Page 110 of Bailey

He picked up his cowboy hat and stuffed it back on his head.

“Coral Canyon Police Department,” a woman said. “How can I direct your call?”

“I’m not really sure,” Bailey said. “This is Doctor Bailey McAllister out at the Red Bluffs Veterinary Clinic. It’s not really an emergency situation, but I’ve got a couple of men here who don’t have pets, don’t have appointments, and are refusing to leave. I’m wondering if I can get a couple of officers to come out and remove them from the property?”

“Sure thing, Bailey,” the woman said. “I can get a couple of officers out there in the next few minutes.”

“Thank you,” Bailey said, and the call ended. She nodded at Reeves. “You haven’t eaten, I’m assuming.”

He shook his head, and Bailey reached for the phone again. Reeves put out his hand and covered it before she could lift the receiver. “You don’t need to order lunch for me. Those guys will leave, and I’ll head home.”

Bailey pulled her hand back as she sighed.

“This is why I just stay hunkered down,” he said.

Bailey wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that. Surely he would’ve gone to the swap meet, whether he’d started dating her or not.

“Do you not want to go up to my parents’ tonight?” she asked.

His expression blanked, and then he frowned. “Why wouldn’t I want to go?”

“Well, if you just want to hunker down….” She left the sentence there, because it sure sounded like he simply wanted to get home and shut himself away from the world again.

Bailey stood and rounded her desk, easily settling herself onto Reeves’s lap. “Tell me what’s going on in your head.”

“I’m sorry, wildflower,” he said. “I hope they don’t put two and two together and realize you’re my girlfriend and this is your clinic and start bothering you.” He said all the words in a rush, and Bailey took an extra moment to sort through them.

Bailey really hoped that wouldn’t happen either, but she wrapped her arms around Reeves’s shoulders, glad when he did the same and pressed his ear to her heartbeat.

“I’m really glad I’ve never been on camera with you,” she said, and he pulled away and looked up at her. “I know you’ve asked me a few times, and I’ve kind of always put you off, but I don’t want to be recognized.”

A bolt of fear moved through her. “Actually, I’ve lived in small towns my whole life, because that’s the life I want,” she said. “It’s quiet, and it’s private, and it’s just mine.”

He nodded.

Bailey leaned her head down and touched her forehead to his. “That’s the life I want with you, Reeves. Me and you, and our families, and our friends. I don’t need the world to be bigger than it already is.”

“I know,” Reeves said. “I want that too.”

Bailey swallowed, because for the first time since she started dating Reeves, she wondered if there was room inside his life for her. The camera took up so much space, and he’d invited in so many through the lens of it. He was so good at being himself outside of his videos, and she didn’t want her relationship with him to become content for his channel.

“So you’re okay with me never being on camera?” she asked.

“Of course, I am,” he said.

She nodded, though she sensed something disquiet in him. Perhaps he was simply frustrated with this morning’s situation.

A knock sounded on the door, and Bailey practically jumped out of Reeves’s lap.

“Doctor McAllister,” a man called, and she turned and took the two steps to the door and opened it.

“Yes,” she said, coming face-to-face with a police officer.

“We’ve got those men out of your lobby now, ma’am, and I’m wondering if you have time to write up a statement for us.”

Bailey looked at him blankly, then opened the door wider and positioned the doorstop in front of it. “Sure,” she said. “But I never actually met them.” She stepped back and gestured toward Reeves.

“This is my boyfriend, Reeves Durham, and he said the men followed him from the swap meet, to the Sip and Stay, to here. He came back into my office and told me the story, and I called the police.” She cleared her throat and flicked a look over to Reeves. “He’ll probably be a better one to make a statement. And, of course, my front office staff had to deal with them as well.”