Page 49 of Call It Serendipity

I have to look away, it feels indecent to watch when I can see every ripple of muscle in the movement. “Hopefully our vet is there waiting for them,” I reply, reaching into the duffel and stroking a finger over one of the pups. “Parker only comes to the shelter a few days a week and this isn’t usually one of them.”

“Think they’re in that bad of condition?” He throws the truck into drive.

“No, I don’t know. I hate that they were cold and wet like that. I would just feel better getting his professional opinion as soon as possible.”

What I don’t mention is that Parker has been one of the loudest voices against the Carpenters. A point that seems irrelevant after the way this Carpenter might have just caught pneumonia to save six puppies.

I reach out and point one of the vents towards him. Jake doesn’t say anything, but I watch his lips lift into a small smile. “You need to warm up too,” I explain. “I swear you have no self-preservation.”

“Mm, I always found self-preservation to be overrated,” he says teasingly. “After all, I’m about to walk into a situation with the man leading the charge to run me out of town.”

“You know?”

“He introduced himself when he stepped up to say his piece at that village trustees meeting.”

“I can take them myself if⁠—”

“We’re in this together,” he says. “I mean Patches and me, of course.”

I shake my head. “Of course.”

“We’ll leave them in this exam room until all the necessary tests come back,” Parker says, holding one of the puppies up in the air. “Don’t want to affect any of the other animals at the shelter.”

“Do they look sick? Infected?” I ask nervously.

“Nothing stands out to me; I just want to be sure.” He places the squirming animal back in the travel crate they’ve all been transferred to, and she quickly cuddles up to her pile of siblings. “It’s a good thing the passerby called when they did, though, this storm would have been gravely dangerous.”

Jake and I exchange a look as the knot in my stomach tightens. He’s been keeping a respectable distance from me, having been introduced as my friend Jake—no last name. But I want him closer, I want him to reach for me again and make that awful feeling dissipate like before.

Maybe I don’t have any self-preservation either.

“And you’ll come back more often to check on them?”

Parker nods, zipping up the crate and starting toward the door. “You know I’ll be here round the clock,” he assures me warmly. Then turning to Jake, he adds, “I appreciate you helping Lucy today and taking the brunt of the storm for her.”

Jake looks over at me. “I’m glad she called. I’d do anything she needed.”

Satisfied, Parker steps into the hall, closing the door behind him. The moment he’s gone, I close the distance between us and clasp my hands on the outside of his arms. “Speaking of the brunt of the storm, you’re seriously soaked.”

He looks down at his clothes then back up at me, quirking a brow in amusement. “Let’s call it damp.”

“Jake, you could get sick from this, too, you need to go warm up.”

“I’m staying as long as you do,” he replies, reaching up and wrapping his arms around me. “Think I’ll leave you to find another way home in this weather?”

I take another step closer, my hands finding their way to his chest. “Then I guess it’s time for us to go.”

Normally, I’d spend the day watching the puppies. Maybe I’d set up a pen with blankets and towels for them to be able to spread out in the room. But all I can think of is Jake and the icy outer layer clinging to his body.

He glances between me and the travel kennel of puppies, as if reading my thoughts. I look over as well, noting the way they’re huddled together in the blanket I already got them, leaving more than half the crate unused. “They’ll be fine,” I assure him. And I can always come back later.

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m sure.”

Content that they are settled and comfortable, I usher him from the exam room and back out into the storm. Jake runs ahead to open the truck door for me, and this time I point all the vents his way before he comes around and climbs into the driver’s side.

If he notices once the truck starts up, he doesn’t say anything. But he does look over at me with a soft smile before starting up the drive.