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“Is it the money?”
“Partly,” I shrugged.
“Because if that’s all it is, you know I’ll pay.”
I felt a swell of something in the pit of my stomach. Guilt, probably. But also, shattered pride.
“I… I know you would,” I choked. “You’ve always been amazing.”
Since the first days of my employment Emmett had taken an instant liking to me. I always thought it was because the animals always seemed to love me in general, but the longer I worked here the more I realized it was just the opposite. “There’s a gentleness in the way you handle these creatures,” he told me one day. “You have a natural compassion that’s rare and unusual.”
Beyond that he took me on not only as a protégé, but as somewhat of a daughter, too. Emmett had never married, never had children. He treated me like I was family, and I treated the North Glade Animal Hospital like it was my home away from home.
When he offered to help out with community college, I respectfully declined. But the old man saw me as an investment on his investment. He was absolutely thrilled I was pursuing veterinary medicine, and always found ways to pay for things like books and tuition extras. He gave me not-so-random raises here and there, and was constantly stealing my keys during lunch break to put gas in my car.
But then my parents were suddenly taken from me, and Emmett was there to pick up the pieces. He comforted me and consoled me and took over paying for college, even when I tearfully begged him not to. But it was still too much. I couldn’t pay a mortgageandgo to school, and even if I could I didn’t have the emotional strength to continue.
It came crashing down all at once, leaving me booted by the sheriff from my childhood home. I’d left North Glade in guilt and shame, not being able to say goodbye to Emmett for fear of having to look him in the eye.
“I’m sorry for how I left,” I said, moving the chairs so I could sweep the corners. They looked like they hadn’t been swept in weeks. “I should’ve come to you first. I owed you that.”
“You were afraid I might talk you out of leaving,” Emmett answered slyly.
“Yes,” I admitted. “That was part of it.”
“But you were also saving face,” Emmett said, looking straight ahead at no one in particular. “I get that part. You got dealt a shit sandwich Kayla, with all the trimmings. Can’t really blame you for not wanting to eat it.”
The statement made me laugh. Even more so the way his German-American accent sounded on the phrase ‘shit sandwich’.
“You know you can have your old job back anytime you want it, right?” he said, only half-joking.
“Anytime, huh?”
“Yup. Standing offer.”
“You’re sweet.”
The man grinned, watching me for another minute. Eventually he put his hand out. “How about letting me finish that,” he said, extending his empty palm, “and you run out and get us coffee. Then you can come back and tell me all about California.”
Smiling, I did what he asked and moved the chairs back. Coffee sounded amazing, especially since I hadn’t finished mine in the diner. With Emmett, even better.
“You remember how I like my coffee, right?”
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “With blackberry brandy in it.”
The old man grinned, then went back to sweeping. “Good. I’m fresh out here, so you’ll have to pick that up too.”
Twenty-Eight
KAYLA
Walking through a graveyard was like walking through time. You saw so many dates, from past to present. So many anonymous lives spent over the course of a few paltry decades, reduced down to no more than a handful of digits carved carefully into ever-fading slabs of granite.
Yet there was something peaceful about graveyards that I enjoyed, and probably a bit too much. For one, they were always beautiful. The well-kept ones were immaculately manicured better than any public park, and even the old, forgotten ones held their own unique, nostalgic charm. I’d enjoyed the tranquility of wandering through them in my spare time, as morbid as it sounded. I liked reading the names, the dates, and whatever other information might be inscribed.
Best of all though, barely anyone was around. When walking a graveyard you generally had the place to yourself, without interruption. Your thoughts were all your own.
The sun was already setting as I made my way up the hill, past a pair of big mausoleums that flanked the little footpath. Coffee with Emmett had turned into Chinese takeout. We’d eaten such an early dinner I’d laughingly called him an old man, which of course he was.
