Free Sandy Sullivan by Doctor Me Up

drinks."
    They
both put the menus away. Natalie grabbed her hand. "Now, tell me about
things with Marcus."
    "There's
nothing to tell," Elizabeth said, pulling her hand back, stuffing her
napkin down on her lap.
    "Bullshit.
I see the twinkle in your eye when his name is mentioned."
    "It's
nothing, Natalie. He's very nice and all, but I don't want any kind of
relationship or anything."
    "You're
attracted to him though, I can tell."
    "Yes,
I am. Maybe we'll have a quick fling while I'm here. I could definitely use
some attention like that for a change. Things with Ari sucked in the making
love department."
    "Pencil
dick?"
    Elizabeth
burst out laughing. "He wasn't well endowed."
    "Well
I couldn't tell you about Marcus' but I'm pretty sure he's attracted to
you."
    "If
our kiss says anything, I'd say so."
    "Kiss?"
    "I
didn't tell you, did I?"
    "No,
spill it girl."
    "I
went to his office yesterday to apologize for my behavior. The night before
when I found out who he really was, I jumped to conclusions I shouldn't have.
By the way, I'm pissed at you for not telling me."
    "Telling
you?"
    "About
Marcus being the guy from the ball."
    "He
asked me not to."
    "I
realize that, but I'm still pissed. Anyway, I asked him to have dinner with so
I could grovel appropriately. He agreed. We went to the Millhouse."
    "I
love their food."
    "My
steak was excellent, of course. Anyway, he walked me out to the car and kissed
me goodnight."
    "Nothing
else?"
    She
glanced from her right to her left to make sure no one paid any attention to
their conversation before she said, "It curled my toes."
    "See!
I told you!"
    "Sshh."
    "Sshh
what? You two are perfect for each other."
    "We're
not perfect for each other. I hardly know anything about him."
    "Well,
let me tell you—"
    "That's
not what I meant, Natalie. Yes, he seems to be a nice guy, but I don't have
time for any kind of relationship. I'm leaving for Billings in a month. I'll be
there for three years. Long distance relationships don't work."
    "Just
get to know him, Liz. You never know where things will lead."
    Mabel
returned with their drinks and winked as she stepped back. "Doctor Melton
has enough women chasing him, he won't miss you if you
don't pursue him, Elizabeth."
    "I'm
not interested…"
    "I'm
only giving you my opinion. He has enough of the women in this town panting
like their little dogs when he's around. Gorgeous and eligible around here gets
noticed rather quickly."
    Elizabeth
closed her eyes. Everyone seemed to be interested in matching her up with Marcus,
not that she didn't think he would be a catch, but she couldn't take the time
to formulate anything with anyone, much less Marcus right now. He had his life and
she had to finish her residency.
    Within
moments, their food arrived and they dug in as they talked about her niece and
nephew, her schooling, how things actually went down with Ari and what she
planned when she got to Billings. She mentioned the cattle. Natalie agreed
something suspicious seemed to be going on, especially when she mentioned this
was the second time in two weeks.
    "Dad
is going to have the water tested in the pool. It seems the other incident
happened in the same location or close to it. Marcus mentioned the water might
have been contaminated by a dead animal or something."
    "No
one has seen anything weird?"
    "No.
I talked to Jackson, you know, Dad's foreman. He hasn't seen anyone except
Marcus up there." She tapped the fork in her hand against her lips.
    "What?
You look like you're thinking of something."
    "You
don't think…no, he can't be involved."
    "Who? Marcus?" Natalie slammed her fork down on the table and Elizabeth jumped.
"No way Marcus would be involved in something like this. He loves animals.
He'd never hurt one. Not even a cow."
    "Why
would he anyway? It doesn't make sense."
    "See?
Even you couldn't really believe he would behind something like this. It has to
be an accident."
    "If
Dad didn't know the pool might be contaminated, he wouldn't know to