She looks down at her papers, straightens them, and looks back up at me, folding her hands over the papers.
My stomach sinks.
“I was entirely polite. He didn’t want a female officer, but I didn’t say any of the rude things I wanted to say.”
“He felt you were dismissive. That you barely spoke to him and took the animal away without any explanation.”
“He was embarrassed because he thought the cat was a lion cub, and he was wrong. I was not rude.”
Her severe expression cracks for just a moment before she sobers again. “He sounds like a total jerk. I get how hard it was for you to keep your mouth shut, but the town’s attention is going to be on you, whether you get a promotion or a scholarship. People are going to question why it was given to you if all anyone has heard about you are complaints.”
I sink in my seat. “I can’t help it if people don’t like me. I can’t change who I am.”
“You are a kind, compassionate, sometimes even funny person when you let your guard down.”
My throat goes tight. “I’m not going to let my guard down aroundstrangers. People can’t be trusted, especially around animals.”
Her lips quirk again. So glad she finds my distress humorous.
“Don’t glare at me, Amelia. I’m not asking you to let your guard down. I’m just saying, maybe try to be friendly. Smile more. You don’t have to take abuse, but you could have laughed with that man over how easy it was to mistake that cat for a lion cub.”
“It wasn’t.”
She nods. “And he was a man who made it crystal clear how he felt about women. How do you think he felt when you didn’t bring a lion cub back to him, when a woman witnessed him making that mistake?”
I really don’t want to put myself in that jerk’s place, but Shaleigh’s gone out on a lot of limbs for me. I owe her. “He probably felt like he’d been slapped down.”
She nods. “And he probably deserved it. But he was more than ready to interpret your not saying anything, because you were biting your tongue so hard against all you wanted to say, as you mocking him or acting superior.”
“I said things.”
She narrows her eyes.
“I’m not good at pretending things I don’t feel.”
“And that’s one of my favorite things about you. But if you want to have a job where you interact with the public, you need to work on being friendlier with them. Start small. Compliment one thing about the human or the property during your next interaction and see what happens.”
I drop my head into my hands and groan. “I’m never going to get that scholarship.”
“So you’ve decided to apply?” she asks, her voice full of hope.
I look up at her. “Maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe I need a job where I never talk to people.”
She shakes a finger at me. “Nope. You are not doing this. You will make an amazing veterinarian, and this town needs you. Once you have the job, you can be as grumpy with people as you want. Right now, you need to make an extra effort to be friendly. Charming, even. Just pretend you’re talking to someone you like.”
“I don’t like that many people. You know that.”
She gets that narrow-eyed, pinched-mouth look that I know means she’s getting annoyed. “But you know a few. Pretend you’re dealing with one of them. Pretend you’re dealing with Harper.”
“Harper’s less sensitive than the people I deal with on a daily basis.”
She laughs. “She’s a tough kid. Now get out of here. We just got a call about a loose Jack Russell on Abernathy Road.”
“Aw, my favorite. You shouldn’t have.”
“I shouldn’t have, but I did. Plus, Jerry’s out on a call and you’re the only option.”
“Thanks, Shaleigh,” I say, all seriousness. “I really will try to be nicer. Even to the mean people.”
