Doctor's Delight by Angela Verdenius Page A

betrayal.
    It was time to
forget about him and everyone else and head for the sanctuary of
her home and her beloved cats who loved her and didn’t care what
she looked like.
    Swinging out of
the nearby gate near the taxi rank, she started back down the
pavement only to be drawn to a halt by a now very familiar and
unwanted voice calling her name.
    Horrified, she
looked around to see Rick hurrying up the pathway, his face
concerned – yeah, right! – and standing not far behind him was the
little old lady. Cherry was going to die of embarrassment, she just
knew the elderly woman had told Rick what had been said, and now he
was coming.
    Oh shit, he was
coming!
    Panicked, not
wanting to see or talk to the betraying bastard, Cherry jumped into
the nearest taxi.
    Startled, the
taxi driver looked over the seat at her, his eyes taking in the
tears on her face. “You all right, love?”
    Hearing a
muffled yell, and seeing Rick now running full pelt down the
pathway, drawing dangerously close with every long-legged stride,
she blurted out Maxie’s address and added “Fast! Now! Go!”
    The driver’s
gaze went from Cherry to Rick nearing the gate, and it was more
than obvious he thought it was a lover’s tiff. Or something.
Probably the something. With a shrug he put the car into gear and
pulled out of the taxi rank.
    Cherry caught a
glimpse of Rick leaping over the fence and starting after the taxi,
but the traffic closed in and she was safe. Slumping against the
seat, she closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath, trying
to still her pounding heart.
    Any more of
this shit and she wasn’t going to last the day.
    Maxie wasn’t
home, and Cherry sighed when she remembered that her friend had the
early shift at the hospital. Sitting on the veranda, she
contemplated her choices. She could go to Susie’s house, presuming
she was there, or she could go into town and do some browsing. Or
she could go home. She didn’t have much money on her, and she
certainly couldn’t afford to take taxis everywhere. Her car was at
home and she couldn’t avoid her own home forever.
    After
procrastinating for another twenty minutes, Cherry sighed and left
her friend’s house. Crossing the street, she started the long walk
home. By the time she arrived there, her feet throbbed. Flat
ballerina pumps were cute, but hell for walking long distances.
    A cautious
peering around showed that no handsome, dark-haired, betraying
doctor was lurking anywhere nearby, so she walked up the path,
entered the house and locked the door behind her. Frizz peered
lazily up at her from his upside-down position on the hall floor
and she kicked off one shoe to rub his furry belly with her bare
foot, smiling when his rumbling purr filled the air.
    “You love
Mummy, don’t you?” she said softly.
    He scrunched
his eyes closed in bliss as she continued rubbing his belly.
    ~*~
    Refusing to
pick up the phone when Rick rang, Cherry switched on the answering
machine.
    “Coward,” Susie
stated bluntly after he’d left a message asking her to please ring
him. “Just answer him.”
    “He’s not worth
it,” Cherry replied.
    “Tell him to
piss off,” Maxie suggested. “Bit of profanity might get through to
him.”
    “You think?”
Susie snorted. “When a man has his sights set on getting back into
a woman’s pants, nothing sidetracks him.”
    “Delightful,”
Cherry muttered.
    “I’ll answer
the phone,” Susie stated. “Give him a piece of my mind, the
man-whore.”
    Cherry glared
at her.
    “Oh, come on. I
meant ‘man-whore’ as in he’s bouncing from you to Annabelle.”
    “I hired a
man-whore, remember?”
    “Totally
different scenario.”
    “You’re not
answering the phone, and you’re not talking to him about this
stuff. This is between him and me, and you’re not to tell anyone or
say anything.”
    Susie rolled
her eyes.
    Cherry gritted
her teeth.
    “Susie won’t
say anything,” Maxie assured her. “If she does, I’ll kick her