Page 8 of Safe With Me

A knock on the door outside. He knew this could happen before they opened. He left a very visible note on there stating they’d be in business on Nov. 1.

The knocking persisted. Sighing, he got up and left his office which was right off the reception area. The door didn’t have a window but there were two large square ones either side of it. He peeked out of one of them and saw that his visitor was Stephanie Giordano.

He unlocked the door and opened it.

From under an umbrella, she looked up at him with conflicted emotions in those hazel eyes. “Hello, Dr. Barry. Can I speak with you?”

“Yeah.” He stepped aside and she entered the clinic for a second time. She’d dressed down in jeans and a pink sweater. She set the umbrella on a doormat he’d laid out yesterday. “Come on back. I made coffee. We’ll be comfortable there.” And he could keep an eye on the dog.

She followed him across the empty room to his office. He asked, “Coffee black, right?”

“Yes, please.” She turned to sit and saw Mutt. “You have a dog.”

“As of this morning.”

She went to the animal and squatted down. The dog stared up at her with gloomy eyes. “What’s his name?”

“Mutt.”

She giggled. “No. That’s not a name.”

“He’s not mine. He’s a stray that’s been coming to my door for a few days. I let him inside today and a whole host of things happened. I put an ad for a found dog on the town’s website but meanwhile, I cleaned him up.” He rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t send him back out in the rain.”

“What a sweet thing to do. Will you keep him if no one claims him?”

“No. I’ll get too attached. Come sit.”

After giving Mutt one more head scratch, she took a chair and he stayed behind his desk for some distance from her. “You didn’t come here to talk about dogs.”

She shook back her hair. Man, it was pretty down around her shoulders. “Did Will call you?”

“He did. He asked me to talk to you again.”

She took in a deep breath and let it out. “First, I want to apologize for my reaction to you yesterday. It was unprofessional. Your history struck a still-raw nerve.”

“So it seems. I can’t do anything about my past except try to make up for it by running this clinic.”

“Which is admirable. Will set me straight. He said everybody makes mistakes. For some people, they were very costly.”

He studied her. “Tell me, Ms. Giordano. Have you ever made a mistake that cost you a lot?”

Raising her chin, she held his gaze. “Yes, Dr. Barry.”

Huh, what was he supposed to do with that?

“This is quite a turnaround. Why?”

“Talking with Will. And I spent a few hours with a dog from the pet adoption center. I always do some soul searching when I walk or play with Sunshine. It centers me.”

“Huh. What else did Will say?”

“That I should try working with you for a week. See how it goes. If you’re agreeable. If you’re not, I understand. I behaved badly.”

Just then, the dog woke up. He seemed startled and frantically scanned his surroundings. His gaze landed on Pax. Who smiled at him. The dog went right over to him and put his face on Pax’s thigh. Pax scratched his ears.

“All right, Stephanie. I accept Will’s recommendation. Let’s see what happens for a week.”

“Thank you. Can I help out here today?”

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