by Parker, Ali
I had never gone past fooling around with a guy before. Hanging onto my virginity had been a way for me to make sure that nothing ever got too serious. But something about Harry, something about being around him...
“Yeah, you’re right,” I said. “I was just trying to make you feel better so you didn’t freak out about all the competition.”
He laughed, and I liked it when I made him laugh. Didn’t they say that was the most important thing in choosing someone to be with? Their ability to make you laugh? Not that I was thinking that long term, of course.
“Well, hopefully, I can convince you that I’m your best choice,” he said. “Wednesday, then?”
“Wednesday,” I said. “You choose the place.”
“Oh, so you’re putting that on me?”
“You asked for the date, and that means I get to judge you on your choice of restaurant,” I replied teasingly. “Choose wisely.”
“I’ll try.”
We chatted a little more than we needed to, as though we weren’t willing to get off the phone with each other quite yet. Eventually though, I bid him farewell, and I closed my eyes and let the reality of what had just happened sink in.
I had a date. An actual date with him. A date with this guy who made me feel excited and happy in a way nobody else had in such a long time. I couldn’t wait to see him again. And I supposed I had somebody to thank for that.
I wasn’t sure why I dialed up my brother, but I figured that at least he deserved to hear that his plan had actually come through and worked.
He picked up after a couple of rings and yawned his greeting down the line. “What’s up, Raina?”
“I just wanted to call to say that I forgive you,” I told him.
“For what?”
“For that damn dating thing,” I said. “Turns out that I’m actually seeing the guy again later this week.”
“Yes!” he exclaimed, and I could practically picture him punching the air as he took in what I was saying. “So you guys actually like each other?”
“I guess we actually do,” I said.
“Well, I guess you’re welcome,” Reed told me cockily.
I laughed. “Oh, come on. Don’t pretend like you had a clue any of this was going to happen!”
“What can I say? I’m a better matchmaker than I thought. Setting my own sister up with a billionaire.”
“Oh, come on,” I said. “There’s much more to him than that.”
“I’ll bet there is,” Reed said. “And you’ve got to find it out, all right?”
“Guess I do,” I replied, and I smiled to myself.
“Just make sure not to mess this up, all right?” Reed warned me. “Not many other billionaires kicking around, looking for dates in this city.”
“I promise I won’t,” I assured him. And as we said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone, I felt a twist of nervousness down in my belly.
And I repeated those words to myself one more time, just to make sure I’d gotten it: don’t mess this up.
Chapter 17
Harry
“Tink!”
I woke up to the sound of Winnie’s keening voice yelping through the house, and I snapped straight up in bed at once and stared off into the darkness. I must have misheard that, right?
“Tink, wake up!”
I leaped out of bed and hurried down the hall to Winnie’s room, throwing the door open and flicking on the light.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Winnie looked up at me, her face already streaked with tears. “It’s Tink,” she told me, her lip wobbly. “He... he won’t wake up.”
I strode toward the bed and dropped down to my knees in front of the little dog. Sure enough, he was lying there like he hadn’t moved in hours. I patted his head, but he hardly moved. His eyes flickered a little, but that was it. I put my hand on his little chest and felt a heartbeat. Okay. So at least we had that going for us.
“What’s wrong with him?” Winnie asked, her voice tinged with desperation.
I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said. I hated not having an answer for her, but I knew there was nothing I could say that was just going to make it all better.
“We need to take him to the vet,” Winnie told me, and I glanced at my watch. It was four in the morning. Nobody would be open around now.
But I had another number I could call. I winced, apologized to the universe for what I was about to do, and got to my feet to grab my phone. I dialed Raina’s number at once and paced back and forth waiting for her to wake up.
I could hear Winnie talking to Tink quietly in the room down the hall, and I felt awful that there wasn’t more I could do. I wished I could just reach into her head and take all this away from her. I had thought that Tink would be a good chance for her to learn about responsibility, but I hadn’t thought about it in these terms.
“Hello?” Raina’s bleary voice came down the line. She sounded like she had just peeled her face from the pillow.
“Hello, Raina?” I greeted her urgently. “I’m sorry to wake you up like this, but I think it’s an emergency.”
“What’s going on?” she demanded. “Is it Tink?”
“He seems really out of it, and I can’t figure out why,” I explained quickly. “I think I might need to get him looked at. Do you think...”
“Text me your address and I’ll be at your place in an hour,” she replied. “Keep him warm, and make sure that all his joints are supported till then. I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Okay,” I replied, and I let out a breath of relief. “I’ll see you then.”
The next hour was a rush. I had to get Winnie changed as well as change my own pajamas before Raina arrived. I tried to pry Winnie away from Tink and calm her down, but she wasn’t having any of it. This dog was her new best friend, and that was all that she cared about right now. I did what Raina told me and tried to keep calm and not to lose my head.
Sometimes, in times like these ones, I found myself wondering if there was something inherent about parenting that you either had or you didn’t. A calmness in the face of high-key panic. I was working my hardest not to let on that I was freaking out, but I was sure Winnie could tell.
By the time that Raina arrived, Tink seemed to have declined a little further. He was still blinking, but his eyes had started to get a little glassy, as though he couldn’t focus on anything in particular. Winnie was clutching him in her arms, and I tried to keep myself busy to stop my brain kicking into overdrive.
I opened the door as soon as I heard her footsteps crunching up toward the house, and she was standing there with her bag and in wrinkled scrubs.
“Thanks for coming out,” I told her.
She shook her head and looked past me. “Is he in there? Can you take me to him?”
I didn’t waste a moment’s time leading her into the house and to Winnie’s room, where Tink was still lying listlessly. Winnie finally detached herself from him, though I could tell that it pained her to do so.
I felt awful. Maybe it had been a mistake, bringing this dog into our lives. Maybe I should have been more careful, made sure to get a more thorough checkup to make sure that he wasn’t going to end up like this. But Raina had told me that he was perfectly healthy.
“Okay, little buddy, let’s take a look at you,” Raina murmured. She sank to her knees, pulled her gear out of her bag, and got down to work on our furry friend. Winnie hugged me around the waist, hanging on tightly, as though I could make it all better. I wished I could. More than anything.
Raina spent a few minutes checking him over, but when she got to her feet, she had a grim expression on her face.
“I think I need to take him into the clinic and get a better look at him,” she explained to us. “The good news is that I can’t see anything pressing that could be life-threatening, but he’s clearly not in a very good way right now, and I want to make sure that we check everything, okay?”
I looked down at my niece. �
�Winnie, you’ll have to stay here.”
“I’m going with him,” Winnie said at once, and I knew any attempt to argue with her was only going to end in disaster. I sighed. I wanted to tell her that she had to get to school and leave Tink with us, but she wasn’t going to move a single step.
“Okay,” I replied with a sigh, and I looked up at Raina. “Is that okay?”
“That’s more than fine,” she said, and she led the two of us out the door and toward her truck. Winnie and I hopped into my car, and Raina took Tink ahead of us, and I shared a very tense ride down to the clinic with Winnie right next to me. I sent up a million prayers in that moment. Please, please, please don’t put her through this, not so soon.
When we arrived, Raina carried Tink from her truck and into the clinic, and we followed close behind. I hung onto Winnie’s hand tightly. I didn’t want any of this to be happening. If I could go back in time and make this right, I would have.
“I’m going to take him into the back room and give him a scan,” Raina explained as she unlocked the doors and got everything set up. “It shouldn’t take long, but I can’t have you guys in there with me unfortunately.”
“Do anything you need to do,” Winnie blurted out.
Raina got down in front of her and squeezed her shoulder. “I will,” she promised her, and she shot a worried glance at me as she stood up once more.
I sat down with Winnie in the waiting room, and she wrapped her arms around herself and gazed off at the room that Raina had retreated into with Tink. I pulled out my phone, figuring out what I was going to do for the rest of the day. This had thrown everything off, and I would have to work double-time to put the pieces back together and make sure that everything didn’t fall apart.
I called Yara. She had always been my go-to at times like this. It took her a few rings to answer, but when she did, she sounded bright and perky. She always got up stupidly early to run in the mornings, though I had never understood how she had the energy to do it.
“Hey, buddy, what’s up?” she greeted me brightly. “You’re not usually up this early in the morning.”
I quickly explained to her what had gotten me out of bed at such an ungodly time, and she gasped when she heard that I was at the clinic with Tink.
“Is he going to be all right?” she asked. “If there’s anything I can do...”
“I don’t think there is,” I replied. “Except maybe you could take Winnie into school today?”
I felt a pinch on my elbow and looked around to see Winnie shaking her head firmly. Her lips were pressed together, and she looked so much like her mother for a moment that I forgot my train of thought.
“Of course, I will,” she promised me. “Anything you need. Where should I—”
“Oh, actually, it’s all right,” I replied quickly. There would be no point in trying to convince Winnie to leave Tink’s side, and I should just give up on the idea before I got stuck on it. “I guess I just wanted to let you know that I’m not going to be coming in today, so you’re in charge down there, all right?”
“Of course,” she agreed. “Take all the time that you need. I’ll keep you all in my thoughts.”
“All right, catch you later.”
I hung up the phone just as the door to the room that Raina had vanished into opened once more. I hoped that Tink would come bounding out of there at once, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
“Okay, so I’ve taken a look over him,” she explained, snapping off a pair of gloves. “It looks like there’s a mass in his stomach, but I can’t figure out what it is quite yet.”
Winnie whimpered. I put an arm around her.
“I want to operate to remove it as soon as my vet tech is in,” she continued. “He should be all taken care of by the end of the day, and hopefully, he’ll be back on his feet.”
“Can we stay?” Winnie asked, and I looked at Raina. She grimaced.
“I think it’s for the best if you get some rest, honey,” Raina told Winnie gently. “Tink is going to need lots of care and attention when he gets back, and you want to make sure that you’re ready to give it to him, right?”
“Right,” Winnie agreed with a sigh, and she looked up at me with a wobbling lip. Fuck, I hated seeing her like that. I would have done anything in the world to make it stop.
“Can we stay home today?” Winnie asked. “I don’t want to go to school.”
I sighed and nodded. “We’ll stay home, and then we’ll come by and pick up Tink as soon as we can, all right?”
“I’ll call you as soon as he’s ready to see you again,” Raina said.
I smiled at her thankfully. Jesus, she had really saved my ass with this one. I had no idea what I would have done without her.
“Let’s get out of here and leave Raina to it, okay?” I suggested. “We can get some breakfast on the way home.”
I managed to ease Winnie out of the clinic and back to the car. I was doing my best to keep my shit together, but I wasn’t sure that it was working. I felt stupid. Like I shouldn’t have been so dumb as to allow something into our lives that could hurt us. I wanted to go back in time and make it so that none of this had happened in the first place. That Winnie wasn’t sitting in the car with tears streaming down her face.
But right now, it was all in Raina’s hands. And if there was anyone in the world I trusted to actually make this work, to bring that little dog through it unscathed, it was her.
I just hoped that she could deliver.
Chapter 18
Raina
“Oh, thank fuck.”
I muttered the words to myself behind my mask and closed my eyes for a moment as soon as I found the obstruction that had been keeping Tink off his feet. I could hardly believe that he had reacted so badly to it. He was a little drama queen. That was for sure.
Carefully, I removed the sock that he had clearly munched down on a day or so before and tossed it away. Silly little thing. Damn, at least nothing more serious had happened.
When Harry had called me that morning, I had to admit my mind had jumped to the worst. I didn’t want to let him down, and I didn’t want him to look back on taking in this dog as some kind of mistake. And the look on little Winnie’s face as she stood there, practically refusing to move on or let go, was heartbreaking. I had promised myself then and there that I was going to do everything I could to get him well again. But, luckily for me, it looked like I wouldn’t have to go too far out of my way.
The operation had been quick and easy. Thank God, it was just a sock that he had swallowed that had caused him so much trouble. I got him sewn up and tucked away in the recovery area and glanced upward to whoever was looking out for me up there. I thanked them for the easy surgery and then thanked them again for the fact that Tink was going to be just fine and that I could actually deal with the rest of my clients now.
I called Harry as soon as I got a few minutes to spare.
He answered the phone at once. “Hello?”
“Hello, Harry, it’s me,” I greeted him. “Just wanted to let you know that Tink’s surgery is done and that you can come pick him up any time you like.”
“So he’s okay?” he asked urgently.
“He’s fine,” I replied. “He swallowed a sock, and he made a big deal about it, but I’ve gotten it out now, and he’s going to be just fine.”
“Swallowed a sock,” Harry muttered, and I could hear a mixture of relief and annoyance in his voice, although mostly relief. He was clearly crazy about this little thing, or at least crazy about what he had brought into Winnie’s life.
“I would come around and get him now, but Winnie’s just gone to sleep, and I don’t want to leave her,” he explained.
“I’ll drop him off after work,” I told him without thinking. I wasn’t sure why I had offered, but now that the words were out of my mouth, I knew I couldn’t take them back.
He fell silent for a moment. “Oh, really? Because if you could, that would be great.”
&nbs
p; “Of course, I will,” I replied, and suddenly, I felt a twinge of excitement about what was to come. Yeah, okay, maybe it was a little forward, but I liked the idea of it, spending a little more time with them. Besides, it was the least they could do for me after I had saved their dog, right? Right.
“Thanks so much for everything you’ve done today,” he told me. “I don’t know how we would have made it through without you, seriously. I had no idea what to do when it all kicked off.”
“It’s really fine,” I assured him. “It’s my job, remember?”
“It’s not your job to turn up in the middle of the night to help out new owners who don’t know what they’re doing,” he replied. “So thank you. Really.”
“No problem,” I replied. I was touched that he seemed so intent on taking my contributions seriously. It was so easy for me to just dismiss everything that I did around here because it was my job, but it was nice to be noticed by someone for a change.
“All right, well, I’ll text you when I’m leaving the clinic,” I told him. “Catch you later.”
“Catch you later,” he said, and he hung up the phone.
And suddenly, I had something to look forward to this evening.
I took my time over the rest of the day, not wanting to rush anything just because I had something fun to get to when it was all over and done with. It was a quiet day other than Tink. I was able to check in on him quite a few times, and he seemed to be slumbering off the stress of the surgery pretty well. Poor thing. He had probably really shaken himself up with that escapade.
I dropped a text to Harry and loaded Tink into the back of the truck, carefully laying him down in the crate we used to move all the dogs. He still hadn’t woken up.
“All right, I think you’re just being a little lazy now,” I muttered, but before I could offer any more of my hilarious dog-related commentary, my phone buzzed. I pulled it out and saw that Harry was calling. My stomach dropped. He wasn’t going to cancel on me, was he?
