She repeated the breathing exercise but couldn’t find her center. Instead, she conjured dark blond hair and ice-blue eyes. Her heart stuttered, confused but comforted. She recalled the gentle way his hands had held her, like she was the most precious thing on earth. She pulled at memories upon memories of tender moments throughout their lives together, memories she’d ignored, until darkness crept over her vision.
Over and over until the darkness came. Not the threatening kind. The quiet kind. The peaceful kind.
And this time, it was Jake’s handsome face fighting her demons so she could finally rest.
The fresh air was crisp as it blew in through the open windows of the minivan. Despite the freshly brewed coffee her mother had handed her on her way out the door, Gia needed the chilly air to wake her up more. She’d woken up when her alarm had gone off an hour before. Despite her nightmares, she’d gotten a couple more hours of sleep, but it was still not enough if the dark circles under her eyes were anything to go by.
The breeze tousled the messy bun resting haphazardly on top of her head. She’d borrowed Minh’s college sweatshirt to pair with her leggings and boots. After washing her face free of any traces of the night before, she’d applied only her Korean sunscreen before racing out the door to meet Marley. She’d never looked less glamorous than she did in that moment, but for the first time in a while… she didn’t care.
With the streets mostly empty, the drive took far less time. When she pulled up to the familiar auto body shop, making her way to the back lot, she saw Marley sitting at the table with the crate in front of her. By the beaming smile Marley tossed her upon Gia’s approach, she guessed the trap had been successful.
Marley stood and waved her arms as Gia made her way over. After Gia parked the car, Marley hefted the carrier into the air triumphantly. “We did it!”
Gia opened her car door and rounded the hood. “You did it?”
“Yes!” Marley gently placed it on the ground.
The gravel crunched beneath her footsteps as she approached. She could hear the frantic yowls of the caged animal. “How is it?”
“So mad.”Well, yeah, that’s pretty obvious.
“Let me see.” Gia crouched to peer inside, only to be met by an angry paw. “Whoa, it’s an angry little thing.”
Marley chuckled. “Yeah. I can’t tell if it’s hurt or not, but it’s very loud.”
Gia looked over the black tuxedo cat. Its yellow eyes glared at her, lips curling back in a snarl. “All right, let’s get it in the car and see if the vet’s open. Nice job, Marley.”
Marley beamed a bright smile and rushed to climb into the passenger seat, placing the carrier securely between her feet while Gia settled into the driver’s seat.
Soft country music played at a low volume on the radio as she pulled out of the lot, heading back to the center of town. Main Street was nearly empty, except for a young woman walking her dog.
As she drove by Moonflower Pages, she spotted Lana setting up theOpensign on the sidewalk and offered a small wave. She could see that Sip Happens, across the street, had a handful of customers.
As she continued driving, she realized she didn’t know exactly where she was going—only that there weren’t many options around town.
“Where is this vet?” She glanced at Marley, who was staring out the window.
Marley glanced at her, then gestured forward. “It should be right around the corner from the community center, up ahead.”
Gia nodded. “How did you sleep?”
“Oh, um. I really didn’t…”
“Yeah, me neither.”It had nothing to do with the cat, though.
“Oh yeah? How come?”
Since she couldn’t exactly tell Marley about the nightmare that woke her up, and how the only thing that calmed her down was imagining Jake’s face, she changed the subject. “Any other creature could have landed in the trap. What if it had been a rabid raccoon instead? The trap is too small for a bear, but I was worried it would find the treats and there would be none left for our cat.”
Marley nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. I thought about that too, so I was surprised the cat found it. I didn’t see it cross the street this morning, so hopefully it slept with the warm blankets all night.”
In response, the cat let out a growl.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Marley reached down to pat the top of the carrier gently.
“Did you see any injuries?” Gia pulled into the parking lot of a large brick building. The sign above the front doors showed it was called Willowbrook Animal Care.
“None that I could make out, but it didn’t really let me look at it,” Marley answered right as Gia put the car in park.
