“I am.”
“One of our vets is willing to stay late for your appointment.If the situation becomes more urgent, come as soon as possible.”
“Oh my gosh, thank you.”
“No problem, so it’s still a couple of hours from now, but I have you scheduled for four-thirty.”She took my information and Furg’s.The sofa that came with the rental creaked when I lowered onto the cushion next to her, gently restraining her from itching.
Hanging up, I brushed a hand down Furgie’s side.Her leg kicked like it did when something tickled.
“Well, this is one way to introduce ourselves to the town.”
Chapter Two
Remi
“Hey,PeaceandLove,you wanna do a lady a solid?”Nora’s question pulled me out of my wandering thoughts and back into the front office.
I’d already had the strangest morning, and it was still early.First, I’d woken up late last night to my new neighbor arriving.Then when she was outside with her dog, I’d caught a glimpse of the back of her head, and my blood ran cold.For just a second, in the dim morning light, I would have sworn that she was my ex-wife.But it was not the first time the sight of a stranger had stopped my heart, and the hairs on my arms stood on end.I exhaled my flurry of emotions through pursed lips.
Even after years of therapy, I still saw Alicia everywhere.
It couldn’t be healthy.Not for my emotional or cardiovascular state.But there she was, right outside my front window.Except it wasn’t her.
It never was.
I didn’t stick around to identify what about the back of this woman’s head reminded me so much of Alicia.
This woman—my new neighbor—had ...too much red in her hair?It didn’t matter.It wasn’t her.Last I’d heard, she’d moved to Chicago.Why would she be in Grand Ridge, Michigan?
Anyway, I was still reeling from that ghost-like encounter.And then there was my work attire.Which was radioactive bright and could probably be seen from the moon.But that was what I got for thinking I could beat Nora in a bet.For my hubris, she got to pick my scrubs for a week.Today, I was in ankle-to-neck orange, yellow, and pink swirl-patterned tie-dye.
I ignored Hazel, my boss, laughing at me and the dry comments from Brooks, our large animal vet.
Instead, I asked, “There’s a lady needing a solid?”
“Yeah, she thinks her dog is having an allergic reaction.”
Hazel sat up straighter, the smile slipped from her face.“Is it having a hard time breathing?”
“She didn’t say so, just a lot of itching,” Nora said.
I snatched my tablet off its charger and powered it up.“What do I have available?”
“Everyone is fully booked.But you’re scheduled early to leave, it’d have to be after your last appointment.”
“I can do that.”
“Make sure she knows to come in as soon as possible if the reaction becomes an emergency.”
Nora went back to her phone call.
Brooks tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at me.
“What?”I knew he was going to make some shitty comment about my scrubs.It’s not like I could forget what I was wearing with the colors reflecting on my tablet screen and making it hard to read.
“I just realized what you remind me of.”
Nora hung up the phone and typed in a quick, confident rhythm on her keyboard.
