Page 13 of High Density

“Pretty much,” she confirms. “And since Mackey is trucking them in early next week already, I’m going to be swamped.” Shechuckles at herself. “If that’s even possible, given how swamped I already am.”

“Have you thought about getting someone else in?”

She eyes me speculatively.

“You mean like another vet? I wish. I sank a lot of money into buying the clinic just last year, and I’m gonna need at least another year or two of hacking it alone before I can even think about taking someone on. I’m lucky to have a third-year veterinary student helping out for the summer, and for the moment I can only afford him and my assistant, Frankie. They keep the clinic going as best they can when I’m out and about.”

Wow. Clearly this takes up a large chunk of her brain space, and I can see why it would.

Not that I have any insight into what it takes to run a business. After college, I worked for four years as a game warden in Flathead County before returning to Libby and joining the High Mountain Trackers. I love what I do and doing a good job is all I have to worry about. I know what my pay is every two weeks, and I live simple with little overhead, so I can save up for a rainy day. I like it that way.

“Can you pass on it?”

“I should,” she says, sounding a little defeated. “But I really can’t afford to. His offer is very generous, and it would mean being able to afford an extra pair of hands sooner rather than later.”

“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” I mutter.

“Exactly,” she agrees. “And since I’d like to have some space in my life for fun stuff before I’m too old and decrepit to enjoy it, my time is fast becoming limited.”

“Oh, come on. We’re not that old yet,” I mock her gently.

“No? Maybe not, but time flies. Hell, it feels like yesterday I left my parents’ farm to go off to college, and that was almost two decades ago.”

She turns her head to look at the Kootenai River flowing by, seemingly lost in thought.

Two decades?

I’d pegged her at around my age—I had my thirty-fourth birthday last month—but I guess she’s a little older. She doesn’t look it, and besides, it doesn’t matter a lick to me, but I get the sense it may matter to her.

Either way, this doesn’t seem a good time to draw attention to it, so I should probably steer the conversation away from the topic of age. But Janey beats me to it.

“I’m sorry I’ve been chewing your ear off with my issues. Whatever it was you had in mind, I’m sure it wasn’t listening to me complain. Can you tell I don’t get out much? I haven’t even asked about you.”

She laughs a bit self-consciously as she rips a napkin into tiny strips. I cover her restless hands with mine.

“Don’t do that,” I gently admonish her. “When I said I wanted to learn about you, this is what I meant; the things that occupy your life. I appreciate you sharing.”

It earns me a genuine smile.

“And I appreciate you listening. I have to admit, you’re a bit of a surprise. Not what I was expecting.”

“Now you have me curious.”

Instead of clarifying, she slips her hands out from under mine and stands up.

“Ah, I’m afraid it’ll have to wait for another time. I have a few overnight patients at the clinic, and Logan is waiting for me to relieve him.”

I get up as well, and gather up the remains of our dinner to toss into the garbage can at the edge of the park.

“I can wait,” I assure her. “As long as I know therewillbe another time.”

She doesn’t say anything, but I catch her smiling from the corner of my eye as we head back to my truck.

The drive to her place is silent, but I’m enjoying that too. Most people get restless in silence and try to fill it with inane chatter. It’s rare you find someone who is comfortable simply enjoying time and space with you.

“Home or clinic?” I ask when her driveway splits in two different directions.

“Home, please. I have to get out of this dress and into some muck-about clothes.”

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