Several months later her phone rang.
"Need any assistance from a good mechanic? He's pretty good with animals, too."
Ruth had been pleasantly shocked.
It was Declan. She had not heard from him since the conference.
She thought of looking him up on the Internet a few times, but some crisis at the center always seemed to come up, and it slipped her mind. Whenever she thought about him later, she was too exhausted to do anything but go home, take a quick shower, and drop into bed.
And then one day she looked up, and the tall, handsome, mysterious doctor was standing outside the security gate of the wildlife center. Ruth was thrilled to see him but muted her response.
She decided not to put too much into his surprise appearance until she found out more about why he was here. She walked up to him.
"This is a nice and unexpected surprise," she said.
"Hello, Ruth," Declan said. "I couldn't get you out of my mind. I wanted to see this place you have out here. I looked you up online and saw you have a new way to get the word out about your work with the animals. I think The Band-Aid is a great idea. You can help the local artisans and the wildlife at the same time.
And I couldn't believe that Hobie Stricker lives so close to you all. He's an incredible talent. I play a little myself, and I've been coveting a Stricker guitar for a long time. When I read on your site that Stricker and his band would be playing at your shop this weekend, I had to come."
"I'm a fan of Hobie's, too," Ruth said. "I think he's a treasure. He's so incredibly talented but so humble and down to earth."
"He is," said Declan. "I gotta confess that Hobie's only the second reason I had to come up here. The real one is that I wanted to see you, too."
"Well, I'm glad to hear it," Ruth said. "For a minute there, I thought I was going to be playing second fiddle to an acoustic guitar."
"So," Declan said, "are we going to stand here in this morning mist until we drown, or are you going to show me what you've got going on here? I was hoping you'd let me volunteer, too. I want to help in some way while I'm here."
"Sure. I can always use experienced hands. Are you on vacation or something? HopeRockCounty isn't exactly America's premier destination for sun and relaxation. It's not what you're used to, I'm sure. Compared to where you live, we're very primitive out here."
YOU ARE READING
Nobody Knows Your Secret
Mystery / ThrillerIt was a heck of a shot. It was the perfect murder. Someone killed Kyle Winthrop as he lay in his bed. His mother, Claire, doesn't care much - she's too strung out on prescription pain pills. But his Grandmother cares, and she begs her good friend...
