Page 10 of Against All Odds (Ember Falls #3)
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Everett
“ D r. Finnegan, you don’t understand. Karen complains all the time. And I mean all the time. She’s never happy. She hates everything and everyone.”
“Yes, but you said she’s not complaining,” I say slowly, looking down at the docile cat.
“That’s my point. She’s sick.”
Some days I really question my life choices. This is one of those. “Mrs. Pavlov, I understand that you’re concerned about Karen.”
“Yes, I am. She’s not being a Karen.”
“But that doesn’t mean she’s sick.”
Mrs. Pavlov strokes the cat’s back. “She’s letting me touch her. Do you see this? She’s possessed, or maybe she was switched with a replica.”
I clear my throat. “Okay, so I want to be sure I understand. Karen, the cat, isn’t acting like a Karen who is a drama queen? You’re worried this means something is wrong.”
She nods. “Yes, exactly. You have to fix her. Find out why she’s suddenly letting. Me. Touch. Her.”
“All right, let’s take a look.”
I complete an exam with Karen not hissing at me once—not a normal occurrence—but I don’t find anything out of the ordinary. Everything looks normal, and there’s nothing that I could even try to blame it on.
“Karen looks great, Mrs. P. I think that we can just keep an eye on it, see if over the next week or so she returns to her typical self, and if not, maybe be happy that she’s being nice.”
That’s really all I got.
She picks up Karen and puts her back in the carrier. “I would’ve sworn we’d find something.”
“Cats are cats, you know? Maybe she had a change of heart and just decided being a Karen wasn’t for her anymore.”
I wish more people would follow that lead.
“I hope so.”
“Call the office if you notice any changes. We’ll take another look if we need to.”
Thankfully, that was my last client of the day, and now I can head to do something fun that keeps my mind from constantly drifting to that damn almost kiss and then the fact that I was once again reminded why I like the routine of my life.
My mother was falling apart and I wasn’t there.
She was alone, scared, and couldn’t remember where I went because I thought I could change things up and go have dinner with a friend. I should’ve secured someone to be there, but I figured it was short, and she’d been doing better.
Once again, thank you universe for showing me my ass.
“Dr. Finnegan?” calls Darlene, my tech.
“Yes?”
“There was a request to go to Mr. Thorn’s ranch. The trainer called and asked if you could go look at one of the horses.”
“Not a problem. I’ll let Killian know at practice tonight when I can go by there.”
“Great. Have a good night.”
“You too.”
Once I’m finished with some notes I needed to do, I change and then head to Prose & Perk before the field.
All day I was slammed and couldn’t get my normal lunchtime brew. The door dings as I enter, and Penelope and Hazel come out from behind the counter.
“Hello, gorgeous girls,” I say with my most charming smile.
Hazel rolls her eyes. “Hello, freeloader.”
“Do you treat all your customers this way, or am I just the lucky one?”
“Just you,” Hazel says with a shrug.
“I’m so blessed.”
“You’re something.”
She puts a coffee on the counter, and I reach in my pocket and put a twenty down. “Here, this should cover me for today and tomorrow.”
Hazel laughs. “That’s not even one day’s worth of your coffee consumption. It’s six dollars a latte, and you have about seven a day.”
“Six dollars?” I ask incredulously. “What the hell is in this coffee? Gold?”
“Liquid gold, depending on who you ask,” Penny says as she leans against the counter.
“I can’t even argue, because I would agree.”
“Don’t you have practice in two minutes?” she asks.
I’m already going to be late, so I’m not worried about another five minutes. “I’m heading there next. I just missed you both.”
Hazel narrows her eyes. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Why else would I come here?”
“Maybe you were hoping to run into someone ...”
Hazel and I have been best friends since we were five. She pushed me off the seesaw at recess, I threw dirt at her, and that was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. There is probably no one in this world who knows me better.
This time she’s wrong.
If anything, I’m hoping to avoid that someone.
“Not even close,” I tell her.
“She was here about fifteen minutes ago,” Penelope offers up.
I glare at Hazel. “You told her?”
Hazel laughs. “You think I had to? Who is she living with?” Miles. Bastard is going to pay for this during practice, that’s for damn sure. “Besides, what is there to tell?”
I walked right into that one.
“Nothing.”
“Really?” she challenges. “I heard that you guys had dinner last night.”
“You heard that from where?”
Nothing in this town can ever be kept as a secret. I swear, people talk more than anywhere else.
She shrugs. “Around.”
“As much as I’d love to stay here and continue this conversation, I have a practice to get to.”
They both wave, and I return the gesture with a lift of my cup and get in the car.
On my way, I call Justine, checking on my mom and how her day went.
Thankfully, it’s one of her better days.
She had no real issues and Donna Anderson, Miles’s grandmother, is on her way over to relieve Justine for the day.
Donna and my mother are still very close. She comes by on the nights I have practice. They usually watch a movie, knit, or work on whatever craft she brings, and it’s always those days that my mother is happiest, which alleviates the guilt I had about playing Frisbee to begin with.
It was even Donna who insisted I join a team.
After the accident, I wasn’t in a good place.
Losing my father was hard, but watching my mother struggle ate me alive.
I just wanted to fix it, to get her some semblance of life, but nothing I did helped.
It wasn’t until I joined the Disc Jocks that I found a part of myself returning.
Thankfully the park is empty, except for us, and I get a spot close to the field. The three guys are already out there, tossing the disc back and forth in a triangle.
“Oh, look who showed up,” Lachlan says first.
Of course it’s Lachlan who has something to say. Not that if the roles were reversed I wouldn’t be the one to give him shit, but he’s the second-most jaded out of this quad.
I open my arms wide as I keep walking. “I’m sorry you were so bereft without me. I’m here, princess. I’ll make it all better now.”
Miles chuckles. “I didn’t miss you.”
“I’m still not sure I’m talking to you.”
Killian snorts. “Lovers’ quarrel?”
“Something like that,” Miles replies. “He’s mad because I forgot to tell him that his ex-girlfriend from fifteen years ago was back in town.”
“You forgot?” I say with disbelief.
“Yes, I was kind of dealing with a lot,” he tries to defend.
Lachlan walks over, placing his hand on Miles’s shoulder. “I’ve got your back, buddy. For all the shit Everett has given us over the years, he deserves a little discomfort. I heard you guys had dinner last night.”
What the fuck? “How the hell did you hear that?”
Bunch of gossiping assholes they are.
“I went to check on Violet’s house since I knew it was closed up for a while. I wanted to be sure her fire alarms worked and the chimneys weren’t a fire hazard.”
“Well, aren’t you just the nicest fire chief to ever live,” I toss back.
I should’ve done that. I make a mental note to make a list of things she might need to do and people to contact if something goes wrong.
Lachlan continues as though I didn’t even speak.
“While I was there, she was cooking and said she was having dinner with her neighbor to thank him. She went on and on about how nice the people are in Ember Falls and what a difference it is. Since you’re her closest neighbor, it didn’t take much to figure out the rest.”
“Did she say anything else?” I ask.
What is wrong with me?
Why the hell did I just ask that?
I wonder what the chances are that they pretend I never said anything.
Lachlan and Miles share a grin.
The chances are a big fat zero.
“She mentioned something today at work,” Miles informs me.
Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Do not ask him or you’ll regret it.
“She did?”
I’m a fucking idiot.
“No, she didn’t say shit!” He bursts out laughing, and the other two follow.
Miles sobers the fastest. “I’m sorry, that was mean.
I couldn’t help myself. Anyway, I didn’t see her today.
I had three students who thought it would be funny to paint a mural of a penis in the bathroom.
I was tied up with that, so I didn’t see Violet. ”
Killian shakes his head. “Are we going to practice today or what? I have to head back to Boston this week.”
“Fine, let’s play.”
After two hours of running up and down the field, I swear my legs are going to break in half.
We have an indoor tournament coming up, since we were able to find a winter league, much to Ainsley’s and Penelope’s dismay.
They both hoped they’d get their significant others back at the end of the last tournament.
I’m sitting on the bench, working to catch my breath while Lachlan is laid out like a star on the ground. Miles is on the bench beside me, panting. It’s only Killian, who is the oldest out of us, who looks like he could go for another hour.
How is that even possible?
“Dude, are you on some kind of performance-enhancing drugs?” Miles asks him, clearly thinking the same as me.
Killian chuckles. “No, it’s called exercise other than just at practice.”
Lachlan lifts his head. “I’m in the gym every day. Everything hurts right now, and I want to die.”
“Do it quietly,” I toss back.
He gives me the finger. “Sit and spin, fucker.”
“Only if you promise to be gentle.”
We all chuckle.
Miles pushes up off the bench. “All right, I need to get home. Don’t forget the home game Friday. Brutus’s presence is required.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll be there with bells on.”
It’s the only time Brutus actually likes me. Anytime I say football, he’ll perk up, walk to the door, and allow me the privilege of his company. Otherwise, he just glares at me in the way only he can.
Lachlan and Miles head out while Killian and I finish tying our shoes.
“Do you want to grab a drink?” he asks.
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, if you don’t have plans.”
I shake my head. “Nope, no plans. Donna is with Mom for at least another two hours.”
“Perfect. I’ll meet you at the bar.”
This day is ending up exactly like I needed—Violet-free.