Page 1 of Healing Her Cowboys
Chapter One
Reese fidgeted in her seat, trying not to run for her life. She was trapped between a woman holding a red parrot and a coffee-colored hound dog sniffing her favorite New Balance shoes.
The dog owner seemed too preoccupied with an issue of Time magazine to care about his shoe-loving canine.
Waiting rooms already made Reese nervous. Being stuck in a packed one for pets made her even more stir-crazy.
She was a nurse to humans for a reason. Animals freaked her out. Too many late-night YouTube videos were enough to solidify her decision to never care for animals or own a pet. She was fine by herself.
“Are you here to see Dr. August?” the woman with the parrot asked. The parrot chose that moment to stare at her with itsowner. Its eyes were black and lifeless. Her eyes were so pale blue that they were almost colorless. They made a creepy pair.
“Uh, yeah,” Reese said, eyeing the bird carefully. She didn’t trust the thing one bit.
“You didn’t bring your precious one with you?”
“My precious one?” Reese looked at her, confused as hell. What was she in?Lord of the Rings: Pet Edition?
“Your animal, honey,” the woman said, gesturing to the other people in the waiting room.
Reese realized everyone had some animal with them. A lizard here. A cat pawing at its cage over there. She was the only one pet-free.
It didn’t even bother her that she was the only one with even a hint of melanin in her genes. The random animals were what set her on alert. All she needed was for one of those animals to break free of their owner, and she was bolting for the exit. Meeting be damned.
“Oh, no. I don’t have pets,” she finally said to the parrot owner.
The woman looked her up and down as if she were an oddity. “Really?”
“Really.” Reese hoped that turning away would end the conversation. It did, but she could still feel the woman’s eyes boring into the side of her head.
Reese hated medical facilities, and the irony wasn’t lost in her. That’s why she preferred home health and rehabilitation nursing jobs.
This waiting room reminded her too much of a doctor’s office. She was prepared to have a meeting with her old friend who was now a veterinarian. Reese wasn’t expecting to wait an hour past her appointment time, and she was getting anxious.
The administrative lady at the front desk eyed her funny from behind the clear-plated glass when she signed in for the appointment. She was a woman with silver-white hair tied backinto a bun, and she seemed far past gone from the job she was working at.
“Ms. Divine?” The receptionist said. “Dr. August will see you now.”
Reese stood up so fast that she almost tripped over the hound dog.
“Sorry,” she said to the owner. “Excuse me.”
The man finally looked away from his magazine. All he did was nod before going back to his office reading material. She actually felt sorry for the dog.
The receptionist opened the door for Reese to come through. Although the hallway was narrow, it was decorated with endless pictures of animals. They were mostly dogs and cats, but a few exotics like snakes and lizards were thrown into the mix.
A sweet and spicy scent circled through the hallway as they walked to the back.
As Reese breathed it in, the smell calmed her from the inside out. It got stronger after the receptionist opened an office door.
“Dr. August will be with you shortly,” the receptionist said, ushering her in before closing the door behind her.
Reese stood in the empty room. She spotted the diffuser right away. The scent filled the small space and contrasted with the aesthetics. May’s office was just as bright and cheery as she was. Plants stood in every corner of the room but were still visible to the sunlight that shone through the windows.
On the shelf behind her desk were pictures of May and her husband Jason smiling and enjoying multiple vacations. France, Italy, Ireland, Australia, and even India were all represented.
Another reminder that Reese could be traveling far away from her home state of Virginia.
The door opened as May glided through it. “Reese! I’m so sorry to keep you waiting.” She pulled Reese into a long and tight hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
