David comes back with my purse and keys. Hailey walks in behind him.
I frown. “Who’s next?”
“No one’s next,” David says.
I look at the clock. It’s only four-twenty. We should have three more appointments before we close.
“Dr. Loftin said to cancel the others and close up,” he explains.
I blink. “He called?”
David and Hailey exchange a look that reminds me of the twins.Co-conspirators,I think. Hailey looks back at me.
“I called Kath. She called Dr. Loftin. He called and told us to cancel.”
Mutiny.I think I’ve only thought the word, but by the look on both their faces, I might have said it out loud.
“Can I give you a ride home, Dr. D?” David asks.
Too many thoughts are coming at me to process. No more appointments? They called Kath? Dr. Loftin closed the clinic without even talking to me? I swallow to stall for time, but it’s like drinking a Molotov cocktail.
The thought makes me laugh. “Drinking a Molotov cocktail,” I say, giggling.
And then David is escorting me out the back door of the clinic. I’m arguing—or I think I’m arguing—about how I can drive myself home.I’m a veterinarian, for Christ’s sake,as if this has any relevance.
It’s just a sore throat.
I don’t argue long, mostly because I fall asleep before we even reach Ambassador Caffery Parkway. I can’t really help it. Right now, life is just better with my eyes closed.
When I hear Clarence’s bark, I startle awake. I open my eyes to see him sniffing my vet tech from the open car door. We’re parked in the driveway. It’s nearly dark.
“Easy, boy,” David says, sliding out of the vehicle and letting my Great Pyrenees sniff his knuckles. Clarence recognizes him from the days he comes with me to the office and licks David’s hand in greeting.
“Who are you?” Luc’s voice cuts through the dark, and he stalks out of the shadowed garage. I have the urge to call him on that harsh tone of his, but I’m just so tired.
The driver’s side door closes. Male voices seesaw just outside of the car. And then Mattie is standing in the open passenger door.
“Millie, what’s wrong?”
Her worried look sends a shot of adrenaline through my veins. I sit up straight. “Nothing. I’m fine.” But my voice is scratchy, my sinuses congested. “Just a sore throat.”
“You should be in bed.” She reaches across me and undoes my seatbelt. “C’mon.”
“But—” I look over at the two men on the other side of my car, each giving the other suspicious stares.
“Hailey’s on her way,” David says. “One of us can stay—”
Luc shakes his head. “I’ll stay.”
What the hell?
“C’mon.” Mattie tugs me out of the car as another set of headlights swings onto the driveway. I look over to see Hailey’s blue Kia. She must be here to give David a ride back. They didn’t need to go to all that trouble.
“No one’s staying,” I say in as clear a voice as I can manage. It sounds like a rusty swing set. “I’m fine.”
Hailey kills the Kia’s engine and pokes her head out the window. “What’s the plan?” she asks.
It’s cold out here. I’m shivering already, and I just want to lie down, but I have to hold it together long enough for all of them to see this fuss is not necessary.
