Page 30 of Nate

“Nate isn’t either. I know, for some reason, some men are like that, but Nate isn’t one of them.”

“Jarrett is so arrogant. It’s like, ‘hey, look at me, I’m tall, dark, and handsome, but no matter how good looking a man is, his personality could make him ugly. I want Nate to forgive me.”

“I hope he does. Okay, I’ll give you his number, and I hope he will come to dinner, but don’t get mad if he turns you down.”

“I won’t. I’ll be more disappointed than anything.”

“You know, I love you, but if he turns you down, I can’t blame him.”

“Same here. I’ll let you know. I’ll call him when I get home. I have to go. I need to check on a dog that had surgery this morning.”

“Okay. I’ll text you his number. Talk soon.” Sydney hung up.

Markie stood, placed her phone in her scrubs pocket, then headed to the back room where the surgery patients were kept. She entered the room, walked to the crate and squatted down.

“Hi, Bobo. How are you baby?” She put her fingers through the cage to touch his nose. He’d been hit by a car and had to have a leg amputated, but she knew dogs were resilient and he’d be fine with just three legs. He raised his head a little, licked her fingers, then laid his head back down. He’d be out of it for a while since he was on pain medication.

“How is he?” Tess asked when she entered the room.

“I think he’ll be fine. Poor baby.”

“He’s a sweetheart. I’m glad his owners brought him in to be taken care of.”

“Me too. They seemed so upset, but they understood that the leg would have to be removed. They said they didn’t care about that, as long as he’d be okay.”

“Good owners.”

“Definitely.” Markie stood.

“I think we can get out of here for the day. It’s four-thirty, but there are no more appointments.”

“Okay. I’m going to check on Bobo later if that’s alright.”

“Of course, it is. I’ve come in before at night to check on patients.”

“From where you live now, or when you lived upstairs?”

Tess grinned. “Both. Sam comes with me now. He doesn’t like for me to come into town alone at night. Not that we have a lot of crime, but years ago… well, that’s a story for another time.”

“I hope you’ll tell me sometime.”

“I will. It was when I almost lost Sam.” Tess shook her head. “I promise we’ll have lunch one day and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Looking forward to it. You can head out, Tess. I’ll lock up.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. I’ll see you Monday. Have a good weekend.”

“You too. Night.” Markie watched her walk out of the room, then she headed toward her office. The place was quiet since everyone had gone home.

After entering the vitals for Bobo, she gathered up her purse, turned out the lights, and made sure the front doors were locked, then headed out the back, locking the door behind her and around the side to the stairs leading to her apartment.

At the door, she inserted the key, opened the door, stepped inside, and locked it. After setting her purse on the table, and her keys in the dish, she removed her phone from her pocket and stared at it.

“Maybe I should take a shower first and get my courage up to call Nate.”

Groaning, she knew it was going to take guts to call the man and ask him to dinner tomorrow night.

“He probably has a date.” Markie shook her head. “That would be my damn luck.”

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