Page 51

Drawn, I navigate the sidewalk and stop in front of the clinic window. The girl behind the counter laughs at something said to her over the phone.

Before I realize it, I walk to the door and push inside to the tinkle of bells.

The waiting room is packed this time. One older gentleman wraps his dog’s leash around his weathered knuckles and gives a jerk, but the German Shepherd isn’t having it. The dog tugs at the leash with his hackles raised at a small poodle yipping from the safety of its owner’s lap.

The receptionist stops laughing, her attention focused on the screen in front of her like she’s oblivious to the chaos around her. Either she’s used to this, the same way I’d gotten used to it at my own clinic, or she’s disassociating.

Not my concern.I should leave. Walk on and head to the library. Or get in the car and head anywhere else.

Tase won’t want to talk to me. What do I want to say to him, anyway? There’s nothingtosay. He’s a stranger with a friendly face.

The familiar scents of cleaners, animals, and chemicals release the aching knot in my neck.Oh, yes.

This is what I needed despite the pang of heartbreak ripping through me.

It’s reckless, walking into the waiting room. Flashing a smile at the Shepherd amid the squalling of several cats in their carriers singing the same chorus.

I head to the counter just as the girl hangs up the phone. It takes her several seconds to lift her eyes to mine.

Damn, she’s young. Has to be fresh out of high school. I stop and swallow over a laugh. I’m only twenty and I feel like I’m a hundred years old.

“Hi.”

“Can I help you?” Her grin is forced.

“I know you’re busy, but I’m hoping for a chat with the vet. It’s a personal matter. If you could just tell him Gillian is here…”

Tears pool at the corners of her eyes and a few stray strands of blonde slip from her ponytail when she shakes her head. My gut drops.Uh oh. “I’m sorry, Doctor Walton is busy at the moment. He’s just gotten out of—” She gulps and cuts off.

“I’m sure he is very overworked, as are you, obviously. But I’m a vet tech. I want to speak to him about possibly donating my time and volunteering for him.”

The idea solidifies the instant I speak it into being.

No.Shit, no. This is the last thing I should do. The more people who see me, the more likely it is that someone will figure out what I’m doing here.

The girl cranes forward. “Hold on. You want to help? You’re qualified?”

“I need to be useful,” I admit. “Let me talk to Tase. Please.”

The girl chuckles, her features strained and pale. The laughter I saw on the phone must have been hysterical, and I’d mistaken the expression for chipper.

She’s not handling the stress well.

This poor girl isn’t chipper by any stretch of the imagination. She’s stressed and overwhelmed.

Another patron joins me at the counter and stares between the two of us, hard. “If you’re done with your personal chitchat, I’ve been waiting for forty-five minutes. My appointment was supposed to be at noon.”

She taps her watch.

“There’s only me and the vet today.” The girl’s knuckles turn white on the edge of the desk when the phone starts to ring again. “Our other girl quit and no one else is able to come in?—”

“Never mind that. When will Doctor Tase see me?” the woman demands.

Despite everything, my insides calm.

“It’ll just be a moment, ma’am,” I tell the client, then turn back to the receptionist. “Let me behind the desk. I don’t have my license with me but I’m a registered veterinary technician. I can help. Please.”

The girl only points over her shoulder at the door to the back and mouths the wordgo.