The Morning After. Dorie Graham

and I’ll get the injections ready. Give him about an hour and he’ll be fine.”

      “Sure looks awful.”

      “Untreated, it could constrict his trachea or make his tongue swell so much it could cut off his breathing.”

      “So let’s get on with those shots. That sister of mine will skin me if I return him damaged.”

      “Come on, boy.” She urged Buck into the house after her.

      A short while later, she found Thomas tinkering in the small workshop he kept at the back of his garage. A box fan stirred the thick air around him. He turned as she approached.

      “Hey, there, pull up a chair.” He patted the stool beside him. “How’s the old boy?”

      “Took his shots like a trooper.”

      “Thanks for the house call, pumpkin. Tell me, what do I owe you?”

      She waved her hand in dismissal. “The way I see it, I owe you. I wouldn’t even have the clinic if you hadn’t talked me into going to work for Doc Emerson way back when. And I might not have stuck it out if you weren’t constantly encouraging me and sending me business.”

      “Doc knew his practice would be in good hands when he sold it to you.”

      “It’s certainly made life easier, stepping into an established practice. I’d be lucky to break even if I were starting from scratch.”

      “You’ve worked your ass off for it and you earned every penny. You helped build that business. Now, you send me a bill. Nobody makes house calls these days.”

      “This really is closer than the clinic. Besides, this way I can drive by the house I’m buying.”

      “You found a house?”

      “It’s in Coral Gables. The closing is scheduled for the end of July.”

      “That’s wonderful! My Nikki is going to have her own home at last.” His eyes misted. “I’m proud of you, girl. No one’s worked as hard as you have. I’ve never known a more deserving soul.”

      Happiness filled her. “I’ve wanted this my whole life, Thomas. You can’t know what it means to me. After this move, I’m never going to move again.”

      His eyebrows drew together. “I know living with Maggie wasn’t easy, but it’s made you strong and independent. It’s made you the woman you are today.”

      “Aw, it wasn’t so bad—not if you don’t mind changing addresses every couple of months.” In spite of Sophie’s revelation, Nikki couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her tone. “There was that one time we got to keep the same phone number through three moves. As long as I didn’t invite any of the kids over, they didn’t realize we had moved and I was spared the jokes about Mom taking a new lover. That subdivision had lots of street parties, so we met most of our neighbors. If there had been more single men, we might have stayed in the area a little longer.” Bitterness tinged her voice. “Until I got my first apartment, I never knew what it was like to not live out of suitcases and boxes. That was life.”

      “You still don’t understand her. She loves her art and her men.”

      “What’s to understand? Sophie says Mom has a big heart.”

      “It’s true. Do you doubt that Maggie loved each and every one of those men?”

      “I don’t know. I guess she did.”

      “Was there ever fighting? Any bad partings?”

      “Of course. What home goes without fighting?”

      “Maggie had fallings-out with her men? They fought?” Thomas peered at her, his eyebrows arched.

      Nikki frowned. Funny, she and her sisters had had their share of sibling rivalry. Seems she and her mother had fought all the time. But try as she might, she couldn’t remember a single moment of discord between her mother and any of her lovers.

      “It’s weird. I can’t remember any. That seems strange, doesn’t it, that all those relationships were peaceful, then the breakups amicable?”

      “That’s my Maggie. She has a special magic.”

      “Sophie calls it a ‘gift.’ I guess that’s one way of looking at it.”

      “I take it you don’t believe in this gift?”

      “The gift of sexual healing? Get serious.”

      “Oh, Nikki, it’s very serious business indeed.”

      She turned to face him more squarely. “You mean you believe my mother runs through lovers like last season’s fashions because she’s in their lives to heal them sexually, then she moves on once the healing’s complete?”

      “That’s right. You do understand.”

      “No. I don’t get how a man as reasonable as you can believe that.”

      “I don’t get how a woman with this special gift can deny the magic she’s been born with.”

      She stared at him a moment. First Sophie, now Thomas. Was there something to this after all? “So you believe this gift is inherited by all the women of my family?”

      “That’s my understanding, but you should be able to answer that for yourself.”

      A small groan escaped her. Tess certainly seemed gifted when it came to the opposite sex. With Erin it was hard to tell, but she was young still and hadn’t had many serious relationships. Nikki’s own love life was at least unusual. “I don’t know, Thomas. It’s just a little out-there, isn’t it?”

      “Is it?”

      A shrug was all she could give in answer. “I suppose the empathic nature goes hand in hand.”

      “I believe it’s stronger in some of you than in others.” His gaze pinned her. “Could be worth exploring.”

      If it were all true, was she doomed to live a life devoid of love? “You mean, I should enter relationships for the sole purpose of healing but never get attached because I’ll always have to let go?” Her throat tightened.

      “No, sweetie, here’s where you don’t understand. Look at Maggie. She loves each and every one of them heart and soul. That’s where the real magic comes from. That’s where she taps into her healing potential.”

      “She loves them, then when it’s over she just lets them go?”

      His head bobbed. “It’s the releasing that frees her to receive again.”

      “So does she just stop loving them?”

      “Of course not. She has unlimited potential to love in that big heart of hers. It’s part of her charm.”

      “But I don’t want to keep getting left behind.”

      “Then be the one to go out and embrace the world.”

      “I don’t know.” Dylan’s image wavered in her mind. If ever a man needed her healing, he was the one. She didn’t question this inner conviction. And she’d never felt such a strong attraction. Did she dare explore her gift with him? Then, if she did, would she be able to let him go? “It’s a lot to think about. For now, I need to get going. There’s a house I’ve got to go see.”

      “A new house and a new life, Nikki.”

      She smiled. “Yes, I think so.”

      NIKKI’S HEART POUNDED AS she passed slowly in front of the house. Soon it would be hers. It stood as solid and enchanting as it had before, the stained glass over the door reflecting the late-afternoon sun.

      “I’ll just drive by,” she murmured to herself.

      An orange cat suddenly streaked in front of her. She slammed on her brakes.