Page 42 of Keg's Revelation

Chapter Twelve

Raven

“Gets me worked up,then goes home. One minute he’s kissing me, the next he’s playing a game on the floor with Ry and Reagan. A week and he has me talking to an empty room. Ugh, the damn man.”

“What’d you say, Raven?” Gramps asked from the doorway, startling me.

“Oh, nothing. I was counting out loud,” I answered, not turning around to look at him because no way would I admit my sexual frustration to my grandfather.

“Is that the antibiotics for the Great Dane?”

“Yes, he has an ear infection. Gave him his yearly shots, and they’re scheduling a teeth cleaning.”

“Alright. Well, I guess I’ll take off then. Will you be okay for the rest of the afternoon by yourself? I can stay if you need me to.”

“There’s no reason for you to stay, Gramps. It’s been a slow Friday, and I don’t imagine we’ll have a mad rush of patients this afternoon. And if we do, I think I can handle it.” I twisted the cap on the pill bottle and turned and faced him. “You are supposed to be cutting back your hours, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah. Not sure what I’m going to do with my time once I retire.”

“You could always take Gran on a trip. Take up fishing or just sit around with your feet up. Sleep in for a change.” The look I got from Gramps made me smile.

“You can lose the smile. I know what’s going through that head of yours. You’re thinking that you aren’t ever getting rid of me.”

“It’s crossed my mind a time or two. But, Gramps, I know it’s going to be hard for you to step away after thirty-five years in this clinic. In fact, I don’t expect you to make a clean break from something you love doing. Gran doesn’t either. But with me here, you don’t have to worry about the place twenty-four/seven. You can drop in and work whenever you need a fix.”

“You think you got your old Gramps pegged, do you?”

“Sorry to interrupt.” Ann, one of the clinic’s vet techs, stuck her head in before I could answer.

“It’s okay, Ann. Here’s the Schultz’s meds for Bo. That’s all they’re waiting on.”

She stepped around Gramps, and I handed the prescription over to her. When I looked back at Gramps to answer, his brows were furrowed as he looked me over.

“You sure you’re doing okay, pumpkin? The last few days you’ve seemed a little out of sorts.”

“I’ll be fine. Ann and Candace are here and I’m sure between the three of us, we can close the clinic.”

“It’s not the clinic I’m worried about. I worry about you. You okay with everything going on? It’s not just Ry that’s had to adjust having Reed in his life suddenly.”

Gramps always could read me. And why I thought I could hide anything from him was beyond me.

“Ry and Reed are just finding their footing with each other. And though they’re doing great and getting along, it has been only a week. I don’t want to jeopardize what they’ve accomplished so far, or their future relationship, by getting involved with Reed on a personal level. I mean, what if what is going on with Reed and I is just because of Ry or acting on feelings from the past, then one day realizing it. Ry would be the one hurt. Reagan would be, too, by association.

“Having Reed around every evening this week. Sharing dinner with him. Watching him not only grow closer to Ry but Reagan, too. It’s not just my life, Gramps.”

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