Page 129 of Lee

“Or are you living in your car?” Alexis asked.

“Can I help you?” Lee’s voice was harsh as he came to stand at the reception desk.

Her mom’s gaze narrowed as she took him in. “And you are?”

“Doctor Halverson,” he said. “One of the vets here.”

“I’m Aurora’s mother, and this is my daughter, Alexis.”

“Well, Rori is currently at work, so perhaps you could contact her outside of clinic hours.”

Her mom waved her hand dismissively. “No need for that. We were just returning from lunch at the resort, and I thought I’d show Alexis where Aurora was working now. That’s all. We’re done here.”

And with that, her mom and Alexis headed for the door. Alexis sent a smirk over her shoulder at Rori as she followed her mom from the clinic.

Rori sank down in her chair and stared blankly at the door. She’d been dealing fine with her mom and sister until Lee had arrived.

It was a rare thing that her mom claimed her as a daughter the way she did Alexis. If she ever had to tell someone who Rori was to her, it was always identifying herself as her mother. It might seem like the same thing, but in Rori’s heart, it had always felt like a denial. Like she wasn’t good enough to be claimed as a daughter.

She thought she’d gotten over it, but it had still stung to hear it.

Now, she was once again wanting someone to claim her.

However, Lee hadn’t told her mom that he was Rori’s boyfriend. He’d stood apart from her, taking on the role of her boss. It was probably the best thing, since they were at work.

But they hadn’t been dealing with a client of the clinic. They’d been dealing with Rori’s family, and she could have used some support beyond him just chasing them off.

She’d needed them to see that there was someone who wanted her in their life. The hurt Rori felt over that was soul deep. Deeper than the rejection by her mother because she’d never known her love.

But Lee was different. He’d said he loved her. He’d made her think she was important.

“Why do you let them treat you like that?” Lee asked, his voice sharp.

“What?” Rori turned to look at him, wondering if this was a dream. A bad dream. It had to be.

“Why don’t you stand up for yourself?”

The harshly spoken question was like a stab in her heart. Lee’s expression was hard. Maybe even angry. At her.

What was going on?

She was so confused.

“They’re not important to me, so I don’t care enough to fight to change what they think.” And the last time she’d tried, her dismal life had become nearly intolerable.

All she wanted when her mom made one of her rare appearances in Rori’s life was for the visit to be over sooner rather than later.

“You shouldn’t let anyone treat you like that. It’s not right.”

Rori shrugged, now wanting her conversation with Lee to be over. It was the first time she’d felt like that.

Whatever had made him sick seemed to have negatively affected his personality as well. However, Rori knew that being sick could bring out the worst in a person, so she just had to be patient with him.

“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I’m going to leave after this next patient.”

“Okay.” Rori didn’t know what more to say.

Lee dragged a hand down his face, suddenly looking more exhausted than ever, the edge of anger gone from his expression. “I’ll talk to you later.”

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