Page 77 of Call it Fate

I didn’t answer. I wondered if I could say the same thing.

CHAPTER34

Emalee

“Can we go outside? I’m bored.”

Zach looked up from the newspaper he was reading with an after-breakfast cup of coffee and folded the paper. That wasn’t a complaint we were used to from Iain. He’d spent last night building with his Legos and had played a couple of video games with his dad. All of his other time had been spent trying to teach Milo how to shake with his paw.

But I knew Iain wasn’t used to being cooped up inside. Here at the condo, he couldn’t just open a door and play in the backyard. Even if we did allow him to go outside without us, there was no place to play, just a parking lot and fenced-in pool that hadn’t opened for the season yet.

Zach folded his newspaper. “No excuse to be bored here. Let’s go do something.”

Iain cheered and ran to get dressed.

We took Milo to a local dog park, where we all took turns throwing a ball for him. He still seemed to have almost as much energy as he had when he was a pup. Then we dropped a worn-out Milo off at the condo. Zach wanted to show us where he worked, so he took us to Valley Animal Hospital.

“Wow. It’s even bigger than I imagined,” I said.

It was easily four times the size of the clinic in Sterling Mill. Since it was a Sunday, it was closed, but there were still a few techs keeping an eye on the animals that were hospitalized. He led us around, explaining all the pieces of equipment. It felt a lot like the time I’d had to go to the hospital; there was equipment for everything. We finally ended at the small space he used as an office.

“Sorry. I know I get excited about everything here. It’s one of the absolute best facilities in the country, definitely in the state.”

“Wow, Dad. You must be super-duper smart to know all this stuff.”

He laughed. “Study hard and you can do the same. I went to some really great schools here that prepared me. You could, too.”

“Cool! I wanna be a vet, too. Then I can work with you.”

“Sounds like a plan, my man.” They slapped hands and grinned at me. I quickly smiled back, but I suddenly felt overwhelmed. It was more than obvious how much Zach loved his job here.

Afterward, we took Iain to Discovery Place, a nearby science museum. After a few hours, Iain started to droop, and we decided to head home. It wasn’t long before he fell asleep on the love seat across from where Zach and I cuddled, watching a movie.

“Is it what you remember?” Zach asked me.

“The city? I guess. There are definitely different things to do here.”

“Do you think Iain likes it?”

I laughed softly, remembering how Iain had run from one exhibit to another. “He had a lot of fun today, that’s for sure.”

“I’d like to take you out to dinner tonight if you’re not too tired. I’ve got a sitter lined up so we can have a few hours for just us.”

I looked at him uncertainly. “I don’t know about leaving Iain with someone I’ve never met. How well do you know this person?”

“I just met her, but she seemed nice enough.”

I sat up and glared at him. “Zach, we’re not leaving Iain with someone you’ve just met, especially in a strange city.”

He laughed. “You’re too easy. We’ll come back to the ‘strange city’ part later. But the babysitter is none other than your cousin.”

“Bristol?”

“Mm-hmm. It was her idea. I thought it would be nice to get dressed up for a change and go out for a fancy dinner. I was going to take Iain, too, but I think he’d just be bored again. When I mentioned it to Bristol, she offered to stay with him.”

“You’re probably right. He would hate the dressing up part. But with that said, I didn’t bring anything nice to wear. I thought it was going to be a casual trip.”

“Don’t worry, she said she had you covered.”

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