by Ava Catori
Chapter 2
Climbing out of bed, Kristin stretched. She’d slept more soundly than she had in ages, exhausted from her trip. It felt funny being somewhere completely different, realizing this was home for the next year. At first she had trouble falling asleep, listening to new noises she wasn’t used to, but soon it became white noise, and it lulled her to sleep.
Molly stood and stretched. Only as she walked she stumbled, her legs not wanting to hold her up.
“What’s going on, girl? Are you okay?”
Molly walked toward her, looking as if she was drunk. What happened to her legs? Kristin backed up and called Molly over. She was stumbling again, almost clumsy, tilting toward the side.
In a panic, she threw open cabinets and drawers looking for a phonebook. She was too far away from town – and didn’t know where the vet’s office was.
Finally finding the phonebook on top of the fridge, she scrambled, flying through the pages in a panic. There were two listings for veterinarians. She saw that one did house calls, called Country Vets.
Grabbing her phone, she called, her eyes never leaving Molly.
“Country Vets,” the girl answered.
Kristin explained what was happening, and tried to keep the panic out of her voice. Molly was everything to her, and help was so far away…
The girl took her information, and told her the doctor would be heading out shortly, and should be there within the hour.
Kristin watched the clock and Molly with intensity, willing the clock to move faster, and praying that Molly would be okay.
When she heard the truck door close, she ran out to greet the doctor. Caught by surprise, she recognized his face.
“What’s going on,” Dr. Ty Addison asked on arrival.
“You?” Kristin let her previous feelings go, and brought him to Molly. “She can barely walk; she stumbles and keeps falling over.” She was holding back the tears that wanted to spill out, fear of losing her dog and best friend.
“Okay,” he said squatting in front of her. “Hey girl, how are you doing today?” He spoke softly, and looked her over. Talking over his shoulder, “Do you see how her eye here is going back and forth quickly? It’s enough to make you dizzy, and that’s what she’s feeling.”
“Wow, yeah,” she noticed Molly’s pupils sliding left to right and back in rapid succession.
“It looks like Vestibular Disorder,” he said, “but I’m going to check her over. It happens in older dogs at times.” Almost reading her mind, he answered, “She may get worse before she gets better, and it usually clears up on its own. It’s going to take a couple of weeks, but she should be okay. I’ve got some medication; it will help her with the dizziness. She may throw up, but it’s related to the off-center feeling she’s having.”
He was direct, in control, and gave Kristin a sense of calm. He knew what he was talking about.
Exhaling deeply, “She’s going to be okay? I wouldn’t know what to do if…”
“She’ll be fine. She’s going to be wobbly for a bit, but most dogs pull through.” Pulling out a card from his pocket, he handed it to Kristin. “This is my direct line. Signal out here is spotty, so you can also reach the line you called. If you’re concerned at all, give me a shout, and I’ll come out and check her again. I’m just going to go out to the truck and grab some medication. If this doesn’t help her, let me know, and we’ll try something else, but you’d have to go into town to get it filled. Hopefully what I have with me will help her out. She’s going to be okay.”
“Thank you so much,” she sighed, but was now visibly shaking, her adrenalin still in high gear.
Ty put his hand on Kristin’s shoulder, and looked into her eyes. “She’s going to be okay. I know she means a lot to you.”
She nodded, suddenly realizing how alone she was, and how far away she was from help if she needed it. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. It was silly to think she could just take off into the middle of no man’s land and figure things out.
Of all the people in the world to show up, she hadn’t expected it to be the man from the day before, and yet today he was a completely different person. He was reassuring, made her feel safe, and was able to help comfort her.
Ty hadn’t expected to see the new girl in town when he got the call, but on seeing her face again, he was reminded what a natural beauty she was. She wasn’t made up, in fact she looked like she’d just climbed out of bed, and still the way her hair framed her face…and when she looked up at him, scared for her dog, those gorgeous eyes – he didn’t want to look away.
“I’m going to grab that medication for you,” he said, heading out to his truck.
Kristin watched him walk out, realizing she wanted him to stay a little bit longer. She suddenly felt very alone. Sitting on the floor with Molly, she soothed her. Her otter tail wagged at Kristin in a small movement.
When the doctor walked back in with the tablets, he instructed Kristin how to use them, how often to give her a dose, and reminded her to call him if she got much worse.
“Yesterday,” she finally said quietly. “I think we got off on the wrong footing. And thank you for your time today.”
He nodded, “I apologize; I came off harshly. It’s nice to meet you,” his voice softening.
“While you’re here, can I ask you if you know where I can get some hardware goods?”
“What do you need it for?”
“I need to fix the gate out back,” she said.
“Do you want me to look at it for you?”
“I don’t want to bother you.”
“It’s no bother. You have to be handy to live in the outskirts of town, and I’ve gotten good at finding easy fixes for most things over time.”
She led him to the gate, Molly stumbling behind them, and then falling.
“Molly,” Kristin ran over, “are you okay?”
“It’s hard to watch, but just know she’s stumbling from the dizziness. It will get better.”
She started to tear up, “I thought I might lose her.”
“I understand, but she should make a full recovery,” he said, trying to offer some optimism.
Kristin nodded.
“Let me go look at that gate for you,” he said, going over and checking the fencing. “It looks like it’s out of alignment. I can bring some stuff over and have this fixed for you in no time. I don’t have tools in this truck, but I’ll get this repaired for you this week.”
“Really? Thank you so much, let me know how much I owe you.”
“Out here you help your neighbors; it’s how we all get by. It’s what we do.”
“At least let me offer you something to eat, maybe a drink,” she said, amazed by his kindness. It was unexpected after yesterday’s meeting.
“A sandwich would be nice, thanks,” he said, heading back inside with her.
“Oh good, I’m starving too.” Thankfully she’d grabbed some supplies and food before leaving town yesterday.
Sitting at the table, they made small talk. She thought she wanted solitude, but realizing he’d be leaving soon – Kristin realized how lonely she was. This last year she’d isolated herself after losing Greg, but sitting here talking, it felt nice, and made her realize that while she wanted quiet, company was nice too.
She looked across the table at the doctor. He spoke with passion about the animals he treated, and shared some of his experiences with her. When he spoke, he drew you in, his voice warm and deep. There was something soothing in his tone, and it lulled her into a sense of security. He was an attractive man, something that was hard to notice yesterday when they got off on the wrong foot.
She noticed small crinkles at the corners of his eyes when he smiled, and his tanned skin said he worked outside as often as he worked inside. His smile was genuine, and made her want to smile back.
As Ty spoke, he looked at the girl across from him. She couldn’t be more than thirty, and had the softest skin. He wanted t
o reach out and touch her cheek, which took him by surprise. Sitting across from the girl he realized that he was attracted to the woman from New Jersey, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
Finishing up, Ty needed to head out. He had appointments later this afternoon to attend to. Thanking him for his time, and writing a check for the house visit and medication, they parted ways.
The truck backed out of her driveway, and Kristin turned to check on Molly. “I know girl, very weird. I wasn’t expecting him.” She had a small smile on her face thinking about the handsome man that had just left. This is wrong – she hadn’t thought about a man since she lost her husband. Pushing away the feelings, she brushed it off.
“Let’s clean up, and get you your medication started,” she said to her buddy who sat looking at her.
