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I hummed my response, “Good night.”
Once it was just me again, I cleaned up the dishes and let my mind wander. Hopefully the kiss wouldn’t change anything. Will and I saw each other a lot, thanks to Alice and Devin. The last thing we needed was for everything to be awkward between us.
Then again to Will a kiss was probably laughably easy to brush off. After all, he did more than that all the time and with women he barely knew. Meanwhile, to me it meant something.
The one we’d had definitely meant more than I wanted it to, and even now, a twinge pinched my heart that he didn’t see it the same way.
If anything that proved we were right to walk away before. He didn’t want emotional entanglements, and I couldn’t do anything without them. Anything we started would have ended in pain on my end and it wasn’t worth the drama.
Now if I could just hammer that into my head, we’d be golden.
Biting back a tired sigh, I put the last dish away and dried my hands. One way or another we’d have to see how this played out.
Hopefully things won't be awkward…
Chapter 5
I waved my latest customer out the door, her cute little beagle wiggling away in her arms. The puppy had only needed its shots, and it’d been a delight to talk to the owner as I worked.
Flipping through my list of appointments, I smiled at the sheer amount I’d already cleared through. The clinic was busy over the last week, and I couldn’t be happier. Thankfully no one in town seemed to have caught wind of William and my interlude outside the housewarming party.
The few times I happened to run into him were less than pleasant though.
I figured he wouldn’t care since he’d done so much more than kiss with dozens of others, but every time we’d run into one another over the past week he’d all but ran from me. Alice had noticed something was off right away and I’d only shrugged, telling her I had no idea what his problem was.
It was the truth, if not all of it.
Why was he running as if I was diseased? Did he think I wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer and harass him over it?
I’d like to think he knew me better than that. I didn’t put myself where I wasn’t wanted, and this was no different.
Alice promised that if it continued she’d corner him. I’d tried to convince her not to get involved but she was determined and from experience I knew nothing I said would change her mind. For Will’s sake, I hoped he got himself under control soon.
Putting the oddity that was William to the side for now, I turned when the bell over the door rang, a smile already on my lips, only for it to fall when I saw just who had walked in.
It was Will himself, the air around him all but crackling with tension. It was painfully obvious he didn’t want to be here by the way he kept looking at the door, but before I could ask why he’d come, I noticed the bundle in his arms.
What looked like a sheet was wrapped around it, but I could just make out the dark fur underneath it.
Veterinarian mode kicked in and I gestured to the back. “Come on, you can explain what happened while we get it on the table.”
He did, gently putting the animal down. “I found it on the side of the road. At first I thought it was dead and I just wanted to move it more out of the way so it didn’t get hit, maybe check for a collar in case it was someone’s pet.”
That did sound like William, he’d always been the first to worry about someone or something in need…
Forcing the thought away, I listened as he continued. “But when I got close, it moved. Barley picked its head up for me. I knew there was only one place to bring it.”
His tone all but oozed reluctance, and I bit back my irritation. He’s the one who all but said he wanted things to stay the same. It was almost funny that he was the one treating things differently.
“It’s a good thing you did; even from here I can see that the poor thing isn’t looking so great.” Shoving the entire mess between us away for now, I focused on the hurt dog.
Its fur was a mix of black and deep brown, but other than that? It was anyone’s guess of what breed it was. My best bet was that it was a mutt, but I could hypothesize what all mixes later.
The full exam took about ten minutes as I assessed all the damage, and I grimaced. “Doesn’t look to be any broken bones. He has severe dehydration and is very underweight. Looks like he’s been on his own for a long time. Are you looking to adopt him? He’s going to need some help recovering. Just some TLC, mostly.” There was no collar or chip that I could find, which meant odds were he’d just been a stray for his whole life.
He was certainly thin enough for it.
William sputtered, pulling my attention to him as he eyed the dog warily. “I didn’t want to adopt him. Hell, I’m hardly ever home.”
