“You know,” Mrs. Sugita said, pulling Chloe aside confidentially, “not that my stubborn husband will admit it, but we’ve both been missing the business a little bit. Not that we want to take it back over!” she added hurriedly.
Chloe looked at her quizzically. What did she mean?
“I just meant that if you or your handsome receptionist ever get sick or need a break, just give us a call,” Mrs. Sugita went on. “We’re always happy to come in and cover.”
“Thank you so much,” Chloe said gratefully. “Truly.”
She’d always assumed that she’d have to close down temporarily if she ever needed to take time off sick, given that vets weren’t exactly a dime a dozen around here. Maybe now shewould even get to go on that overseas holiday one day without feeling guilty.
That wouldn’t be for some time, though! All she wanted right now was to run her business with Ethan.
The bell on the front door jangled, and Chloe opened her mouth to welcome Sylvie and Gale, but instead she saw…
Ethan?! No, wait…
Her brain glitched for a moment as it tried to work out why there was an older version of Ethan walking through the door – had he come back from the future to warn her about something? – but then Ethan’s stunned “Dad?!” and Eula’s enthused “Amby!” clued her in.
“What are you doing here?” Ethan hissed, looking as discomposed as Chloe had ever seen him.
“Oh, that was all me, darlin’,” said Eula, as Janie rolled her eyes. “Your dad’s not exactly difficult to track down, you know. I thought he’d like to come and see what you’re up to.”
“You’ve done a good job here, son,” Ambrose said awkwardly, as he looked around the clinic while Ethan’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. “I’m serious. You’ve done what I was always too scared to do myself.”
“Become a receptionist?” Janie exclaimed, her nose wrinkling.
Ambrose looked over at her as if noticing her existence for the first time, his confusion at being suddenly mocked by a tween evident.
“Follow my dreams,” he said pointedly. “Not do what was expected of me by my father.” He cleared his throat. “I’m – I’m proud of you, son.”
“I – Dad, I –” Ethan began, clearly at a loss for words, before he grabbed his father’s impeccably-dressed arm and hauled him out of the room before he could get another word out, presumably to sayWhat the hell?!at him a lot.
Chloe smiled. She’d never actually met Ambrose, Ethan having smoothly changed the subject whenever she’d even so much as hinted at his existence. She’d been wondering if she would go to her grave without ever meeting the man who was basically her father-in-law.
Maybe Eula’s meddling was for the best. Ethan and his father needed to clear the air. Shehopedthat was what they were doing right now, as she glanced at them through the round window of the exam room door – whatever the topic of conversation was, they certainly were talking very seriously about it.
The bell rang again, accompanied by a cold wind and a flurry of snowflakes, before the door was slammed shut again.
“Hi, everyone!” Gale exclaimed, stamping the snow off his boots.
“Hi!” Sylvie echoed, an impossibly tiny bundle cradled in her arms. “So sorry we’re late! Who would have thought that such a small creature could emit so many different, uh,fluids?”
Everyone huddled around, trying to get close without crowding the new family too much. Chloe knew that some of the people here hadn’t met Lily yet – and even if theyhadmet her before, they all wanted to see her again!
“Would you like me to take her off your hands, darlin’?” Eula asked, and Sylvie passed her off gratefully, without Lily so much as stirring in her blanket – maybe she was tired out after all those emissions Sylvie had mentioned.
“Thanks so much, Eula,” she said sincerely, as she took off her jacket and hung it over the back of a chair.
She turned to Chloe, letting Eula and the others fuss over Lily. She really was picture perfect, after all – Chloe could just make out her chubby, rosy cheeks where she was wrapped up in her blanket, her thick dark eyelashes, and her tiny pursed lips, twitching as if she was dreaming.
“So, what’s happening?” Sylvie said, looking like she was starving for information. “Tell me all about your day, no matter how boring it was.” At Chloe’s evident surprised look, Sylvie laughed. “Don’t get me wrong – I love my little girl more than anything! But sometimes you just want to remember that you’re an adult who has conversations with other adults, you know?”
“Here, Sylvs,” said Emily, bringing her over an enormous slice of honey cake, its moist, golden layers sandwiched between generous helpings of outrageously fluffy cream. “Just eat some cake and take a load off.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” said Sylvie gratefully, taking the plate and flopping down into a chair. Taking a big mouthful of cake, she sighed and closed her eyes happily.
“Mm. That’s the stuff.”
Opening her eyes again, she shook her head ruefully.
