Page 47 of All It Takes

I glanced at Rowan as if he would clear up that little misunderstanding.

All he did was shrug. He looked toward Beck. “I don’t think he’s ready to face the facts yet.”

“How the hell can you guys know if I’m in love?” Defensiveness bristled inside me.

“We probably know more than you do about love,” Beck said dryly. He thumbed toward Rowan. “This guy was in love with Mae since college. He always knew she was the one. It just took a while for them to sort that out. Maybe I didn’t know what love felt like, but I knew when I knew. Maisie isitfor me.” Beck thumped his fist against his chest, and the certainty in his words and eyes felt like a bell ringing in my own chest.

I leaned forward on my elbows, tunneling my hands through my hair before dropping them to the table as I let my breath out. “Wow.” My voice was wondering.

“Don’t fuck it up,” Beck warned me.

“Setting aside whether I’m in love with Tiffany, which I’m not so sure about, what the hell do I do about Ross?”

“Tighten your shit up with Tiffany before you guys talk to him about it. And don’t be stupid. He’s already been through enough.”

“I know.” My heart gave an achy thump as I thought of my friend George and the fact that he was just gone.

Rowan looked at me. “Talk to Tiffany first,” he said quietly.

ChapterThirty-One

TIFFANY

“Okay,” I said as I eyed the computer screen. “Looks like Moose has his rabies shot due in two months.” I looked up at the woman waiting at the counter.

“Can we go ahead and schedule his appointment for that?”

“You got it.” I tapped into the schedule.

A few minutes later, we had him scheduled, and they departed. Just after a woman with a very irate cat went into the back for her appointment, I glanced up to see my brother walking in with his dog Jasper.

“Oh, hey,” I said as I stood. “I didn’t know you had an appointment today for Jasper.”

Chase looked down at his fluffy white dog and back up at me. “We didn’t.” He gestured to Jasper, and I glanced down to see the dog’s nose full of porcupine quills. Jasper looked very uncomfortable.

“Oh, sweetie,” I said as I knelt beside him. Sad eyes blinked up at me.

“Does Alice have time to see him?” he asked.

“She’ll fit him in,” I said as I straightened. “She’s with a cat in the back right now. As soon as they’re done, she has an hour break because a family was supposed to bring in two dogs for their annual exams, but they canceled because of a work conflict. I guess your timing is good. I’ll be right back.” I held a finger up. “I’ll check and see how long she’ll be.”

I walked into the back. Conveniently, Alice was walking out of the exam room to get something out of the supply room. “Chase is here with Jasper. Porcupine quills.”

“Oh no!” Alice’s palm flew to her chest. “I’ll fit him in. We’re going to need to sedate him.”

“How long will you be?”

“I should be done in about five minutes.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Farrah will be in soon, right?”

“She gets here in a half hour.” We had hired a vet tech to come in for the afternoons.

I returned to the front to update Chase. A short while later, Farrah arrived and came out to get Jasper. “He’ll be fine.” I heard her assuring Chase.

“What kind of name is Farrah?” Chase asked after he returned to the front.

I snorted. “Apparently, her parents were fans of Farrah Fawcett.”

His mouth dropped open. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

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