Page 56 of Redeeming Harmony

“She’s gonna sink the clinic,” Harper said. “Shit. I have to do something.”

“It needs to be a big something,” Rayna said. “Something that will show the town that Nathan is an excellent vet. Something that shows them he’s here to help and support the town.”

“Holy shit, that’s it,” Harper said.

“That’s what?” Rayna asked in bewilderment.

“Help and support the town! We can do a free vaccine clinic for low-income families like my dad used to do back in the day.”

Rayna stared at her. “That’s brilliant.”

“Right? We can rent out the Harmony Falls Community Center and have the vaccine clinic there,” Harper said.

“I can announce it on Little Whiskers website,” Rayna said. “Ooh, and I’m doing a local podcast next week about the rescue. I can mention the free vaccine clinic for low-income Falls families.”

“We can put flyers up around town as well,” Harper said, her excitement growing. “This’ll be perfect. It’ll show people that Nathan wants to do whatever he can to help animals, right?”

“Yep,” Rayna said.

“Okay, I’ll call the community center and see what dates they have available. Hopefully, they have something open within the next week or two because we need to do this fast. Dad won’t admit it, but he’s worried about how much business the clinic has lost. It’d be best if it were on a Sunday, so we don’t have to close the clinic for the day, but maybe Dad could cover the clinic while Nathan does the free vaccines. Of course, if it’s as busy as it was when Dad did it, we’ll need both him and Nathan there. Maybe -”

“Um, Harper? Maybe you should talk to Nathan first and make sure he’s willing to do this,” Rayna said with a grin.

Harper paused. “Shit, yeah, you’re right. Okay, I’ll talk to him, but in the meantime, I’ll see what the community center has available.”

“If he doesn’t want to do it -”

“I’ll convince him that he needs to,” Harper said.

Rayna laughed. “Okay. Well, keep me updated on it, and once we know Nathan is in, I can ask a few of my volunteers to help out with it.”

“Perfect. I’ll rope Addie, Gracie, and Kira into helping too,” Harper said.

Rayna stood. “I’m gonna grab a coffee and head to my next appointment. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Sure, thanks, Rayna.” Harper stared blankly out the window as Rayna walked up to the counter. This would work. It had to work. She wouldn’t sit by and watch her father’s clinic get shut down over rumours and untruths.

Chapter 14

Harper hung her apron in her locker and slung her bag over her shoulder. The rest of the afternoon had been crazy busy at the coffee shop, and she was bone tired. Not to mention her feet were killing her. She was ready to go home and climb into a hot bath.

“Hey, Harper?”

She turned, smiling at Hazel, who had walked into the back room.

“I thought you’d left for the day,” Harper said.

“I’m leaving soon. I just had a few admin things left to clear up,” Hazel said.

Harper studied her boss. Hazel was only a year older than Harper, but she was the perfect example of a woman who had her shit together. After high school, she’d moved to Riverton, a mid-size city west of Harmony Falls and gotten her business degree. She’d returned to Harmony Falls three years ago and purchased the failing Main Street coffee shop. She’d renamed it Grind My Beans and renovated it extensively. In the three years she’d owned the shop, she’d turned it around from the brink of closing to the most popular coffee shop in town with both regulars and tourists.

“Busy afternoon, huh?” Harper said.

Hazel nodded. “Yes. It’s busy enough now, even when it’s not tourist season that I’m doing interviews tomorrow morning for another part-time employee position.”

“Cool,” Harper said. She realized that Hazel held her sketchpad in one hand. “Crap, I left that on the table after my break, didn’t I?”

Hazel nodded but instead of handing it to Harper, she flipped it open to the finished sketch of the open bag of coffee beans. “How much?”

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