Page 47 of Lee

“So I’ll just wait until after you talk to him to call them back?”

“Yes. It could be that he’ll call them himself. He might tell them we’ll come out if certain circumstances occur. Or maybe he’ll happily take their money, and I’ll get to go see some puppies arrive in the world.”

“I imagine you’ve seen that plenty in the past.”

“I think I was around ten the first time I witnessed a puppy birth. It was amazing, and I’m pretty sure that was the moment when I knew that I really wanted to be a vet. Or a doggy doctor, as I called it back then.”

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Rori said.

“Well, depending how this works out, I could take you with me.”

Rori’s face lit up at that suggestion, and Lee decided that when he spoke to Carl, he’d ask if that would be possible. He didn’t think Carl would have a problem with it, especially if it happened after hours.

“I think I’d like to go along if I’m allowed. If I’m going to work at an animal clinic, I should probably know about things like this.”

“Obviously it’s not a requirement to know this stuff to work the front desk, but such knowledge can help you relate to our clientele.”

Seeing the excitement on Rori’s face, Lee hoped that it worked out for her to join him. It wasn’t likely to be a difficult birth, but he wouldn’t know that for certain until labor was underway.

He didn’t think it was an existing client who was calling to ask for this. His best guess was that someone had recently arrived at their vacation home in the area with an already pregnant dog.

“Are you squeamish at all?” Lee asked.

Rori wrinkled her nose as she tilted her head. “I don’t think so. I mean, I haven’t really been in situations where there is a lot of blood.”

“Well, if you come with me, I guess we’ll find out when the dog goes into labor.”

“I hope I don’t embarrass myself by fainting.”

Lee chuckled. “You wouldn’t be the first person who fainted in that type of situation, so don’t worry about it.”

“You won’t fire me if I faint?”

The sparkle in her eyes let him know that she wasn’t serious with her question, and he appreciated the little flash of humor. “I don’t know… It might be strike one.”

“Should I bring smelling salts so you can revive me?”

“If you can figure out where to buy them, sure.”

“Amazon has everything, doesn’t it?”

“If you actually show up with smelling salts, I’ll bring you a brownie.”

Rori appeared to consider his offer, then said, “Just one?”

“How many would you like?”

“Three.”

“Can’t blame you for that. The brownies that Misha’s mom makes are amazing. Did you try them yesterday?”

“No. I was pretty full from the meal, so I didn’t grab dessert.”

“You definitely missed out, so I look forward to remedying that.” Now that he knew she liked brownies, he’d be bringing her some, regardless of whether she got smelling salts or not.

The chiming of the entrance bell had Rori glancing toward the front. Turning back to him, she smiled and said, “Guess I’d better get back to work. Talk to you later.”

As Lee watched her walk away, he pondered whether he could let go of his need to know about his past. It would be easier to do that if he knew it didn’t matter to her. But the only way to find that out would be to ask her, and he didn’t feel they were quite at that point in their friendship yet. And maybe they never would be.

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