Page 20 of Saved By A Small Town Country Boy

Remedi

A few days later

N oises came from the front of the house.

Prada barked at my bedroom door. The last time I checked, I was the only one here.

There shouldn’t be any noise coming from up there.

Stepping into the closet, I grabbed the baseball bat out of there that I had and tiptoed to the bedroom door.

No one ever spoke about break-ins around here, but I couldn’t be too sure what’s going on.

There’d been whispers of other crimes happening.

I wouldn’t dare put anything past anyone.

I eased the door open and jumped out of my skin when I saw Reese standing there with her fist in the air. This woman has been gone so long, it’s like she didn’t even live here anymore. Now, she pops up out the blue, trying to give me a heart attack.

“You scared the shit out of me,” I told her and lowered the bat.

“What were you about to do with that?”

“Beat your ass.” I tossed the bat back into the closet and shut the door.

“What if I was a burglar with a gun? What you think that bat would’ve done?”

“It was going to do enough. Want to find out?” My brow arched to my hairline, and she snickered.

“Oh, no, I don’t want to find out.” She tossed her hands up in surrender.

Going over to the bed, I took a seat on the edge and faced her. “Are you going to tell me where you’ve been all this time?”

Sighing, she replied, “After that Carlos mess, I needed to get away for a while. I just took some time at a spa for a few days. It was much needed too.”

“Have you heard anything else from Carlos?” He’d kind of gone quiet after the incident with her.

“He called me the next day and left a voicemail on my phone. I ain’t answer for him, but he says that he’s doing fine. He ended up driving himself to the hospital.”

“He didn’t tell them that you shot him? I’m sure they asked him what happened.”

“Nope. He didn’t say a word because he knew he was wrong. I don’t care that he didn’t tell on me, that’s not gon’ make me keep talking to him. I’m done with him. I washed my hands of the situation. I cried and everything I needed to do while I was away. I’m not dealing with it no more.”

“I don’t blame you.”

Getting up from the bed, I went over to the closet to search for something to wear. “Where you about to go? I was coming in here to ask if you wanted to get brunch with me today.”

“Can’t today. I have to go up to the school with Khali. She invited me to her show and tell.”

“Aww. You sure been spending a lot of time over there lately.”

“Not really.” I haven’t seen them as much as she was trying to make it seem.

One thing I hadn’t told her about was when Khalif and I had that moment in the stable.

I’d been thinking about that for so long.

Dallas should’ve come in a few moments later so that I could’ve seen where things would’ve gone.

I felt a connection with him. He may try to deny it now, but there’s no denying that chemistry.

“Uh-huh, I hear you. Well, I’ll let you gone and get ready.

Guess I’ll be spending the time outside somewhere today.

I need to get out and get some sun. I’ve been holed up inside for too long,” she said and left out of my room.

Prada ran out behind her. If she wanted to go outside so badly, she could chill with Prada at the park or something.

I’m sure Prada is tired of being here as well.

I should’ve took her with me to the school, but I don’t think she needed to be there for show and tell.

Khali had invited me there, and I wasn’t even sure what I was going to do when I got there.

I’ve never been to a show and tell before.

Why would little children want to hear about how I treat and save animals? It’s understandable for Khali because she’s interested in it. But with me being a veterinarian, there isn’t much that I can do at that school. It’s not like I can go in there and do a procedure without ending up in jail.

I found this cute blue, knee-length Prada dress that I’d pair with my lab coat to really give off the effect of being a doctor. Now that Reese is back, I can ask her about someone to do my hair. For the day, I’ll just brush it back into a ponytail.

I’d already taken my shower before Reese came in here, so all I have to do is lotion my frame and get dressed.

It didn’t take me long to get on my clothes and do my hair.

No makeup for the day, so that’s something I didn’t have to worry about.

After I was done, I grabbed my duffel and purse and left the room.

Reese was sitting on the sofa with Prada, scrolling, looking for something for her to watch.

Seems like her getting out and getting some sun went right out the window.

“I should be back later. Maybe we can grab dinner or something,” I told her as I headed for the door.

Prada stood up on the couch and barked. “You can’t go this time, Prada.

” Opening the door, I exited the house and hit the fob on my truck.

Getting inside, I placed my duffel on the passenger seat and started the truck.

I’d searched up the address for the school because Khali hadn’t told me what the name of her school was. All I got was what day the show and tell was and the time. Placing the address into the GPS, I proceeded out of the driveway.

When I arrived at the school, I grabbed my duffel and went up to the front entrance. The door was locked, so I had to buzz to get inside. I stopped at the front desk. “Hi, I’m here for show and tell for Khali Redwick’s class.”

“Oh, you’re Remedi. Khali told me all about you,” the woman behind the desk said with a warm smile.

“She did?”

“Yeah. She’s in Mrs. Thomas’s class. Down the hall, second door on the right.”

“Thank you.” I opened the other glass door and entered the building.

The closer I got to Khali’s classroom, I could hear children laughing.

I stopped in the doorway and saw that some of the other parents were in there as well.

One of them was a firefighter, another a policeman, and I’m not sure what the others were because they weren’t in uniform.

One of the students stood at the front of the classroom with a toy Superman in his hand.

He’d probably brought it to school because it was his favorite toy and he wanted to show the class how cool it was.

I slipped into the classroom and stood against the back wall.

Khali looked back from the front of the class and waved at me.

I waved back, and she turned back around.

The little boy finished up with his show and tell, and the class clapped for him.

He went back to his desk, which wasn’t too far from Khali’s, and the teacher stood at the front of the class.

“Next up, we have Khali. She’s brought a friend with her today,” Mrs. Thomas said and gestured toward Khali. She hopped up from her seat and stepped to the front of the class. Khali beckoned for me, and I maneuvered through the desks ’til I made it up there with her.

“Y’all, I want you to meet my friend Remedi. Remedi is a veterinarian.”

“Hey.” I waved at the class and set my duffel on top of the desk that was up there in front of the whiteboard.

“I’m Dr. Norié. I graduated from the University of California.

I’m from Atlanta, Georgia. I’ve been a veterinarian for the last three years.

I have my own animal hospital in Atlanta.

I’ve seen several types of animals from your everyday cats to even horses.

” I glanced at Khali, and she beamed a smile as she nodded.

“She saved Beauty!”

Some of the kids ‘wowed’ when she said that.

“That’s right. I helped Khali here out with her horse Beauty.

She’s a beautiful horse too.” I grinned down at Khali.

“This is my first time doing something like this, so I wasn’t sure what I should bring or what I should do, but I do have a book here with the different types of animals that I’ve saved in the last three years.

You can pass it around if you’d like.” I removed the book from my duffel and handed it to Khali.

She took it to the first student and placed it on her desk.

“Are you here to take over the clinic?” Mrs. Thomas questioned me.

That seems to be the question that everyone wanted to know whenever they found out what I did for a living.

Originally, I didn’t come here because I found out that they needed a new veterinarian. I found that out after I ended up here.

“I’m not sure, but I am looking into it,” I told her as they continued to pass the book along the room.

A little boy raised his hand. “Yes?” I asked him.

“Have you ever had to kill an animal before?”

My eyes widened like saucers. “I wouldn’t call it kill, but I have had to put some to sleep that were really sick.”

I answered a few more questions and then stood to the side as everyone else had their turn. Khali kept looking back at me to make sure that I was still there. Once school was over, Khali ran up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

“Thank you for coming.” Her little eyes sparkled as she stared up at me.

“You’re more than welcome.” I tapped her on the tip of her nose with my index finger.

I walked her out the door, where I found Khalif parked, waiting for her.

He got out the truck and walked around to where we stood.

This is the first time that I’ve seen him since we had our moment.

Today, he wasn’t wearing his cowboy hat.

In fact, he was dressed in a simple white T-shirt and jeans.

He did have on those cowboy boots of his though.

“Daddy!” Khali ran up and hugged Khalif as if she hadn’t seen him all week. It was cute. I liked seeing her excited to see her daddy.

“Hey, baby girl.” He pecked her on top of the head.