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Panic surges and my mind starts racing. I drop the papers and the wine bottle to the floor. My hand dives into my pocket, desperately searching for my phone.
My fingers shake as I tap the screen to dial her number. The phone seems to ring for an eternity until her voicemail picks up.
What the fuck?!
That feeling of dread grips my gut like a fist. Anxiety presses and squeezes on my windpipe like spindly fingers wrapping around my throat.
I race through the dark house, down the stairs, into the kitchen. There’s a note on the counter, sitting next to a half-melted tub of strawberry swirl ice cream and a pile of soggy, crumpled up tissues.
I pick up the sheet of paper and stare down at the wobbly script that vaguely resembles Alana’s usually neat handwriting.
The words scribbled across that makeup-smudged sheet of notebook paper slice my soul right down the middle.
Those words are the beginning of the end.
I need space to think.
1
ALANA
Four years later…
“Come on now, Miss Twinkles,” I coo softly. “Don’t be mad at me. I know you don’t like needles but that shot I gave you was only to keep you healthy.”
In response, the grumpy Persian cat seated in my lap swats a paw at my face.
Laughing quietly, I offer the cat a colorful plush toy and gently coax her through the gate of the kennel where we’ll be boarding her for the next few days while her owners are away. “Okay, fine. Be like that.” I give her a quick scratch behind her ears before she takes another swipe at me.
Geez Louise. Such an attitude on this girl.
“Weren’t you planning to leave before five?”
Startled, I glance over my back. I find my veterinary technician’s very worried face poking through the doorway. Wide eyes and pinched forehead and twitching nostrils.Eep!
When my gaze darts to my watch, I bolt up from the floor where I’m sitting. “Crap! Sorry, sorry, sorry!” I say in a rush as I quickly wiggle out of my lab coat and toss it on the hook behind the door. “Sorry, Megs…” I mutter again, planting a big smooch on her cheek as I shimmy past Meghan.
I hustle down the hallway of the small veterinary clinic.
“Bye, Darcy! You’re locking up tonight, right, Maxine?” I zoom around the front desk where our receptionists are checking out our last furry, four-legged patients of the day.
“On it, Doc.”
I toe off my comfy work Crocs, slip into my rubber boots and grab my umbrella. “Did you double-check with Dr. Stevens about—”
“He promised to cover all your patient appointments while you’re away."
“And we’re gonna need a new order of medical gloves and—”
“Delivery’s scheduled for Thursday.”
“Also, Barbara should be back from vacation by next—”
“She’ll be back on Monday.”
Taking one moment to myself, I straighten and suck in a long breath. “Wow. I’m working myself into a frenzy here,” I say with an embarrassed laugh.
“You really are.” Maxine snickers, looking up from her computer and sliding her reading glasses into her hair.
