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“Perfect,” she said before heading back out.

Olive threw me a look.

“What?” I asked.

“Seriously, Lewis? There’s cake and cookies out there, made bythe ladies. They love you.”

I pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “Maybe you’re right, but you’re the one I want to go on a date with.”

“I can’t wait,” she said with a grin.

I had promised Olive I’d take her out on a real date tomorrow night. We had been chatting every evening since I dropped by her apartment the day after she found Rhubarb, but it was always over the phone. Of course, we also saw a lot of each other at the clinic, but I was still adamant about not mixing work stuff with my budding feelings for her. I wouldn’t want to be caught smooching while I had patients in the waiting room.

In fact, we had only shared a handful of kisses so far. It took a lot of self-control, but I needed to do this right. And that meant dating this amazing girl like she deserved.

At the back of my mind, there was still this tiny voice that kept nagging me about not dating a coworker, but I couldn’t let my past mistakes stand in the way of my happiness anymore. So I had made an exception and hoped from the bottom of my heart that things would work out perfectly.

“Well, go break a leg,” Olive said as she handed me the stack of flyers. “Not that you’re going to do a play, but you know what I mean.”

I grinned at her. “That would be more your thing, right? Singing and dancing.”

She gave me a playful slap on the arm. “Aren’t you funny, Doctor Grant. Besides, I’d never sing or dance in front of people, unless I wanted to scare them away. Now go before the crowd goes wild out there.”

I laughed. The way Olive spoke made it seem as if I was a rock star with a stadium full of fans waiting for me.

I straightened my tie and made my way to the rows of people waiting for my talk on neutering and spaying. Diane had let me use the biggest room available in the community center, the same one where the fundraiser would take place next week. Judging by the size of the audience, you’d think I was doing a talk on how to become a millionaire or something. Still, whatever the reason was for people to show up, they were here, and that was all that mattered. Animal health and wellbeing was a topic close to my heart, and I loved sharing tips and tricks.

Olive took her seat at the front, in a chair that had a handwritten note attached to it readingReserved. I positioned myself behind the microphone on the small stage and opened my digital presentation. People always paid more attention when I showed visuals, so that was exactly what I had planned for today as well.

The front row was filled with familiar faces like Milly, Leanne, Melissa, and some other people who I’d come to know through my work at the clinic.

“Thank you so much for coming today,” I started. “It’s nice to see how much you all care about this topic.”

“We love you, Lewis,” someone from the crowd shouted.

I cleared my throat. “Um, thank you. Why don’t we dive right into it?”

The room grew silent after a round of unnecessary applause, and I started talking. First, I tackled the reasons to spay or neuter a pet, since experience had taught me this was something not a lot of people knew about. Everyone’s eyes were on me, and not a word was whispered amongst the crowd.

“Uterine infections and breast cancer have a high mortality rate, especially for cats. Spaying your pet helps prevent these diseases.”

Melissa’s hand shot up. “I have a question.”

“Go ahead,” I said.

“Does that mean pets who are spayed will live longer?”

I nodded. “Yes, longer and healthier. That’s all we want for our beloved pets, right?”

“Certainly.” She threw me a dreamy smile. “Thanks so much for answering, Doctor Grant.”

“Of course.”

Seven other hands shot up.

“How about you all hold on to your questions until after the presentation?” I suggested. At this rate, we’d still be here next week. I loved the fact that people had questions and wanted to know more, but I was afraid of losing my train of thought when dealing with constant interruptions.

I went on to talk about how neutered cats and dogs behaved better, how male dogs wouldn’t want to roam away from home anymore, and how it helped prevent unnecessary suffering as pets found out on the street often got euthanized.