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Chapter Ten
Aria
Six weeks later . . .
I carefully inserted the spaying hook into the stray pit bull bitch’s abdomen and inspected her uterus. “Damn it, she is pregnant,” I cursed.
“Damn.” My veterinary technician clearly shared my sentiments.
“We’re too late. She’s too far along. I’m not comfortable aborting puppies who are this far along. I’m going to close her up.”
“I can’t believe we’re going to lose this beautiful dog.”
My gaze snapped across to Jennifer, my veterinary assistant. “What do you mean?”
Jennifer’s deep brown eyes filled with sadness. “Well, all the current fosters are full. Only certain people will take her on since she’s a pit bull. If we can’t find her some care, she’ll go straight back to death row.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” I snapped. When Jennifer stiffened, I eased my tone. “I’ll take her in if we can’t find anyone.”
“You’ll what? You don’t have to do that.”
“I’m not letting this sweet girl go back to a horrible pound. I’ll give her a safe place to get healthy, have her pups, and be put up for adoption. I’m determined to find her a forever home. No arguments, alright?”
“Sure, Aria. Whatever you say.”
I cringed at the way she turned back to monitor the anaesthetic without any more discussion. In the past, we’d gotten along. We could easily excel at our work while also enjoying one another’s company, and the same could be said for any of the members of the practice. I was in good standing with them all. That was, until I came home from Virginia Beach. I’d been snippy for the last month, which included the final two weeks of my vacation with Zoey and Lily. It had nothing to do with them and everything to do with me losing Logan. I knew he’d said he wouldn’t be able to see me for a while, but I hadn’t even spoken to him since that morning in his house.
Was this what being a military partner was like?
It was torture.
I wanted to cling to that perfect moment, to freeze it in time, and I wanted to trust in what he said when he told me he loved me. But that didn’t stop the annoying little voice in the back of my mind that continuously told me I’d never see him again.
I turned my anguish and frustration towards my work and had the pit bull closed up and sent to recovery in no time. I disposed of my surgical scrubs and headed into my office to type up patient notes on the pregnant dog.
There came a soft knock at my door and when I turned away from my computer, I saw Jennifer standing there with a cup of steaming hot coffee in her hand.
“Hi. May I make a peace offering?” she asked, her demeanor cautious.
I sighed. “I should be the one giving you the peace offering. My behaviour has been terrible these last couple of weeks. I’m sorry.”
Jennifer walked over to me and set the coffee down beside me. “I thought you might need a pick-me-up, and maybe someone to talk to?”
With a small nod, I indicated the client’s chair. Jennifer sat and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees.
“It’s about what happened on my holiday,” I said.
“Okay.” She waited patiently for me to continue.
“I met this guy down there and we . . . we had a thing.”
Jennifer’s grin was huge. “Oh, my god! Aria, did you have a summer fling?”
“Trust me, it was more than a fling,” I assured her. I turned the coffee cup this way and that. “But then he had to go away for a job. It’s been over a month, and I still haven’t heard from him.”
“What kind of job?” Jennifer asked with a frown.
“I don’t know exactly. He's an ex-Navy SEAL, and now he’s working for some security company based out of Virginia Beach,” I said with a shrug.
