Trust Me by Melanie Craft Read Free Book Online Page A

frowned, suspecting that he was up to something. But she couldn’t come up with a good reason to refuse such an innocuous
     request. If she was lucky, Max would move in and out of the clinic without any drama. “Okay,” she said. “Come on in.”
    To Carly’s relief, the waiting room was empty, which meant that her nine o’clock client was running even later than she was.
     The front desk was also empty, and the jingle of the bell over the front door brought Nick, one of their veterinary technicians,
     from the back. When he saw that it was Carly, he waved briefly.
    “I thought you were the Taylor cat,” he said. “Dr. Wex is waiting for her.”
    “Where’s Michelle?” Carly asked. “Max, the phone is right there. Push the line one button before you dial.”
    “She’s sick,” Nick said. “I’m the front and back office today. Something’s going around.”
    “I guess so. Rich was out yesterday. Well, don’t you dare catch it, Nick, whatever it is. I need you.”
    He grinned. “People who take herbs never get sick. Let me know if you want some.”
    Carly shuddered. The last time she had been on the verge of a cold, Nick had talked her into swallowing a dropperful of some
     foul, cloudy brown substance that had been so bitter that her tongue had gone numb in self-defense. Since then she had stuck
     resolutely to conventional medicine.
    With a curious glance at Max, Nick excused himself. Carly hung up her coat and went around to the wall of client records to
     pull the chart for her first appointment. She was paging through it when Richard appeared. He was scowling, and Carly was
     surprised to see that his right hand was bandaged.
    “You’re late,” he said.
    Out of the corner of her eye, Carly saw Max pause in his dialing. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I left you a message on
     the voice mail. You didn’t get it?”
    Richard shook his head. “No, I didn’t get it. Michelle called in sick, then you didn’t show up. What was I supposed to think?”
    “If you had checked the messages, you would have known.”
    “I’ve got a tumor removal and two hip replacements today, and you think I have time for secretarial work? I don’t even get
     a lunch break.” Richard seemed to notice Max for the first time. “Who’s that?”
    “That is Max Giordano,” Carly said. Max replaced the receiver and stepped out from behind the desk to gaze down at Richard,
     who was several inches shorter. “Max, meet Richard Wexler, my partner.”
    Richard squinted at Max, his eyes darting over Max’s tailored suit, his silk tie, his watch. “Don’t I know you?”
    “I doubt it,” Max said. He hadn’t missed Rich’s not-so-subtle assessment of his net worth.
    “Huh,” Richard said, unconvinced. “You look familiar. Are you sure we haven’t met somewhere?”
    Carly cut in. “Rich, what happened to your hand?”
    He was still frowning at Max. “I got bitten. That yellow Lab. The Palmer dog. It’s nothing.”
    “When did that happen? You weren’t in the office yesterday.”
    “It was the day before yesterday. You were off making house calls, so you missed it. Does it matter?”
    It wasn’t a real question, so Carly didn’t bother to answer. Richard was very proud, and she supposed that he felt foolish
     about the wound, as if it proclaimed incompetence. He wasn’t a bad animal handler, but he tended to be impatient. The high-strung
     retriever was notorious for snapping at everyone, but Richard was the type to take it personally.
    Carly sighed. It was good that she had introduced Richard and Max, she thought dryly. Maybe they could go out for a beer and
     compare notes on how to make her miserable. No doubt Rich would be delighted to hear about Max’s plans to ruin her life in
     court. Unless, of course, that meant more work at the office for him.
    Max was regarding Richard with a kind of cool curiosity akin to that of a cat watching a large bug crawl up a wall, and Carly
     was glad that he