Page 27 of All It Takes

I studied my friend’s son and knew he was being honest. My heart twisted sharply.

“I think those rules are absolutely fair,” Tiffany said with an enthusiastic nod.

“But you haven’t given me any chores,” Ross replied.

“We haven’t, but we’ll figure that one out,” she replied.

Janet arrived with our coffee and a caramel hot chocolate for Ross. She smiled, adding, “Just shout if you need something else. Your food’s going to be about twenty minutes.” She gave us an apologetic smile and gestured with her hand around the café, which was packed. All the tables were full, and there was still a line at the register.

“It’s no problem,” Tiffany replied. She took a quick sip of her coffee, letting out a satisfied sigh. “The coffee is delicious. Thank you.”

Janet rushed off. When Ross looked down at his game, I glanced at Tiffany, and she shrugged. Even though I was really getting to know her all over again, I knew she was referencing that she hoped we handled that conversation well.

I nodded. Without thinking, I reached over and slid my palm on top of her thigh. When I saw her eyes widen slightly and a flush crest on her cheeks, I almost pulled my hand away. But I didn’t want to. She surprised me by placing her hand over mine, then turning it over and interlacing our fingers.

My heart tumbled in my chest, and I squeezed lightly, feeling a subtle sense of joy bloom inside my chest. My life had been busy this past year with moving back to Willow Brook and my mom needing extra help here and there, so I hadn’t thought much about romance. I’d had one sort of serious relationship in college. Nothing awful happened. We graduated and went our separate ways.

Between hotshot firefighting and helping cover the rescue program for my mom, I was insanely busy. Toss in the fact that I was unexpectedly sharing guardianship for one of my best friend’s sons, and my entire life felt topsy-turvy.

When I looked at Tiffany, she bit her lip before glancing away and lifting her coffee cup to take another swallow. I shifted my hand, caressing along the side of her wrist with my thumb. When her lashes lifted and the blue of her eyes darkened slightly as she looked over at me, I had to swallow and take a quick breath, tearing my gaze away.

Ross’s thumbs moved furiously on the phone screen. He was deep in concentration. When our food arrived, I reluctantly released Tiffany’s hand.

ChapterNineteen

TIFFANY

I was typing furiously, entering the information a distraught owner was sharing on the phone. “Just come on in,” I said when she paused. “Alice has time this afternoon to see him.”

“Oh, thank God!” Beth, the owner, said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I should be able to make it in about thirty minutes.”

After I ended that call, my phone quacked like a duck. That was my reminder for our lunch break. I stood quickly from the desk, hurrying to the door and turning the sign toClosed for Lunch.

Alice was getting busy enough that she wanted to be able to fit in emergencies when she could. We needed to hire a vet tech ASAP.

I strode to the back, peering into the area where Alice did her charting. Her last morning appointment had left only moments ago. She glanced up, blowing a puff of air from her lip and effectively getting a lock of hair tangled on the corner of her glasses.

I grinned. “Slick.”

She rolled her eyes. “Is it official lunchtime?”

“Yes, ma’am. Let’s hustle. I already locked the door, but you have an emergency coming in.”

“Oh no! what happened?” Alice asked as she stood from where she’d been seated on a stool by a table, following me across the hallway into the break room.

“It sounds to me like the dog got into something. But the dog mama is distraught because her dog has vomited and had diarrhea. Apparently, the diarrhea is really runny and stinky.”

I shook my head a little. I’d never realized how much I would discuss poop working at a vet clinic.

Alice snorted as she crossed over to the coffee pot, quickly filling a mug for herself and tossing over her shoulder, “Do you want some?”

“Yes, please.” I opened the refrigerator, adding, “I made pasta salad for us.”

We’d settled into a habit of taking turns making lunch for each other. This was turning out to be the best job I’d ever had. My remaining challenge was wearing Alice down until she acknowledged she needed to hire a vet tech. She was kind of nervous about it, thinking she was going to take on too much salary in the budget.

“Anything else I need to know about the dog coming in?” she asked as we sat down together.

She passed over a mug of coffee for me, and I handed her the plastic container of pasta salad prepared for her. I opened my own and handed over a fork.

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