“Look, just pull your weight while you’re here,” she says with a sigh. “God forbid you do something useful around here or to try to fix your relationship with Dad.”
I refuse to let the chill in her voice hurt, even if the news about Al guts me. I’ve done just fine for myself without my family, but I always thought Jenny understood why I have so many issues with our dad. It’s not like she didn’t watch him give up on everything, too.
I just decided to take care of myself instead of him.
If that makes me the bad guy, so be it.
“You’re just here for a vacation, right?” she asks, the arch of her brow making it obvious she still doesn’t believe that cover story. “So it won’t be for long. You’ll survive.”
I’m not going to tell her my real reason for coming home, which is what she’s angling for. I’m past all the guilt trips.Sheshould’ve gone into law with how good she is at getting people to listen to her.
I sigh in defeat before rubbing a hand over my face, exhausted.
“Fine. Sure, whatever,” I agree flippantly. “Send me whatever you want me to look over.”
It probably isn’t anything difficult, maybe some past due bills or fucked up contracts. I’ll do it and get her off my back so I can figure out what the hell to do.
This conversation has taken the wind out of my sails.
“Knew you’d see reason,” she says. “Mary and I are making dinner. Should be ready around six. Show up or don’t, there’ll be food.”
Her careless attitude stings more than I’d like to admit.
Normally, it wouldn’t matter, but today has been one thing after another. Every firm that’s worth working for in Billings has seemingly closed their doors to me, and selling my condo to move to another city would be a pain, especially considering thehousing market right now. I’d be bleeding cash, and my old boss has a wide reach across the entire state of Montana.
This could be harder than I expected it to be.
Then there’s Al. I don’t even know what kind of cancer Al has, but if he’s in chemo, they’re probably pretty sure he’ll make it through. Doctors don’t usually throw treatments at people who are already near the end, right? I may not feel guilty about leaving my dad behind to figure out his own mess, but Al never did anything wrong.
And through all of it, I still can’t stop thinking about Katie.
With her rejection on top of everything else, yeah, I feel like shit. Usually, I’d roll with it and move on. I already got what I wanted from her, it’s not like I’ll die if I don’t get another taste of her.
But when I glance out of my bedroom window, I catch sight of her.
The sunlight catches her golden curls and casts a warm glow over her skin. She has her head tossed back laughing, as she chats with my dad and Mary. She looks soft and pretty, and I feel that tug of want in my gut strengthen, which only serves to annoy me even more.
How could she turnmedown?
I may not be able to fix my relationship with my family or find a job as quickly as I’d like to, or even figure out how to handle the news about Al, but Katie is an easier problem to solve than any of those. It’ll take more effort than I’m used to, but I can convince her to give me another shot. I’ll wine and dine her and win her over, and then I can be the one to walk away.
That’ll be enough to get me back on track. I just need to get my fix and then I can figure everything else out.
KATIE
I’m not surprised to hear the clacking of a keyboard as I step into the office, and I’m even less surprised to see Dr. Sarah already hard at work.
“Good morning, Dr. Sarah.”
The office is quiet, with only a few of the lights in the back turned on since we’re not officially open yet. It’s a lovely change of pace from starting my morning with Wayne looming over my shoulder. It takes Dr. Sarah a moment to respond, her brows furrowing as she reads over a report, so I hang up my bag and clock in while I wait.
“Good morning, Katie,” she replies with a vacant smile before turning back to her computer.
Dr. Sarah has probably been here since before sunrise, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already on her second or third cup of coffee.
Despite being middle-aged, she works like she’s 25, completely tireless and impossibly thorough. I don’t know what she’s got on the schedule for today, but she’s sure to be busier than Angeline or I are. She owns the clinic, and she sees all the typical dogs and cats, as well as being an avian specialist. Angeline mostly sees rodents and reptiles, and I handle the largeanimals. We’ve got a few technicians that work in each section with us, and they keep things running smoothly.
“You’ve got the Chase stables on your schedule for the day, correct?” she asks as I fill up the water bowl for the clinic cat.
