece of cake. “Callie can be a leech at times.”