Arcadia's Gift(52)

 

Chapter 21


As I pulled into the parking lot outside the shelter, my brain trembled with a full blown migraine. I accepted some pain reliever from Jinx before leaving her house, and she assured me that the ache would go away soon, but I wished I could go home and crawl into bed. I was ready for this day to end.
Bronwyn’s car was parked in the lot, too. The mortification I felt at lunch seeped back. God, how could I have let Bryan lead me on like that? I chastised myself silently for not asking him about his girlfriend status when we first started talking.
Maybe, I’d get lucky and Bronwyn wouldn’t bring it up.
“Hi, Cady,” Gina said as I walked in the front door. She had her school books splayed out in front of her on the front desk. She worked at the shelter as a vet tech while in veterinary school.
“I can watch the desk for you,” I offered, knowing that it was Gina’s least favorite job.
“Nah,” she replied, biting on the end of her pen. “It’s been really slow today, so I don’t have much else to do. Dr. Kristy is doing paperwork and Bronwyn was waiting for you to come so you guys can walk the dogs together.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
I stopped by the break room to stash my backpack before heading out to the kennels. At the sound of the door hinges, the dogs went nuts, barking and wagging their tails to get attention. Bronwyn was refilling water dishes that had been drained or tipped over during the day.
“Hey,” I said.
“Oh, hi,” she replied, the compassionate look on her face echoed the soft waves of worry coming from her. “How are you? I tried calling.”
“Oh, yeah. My phone’s off.”
Her brows crinkled together in reproof. “So you haven’t talked to Bryan then?”
I sighed. “No, and I’m not going to either.”
“Cady —”
“Save it, Bron,” I snapped a little louder than I’d intended. I felt a twinge of hurt flash off Bronwyn, but it was gone just as quickly. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes to the heavens. “Okay, fine. But I want the record to reflect that I think you should hear him out.”
“Noted.”
I walked over to the leash cabinet and began untangling a few that had fallen to the bottom. By the time Bronwyn finished with the water bowls, I had six dogs leashed up and ready to go.
“So,” she said, as the dogs tugged us along in their excitement. “You haven’t told me how school is going for you since you’ve been back.”
What could I say? While not as fanatic as her parents, Bronwyn’s faith in religion was pretty strong. She wouldn’t even read the horoscopes in the newspaper because she believed they were demonic. How would she react to the revelation that I could feel her emotions vibrating off of her whenever she stepped within my aura field? Would she think I’m possessed or something?
I just shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess. No, actually, it sucks, but I can feel it getting better.”
“Understandable,” she replied. A lab mix that I didn’t know spotted a squirrel and yanked hard on her arm. “Patch! Stop it!”
The errant dog ducked his head and fell back in step beside her. With the subject of Bryan off limits, we settled into an easy conversation about school gossip. After suffering through the wild emotional mood swings brought on by other people, it was nice walking through the woods with my best friend. I’d always thought of her as an even-keel, peaceful person, but now I had firsthand knowledge to back it up. Her cheerfulness brushed along my skin with soft, steady touches. Only when the dogs did something naughty did they stir, like a pebble in a pool of water. I almost felt normal again.
After making our circuit three times with different sets of dogs, we brought the animals inside for the night, tucking them into their indoor kennels. To my pleasure, Bronwyn didn’t mention Bryan again. That was one thing I really loved about her. She never pushed me to talk about things I wanted to avoid.
The peaceful feeling brought on by my best friend was lost the moment I pulled into my driveway. This time, I had no one else to blame for my nervous heart palpitations. Bryan sat on my front steps, the porch light shining down on him as he sat playing some game on his phone. He put it away and stood as I approached.
“Hi, Cady,” he said. He genuinely felt miserable. I could feel it pooling in my gut. Good.
“Bryan,” I replied with a tightness to my voice. I was in no mood to go easy on him, no matter how badly he felt.
He jammed his hands in his pants pockets. “I’ve been texting you all day.”
“I know.”