Page 102 of Redeeming Harmony

“Sure,” she said. “But you have to donate the reward to the rescue if I catch her, and I want seven free cat spays.”

“Deal,” he said without hesitating.

“Dammit, I knew I should have gone for eight free spays,” Rayna said.

“Rayna, if you catch this damn cat, I’ll give you ten free cat spays,” Nathan said.

Rayna’s eyes lit up, and she picked up Snyder and his toy. “Oh, I’m catching that cat.”

They left the exam room together, and as Rayna headed toward reception, Nathan walked to his office. He sat down at his desk before checking the schedule. To his surprise, there was another appointment booked for him near the end of the day, and it was a name he didn’t recognize.

Some of the depression that had coated him all day lifted a little, and he sat back in his chair, staring out the window at Warren and Harper’s house. He couldn’t fool himself that part of his low mood was caused by something other than work.

Since Wednesday night, he hadn’t seen or talked to Harper, and he missed her. Her invitation to spend time with her and her friends had given him hope that maybe they were headed toward something more, despite his assurance to her that he only wanted a friends with benefits thing.

Of course, here it was nearly forty-eight hours later, and it’d been nothing but radio silence from Harper, dousing his flickering flame of hope. While he had no right to be upset by it, he was. He wanted more from her.

So, text her and ask her to come over tonight.

He wanted to, but time apart from Harper had given him a bit of perspective. It was for the best to have some space between them. He needed to concentrate on the clinic. He’d worked hard to get his own clinic, and he needed to devote his time and energy to it. It wasn’t fair to Harper to take second place in his efforts to save the clinic. Once he didn’t have to work so hard to prove to the town that he was a good vet, he’d have time for a relationship. Maybe he and Harper could try dating then.

Like she’s still going to be available. You’re lucky she hasn’t already started dating someone else. Someone her own age.

He grabbed a pen and poked viciously at the gouge in the top of his desk with it. Harper had said she didn’t care about the age difference, but maybe she didn’t care because it was just sex. There was a big difference between casually banging someone a decade older and having a relationship with them.

Hell, maybe that’s why she’d been avoiding him since he’d left so abruptly Wednesday night. Not because she was pissed he’d abandoned her for his job, but because she regretted inviting him to hang out with her and her friends and was now trying to establish boundaries again.

He had his own decision to make. He needed to decide if he could be happy with a sex only relationship with Harper. If he couldn’t, he needed to end it. It wasn’t fair to either of them.

“Nathan?” Laila knocked on his door.

He swiveled his chair around to face her. “Hey, what’s up?”

She looked sick to her stomach, and he stood. “What’s wrong?”

“Warren is still in surgery, right?”

“He is,” Nathan said. “Did an emergency come in?”

“No, not exactly.” Laila looked positively green at this point. “There’s a man here about Winston. He says he’s his owner.”

* * *

“Careful, boy.”Her muscles straining, Harper lifted Winston out of her father’s SUV and set him on the ground. She scratched his head, and he nosed the palm of her hand before ambling to the trees that lined the stream and peeing against one of them.

When he returned to her, she patted his side, pleased that she could no longer feel his ribs. “You’re filling in nicely, good boy. Pretty soon, Dad will have to come with me to Riverton for your physical therapy. I won’t be able to lift you in and out of the car.”

He panted happily, following her into the house. He had a drink of water and then laid down on the bed in the kitchen with a soft sigh. Harper searched the fridge for something quick to eat. It was well past lunch, but Riverton was almost an hour away, and Winston’s appointment had taken longer than expected.

“You’re worth it, buddy,” she said to the dog. “I’d drive to that animal rehabilitation center every day if it helped you feel better. I’m so glad your hip is healing. I bet you are, too, huh?”

Winston’s tail thump-thump-thumped on the bed, his nose twitching as Harper opened up the container of lunch meat. Considering his age, his hip was healing well, but physical therapy was necessary to continue that healing. Right now, her father paid for Winston’s physical therapy, which was incredibly kind of him, but if she was going to adopt Winston, she needed to figure out a way to cover the cost.

“You’re such a good boy, Winnie,” she said to the dog. “Yes, you are. You stay so nicely on your bed, like the best boy. Most dogs have to be crated to help them heal, but not my Winston, not my best boy.”

The dog lifted his head, his nose twitching and sniffing, before licking his lips. He knew their lunchtime ritual already, and Harper didn’t intend to disappoint. She rolled up a piece of the lunch meat and tossed it Winston’s way.

The dog caught it with a snap of his jaws, chewing it down before giving her a hopeful look. She laughed. “You know the rules. Only one piece, Winnie.”

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