Run Over

"So she really is a pistol," Lisa replied with a nervous little laugh of her own.

"That she is, but she's been like a mother to me, and I do dearly love her."

"I'm glad she's in your life."

"Me, too," Alex told her before saying they should go see if Lisa could get her car out of the parking lot.

But before they went out, Alex looked at the shoes she was wearing and told her that wasn't such a good idea. He took her keys and went out and tried, but after several attempts to rock the car back and forth and get traction, he gave up.

"No way," he told her when he came back in. "I locked it up, but I'm gonna have to give you a lift."

"I've already put you out so much, Alex. I can just call my brother."

"Does he have a four-wheel drive?"

"Oh. No. No, he doesn't."

"Then it's settled. I'll go warm mine up then we'll grab Sleeping Beauty and get you back home. Give me just a minute to go fire it up, okay?"

"Sure. And, Alex? Thank you."

"My pleasure," he told her before grabbing his big coat and heading out the back where his truck was parked.

Lisa went back into the room where the dog was still out of it and saw her ribs.

"Poor thing," she said as she petted its back and promising the dog she'd take good care of her. She hadn't had one of her own, but growing up there was always a dog in the home, and while she wouldn't have gone out and found one, she was actually happy to be helping this one—especially since she was responsible for the broken leg.

She heard the door close and Alex walked back in and told her he was ready.

"We'll get her in the rear cab then I'll come back and turn out the lights and set the alarm."

Lisa helped him carry the pooch outside where, for the first time all day, she noticed how cold it was as the cold bit into her.

As they drove down the same street the clinic was on, a plow was going the other way in the opposite lane.

"Do you need me to bring you back to get your car later on?" Alex asked as the plow went by.

"Oh, my gosh. No. I'll definitely have my brother come help me. They'll have the street plowed, and we'll bring shovels to get out of the parking lot."

Alex didn't argue with her, but he wasn't sure that was the best idea. But she was a grown woman, and as he glanced over at her, he realized she was a very attractive woman. Her hair was a mess from the snow, but even so, could tell she was a very pretty lady. The only thing he couldn't tell was how old she was. It was obvious she was older than him, but beyond that he wasn't sure.

"So were you on your way home when, you know...." he asked as he nodded toward the back seat.

"Yes. I...today's the um...it's the third anniversary of my husband's passing," Lisa said, trying not to sound dramatic or emotional.

"Lisa, I'm so sorry. Had I known, I'd never have...."

"It's okay, Alex. Really," she said before he could finish apologizing.

She saw him look her way two or three times in rapid succession and felt like he wanted to say something.

"I'm not sensitive about it if you wanted to say something."

"I did, but I'm not sure it's all that appropriate."

"I won't be offended. I promise," Lisa informed him.

"I was just going to say that, well, now I understand why you keep referring to your brother."

"Oh, okay. Yes, he's been a lifesaver to me since my husband passed away."

"I may cross some line with this, so please don't take it the wrong way, but I was really surprised because you're a very attractive woman, and well, I kind of assumed you were married."

He looked at her gloved hands, and Lisa remembered that she's never taken them off since they met.

"No. I still wear my ring, but sadly, I'm no longer married."

"I am sorry," Alex said again.

"Thank you. That's very kind, Alex."

They drove in silence except for the heavy snow tires biting into the sludge beneath when Lisa asked, "How about you? You're not married, are you?"

"Me? No. Definitely not," he replied with a chuckle.

"I also assumed," she confessed with a little laugh. "And I did look and there wasn't a wedding ring, so...."

Alex laughed politely then looked over and asked her, "Wait. Were you checking me out?"

He was only being friendly and maybe a little playful, but Lisa felt her face warming up, something hadn't happened in so long she couldn't remember the last time she'd blushed. Fortunately, it was very dark in the cab of his truck, and Alex couldn't see the glow on her cheeks.

"No. Of course not," she replied a little too defensively.

"Okay," Alex said with a little laugh.

"Besides, I'm a tad bit older than you."

"Oh. So...because of that you wouldn't even look at a guy my age then?" Alex teased.

"I...I didn't say that," Lisa replied, again with a defensive tone.

"Whew!" she heard Alex say.

"Whew? What does that mean?"

"I'm just grateful to know that you weren't rejecting me for my...looks. The age thing I can handle, but if you told me I was, you know, on the ugly side...well, that might hurt."

He laughed, and Lisa finally realized he was kidding about everything.

"Ugly. Listen to you! You're one of the most attractive men...younger men...I've ever met. So no, that's definitely not the case."

"Well, thank you, Lisa, because you're one of the most attractive women I've ever met."

He waited for a second then looked her way and said, "Of any age."

Lisa made a 'spurting' noise then laughed.

"Ha! Yeah, right!"

Alex looked over, and when Lisa looked back, she could tell he wasn't kidding.

"I meant what I said, Lisa. You're...beautiful."

Her tummy flipped then flopped forcing her to say a little too loudly, "Oh, now I get it. You know it's safe to flirt with a woman my age because she won't take you seriously!"

Again, Alex looked at her in that same way.

"I almost never flirt. But I am always honest," he told her, the teasing tone gone from his voice.

That look was too much to take, and Lisa turned away and looked out of her window.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. If I offended you, please forgive me," Alex said with heartfelt concern.

"What? No. You...you didn't offend me, Alex. I just assumed you were, you know, being polite."

She forced herself to look his way again, and for the third time since she'd met him, a chill ran through her.

"I always try to be polite, but I never say anything I don't mean."

Lisa was 39 years old and felt like a teenager whose head was spinning and whose heart was pounding.

"Get a grip," she told herself before seeing the first hint of the street she lived on.

"We'll be turning right in about 50 yards," she warned.

Alex slowed to around 5mph as he turned the corner then continued at around 15 down the street until she gave him another heads up as to which driveway to turn into.

"This is me. Up here on your right."

Alex slowed until her house appeared.

"That one. There," she said as she pointed.

Alex pulled as close to the side door as he could then stopped.

"I'll come around and help you get out," he told Lisa when he put it in park.

She still hadn't recovered from the first emotional salvo when he appeared at her door and held out his hand. She took it, and when she went to step down, he reached under her and scooped her up.

Before she could ask what he was doing he told her there was a good six inches of snow on the driveway and again reminded her about her shoes. The weren't open-toed or even pumps, but they weren't made for this much snow.

He set her on the only step after clearing it off with one foot.

"I'll grab our girl and be right back."

"Don't you need help?" Lisa asked as she got her house key out.

"No. I'm good," he told her.

The dog probably weighted 35 pounds at most, and for a man Alex's size, that was nothing. Even with the stretcher it wasn't much of a lift. He easily picked her up, kicked the door shut then carried her through the open door Lisa was holding for him.

"Where do you want me to put her down?" he asked.

"Um...back here. In the spare bedroom."

It was a three-bedroom home, and Lisa used the master but only furnished one of the other two. The third was kind of a storage room, so she found a soft blanket and laid it on the floor.

"Right here should be good."

Alex laid her down then asked, "Are you good on food and water?"

The blank look on Lisa's face made him smile, but he didn't laugh.

"Water, yes. Food...I'm not sure."

"We passed a Hornbacher's a couple of blocks back. I can run over and pick up a few cans for you until you can get some yourself."

"Alex, I can't...."

"I'll be right back," he told her, that amazing smile on his face again.

"Thank you!" Lisa said as she hunched her shoulders and tilted her head indicating she was in his debt.

As soon as he walked out, Lisa found a large, deep, plastic bowl and filled it with water and set it next to the dog who still didn't have a name. There was an old, worn collar around her neck but no tag, so Lisa decided to give her a name. At least temporarily. But by the time Alex got back, she still hadn't thought of anything.

"Here you go. This will hold you for a couple of days," he told her as he set the bag on her kitchen counter.

He tried to refuse the money she wanted to give him, but Lisa wasn't having it.

"If you're still in college, you don't have a lot of money to throw around, so you will let me pay you!" she told him as she forced the money into his hand.

For a brief moment, his hand was around hers, but once the $10 bill she put there was in his, he let hers go.

"Thank you," he told her as he looked into her eyes.

"No, don't be ridiculous. I need to be thanking you."

He didn't say anything for two or three seconds. Rather, he just stared into her eyes, and Lisa felt that same 'rush' yet again.

"It was my pleasure," he said very quietly and sincerely.

Lisa realized she was staring and did a little head shake as she looked away.

"Thank you so much for picking up the dog food."

"Again. My pleasure."

"I guess I just need to think of a name for her now. And try and find the owner."

"Honestly? I don't think she belongs to anyone. And as far as a name goes...."

The smile on his face made Lisa smile.

"What? What are you thinking?"

"Um, well, the uh, the first name that came to mind was...Twiggy."

Lisa's eyes opened wide in surprise, but she understood the reference to the ultra-thin model from the 1960s.

"Twiggy. That's...perfect!" Lisa said after giving it a moment of thought.

"Poor thing's all skin and bones."

Lisa picked up the bag of canned food, smiled, then said, "I'm gonna change that starting right now."

Alex chuckled politely then said, "I should get going, but it was truly a pleasure meeting you, Lisa."

"Yes. Same here...Alex," she told him, hoping she didn't have a goofy look on her face.

"Oh. Let me give you my number just in case you have a problem."

Lisa started to object, but Alex wasn't having it. She let him put his number in her phone then thanked him yet again.

He told her she was welcome then turned to leave. He stopped after taking one step then looked back over his shoulder and said with another one of those amazing smiles, "You really are beautiful."

Stunned, Lisa just stood there as he left without saying another word. The warm glow from his comments lasted for another hour or so when she heard Twiggy making noises.

"Hey! How's my girl?" Lisa said as she bent down.

She slowly extended her hand, the palm away from the dog, to let her sniff it. Twiggy was still groggy but sniffed and didn't try to bite her.

Lisa moved the water bowl closer, and it was obvious the dog wanted to drink. The only thing she could think of was to help lift her back end up and keep pressure off the rear leg. Once she was up, Twiggy drank until half the bowl was gone.

Lisa laid her back down then opened a can of food and put it in another bowl with the same results. She was clearly hungry but unable to stand up.

"Here. Let's try this," Lisa said as she made a face while scooping some of it out with a bare hand.

She put it under Twiggy's nose, and the starving pooch began licking then gulping.

"Good girl!" Lisa said as she got some more and kept doing it until the entire can was nearly gone. With just a little bit left she remembered the pills. She put one of each in the last small handful which her new dog wolfed down in one bite.

After washing her hands, Lisa sat next to her new friend and petted her for nearly an hour, and when she got up to leave, Twiggy started crying. Lisa felt awful, so she pulled the blanket, with the dog on it, along the hardware floor into her bedroom. As she got ready to lay down herself, the dog's eyes never left her as she moved around the room.

"Okay, Miss Twiggy. It's time to go night-night," Lisa told her as she petted her one more time.

Knowing her human was very close, Twiggy didn't cry and fell asleep the moment Lisa turned off the light and stayed there until she woke up the next morning. And that's when Lisa realized she had to let the dog out to pee and panicked.

Lifting her up to drink was one thing. But taking her outside in what was now well over a foot of snow was quite another. She didn't have a leash and the dog was going to have to pee soon.

It was just after 8am, and Lisa didn't know what else to do when she dialed Alex's number.

"Did you miss me already?" she heard him say when he answered the phone.

His sense of humor took her a second, but she laughed when she understood.

"I apologize for calling, but Twiggy needs to go outside, and I don't have a leash, and I'm not sure how to do this."

"It's a good thing I've been up since six studying then," Alex said, clearly being playful. "I'll be there in less than 10 minutes."

Without giving her a chance to speak he hung up leaving Lisa looking at the phone and wondering what just happened.

Nine minutes later, Alex came to her door with a leash in hand.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully as he handed her the leash.

"Good morning, and again—thank you."

"Where's our girl?" he asked as he looked around.

"Oh. I moved her into the bedroom. She wouldn't stop crying otherwise."

"I can certainly understand why," Alex told her, that same smile there. But it was the deeper meaning behind what he'd just said that made her look away again before taking him to see the dog.

"There she is!" he said as he walked into the bedroom.

Twiggy's tail was wagging, and she was trying to sit up.

"Hold on, girl!" Alex said as he went over to her.

He bent down, scooped her up, then asked Lisa to open the door for them so he could carry her outside.

It was even colder than the night before, and Lisa shivered inside as she watched Alex carry the thin, frail dog around through the snow trying to find just the right place. After three failures, Twiggy gingerly squatted down and did her thing. But Alex knew there was...another thing...still needing to be done. So he lifted her back up and carried her around until she was ready to finish taking care of all her business.

Lisa heard him saying, "Good girl!" as he picked her back up and brought her inside.

He also nuzzled the dog, and because Lisa knew the affection was genuine, the scene melted her heart.

"Okay. All better!" Alex said after laying her back down.

"Alex? Thank you again," a very grateful Lisa told him.

"Oh, gosh. You don't need to thank me, Lisa."

"Um...yes, I do."

There was no smile this time and yet Alex's face seemed even more handsome when he spoke.

"You're the one who should be thanked, Lisa. Very few people would have even stopped at all, let alone in this kind of weather. But you did. And you went looking for help. So in my book, you're the hero here."

Lisa was struggling to understand why she felt the way she did whenever Alex looked at her or spoke to her, and yet here she was again feeling it. She finally looked at him, and just before she could say something, he unintentionally cut her off.

"Has she eaten yet?"

"Oh. No. She ate last night, but I...she...no. Not yet."

"She's really underweight. You could feed her four or five small meals a day until those ribs stop showing."

Again, Lisa wanted to comment, but Alex kept going.

"I assume she's drinking plenty of water?"

Lisa checked and the entire bowl was empty.

"Yes. In fact, I need to refill that. Then I'll get her food ready."

"Here. Let me get the water, and you can take care of the food," he said just as she moved to grab the bowl.

"Okay, but you don't have to do that," Lisa said in a very nice way.

When Alex looked at her something gave him the impression she wanted him to leave.

"I'm sorry. When it comes to animals I can get carried away. You're probably trying to get breakfast for yourself and I can't take a hint. I'll uh, I'll go ahead and get out of your hair."

Rather than stay on point, all Lisa heard was 'hair'. She hadn't had a chance to brush hers out, and lord only knew what it looked like.

"My hair. Yeah, that'd scare anyone away!"

"Listen to you! You're more attractive first thing in the morning than most women are before they go out," Alex told her, that smile back and doing the same thing it had before. At least her cheeks weren't glowing this time.

"I honestly wasn't trying to get you to leave, Alex. I really, truly appreciate your help."

She made herself look at him and as she spoke she tried to smile.

"And your company."

"So you haven't had breakfast yet?" he asked.

"Me? No. I, well, as you can see, I haven't even had time to brush my hair yet."

Alex smiled again then said, "Tell you what. You go ahead and get ready and I'll feed Twiggy. By the time you're ready, she'll be done, and we can run over to IHOP."

Too stunned to speak, Lisa stood there in her robe and...crazy hair...and just stared at him.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," the handsome, young vet-to-be said. "I'll bring Twiggy out here and feed her while you do your thing, okay?"

Before she could reply, Alex was carefully dragging Twiggy out the same she had by pulling the blanket she was laying on. Her tail was wagging again, and it was obvious Alex was having fun.

"All right, Twiggy-twig. Alex is gonna make you a delicious breakfast while Mommy gets ready to go have some pancakes and eggs. How does that sound?"

Twiggy barked, and when she did, Lisa smiled and that was enough to get her to move. Alex barely noticed her close the bedroom door, but Lisa could still hear him talking to the dog as she got to the bathroom door.

She was almost afraid to look at herself in the mirror, but something made her take a look.

"Oh, my...word!" she said when she saw the frazzled mess while reaching for a brush.

Once her hair looked human again, Lisa took her robe off and started looking for something to wear. Knowing it was around 25 degrees outside, she grabbed a blue turtleneck she thought was pretty and carefully pulled it over her head then stepped into her favorite pair of jeans.

"Maybe a little mascara," she said out loud to herself.

She put some on then thought a touch of blush wouldn't hurt. She even grabbed a tube of lipstick but put it down with a shake of her head. But it only stayed there for a second or two when she told herself her lips would chap if she didn't protect them.

"And besides, it's not like it's got a lot of color to it," she told herself as she put the glossy cream on her soft, full lips.

Some warm socks and her purse were the only other thing she needed from the bedroom as her coat, scarf, and gloves were all in the foyer.

When she walked out, she'd almost forgotten why she'd gotten ready until Alex saw her.

"Wow! Now that was worth waiting for!" he said as he smiled at her again. He was bent down petting Twiggy when he saw her.