Mai Tai'd Up(46)

“Want to talk about it?” he asked, and I looked down at our held-together hands.

“Not really,” I whispered, and let go. “Sorry for busting in on your day like this.”

“Are you kidding? This was way more exciting than what I have planned next. I’ve got an owner who thinks her Chihuahua is depressed.”

“Does she want to buy him a car?” I joked.

He smiled, then changed the subject to a happier one. “Sammy’s doing well, by the way. He’s still under sedation, but you should be able to pick him up tomorrow.” As I started to clap my hands, he said, “After we get this car sorted out.”

“Thank you, Lucas,” I said. “I really appreciate this.”

“You’ve certainly made it interesting around here,” he said, his voice soft.

“Interesting good?”

“Hell, yeah, chickie baby,” he replied, his face lighting up.

I laughed, but he laughed even harder when I tried to roll up my stuck window. Ah, well—it was a nice day.





chapter ten


Several weeks later

“No, no, you can’t put that there. You need to unload those around back in the shed.”

“You got it, Chloe.”

“Chloe, the Mitchells’ home visit went great! Can we approve them?”

“Do it! Let’s get Rocky outta here and on his freedom ride!”

“Got those flyers back from the printer, Chloe, you want them in the office?”

“Yeah, set them on my desk, would you?”

I blew the hair from my eyes, wishing I’d grabbed a headband this morning. Although, to be fair, when that alarm went off at 5 A.M., I hadn’t been thinking too clearly.

Might have had something to do with all that wine last night.

More likely, it had something to do with all that vomit last night. Not my own, thank you. Doggie vomit. Which you tend to step in when one of your charges sneaks a giant bag of Doritos, and then yaks it all up.

I blew my hair once more, mentally promising myself I’d grab a headband when I got back to the house for lunch. Right now, I had more pressing things to deal with.

“Hey there, cutie pies, how we doing today, hmm?” I cooed, leaning over the whelping box and counting puppies. Still six, and that was good. First litter delivered at Our Gang, which brought our in-house total to twenty-seven. Twenty-seven . . . wow.

We’d been officially open for business for a few weeks now, with the grand opening party tomorrow. And Our Gang was booming busy! We popped our doggie cherry with the wonderful and talented Sammy Davis Jr., and just kept on going. This latest population expansion was a surprise, the result of a stray we’d picked up that was pregnant and due any minute. She’d delivered two weeks ago, and my team had celebrated with an impromptu party and cherry Coke as a stand-in for champagne. Speaking of which . . .

“Hey, Jenny! Did you get beverages ordered for the grand opening?”

“Of course; you gave me that list weeks ago,” she called back, reminding me once again that I worked with the best. “How’re they doing?” she asked, appearing around the corner of the barn.

“They look great, very wriggly.” I laughed as I was professionally nuzzled by one of the puppies determined to climb inside the neck of my shirt. They were just beginning to open their eyes, and their collective adorableness was off the charts.

“You want me to change out the bedspread?” she asked, and I nodded. Jenny was a veterinary student, volunteering her time in exchange for extra credit in her program. Bright and cheery, she added a bounce to everyone’s step. Especially Tommy, a local guy who went to the local community college and helped us out nights and weekends.

Nights and weekends. Well.

Since Our Gang officially became open for business, Lucas and his father had thrown the full weight of their animal hospital toward helping us get on our feet. They donated their time and services to any dog that came in, making sure they were healthy and doing any spaying or neutering for free. They also continued to spread the word in the community, and we’d already had three adoptions.

And Lucas? My nights and weekends were still spoken for.

We were spending a lot of time together. We’d fallen into this easy pattern of having dinner together, either on the patio at my place or on the deck of his, which had a killer view of the bay. We’d told each other stories about our exes, almost exorcising our collective demons. It had been many weeks since I’d walked out on my wedding, longer still for Lucas. We were divinely attracted to each other—and yet.

We had never moved beyond friendship, although I thought about that almost-kiss in the barn all the time.