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“Bram,” I growled in frustration. “What in the absolute fuck has gotten into you? Why aren’t you answering your phone? I’ve called a million times.”
At least all of the others had answered, though they hadn’t been able to help. Bram hadn’t even given me that courtesy.
“She left,” he answered.
“She?” I frowned, confused on whether he was drunk or not. “Mimi?”
Mimi, the only person that I knew could fuck Bram up in the head like he was—not answering our calls was seriously unlike him—had to be the culprit.
“Dorcas.” He looked angered at my choice of guesses. “Mimi doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.”
I opened my mouth and then shut it.
“Bram…” I hesitated. “What the fuck?”
I was really confused.
For years now, Bram and Dorcas had been married. And for years, Dorcas had been background music to the main symphony—which happened to be Mimi.
At least… that’s what I’d been led to believe.
But what if I’d had it all wrong?
“I gotta go,” he grumbled. “I have to see if I can find her.”
With that, he was gone, leaving me alone.
At least, I thought I was alone.
I wasn’t.
When I turned around, it was to find a blonde nurse staring at me as if she was waiting for me to recognize her.
“Can I help you?” I asked shortly.
“Um…” She hesitated. “Your patient is waiting for you. We’re waiting for you to get scrubbed in and begin…”
I sighed and looked at my phone, disgusted.
“Okay,” I murmured, shoving it into my pocket. “Let’s do this.”
CHAPTER 20
I’m beginning to think that for some of you, the wheels on your bus don’t go round and round.
-Coreline’s secret thoughts
CORELINE
To say that I was fuming when I got home from his house that day, it would be an understatement.
“What crawled up your ass?” Ethel asked curiously.
I watched as she licked her sugar-free popsicle, waiting for my answer.
I opened my mouth to let it all out, then closed it before I could say anything bad.
I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly before saying, “A patient that Tide helped last week died overnight. He’s not taking it well, and he took it out on me. I’m kind of pissed off, and I agreed to go to that club you’ve been begging me to go to with you.”
“You did?” she asked, sounding excited.
“I did… to him,” I grumbled. “But that was when I was still really, really mad. I’m thinking that I don’t want to go anymore.”
She laughed. “I should’ve seen that coming.”
I didn’t like the look of disappointment on her face, so I sighed. “I’ll go if you promise me you won’t make me get on that bucking bull.”
She practically clapped as she excitedly screeched in excitement. “I’m so, so excited!”
I gritted my teeth and said, “But I have to get the lawn mowed, take that dog Ricky Bobby to the vet, and I have to feed Tide’s cat because he left this morning in a huff. And I can’t stand looking at him looking so sad.”
“We don’t have any cat food,” she reminded me.
I winced. “I figured that you’d donated it. I’ll make sure to grab some while I take Ricky Bobby.”
“You’re trying to find his owner?” she asked curiously.
I shrugged. At first, I was liking the dog around, but Tide was right. Ricky Bobby needed to find his owner. He was too big and beautiful not to belong to someone.
Which I was proved right an hour later at the vet.
“Oh.” The woman’s eyes lit up with excitement. “It’s Bear!”
I had no clue who Bear was, but the women at the vet sure did.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I handed the leash to them. “I’m guessing y’all know who he belongs to?”
The closest woman, a buxom blonde, nodded her head, her eyes watering.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “This is Bear. He’s been missing for about two and a half months now. His mom, Gracelynn, brought him to our vet for a checkup. When they stopped on the side of the road to fix a flat, he was scared away by an accident that had Gracelynn sent to the hospital. We’d all but given up hope that he’d ever be found. Did you see the flyers?”
“No.” I shook my head. “He’s been in my subdivision, we live off a cul-de-sac off of Route Six. I just thought he was so adorable. But my boyfriend pointed out that he’s really annoying. He barks.”
The ladies laughed as they gave him all kinds of love and attention. “Gracelynn lives out on a hundred and eighty acres. She owns a dairy. This ol’ guy helps run the farm. She’s been very lost without him for a while.”
I could imagine.
And I also felt like a pile of shit for not bringing him in to be scanned sooner.
Or paying attention to the flyers that were apparently all over our town.
