I loved when she bounced on her toes.
I loved even more when she smiled, and it was genuine.
I didn’t get very many of those aimed my way anymore, and I’d do just about anything to preserve the feeling.
She caught my hand and all but skipped out to my truck.
She paused when we got out there and she saw Holly still sitting in her car, staring furiously at the wall in front of her.
Denver and I paused as well, taking in the scene.
“Go,” she ordered. “I’ll meet you there in a minute.”
Seeing as the restaurant we were headed to was only a few doors down from my vet practice, Denver and I ‘went.’ Though we didn’t go too far, just out of sight slightly of the car that Nettie was heading to.
“Is there more to the story there?” I asked Denver.
“Not really. Watched them struggle their asses off for years. Offered to buy it off of them so many times, offering way more than it was worth. When they never took it, I started taking care of the line of fence between our properties to ensure everything was in working order. Then started to feed their cows hay that I cut throughout the years. Pretty sure by the end of Cantrell’s life, I was paying for almost everything. Think he felt bad that I never saw compensation for that. Explained in a letter that leaving that place to Geor—Holly—was a death sentence. Asked me to make it great again. Asked me to make sure that G—Holly didn’t get stuck in a rut of trying to live up to standards that he knew were impossible. Wanted to make sure that I found her a job.”
“You’re the reason I hired her,” I admitted. “I probably would’ve never given her a second look. Her attitude is pretty…hard.”
Holly was a good kid.
She was intelligent and worked hard. But she was almost unapproachable. Something that you couldn’t be when you were trying to run a successful practice.
However, she was great with the animals, and honestly, was a really hard worker.
I just wished I could give her an attitude reset.
Nettie gestured to Holly to try to start her car, and Holly did so.
Whatever was wrong with it definitely wasn’t going to be an easy fix like the battery. It coughed, sputtered, made a knocking sound and died.
“She acts like the world is out to get her,” Denver muttered as we watched Nettie pull out a set of keys and offer them to Holly.
Holly shook her head, but Nettie all but shoved them into her hand.
“She’s letting Holly take her car,” Denver mused.
“She won’t need it today.” I shrugged.
“Wonder what’s wrong with her car?” Denver questioned.
That I didn’t know.
But… “Call Courtland. He can get it and take a look at it.”
Denver was already pulling his phone out and dialing.
The phone rang twice on speaker before Courtland answered with a muttered, “Yeah?”
The sound of a torque wrench sounded in the background before Denver asked, “You in town?”
“At the shop,” he answered. “Why?”
Courtland was one of the seven men that’d moved to town after Apollo had broken them out of prison.
Like the others, he’d integrated himself into society fully.
