She hugged him for a moment, not feeling embarrassed about doing so in front of a room full of people. Everyone else here was the same with their mates. It was refreshing, being with people who were so open in showing their love and appreciation for others.
Still, as much as she could’ve happily spent the entire evening in Ethan’s arms, therewerelimits… and she really did want to say hello to everyone!
The room was packed full of people:
Henry and Luna, with Fillmore scrambling into Henry’s arms and lavishing his face with happy kisses.
Margot and her chimera shifter mate Levi, who seemed taciturn, but was really a friendly guy underneath it all.
Kira and her dragon mate Caleb, who was apparently busy planning some sort of gourmet food and film festival coming up later in the year.
Kieran and his mate Natasha, the latter of whom had been a godsend in terms of encouraging Ethan to drop the corporate mindset and embrace slower small-town living.
And there were her other friends, as well: Eula and Janie were here, as were Diana and Ash, with Bella dutifully accompanying them.
Even the Sugitas had accepted her invitation, looking relaxed and happy after their cruise. She wanted them to see that she was taking good care of their business, and to thank them for providing her with this opportunity. If she hadn’t taken over their clinic, her life would be very, very different right now.
Emily from the bakery was here as well, having brought plenty of food for everyone. She’d been covering while Sylvie was on maternity leave, though Chloe knew that Sylvie had been checking in regularly.
There was no need for Sylvie to be concerned, though – Emily was doing a great job, and Chloe hoped that Sylvie had been able to relax and just spend time with her new family.
And then there was Margot’s fluffy black cat, Monty, who was casually wandering around like he owned the place. Margot had told Chloe that Monty was her magical familiar who could become invisible to certain people whenever he so chose, andChloe had just gone with it. It made as much sense as anything else.
“You really have done a fantastic job here, darlin’,” Eula said, sidling up to her with a glass of sparkling wine in her hand and a twinkle in her eye.
“It’s been a team effort,” Chloe said truthfully. It was so much easier to run a business when you had half the town helping you out!
And Ethan had been absolutely invaluable. Chloe had originally expected to be putting in long days in order to keep everything running smoothly, but with Ethan’s help, she’d been able to just focus primarily on animal care. Not that she didn’t have to dosomepaperwork, but she had time to relax as well.
Life really was wonderful.
She shifted her gaze to look at the locket, which hung from a delicate chain that sat around Eula’s neck. It had been cleaned up and polished, and now had a brilliant silver gleam.
“You did a fantastic job with the necklace,” she said, indicating it. “It looks amazing.”
A thought occurred to her, and she continued, “Is the new chain strong enough? I’d hate for it to get lost again.”
I’m certainly not going to go rappelling down a cliff to fetch it again, that’s for sure. You’re on your own next time, Eula!
“Oh, don’t you worry about that,” Eula said with a grin. “Our friend Margot here put some kind of a spell on it. Location spell, she said. If it goes missing, I’ll know exactly where it is.”
“Well, that’s handy,” Chloe said, impressed. Maybe she could get Margot to cast the same spell on her keys.
“Dr. Fenwick!” came a booming voice behind her, and she turned to see the Sugitas approaching, drinks in hand.
“Thank you for rescuing our little vet clinic,” said Dr. Sugita, shaking her hand warmly. “We were worried that we would haveto either shut down without someone to take over and leave Girdwood Springs without a vet, or never retire.”
“I should be thankingyou,” said Chloe, with genuine gratitude. “This clinic has been an absolute life-changer for me.”
“We love what you’ve done with the place!” exclaimed Mrs. Sugita. “We were here for so long that we didn’t notice how run-down it was getting.”
“I really didn’t do all that much,” said Chloe. And it was true – it was amazing what a lick of fresh paint, some new blinds and chairs, and a few unicorn-tended plants could do to a place. The building itself was already lovely, with its wooden beams and enormous windows facing out on to the tree-lined street.
“I see you kept Felix,” Mrs. Sugita went on, and it wasn’t until Chloe saw her gesturing to the cat-faced clock on the wall that she understood.
Chloe laughed. “How could Inotkeep Felix? He’s the heart and soul of this place.”
Really, as silly as it sounded, she hadn’t been able to bear the thought of throwing him out. His friendly kitschiness kept the place from feelingtoofancy. And the kids who brought in their pets loved him.
