“Don’t worry. I’ll be gone before you know it.”
I frowned, but Brett walked in with a rolling tray of supplies. One of them being a syringe.
“Is that for Marlowe?” I asked, swallowing thickly as I stared at the needle.
“This?” Toby asked, picking it up and pushing the bottom so a little liquid squirted out.
My stomach roiled. “Y-yes.”
“Oh, are you squeamish, Archer?” he asked, still holding it up like it was an artifact in some museum and not a torture device.
“Of course not,” I said, swallowing again.
Toby put down the needle, and I sucked in a breath before petting Marlowe while Brett was brought up to speed on what was going on.
“Would you like to wait outside?” Toby asked a moment later.
“Of course not,” I admonished. “Marlowe is my family. I’m not going to leave him in here alone while he’s hurt and scared. I don’t run away when things get hard.”
The tension in the room stretched until it practically vibrated the air, and the beat of silence that followed my harsh words seemed ear-piercingly loud. A blanket of unresolved stuff settled heavily, nearly suffocating in its intensity. It surprised me, honestly, that after nearly ten years, it was still like this between us.
I couldn’t wait for him to go back to Boston.
Toby turned to the tray. “Okay. Well, if you would like to move to Marlowe’s head, it would be comforting for him to hear your voice and see you as I work.”
I did as he asked and started scratching behind his soft ears. “After this, you’ll get any snack you want out of Ma in the kitchen.”
Toby scoffed. “He probably already does. Your mom always was softhearted.”
His words seemed to catch him as off guard as they did me, and for a moment, we just stared at each other, fondness winning out over hate for long seconds before Toby bent over Marlowe to speak soothingly. “Just a pinch and some pressure. It will probably be uncomfortable, but then it will be numb and you’ll be on the way to chasing those chickens again.”
I couldn’t help but notice the way Toby angled himself in front of the needle, effectively blocking it from view as he administered the shot. It was something he didn’t have to do and something that might have made his job a little more difficult, but he did it without a word.
I kept my eyes focused on Marlowe anyway, talking to him in low, soothing tones about what a good job he was doing.
Toby’s arm brushed against mine when he pulled back, a brief, barely-there touch that prickled my skin with awareness and made my stomach dip. I cleared my throat as if doing so would also clear out those sensations lingering inside me like ripples of unspent electricity.
Once Marlowe’s paw was numb, Toby’s and Brett’s heads bowed together as they worked.
“You’re really efficient,” Brett praised about halfway through.
“Well, in my clinic, you have to be quick because we see so many patients. Plus, not all pets are as patient as Marlowe.”
“Spoken like a man who’s been bitten one too many times,” Brett mused.
“I’ve had my share of teeth,” Toby joked, pulling back to smile at the tech.
“Seriously, how long have you worked here?” I wondered, cutting into their obvious flirting.
It was completely inappropriate for a place of business.
“Not too long. I’ve been going to school for vet med,” Brett said, including Toby in the conversation. “It’s my last year, so it’s my clinical year. Dr. Thomas said I could do my primary care rotation here. Technically, that won’t start till January, but I’ve been coming in since I’ve been home just for the extra experience.”
“Well, I’m glad to have the extra hands since Dad is off for the holiday,” Toby said. “Clinical year is really challenging. How’s it been so far for you?”
Guess I’d been staying closer to the farm than I realized because this was a little bit of town gossip I didn’t know. The mayor’s son, a veterinarian? It was news to me.
Of course, Mayor Schroder moved here from a neighboring town a few years back, so I didn’t grow up with Brett. Plus, he was a few years younger than me, and by the time they were here, I was busy running Hodge Farm.
