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“A gay one,” she replied simply.
His eyes widened, and the truck wobbled toward the white line. “Oh.”
Stephanie laughed. “As far as divorce stories go, ours is relatively boring other than that fact. Brian and I met in college. He was quiet and sweet, and we got along well. It was just sort of comfortable. I knew a lot of girls who were looking for some big, dramatic love story, but Brian and I were just sort of automatic. We got married after college, and we had Annie. He was a good father, but after a while, I knew something was off between us. He came out of the closet when Annie was about three.”
“Was it a big fight?” It was none of his business, not really. She was his mate, and he knew it with every fiber of his being. He wanted to know every detail of her life, the same way he wanted to memorize every square inch of her body.
“No, not at all. I was shocked and devastated, but we didn’t fight about it.” She smiled as she looked out the window. “An uncontested divorce is pretty cheap, too. I wasn’t going to hold him back and keep him from living the life he truly wanted just because he hadn’t figured this out by the time he’d said his vows. I wanted him to be happy and wanted myself to be, too. That never would’ve happened if we’d continued living the way we’d been. He’s been a great father to Annie all along, and we’re on friendly terms. Compared to the situations I see a lot of people in, it’s pretty good.”
“I’m glad it worked out for you, then. Have you seen anyone else?”
“No, not really. I’ve had too many other things I needed or wanted to do.”
Bennett scanned the trees, realizing he hadn’t been as vigilant as he should be. He was getting to know Stephanie all over again. It was so strange, but it was a feeling he was more than happy to deal with.
He carefully backed into the same parking spot where her truck had been the previous day. “Are you sure about this?” he asked when he saw her hands shaking as she took out her keys.
“Yep.” Her brow was firm, and her jaw tense.
She wasn’t okay at all, but she was going to fake it. He had to give her some credit for being stoic. Bennett just hoped they didn’t regret it.
Stephanie unlocked the door and jerked it open. “Bennett, when all of that happened here yesterday—oh. Annie’s here already.” Her head whipped around as a small coupe pulled into the lot and parked next to her truck.
Bennett watched as a young woman stepped out of the driver’s door. Even at just a glance, she looked much the way Stephanie had when she was younger. Bright and beautiful, she gave her mom a smile and Bennett a quizzical look before she opened the back door and unloaded three dogs. “Good boys! Such good babies!”
The largest dog, a big hound, quivered as he sniffed the air and assessed Bennett.
“Sherlock gets a little nervous,” Stephanie explained. “He’s new to the group and still trying to figure things out.”
But as Annie walked over to them, Sherlock suddenly put his ears back and wagged his tail. He wiggled like crazy as he strained against his collar and tried to get to Bennett.
“I think he likes you!” Annie laughed.
“Definitely. Annie, this is an old friend of mine, Bennett. He’s going to be hanging out here at the clinic today.”
“Nice to meet you. Are you a vet, too?” Annie reached out her hand.
Bennett shook it over Sherlock’s head while the dog continued to love on him. “No.”
“Yes,” Stephanie replied at the same time. “I mean, he’s interested in veterinary medicine.”
He could see that Stephanie was struggling through this one. They should’ve talked about it on the way there, but they’d been caught up in everything else. “I’m just doing some research.”
“That’s exciting! On what specifically?”
“Ah…” Bennett struggled to remember something Stephanie had said about her practice. He’d been listening, but it all escaped him at the moment.
“Integrative medicine in general,” Stephanie supplied, waving everyone in the back door. “It’s for a magazine article.”
“Nice. I look forward to reading it.” Annie gave him a curious look before she took the dogs around the corner from the exam rooms and into the office area. She unclipped them from their leashes, which she hung on a hook. “Mom, what happened with that wolf last night? I should’ve asked you about that before I brought the dogs in here.”
“Oh, no. It’s fine. It all worked out.” Stephanie made a show of putting her things away and getting ready for the day. “I reached out to Cindy, you know, my friend who works for a wildlife rescue? Once I got the wolf stabilized, she was able to take him.”
“That’s great! Is he going to be okay?” Annie fired up the computer and turned on the lights in the lobby.
“Yeah. I think he’s going to be just fine.” Stephanie met Bennett’s eyes, her lips in a tight smile and her brows up as if to say she was doing her best.
Annie turned to Bennett. “It’s too bad you weren’t here yesterday. That wolf would’ve been a pretty exciting topic for a magazine article.”
