Page 13 of Summer Redemption

When she meets my eyes, a smile lights up her face as she nods. “Hi, Sunshine. I didn’t realize you were back in town.”

I chuckle softly and shake my head. “I’m a little surprised that it hasn’t gotten around town about a thousand times by now.”

I know in certain circles it has, but it’s mostly due to the fact that my parents are happy to have me home and are immensely proud of me. I wouldn’t be surprised if they write a letter in to the local paper to be published so they can extol all my virtues and achievements.

Thankfully, I haven’t even joked about it. No doubt, it would give them ideas.

“I’ve never been one to listen to all the gossip around town,” she tells me softly.

My shoulders relax slightly because she’s right. She was more like me than a lot of the other girls in town. She didn’t chase any of the Burns brothers or seek popularity. She was just interested in a quiet life, but somehow, she was able to get it without all the extra crap Huxley added.

“Of course,” my tone is apologetic. My eyebrows pull together, and I glance at the computer. “It wasn’t your name in the file as the owner?”

The smile on Morgan’s face goes from genuine and open to brimming with love and it’s beautiful to see. “Roscoe is Walker’s dog. He’s my fiancé,” she informs me.

“Oh, of course, that makes sense.” I bite my lip as I remember Sofie filling me in on what went down when Walker moved to town and started pursuing Morgan.

Before I put my foot in my mouth, I drop down into a crouch and offer Roscoe my hand. If he were a person, he would have thrown it to the side as he steps right up to me and licks my cheek.

“Roscoe,” Morgan admonishes him, not that he pays any mind.

“It’s good to meet you too, Roscoe,” I coo at the dog.

He sits and looks at me like he’s old hat at this whole vet visit thing, his head tilted as he waits for the next thing. I can’t help but shake my head at him as I stand and take the slip of paper where Nora has written his weight down before she slips out of the room and closes the door behind her.

This is it. My first appointment. All by myself.

What I do not do is fist bump again. At least not outright. If I do it in my head, no one is the wiser now are they?

I sit down on the stool and move it closer to the large fluffy dog. With a glance at Morgan, I ask, “Do you have any concerns?”

“No,” she nods toward the dog, “it’s just time for his annual visit. Walker has to work today so I offered to bring him in since I’m on summer break.”

I nod and run my hands over the dog, feeling the thickness of his coat as well as his muscle mass. When I look at his teeth, he doesn’t fight me, and I swear he practically rolls his eyes at the whole thing. Everything looks good, even the inside of his ears.

“He looks good,” I tell Morgan. “We’ll take a stool and urine sample to get some tests run, just in case, but he’s clearly happy and healthy. He’s a good weight, maybe a little heavy, but some of it might just be all this hair.”

I run my fingers through his coat and Morgan laughs as she nods. “He’s a shedder, that’s for sure. We’ve been combing him out for months to get all his undercoat dealt with as the weather has warmed up. He doesn’t seem too bothered by the heat, but I’m sure he misses the winter already.”

With a rub along his head, I ask Roscoe, “Do you love the snow? I bet your mom, and dad can’t get you in the house when you don’t want to come in.”

“He’s the worst,” Morgan grumbles, but there’s a lightness in her voice that comes from genuine love.

We chat for a few minutes, and she lets me know about how her younger sister, Cove, found love with a rock star. I’m a littleshocked, but at the same time it, somehow, makes perfect sense. Cove always had stars in her eyes, much like me.

“It’s amazing that she went out and followed her dream,” I tell Morgan.

“She’s not the only one,” she gives me a pointed look, and I feel my cheeks heat. Her face turns serious for a moment, and I brace myself without even realizing it. “I know that things were,” she pauses as if searching for the right word, “difficult for you. I don’t know if you’ve seen him or not, but you should know that while he’s still the jester of the family, he’s not quite the same boy he was years ago.”

She doesn’t have to say who she’s talking about. We both know.

It’s not like I was able to hide what happened and how Huxley treated me from the students at school. Morgan was a year ahead, but the community is small enough that she probably saw it all, at least until she graduated.

“I saw him yesterday,” I find myself admitting before my voice drops to a whisper, “and he apologized to me.”

Morgan reaches out and grips my hand and gives it a squeeze. “I’m sure that was difficult. Did you feel like he was being sincere?”

“Yes,” I begrudgingly admit.

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