Page 18 of Lee

He hoped that for everyone’s sake, her reasons for being in Serenity would keep her there long-term so they wouldn’t need to hire another receptionist any time soon.

CHAPTER FIVE

Rori finished drying the container she’d used to make her overnight oats. After putting it in the still fairly empty cupboard, she turned her attention to making her lunch.

She needed to go get a few more groceries soon. The loaf of bread was almost gone, with just enough left for a sandwich for lunch and a grilled cheese sandwich for supper.

After carefully spreading a thin layer of peanut butter and raspberry jam on the bread, she cut it into two triangles and put them into a small plastic bag. There was one apple left in the marked-down bag she’d gotten on her last grocery trip. It was a bit bruised, but she didn’t mind.

She put both the sandwich and the apple into the lunch bag she’d been using for the past year. Leaving it on the counter, she went to one of her suitcases to find a pair of socks.

It wasn’t fun living out of suitcases, but hopefully, it was just temporary. The studio apartment she’d found wasn’t bad, just small. But that was fine for her, especially considering she didn’t have anyone to invite over, so the lack of furniture wasn’t a big deal.

She sat on the floor next to the air mattress and pulled on her socks and sneakers. Unlike the dentist office, which had required business attire, the clinic was much more casual in the clothing they wore. While Cheryl stuck to maternity clothes, Alys and the volunteers usually wore jeans and a T-shirt with the clinic’s logo, so Rori did too.

Pushing up from the floor, Rori grabbed her small backpack and put her lunch in it, along with her wallet, water bottle, and phone. After locking her basement apartment, she climbed the stairs to the main floor and exited the building.

A warm and sunny day greeted her, ensuring the walk to work would be enjoyable. It took her about half an hour, but walking saved on gas, so for the most part, she didn’t mind it. If rain had been forecast, she’d have taken her car, but thankfully that hadn’t happened yet.

The only downside to the walk was that it gave her too much time to think. The main thing on her mind was that she’d been in Serenity for a couple of weeks already and had yet to tell her mom that she’d made the move.

Essie knew, but she’d promised to let Rori tell her mom herself. The older woman called Rori every couple of days to check on her, and Rori wasn’t sure what to do with that. Even her dad, who knew of her move, hadn’t called or texted to see how she was settling into her life in Serenity.

Not that that was unexpected. She would have actually been more surprised if he had checked up on her, so Rori wasn’t disappointed.

What was taking up a lot of emotional space in her head was the realization that there were families out there who loved their biological children and still had enough for the ones they adopted. She’d known that, of course, on an intellectual level, but to meet someone—Lee—who was the recipient of such love was something else altogether.

It just reinforced what she’d come to understand at the tender age of ten. There was something that had made it difficult—if not impossible—for people to love her. To care for her.

Once she’d realized that, she’d known that at the end of the day, the only person she could rely on was herself.

She worked a lot of hours as a shelf stocker and then a cashier throughout high school, and while Rori might not have been able to go to college, she’d still done her best to educate herself. And one of the things she’d educated herself on was finances.

That knowledge was the main reason she wasn’t rushing to spend her money on furnishings for her new apartment.

She probably had enough in her savings account to buy furniture, but she had no idea if this job was going to pan out. If it didn’t, and she’d spent all her savings, she’d have nothing to fall back on. No safety net. And there would be no one to help her out.

Over the years, there had only been a handful of things she’d splurged on for herself, most purchased with the very generous Christmas bonuses she’d been given at the dental office. One was her car, another was her camera and some lenses, and the other was her laptop. Her phone was two years old and was the most basic model.

She hadn’t regretted any of those purchases, though the car—which she’d saved up for in high school—had required additional funds over the years. However, that had been something she’d taken into account when she’d made the decision to purchase it.

Being in a new place made her a little uneasy regarding her car, since she didn’t know if there was a mechanic that she could trust if she needed work done on it. Which was one of the reasons she walked to and from work whenever she could.

It was a pleasant walk along streets with large shade trees casting dappled shadows on the sidewalk. The houses on those streets were small, but their yards were well maintained. Some even had brightly colored blossoms in flower boxes along their fronts.

The clinic was on the outskirts of Serenity, on a street with other businesses, though it was the largest building on the block. And as she approached the building, Rori found herself smiling.

She really did love the clinic and her new job. She’d been there a week and a half, and she thought everything was going pretty well. Better than she could have hoped.

It hadn’t taken too long to get the hang of the software they used for appointments and keeping track of patient visits. They’d also shown her the process for when someone came in to adopt an animal.

Pulling open the back door of the building, Rori stepped from the warmth of the morning into the cool interior of the clinic. The first person she spotted was Lee coming out of the staff room with a travel mug in his hand.

His smile when he saw her was instantaneous and warm. “Good morning, Rori.”

With flutters in her stomach, Rori returned his smile and greeting. She’d kind of thought that the more time she spent around him, the less infatuated she’d be with him. That’s how it had worked with previous crushes.

She doubted Lee was a perfect man, but there were qualities about him that reached deep into her heart and made her long for things she knew she’d never have.

---