I kept my eyes on the road. “Yeah, he always was. Before... everything.”
She didn’t press, just nodded and looked out the window. After a moment, she spoke again, her voice soft. “That kiss last night. I don’t regret it.”
My hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Neither do I.”
“But you’re right that the timing is terrible,” she continued. “With everything that’s happening—”
“Ella,” I cut in gently. “We don’t need to figure this out right now.”
She turned to look at me, her eyes searching mine. “What if there is no right time? What if this—whatever it is between us—just gets buried under everything else?”
I reached across the console and took her hand, threading my fingers through hers. “Then we dig it back up when things settle. But right now, keeping you and Nora safe is what matters.”
She squeezed my hand, then let go as we pulled into the veterinary clinic parking lot. The place was quiet, and most of the day’s appointments finished. Dr. Miller met us at the door, her expression tired but pleased.
“He’s doing much better. He ate a bit of soft food,” she said, leading us to an examination room where Scout lay on a padded table. “Still weak, and he’ll need medication for the next week, but the worst is over.”
The dog’s tail thumped weakly when he saw Ella. She went to him immediately, burying her face in his fur. “Hey, buddy,” she whispered. “Ready to go home?”
While Dr. Miller explained the medication schedule and follow-up care, I scanned the parking lot through the window. And that’s when it dawned on me.
“Dr. Miller. Did you call Caleb about Scout?” I asked.
She looked at me with a blank stare. “Who is Caleb? I don’t—”
“We need to go,” I said, cutting in. “Now.”
Dr. Miller looked startled, but Ella caught my tone and straightened immediately. “Is it—?”
“No, something else.”
She helped me lift Scout, who was still too weak to walk. Dr. Miller hurried ahead of us, holding open doors as we carried the dog to my truck.
“Call if his condition changes,” the vet called as we settled him into the back seat.
Chapter 11
Jake
As soon as she got in the front seat, she said, “What’s going on?”
I didn’t answer until I got in the truck with the doors locked and moving out of the parking lot. My mind was racing, connecting dots I should have seen days ago.
“Caleb told us he got a call from the vet about Scout improving,” I said, checking the mirrors as I pulled onto the main road. “But Dr. Miller had no idea who Caleb was.”
Ella’s eyes widened. “Maybe he called the front desk? Or another vet on staff?”
“Maybe.” I tightened my grip on the wheel. “But that’s not all. The truth is that something about Caleb had been bothering me since the moment he showed up on my porch. At first, I’d chalked it up to time and distance—five years changes a person. But now I wasn’t so sure.”
“How so?”
“He showed up out of nowhere, Ella. Bloody and half-frozen on my doorstep. Said he’d caught his hand in a car door, but the wound was too clean, too precise.” I swallowed hard. “And he knew things. Things he shouldn’t know.”
“What things?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“He mentioned being worried about me because of your mysterious ex. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it. But I never told him about Mikhail. To my knowledge, no one did.” The realization made my stomach turn. “And when he first arrived, he asked specific questions about you and Nora. Like he was confirming information he already had.”
“Oh God,” Ella breathed. “You think he’s working for them? For Mikhail’s father?”
