In the back, there was a door to the backyard which I hadn’t gone out through yet.
He opened the door and gestured. “Obviously the front door wouldn’t work, and neither would this, right?”
I looked around the medium sized backyard and saw his point. It was a wide-open grassy area with a deck attached to the house, a couple of trees in the very back, but the perfect view to the neighbors’ windows in two directions.
“Yeah, the house behind yours and the one to the left would have an eyeful and definitely notice.”
“Right, so how about this instead?” We stepped back in, and he pushed on the wall next to the door.
He might’ve mentioned hidden rooms, but I hadn’t really thought about it much. The panel slid aside, and revealed a space that was still empty, but could comfortably fit a couple of beds. There would be room for an armchair and a dresser maybe.
“This is impressive,” I admitted.
“The previous owners were thinking about turning it into a panic room, but they never got around to it,” he explained. “So, this is the room where we could hide anyone who needs that, but check this out.” He went to the opposite wall and did something, likely pushed another panel, and stepped through.
I went after him and found myself standing in his garage. “Oh wow. This is…wow.”
Dr. Cobb beamed at me. “Isn’t it? And there’s the side door over there.”
He pointed at it, and I grinned. “Well, that’s convenient.”
“That side of the house butts against the hedge between my property and the garage next door. They’re open until six each night.”
“If you put some sort of a fancy doorbell on that door, you can come open it whenever someone needs help in the night,” I murmured. “That’s…ideal, actually. It would only be better if you had the place in an even more remote location, but I think this neighborhood is already pretty far from the city center.”
“It really is, but it’s the only chance I got to make this work.” Dr. Cobb rubbed the back of his neck, then turned to me. “The question is, knowing what I’m planning, knowing the legal implications if something goes wrong, do you want the job?”
It took me all of two seconds to decide. “Yes. You’re going to need someone like me for this. Nothing is more important to me than making sure kids are as safe and cared for as they can be.” As I stepped back inside the secret room and he closed it, I smiled a bit. “I thought I’d help by working at a children’s hospital or maybe a family doctor’s clinic, but this is even better.”
Dr. Cobb smiled slightly. “I hope you’ll be saying that six months from now.”
We made coffee and went to the conference table to figure out the next steps. I felt excited in a way I hadn’t in a while. Even before Dr. Cobb disclosed his grand plan, I would’ve been happy to work for him. Now, it felt almost mandatory somehow, like I’d be missing out on something that Ineededto do if I didn’t take the job.
“Even if I decided to quit for some reason, I wouldn’t do it until you could replace me with someone you deem suitable, and I would never spill your secrets. Not about this.”
He seemed happy with my comment and nodded solemnly. Then he extended his hand to me.
We shook on it. “Welcome to the Cobb Clinic.”
“Thank you.” We beamed at each other. “Now, what do we need to figure out next?” I asked, looking around.
Dr. Cobb chuckled. “Let’s see…”
And just like that, the dream career I didn’t know I’d wanted, started.
* * * *
Things got busy both at the rescue and the clinic.
Lake and Ben spent their days locked in the office, and Rey took care of the kittens while soaking up information from books, the internet, or Sebastian whenever he came by. Theo and Sierra had their hands full with all the stuff that went with keeping a rescue running.
Meanwhile, we quietly opened the clinic, or CC like I’d started to call it. We had a receptionist, Ani, who was a non-binary powerhouse who reminded me of Sierra in some ways.
Dr. Cobb had also added another nurse, Krystal, who had two kids under ten and a loving husband who worked from home. Krystal was kick-ass in a spunky way, and while both Dr. Cobb and I knew she and Ani both would be safe to bring into the fold of our master plan, we didn’t want to put them in a difficult position. Krystal, especially, had too much to lose.
Dr. Cobb had used his connections somehow and gotten the word out to certain shelters and other places LGBTQ youth frequented. Nothing major, just that if they needed help, no questions asked, any time, day or night, they had it at CC.
Meanwhile, we advertised the regular side of the clinic, too and were starting to see some traffic.
