Page 21 of Hold Me Instead (Elmwood Falls #1)

Charlie

Broken!

“Damn.” Charlie stared at the note stuck to the coffeepot, the words just like our spirits! added below it in different handwriting. She smirked. “Hey, Maura?”

Maura met her in the hallway and followed Charlie to her office.

“Can you order a carafe or two from Village Coffee until we get our situation figured out?” Charlie handed over her credit card.

Maura smiled. “Sure thing.”

“Thanks,” Charlie said.

She settled at her desk and scanned lab results, noting which clients to call during lunch and which could wait until end of day.

A buzz of excitement raced through her, and she couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder repeatedly, watching for Zachary, even though he had surgeries that morning.

Even a glimpse of him would do. She was eager to see what today would bring after what felt like their friendship returning. A sense of normalcy.

Actually, better than that. But she didn’t dare allow herself to consider what it meant .

“Dr. Harris?” Their vet tech, Sheila, stood in the doorway, expression urgent. “Swallowed rubber band. Mrs. Roberts thinks it happened within the last half hour.”

Charlie nodded and followed Sheila to the patient’s room. Kicking the day off with an urgent situation, right at their opening hour.

Getting cats to throw up was difficult, swallowed rubber bands especially tricky to rescue. For some reason, Charlie felt today would be different.

***

“Oh my goodness, he swallowed that? ”

Charlie pointed at the baggie with a grin, a slimy yellow rubber band on display. “Can’t believe we got it. Very glad we got it though, this was a big one.”

Maura shuddered. “Doesn’t matter how many years I’ve worked here, I don’t have the same level of excitement about it as you do.”

Charlie laughed and left the room. “Mrs. Roberts was grossed out when we showed her.”

Maura followed close behind her. “I’ll bet. She was so grateful Homer avoided surgery.”

“Me too,” Charlie said.

“Coffee is here, by the way.”

“Ooo, great.” Charlie detoured toward the kitchenette.

“I have a new machine ready for pickup. I’ll grab it after lunch.”

Charlie nodded as she prepped her coffee, but Maura hovered. With her first sip, Charlie pivoted to face her, eyebrows raised in question .

“I wanted to give you the heads-up,” Maura said softly. “Already handled Mrs. Delaney this morning.”

“Oh no. What now?”

“She called to say that she ‘found better care elsewhere and we can all go to hell.’”

“She said that.” It wasn’t a question, knowing the woman behind the words.

Maura nodded. “Apparently, after getting the same answer you gave her from three other clinics, she finally found one willing to tell her what she wanted to hear.”

Charlie stared into her mug, watching oat milk swirl and blend. “Which clinic? Downtown?”

Maura grimaced at the mention of the clinic who’d become their rival once Neptune Corp had purchased them. “Yes.”

“Damn it,” Charlie muttered. “How many have we lost to them now?”

“At least ten percent since June.”

“Seriously?” Charlie rubbed her forehead. “I didn’t realize it’d gotten that high. Last Daniel told me, it was nearing five.”

“Well…” She looked around.

“Maura, you can tell me.”

“About five percent have left since Dr. Lee’s heart attack.”

Charlie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. How many had left before Zachary arrived? All 5 percent? Was it her? Many of the recent accounts had probably been Daniel’s, but that was a lot, and quick.

“Most people who’ve given a reason said it’s because of cost,” Maura rushed to add .

“Sure…” Their prices already hadn’t changed much in recent years in an attempt to fight the corporate model. Still begged the question, how many would leave when Daniel retired? Would there even be a clientele list to serve?

“I have to get back to the lobby. Good news is we still have a full day of appointments, and two emergency walk-ins.”

Charlie blew out a breath. “It’s not even nine.”

“And we’re already behind.”

“Of course,” Charlie said, as they parted ways.

Every day was playing catch-up as soon as the doors opened, with the threat of losing clients close behind.

She looked over notes acquired by her technician for the next patient, the high from the rubber band rescue faded.

As she scooted her chair to stand, it bumped Zachary’s, the domino effect knocking papers from his desk.

She picked them off the floor and set them down beside a notebook scratched with Zachary’s all-caps handwriting.

Her brow narrowed at the header: REPAIRS .

She leaned closer, moving a file out of the way to reveal a list ranging from equipment to busted kitchenette flooring.

Most she recognized as concerns she and Maura had brought up to Daniel over the years, only they were likely written on various pieces of paper, scattered in the boxes surrounding his desk.

So Zachary thought they didn’t have time to follow through with the cookout already in motion, but making a list of things to fix while he was here temporarily seemed reasonable?

She yanked up the notebook, nearly pressing her bespectacled nose against the page.

A small header labeled CHANGES was followed by online booking, online pharmacy refills, tech scheduling, and the dreaded uniforms .

If one thing was abundantly clear, it was that Zachary Lee was making himself quite at home.

He wasn’t acting like a temporary fill, or even just the owner’s son. He was trying to take charge.

“Dr. Harris? Room two?”

Charlie dropped the notebook like it had burned her fingertips, the way the words had seared her insides.

It would do her best to remember this wasn’t the same friendship as in the past. Seemed like Zachary needed a reminder too.

***

Charlie gasped at the boxes of Dorothy’s cupcakes squeezed onto the cramped counter. “Who sent us these?”

They were a welcome sight after a morning that had quickly gone downhill.

One of her favorite senior dogs was sick, dropped off for her to check on in between patients, and while Charlie was able to test for a UTI, she had to do an ultrasound for a suspected mass.

Then a client had brought in her dog for the third time in two months for gastrointestinal issues, and Charlie had explained again that they really recommended the prescription diet over the boutique brand the breeder was pushing.

She sighed. Taped to a cabinet was a note with the words:

Thanks for all you do for EFVH and our family.

—Dr. Zachary Lee

Well. So very fancy. Such a boss move.

She looked at the to-go box of coffee she’d ordered, nearing room temperature .

“Everyone’s just doing their job, not like they’re waiting for recognition from the boss’s son,” she mumbled as she yanked her lunch from the fridge, all while eyeing the desserts.

“Hey.”

She yelped and spun around. Struggled for a neutral expression.

Zachary raised a brow, then walked past her. “Make sure you have a cupcake.” He pulled a sparkling water from the fridge.

She held up the paper bag. “I’m all set.”

Wait , no . The bag felt light. She peered inside, then shut it quickly. Shit . Only a container of hummus and celery inside. Her peanut butter sandwich was definitely on her counter at home.

“Everything okay there, Harris?”

“Great. Yep.” She reached for the fridge and rummaged around, taking an extra second to nab her bottle of iced tea. When she turned, she smacked back into the fridge door, finding Zachary standing close, a plate in his hand with a single cupcake.

“Here. Have one.”

“Could always send leftovers home with everyone.”

“This is a little something for the whole team, and that includes you. I’m at a loss for what to do. People are showering my family with food. Everyone’s working their ass off. You’ve put in a shit ton of overtime.”

“I haven’t—” Her voice broke as he pressed closer, and she sucked in a breath.

“Everyone’s been through a lot. And things have been operating like normal here. That, for sure, is due to you.”

She scanned his face, from his deep brown eyes to the laugh lines that were dimmed by a frown, and she found herself frowning as well. When her eyes traveled back to his, she discovered he’d been doing his own mapping of her.

“Take the cupcake.” A beat. “Please.”

She slowly took the plate from his hands and waited for him to step back.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. When she had enough clearance to get around him, she started toward the hall, angry at her stomach for rumbling in excitement.

She didn’t want his food. They needed to talk.

After she ate though, because with the way the day had been going, it’d be safer for everyone that way.

“It’s snickerdoodle,” he said.

She stopped, looked at the cupcake, and inhaled discreetly. Her body hummed hell yes in response, but she didn’t look back as she continued down the hall. With each step, she vacillated between the appreciation of his nice gesture and the annoyance that he was somehow usurping her team.

But she wouldn’t let that stop her from eating the delectable treat.

What she needed to stop? Thinking about how nice it felt to be close to him. Again.

“I need to get out more,” she muttered. She shoveled some cupcake in her mouth, eyes rolling in delight at the first bite, and wrapped up her break determined and a little more confident, feeling like her day had turned around.

Until her last appointment.

The appointment itself wasn’t the issue—it was that she was the doctor assigned to it.

“God damn it, Zachary, you cannot switch our patients!” Charlie stormed into their office and slammed the door shut .

All patients were cleared for the day, clients gone, and only a few staff remained. Might as well have it out with him now.

Zachary’s eyes were wide with surprise. “It was just the one this afternoon—”