Page 37 of The Leaving Road

Louise appeared around the corner with her usual stern look in place that was now causing the grown man in front of me to wilt. “They are ready for transport. If you come to the back, we will help you get them loaded up.”

Unease at any of the animals leaving our care crept in. I knew they were going to good places—Dr. Lewis wouldn’t let them leave otherwise—but if this could happen more than once in the last year, then what’s to say it wouldn’t happen again?

We spent the rest of the day tending to the animals who were currently still in our care, but those left were all dogs. And while the work was hard on our souls, with everyone pitching in—and lots of people from town swinging by—we finished the day quickly and efficiently.

When six p.m. rolled around, Dr. Lewis told us all to take off, that he could finish up around the clinic. When I was packing up my stuff to head home, he came over to me.

“Since it’s later in the week, why don’t you take the rest of it off? We will see you back here next Tuesday.”

I was instantly worried I had done something wrong, but before I could voice my concerns, Dr. Lewis silenced them. “It was a heck of a way to start your employment here. Take the time, regroup, and start fresh next week.” He patted my shoulder in his attempt to comfort me.

I breathed a sigh of relief knowing he was right, but still feeling marginally guilty because that meant it would leave the rest of the staff to finish out the week alone. I looked for Ben to see if he was okay with this, and he met mine with a reassuring nod and a smile.

“Okay, thank you. I should probably start catching up on some repairs around the house anyhow.”

After I finished gathering my things, I waved goodbye to Louise as she was manning the front desk, refusing to leave. I made my exit and headed home.

Lexie was waiting for me when I got home. We hadn’t had the time to catch up with my erratic schedule for the last forty-eight hours, with just a few “life check” texts here and there. She was sitting at the kitchen counter with a coffee in hand, regardless of the later hour.

“Hey, Lex.”

She swiveled toward me at the sound of my voice and came over, placing her hands on my shoulders and looking over me as if to check for physical injuries.

“I’m okay, Lex.” I half laughed, and she looked at me again, but this time in the eyes.

“No, you’re not, but that’s okay. You will be.” She gave my shoulders a soft squeeze before she let go and went over to pour me a cup of coffee.

“It might be a bit late for coffee. I’m thinking of crashing.”

“Not until you fill me in on everything that’s happened.” Despite my protests, she handed me the cup of coffee, anyway. Giving in, I rolled my eyes and accepted the cup from her.

“Stubborn…but okay.”

I gave her the rundown of everything, not able to hide my tears when I went over the rescue. I was thankful for the warm coffee that seemed to jolt the coldness creeping in when I thought about it. I finally got to the part with Sloan, and I gave Lex the full rundown of the conversation.

She let out a low whistle. “Damn, girl, that’s a lot of emotional things to happen in the span of a few days.”

“You’re telling me,” I huffed, feeling my shoulders sag with the weight of it all.

“I have to say, I didn’t think Sloan had it in him.” She half-smiled at me.

“What do you mean?”

She scoffed. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “That man has been chasing you since the moment he saw you in Montgomery’s. Everyone at the table saw the hearts in his eyes,despitethe anger he was so clearly holding on to. The man he is now is fighting for what he wants, even ifyoudon’t see that yet. His actions the last few days just goes to show that he’s playing for keeps, babes.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Keep telling yourself that. I, for one, can’t wait to see how this plays out.”

I threw a napkin at her. “It plays out by me going on a date with Matt.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You can’t be serious.”

“Deadly.”

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