by Parker, Lexy
I walked in through the back door, anxious to see if the puppies that had been brought in yesterday had made it through the night.
“Hi,” I greeted Trisha, the vet tech that had volunteered to stay with the pups last night. “How’d they do?” I asked hopefully.
“We lost two but two are still hanging in there,” she said.
I put out my lower lip. “Oh damn. That’s too bad.”
“Dr. Mike is already in a room. He said to have you go in when you got here,” she told me.
I quickly pulled on my white jacket and headed for one of the three exam rooms in the small practice. It was one of our regular mischief makers. He’d apparently tangled with a porcupine. I looked at the dog, Baxter, and shook my head. “Baxter, buddy, how many times do I have to tell you those porcupines don’t want to be your friend?”
The young Lab mix looked up at me. I could almost see the smile in his eyes despite what had to be a very painful situation. “I don’t think this dog was born with the good sense to know better,” Dr. Mike said, readying a shot to numb the dog while we went through the tedious process of removing the quills.
“I think he needs a friend. Maybe then he wouldn’t get himself into so much trouble,” I replied.
Dr. Mike laughed. “I’m afraid we’d only end up with two patients.”
“This is true. I take it he was an emergency call?”
“Yes. I called in the new intern to help with the other appointments,” he said.
I groaned, not meaning to let my feelings be known, but I hated new interns. “Another one?” I asked.
“You were an intern once,” he reminded me.
“Was I? That feels like forever ago.”
He chuckled softly. “We could use the help around here, especially if Baxter is going to be making these weekly emergency visits.”
“They’re always so annoying,” I complained.
The vet looked at me. His eyes were full of wisdom gained over his sixty years of being on the earth. “How are they annoying? They’re learning.”
“They’re annoying because they come into this job and think it’s all about petting puppies and giving vaccinations. They don’t realize there is a lot of poop, pee, death and the occasional bite. They finish their time here and then never go back to school,” I told him.
He chuckled low in his throat. “That’s why they come here. This is the chance for them to get their feet wet. If they find out they don’t like it, they save themselves and their parents a lot of money.”
“How are they saving their parents money?” I asked with confusion.
“Because they don’t waste all that tuition on something the kid will likely never do for a living,” he reasoned.
I nodded. “Good point and it saves the poor animals that might have had the misfortune of coming under their care.”
“Exactly. We’re doing the world a service here. The one coming in today is young and eager. I think she’s going to be one of the ones that goes all the way,” he assured me.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” I told him tersely.
He didn’t say anything, but I could see by the look on his face he was laughing inside. I knew I could be cranky at times. I took my job seriously. At least, I did now. Before, when I had been married, it had been a way to fill in the gaps of my life. I had been bored, but not necessarily needing the money. I had dreamed of being a veterinarian when I was younger, but then life happened, and I realized I wanted to be a mom. Gage and I were supposed to have a long, happy life together. He’d get out of the marines and we’d start a family. He’d get a decent job, enough to support our growing family and I could work part-time either at the gym doing spin classes or filling in at the vet office.
I wasn’t supposed to have to need to work. In a flash, the time it took for a roadside bomb to go off, my life changed. I wasn’t going to have four kids with my loving husband. I wasn’t going to get to be the stay-at-home-mom that made cookies for the kids after school and spent my days running all over town, shuttling kids to practices and games. I was a single woman, working to pay the bills. It wasn’t the life I dreamed of. Some days I got so furious at Gage for dying it made me feel better, until the guilt set in and then I felt like shit for being mad at him for dying.
“You okay?” Dr. Mike asked.
I blinked, looking up at him. “What?”
“You look a little lost. Do you need a break?” he asked gently.
I shook my head. “Nope. I’m good. How about you, Baxter?” I asked the lethargic pup, who was almost quill-free.
“Baxter is probably already thinking about the next bit of mischief he’s going to get into,” the vet joked.
I laughed, agreeing with him. There was a soft knock on the door of the room. “Dr. Mike?” a small voice called out.
He looked up at me. “That’s probably Kasey. Can you show her around while I finish up here?”
I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Yes.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Give her a chance. I really think this is a good one.”
I didn’t believe him. He was the kind of person that saw the good in everyone. I used to be, but life had made me a lot more jaded. I opened the door to find a young woman with strawberry blond hair almost the same shade as mine, cut in a sleek bob. She was wearing no makeup and had a very innocent look about her. I could see why the doctor liked her. I was immediately put at ease around her. She was thin and petite with a smattering of freckles across her nose that gave her a youthful quality. I could feel her energy and was immediately drawn to it.
“Hi, I’m Kasey Mullins. Dr. Mike asked me to come in today instead of Monday,” she said with a pleasant smile.
“Hi, Kasey. I’m Dani Yates. Dr. Mike is with a very naughty dog at the moment and asked me to show you around. Since we’re technically closed today, we’ll only be seeing a few dogs that got bumped from yesterday. We’ll also be checking in on some puppies with parvo,” I told her.
She gasped, her hand going to her mouth. “Parvo? How sad. How old are they?”
“They’re eight weeks. We lost two last night and are fighting to keep the other two alive,” I told her, pleased to see she showed genuine compassion for the animals. That was definitely a good sign.
“Okay. I’ll do all I can for them,” she said, nodding her head up and down.
“Good. They’re going to need lots of prayers. We have a senior check-up coming in first. He’s an older bulldog,” I told her, pulling up the chart on the computer.
“I love bulldogs,” she exclaimed.
“You’ll love Meatball. He’s a real character. We’ll be trimming his nails it looks like,” I said as I read the screen. “Have you done that before?”
She nodded. “Yep. I worked in a grooming business with my older sister.”
“Ah, so taking care of animals is a family business,” I said with a smile.
“Yep. My dad is a vet and my mom is his tech.”
“Really? Local?” I asked, wondering why I hadn’t heard of them.
She shook her head. “No, they live in Alabama.”
“What brought you here to Hope?” I inquired.
“I wanted something of my own. I like small towns and the community college was affordable,” she said, sounding completely reasonable.
“I see.”
“And my fiancé lives here,” she blurted out. “I always feel kind of funny calling him my fiancé, but that’s what he is,” she said with a giggle.
“How old are you Kasey, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I’m twenty-two. I know, I know, everyone says I’m too young to be thinking about marriage, but I know he’s the one. We’ve been together since we were in the ninth grade. I would follow him anywhere,” she said with the sound of someone truly in love.
“I don’t think it’s too young at all. I think some people are too young to think about marriage and settling down at that age, but I think there are some others w
ho don’t need to wait, they know and quite honestly, life is too short to sit around waiting for others to tell you when it’s the right time,” I said, thinking about my own life. “I was twenty-two and engaged and I don’t regret it for a minute.”
Kasey breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I always feel like people are judging me. I know I’m twenty-two and that’s young, but I don’t feel that young. I mean I do, but I feel like I’m settled. I know who I am, and I know what I want.”
“Good for you. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” I told her.
I immediately liked her. She reminded me a lot of myself at her age. I had been headstrong and determined as well. I didn’t tell the poor girl that my life hadn’t gone quite according to plan with my young marriage, but it would have if I’d been given the chance to have it. I knew that with every fiber of my being. I knew Gage and I were the real thing. We’d had our fights and our struggles, but we would have made it work.
Kasey seemed very mature for her age. I was actually looking forward to having her around for the next few weeks. She seemed eager to learn and I got the feeling she was used to dealing with animals at their worst. She was going to be okay.
“Let’s get set up for Mr. Meatball. We’re going to need his annual shots, the nail clippers and the thermometer.”
She nodded her head, watching me as I moved around the office, grabbing the supplies we would need.
“How long have you worked here?” she asked conversationally.
“A few years. I started as a fill-in tech, only working a day or two a week. The last year I’ve been working closer to fulltime. Dr. Mike is a very popular vet in the area and his practice is growing.”
“Do you like being a tech? Do you plan to become a veterinarian?” she asked.
I laughed. “Five years ago, if you would have asked me, I would have told you no, but lately, I have been thinking about going back to school.”
She smiled. “We could take classes together!”
I chuckled, imagining myself on a college campus with the young and perky Kasey beside me. I wasn’t sure I was ready to go back to those days. I liked her well enough, but the idea of school wasn’t appealing.
“We’ll see. Now, let’s go see if our patient has arrived yet,” I told her, tabling the discussion for now.
Chapter 5
Clay
The part-time driver I used to help keep things running smoothly had been bitching nonstop for the last ten minutes about the delivery truck. I stomped out to the parking lot, following him just to satisfy him. I waited for him to start it up. It was one of the older trucks I had, but it still ran—or it had been.
“Do you hear that?” Rick snapped.
I shrugged. “Hear what? I hear an engine running.”
He rolled his eyes. “It’s running right now because I just had to beat the hell out of it. It needs a new alternator and probably a new battery because the damn alternator has been shot!”
“Rick, it’s running now. I don’t know what you want me to do.”
“I want you to take this thing to the junkyard. Philip’s driving around in that new truck. I want a new truck,” he complained.
It was the same complaint he had every Monday morning. “Rick, we’ve talked about this. Philip is full time and does about five times the deliveries you do. I can’t run out and buy a thirty-thousand-dollar rig for you to drive a few hours a week.”
“Then let me drive your truck,” he reasoned.
I scoffed. “Fuck that. That’s my personal truck and I’m not letting you drive it. This truck is fine. You’re not driving to look cool. You’re doing a job, now do it.”
Rick glared at me, shaking his head. “You can’t run a successful business if you don’t have the right equipment to do it. You can’t expect your employees to pick up the slack because you’re too much of a tightass to spend the money.”
I took a deep breath, doing my best to keep it cool. “Rick, I’ve been running this business for a while. You had one little hiccup. The truck is running. Please, get those deliveries out.”
He shook his head. “No. I’m not driving that piece of shit. It’s going to die again. I’m not going to get stuck somewhere on the other side of town because this stupid thing isn’t running right.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Only truck I got. It’s been working fine for you the last few months. What’s the big deal now?”
“The big deal is you didn’t fix this thing when I told you it was dying. You ignored it. Am I supposed to fix it?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No. I’ll schedule it for a trip to the shop this week. It’ll be good as new next week.”
He curled his lip. “That thing is beyond help.”
“Rick, come on. You’re already running behind. Missing deliveries isn’t going to help get the truck fixed,” I snapped.
“Too bad. You drive it. I won’t,” he said and stomped past me and back into the building.
I followed behind him, watched him grab his lunchbox and head for the door. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m quitting. You drive that piece of shit. I’m not coming back until you have a decent, safe rig for me to drive.”
I scoffed, my hackles going up. “You quit now, you quit for good. I don’t care if I get a whole fleet of brand-new trucks, you’ll never drive for me,” I warned.
“Nope, I won’t. You aren’t the only game in town. I’m going to walk out this door and you won’t ever see me in here again,” he spat.
He walked out and never looked back. I stared at the door, shaking my head. I didn’t like the guy all that much anyway. I wasn’t that sad to see him go. I was sad that I had a few deliveries that needed to get out. I couldn’t afford to lose money. Philip already had a full schedule and wouldn’t be able to squeeze in a few more and still be done on time to pick up his kid. I would drive the damn truck myself. I went into the office, grabbed my keys and phone before locking the front door. I hated to leave the office unattended but until I could hire a secretary to answer the phones, it was me doing it all. It had never really been an issue before, but I could see it becoming a problem.
I grabbed the delivery sheet and got into the truck, which was still running. It seemed to be just fine to me. It probably just needed to clear its throat a bit or whatever it was I had heard mechanics say. “Spoiled asshole,” I mumbled under my breath, throwing the truck in drive and heading out.
I had to admit, I was a little worried the truck would die as I sat at every red light. Thankfully, it didn’t, which only confirmed my belief Rick was a weasel who just didn’t want to work. He had tried to call in sick, but I told him I needed him and either show up or don’t come back at all. I pulled into the parking lot of the veterinarian’s office and jumped out of the truck. I grabbed the single box that was to be delivered and was about to take it in when I realized maybe I shouldn’t have shut off the truck.
I got back in, said a silent prayer and turned the key. Nothing. “Oh, really? Come on. You were off for like two seconds. Just come on.”
I tried it again. Nothing but a sorry clicking, then nothing at all. I slapped my palm against the wheel before counting to three and trying the key again. I was silently cursing Rick for being right. I should have driven my own truck, but I had been trying to make a point. It just so happened I made his point. I rested my forehead against the wheel, regretting my decision to get out of bed at all. Why did Mondays have to suck so bad?
There was a soft tap on the window. “Hello? Are you okay?” I heard a soft female voice.
I turned my head to find a gorgeous redhead standing outside the truck’s driver’s side window and staring at me with real concern. She was absolutely the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Her hair had a natural wave to it and was just past her shoulders and they were very fine shoulders. She was thin, tall and stunning. She was looking at me with dark green eyes that were a stark contrast to the hair framing her face.
> I realized I was staring and quickly snapped myself out of it. I was in a company truck and didn’t need to start getting a bad reputation for ogling women. I tried to roll the window down with the button, only then realizing the truck was dead. I pushed the door open a couple of inches until she stepped back. I moved to get out of the truck.
“Can I help you?” I asked, somewhat stupefied.
I got the full image of her and was fighting like hell not to stare. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a tiny T-shirt that hovered above the waist of her jeans. She had one hell of a fine figure.
“I was wondering the same thing. Are you okay?” she asked.
“Me? Yes. Why?” I asked with confusion.
“You were laying on the steering wheel. I thought maybe you were sick or something,” she said.
I shook my head. “No, sorry, I was, uh, just resting my head.”
It was a lie and I had a feeling she could see right through it. I was embarrassed to be driving a truck that didn’t start. It made me feel like I was living up to Emmitt’s expectations of me and failing at life.
“Are you sure? Do you need jumped?” she asked.
My mouth fell open. “What?”
She smiled and it was like the sun had been shone on me. “Does your truck need a jumpstart? I have cables and my car is around back. It’s not starting, right?”
“Oh,” I said, feeling like a complete dipshit. “Uh, no. It’s good. I was just resting my head.”
Mechanics was not my thing. I had never quite got it and made sure I had roadside assistance coverage to make sure I never needed to know how to fix my own rig. I always took my truck to the shop for oil changes and tire changes. I never messed with it, knowing it was very likely I would only screw something up.
She slowly nodded her head, clearly not believing me. “Okay, well, if you change your mind, I’ll be inside.”
