“How far is that? I still don’t know where anything is in Oregon.” When I drove over from Colorado, I took the most-traveled highways. I-84 runs along the Columbia River and then drops you into Portland, so I didn’t see central Oregon.
Miles shrugs. “It’s not too far, only a couple of hours.”
I nod as though I agree with him. But to me, two hours seems like a long way. “If it’s an outdoor store, do they sell camping gear and stuff like that? What’s it called?”
“Exactly like that.” He grins. “It’s called Around the Bend. My grandma named it.”
“That’s an adorable name, and it sounds like an interesting business.”
He grins. “It is. We get to test out new equipment to see if it’s something the store should carry or not. Easily the best part of the job.”
I stare at him, slightly in awe. He’s part owner of a real estate investment company with Kingston Palmer and also tests out outdoor gear for his family’s business. It sounds a lot better than a barely-out-of-school, broke-ass veterinarian.
“What about you?” he asks.
“I’ll probably have to tone down my roaring social life to fit in here,” I say with a sigh. “It’s all those parties I throw. I don’t know how I’ll be able to practice my keg stands.”
He raises his eyebrows at that. “I’d kind of like to see you do a keg stand.”
“I’m afraid I’m a lot more boring than that. I’ll probably be busy working at the clinic and checking up on Willa’s cats.”
Besides my full-time job at the clinic, I have a part-time job helping the nonprofit cat café my sister started and the Humane Society, where I spay and neuter any stray cats that come into the café and then help with regular health checkups.
Even though the café is a charity, Kingston is her boss. And since the cat café is sponsored by his company, he has offered to pay me a generous salary.
My eyes land on Miles. He’s a part owner of the company.
“Wait, are you my boss? If I’m working in the cat café?” As a veterinarian, I’ve taken on the cat café as an extra project. There’s a stray cat problem in Green Valley and my sister came up with a nonprofit idea to where they could adopt out the cats. My job is to spay and neuter and keep everyone healthy. Luckily, the vet clinic I’m going to be working at was happy to let me have a couple afternoons free to take care of the cats as they need it.
Miles shakes his head and pours more coffee into his cup. “Nope. I think they might 1099 you. So, you’re technically a contract worker, though I don’t know how that will work with your veterinarian license.”
I tuck a leg under me on the barstool. “I guess I should find out, shouldn’t I? And it’s probably not a good sign I don’t even know who I’m working for.”
“Meh, Kingston and Willa have the cat café all sorted. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about anything.” He leans forward and pours a little more coffee into my cup.
All in all, settling into Green Valley looks promising—as long as this house situation works out.
Miles sets the pot down and takes a sip of his coffee. “You seem to make friends wherever you go, though. Everyone here loves you.”
I raise my eyebrows at that. “Everyone? I don’t know that many people here.” I lean forward and rest my arms on the counter. “Have you been asking about me?”
He doesn’t even look embarrassed as he nods. “It would have been dumb not to check up on someone moving into my house.”
“True that. Well, what did you learn?”
“That Margaret adores you, Kingston thinks you’re solid, and even Thea, our CFO, was singing your praises.”
I grin at him. “It was Thea who tipped the scale, wasn’t it?”
He smiles back. “She doesn’t like very many people, so it’s about as high of a recommendation you can get.”
“I’ll have to remember to bring her some muffins…”
I pick up the mug and take a long sip of black coffee. I do my best to keep from grimacing. Usually, I take my coffee with half a mug full of creamer. But I didn’t want to be rude and ask.
“Hmm,” I try to make it sound like it’s the most delicious thing I’ve tasted.
Black coffee and creamer coffee are two completely different drinks.
