15 Summers Later

Chapter 23

I find solace in the fact that Madi and I have forged a new narrative, one that transcends the confines of our painful past. The scars remain, but they are now badges of resilience, a testament to the strength we discovered within ourselves and the unbreakable bond between two sisters who defied the darkness.

—Ghost Lake by Ava Howell Brooks

Madi felt as if she had stepped out of the mountains and somehow tumbled into another dimension.

Her sister—prim, composed, elegant Ava—was in the corner of the big treatment room at the clinic, crooning softly to the bedraggled corgi and lathering her fur for a second time.

She never would have expected it. She thought Ava would have been in a hurry to retreat to their grandmother’s house so she could recover from their unexpected adventure. Instead, here she was, pitching in to help in an emergency.

Ava had been a rock all evening. Pregnant or not, queasy or not, she had jumped right in to help the two lost dogs as soon as Madi first heard the yelps.

How was she supposed to stay angry with Ava when she was trying so hard to be helpful?

“Looks like he’s got a sprained hind-right leg,” Luke was saying.

She turned back to focus on the border collie, sleeping now from the light pain reliever Luke had administered when he first carried the dog back. “It’s not broken?”

“The X-ray isn’t showing a break. Given how hesitant he was to use it, I’m guessing a sprain.”

“That’s a relief.”

“He’s still going to have to stay off it as much as possible. He’s also going to need a couple of stitches for that cut on his front paw.”

“So he’ll have to wear the cone.”

“Yeah. Looks like it.”

“Poor guy. He won’t be happy.”

“Better to wear the cone of shame than to die of dehydration and starvation in a pit.”

“True enough.”

While he bandaged the sprain, Madi continued pulling detritus from the dog’s coat, similar to what she could see Ava doing right now with the corgi.

“Thanks for helping with him, especially after you’ve already put in a long day of work.”

“I could say the same for you. Anyway, this is my job.”

“Mine, too, at least for another few weeks.”

His jaw tightened briefly, as if he didn’t like the reminder. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he angled his head toward where Ava was humming to the corgi while she brushed out her matted fur.

“That’s a surprise, isn’t it?” he murmured. “I didn’t expect her to stick around to help out.”

She immediately felt defensive for her sister, even though she had been every bit as surprised by Ava’s behavior. “I think she and the corgi have bonded.”

“We should give this one a bath before I do the stitches and wrap his leg.”

“Of course.”

With the rhythm developed over years of working together, they worked to cut out the burrs and briars stuck in the dog’s coat, then waited their turn to put the border collie in the washtub until Ava finished up with Gracie and had moved her to another exam table to brush her out.

She loved watching Luke. He possessed such a calming presence, with those warm blue eyes and his low, steady voice. Whenever things were chaotic or tense at the clinic or the shelter, he inevitably stepped in to calm any humans who might be stressed, as easily as he did the animals.

In this case, as they gave the dog a bath, they worked together easily, each focusing on a different part of the dog. Inevitably, their efforts intersected and her hands would touch his, or her body would brush against his hard strength.

Perhaps because of that kiss they had shared, Madi was aware of Luke on a physical level in a way she never had been before. She couldn’t seem to escape it. The heat of him, the leashed strength of him below the surface as he treated the dog with gentle care.

Finally, they were done cleaning up the dog and bandaging his wounds. As Luke carried him to the clean and sterilized dog run for the night, Madi glanced at the clock in the big treatment room. She winced. They had been caring for the border collie for nearly an hour. Ava had left the treatment room at least a half hour earlier.

Her sister must be ready to climb the walls right now.

Madi hurried out to the reception area, where she found Ava stretched out on the leather recliner they kept out there for humans and animals who needed extra snuggles before appointments. The corgi was nestled on her lap, snoring softly. Or maybe that was Ava. It was hard to tell, since they were both fast asleep.

The sight made her smile. In sleep, Ava looked less remote and composed. She looked like the big sister Madi remembered from their childhood. A little rumpled, her cool blond hair hanging around her face and her shirt damp across the front, probably from giving the corgi a bath.

Love twisted in her chest, sharp and bittersweet, like green apples that weren’t quite ripe.

She missed Ava. She ached for the time when they used to be able to talk about anything and everything, when they had leaned on each other to struggle through their mother’s death and their father’s increasingly erratic behavior.

She longed for their relationship to go back to the easy, sisterly love of their childhood, but she did not know how they could ever regain that closeness. It wasn’t only Ava’s book that had come between them. The chasm had been widening since the day they were rescued.

“They look so peaceful. Maybe we should leave them sleeping.” Luke spoke barely above a whisper, head bent toward hers, his breath stirring her hair.

She fought down an instinctive shiver. She really had to cut this out or things were about to get awkward really fast.

“Ava would never forgive me if I left her to sleep all night in a vet clinic with a dog on her lap,” she whispered back.

“You’re probably right. Too bad. They look really sweet together.”

Madi agreed. On impulse, she reached into her pocket for her phone and snapped a quick picture, thinking she might send it to Cullen. Her brother-in-law likely would appreciate the moment for the anomaly it was.

Though Madi’s camera phone was muted, Ava must have sensed them looking at her. Her eyes flickered open and she gazed at them uncomprehendingly until recognition dawned.

“Oh. I must have fallen asleep. Sorry.”

“No problem,” Luke said. “A good cuddle with you was probably exactly what this brave girl needed.”

Ava blinked a few times, still coming out of sleep. She straightened in the recliner and lowered the footrest.

“What’s going to happen to them now?” she asked, her tone threaded with worry as she looked at the corgi.

“Our first goal is to try to find their owner or owners,” Luke said. “We scanned for a chip on the border collie and didn’t find one. Gracie has a collar with her name but no phone number and no tags. Maybe we’ll have better luck finding a chip.”

He produced the handheld universal chip scanner and ran it around the dog’s neck and ears, and then, for good measure, all around her body.

“Well? Does she have one?”

“She doesn’t seem to.”

“So, what now?” Ava asked.

“We’ll have to try more traditional ways of locating their humans,” Madi said. “We’ll put a notice on the town’s social media pages and our classifieds, though I suspect the dogs may have been lost by visitors.”

“Or maybe they were abandoned,” Luke said, his features hard.

As a devoted animal lover, Madi couldn’t imagine simply dropping any domesticated animal into the backcountry, assuming it would be able to fend for itself. They usually didn’t have the skills to survive for long and would likely become prey to coyotes or mountain lions.

“After an initial period of observation here at the clinic, probably only a day or two, we will send them to the shelter. As long as Madi has room for them, anyway.”

“I’ll make room, however long it takes to either find them a new home or a foster home together,” she assured him. “I’m invested in these two now.”

“Will they be able to stay together here?” Ava asked.

“I’m sorry,” he said, genuine regret in his voice. “Normally I would say Gracie could go to the shelter while we leave the collie here, but I know they want to be together. We have to keep them somewhat separated so Gracie doesn’t lick her friend’s wounds. But we can put them in runs right next to each other so they can nuzzle each other through the fence.”

“That’s something, at least.”

Madi almost offered to foster the two at the farmhouse but she knew it wasn’t the best situation.

The shelter was the best place for them. After the border collie healed sufficiently, the two could share a run and Madi would make sure they spent all their outside playtime together and were always walked at the same time.

“Maybe they could stay with Grandma and me while I’m here, only until we find their owners,” Ava suggested, then seemed as surprised by the suggestion as Madi was.

“Really? You would do that?” She almost reminded her sister she didn’t like dogs, but that seemed a ridiculous thing to say as she was facing a woman who was sitting in a recliner, cuddling a corgi.

“I would have to talk to Leona first.”

Madi considered it. “I don’t know. Oscar might not be crazy about having two new canines in his territory, even temporarily. But we can certainly discuss it.”

“We don’t have to decide anything right now,” Luke said with a tired smile that Madi felt to her toes, even if Ava didn’t. “It’s very nice of you to offer.”

After making sure the dogs were all settled for the night, until one of the vet techs would come in around four to check on them, they walked outside. It was late, nearly ten. To her surprise, Ava headed in the opposite direction from the two trucks in the parking lot.

“Where are you going?” Madi called after her, frowning.

Ava turned. “I said I could walk back to Leona’s from here.”

“Don’t be silly. It’s late and you’re exhausted. I’ll give you a ride to Grandma’s.”

Ava looked as if she wanted to argue but finally shrugged and headed for the passenger door.

“In that case,” she said, “why don’t you take me back to the sanctuary so I can get my car? That way, I don’t have to figure out how to pick it up tomorrow and you don’t have to drive out of your way tonight.”

“That works.”

The night had grown cooler, with dark clouds drifting past the moon. They would have rain within the hour, she guessed, which made her even more grateful they had found the dogs before they had to spend another wet, cold night in the mountains.

Luke walked her to the truck. She wasn’t sure whether to find the gesture overprotective or sweet.

“Thanks for your help in there,” he said after reaching the door first and opening it for her. “You were wonderful, as always. I’m really going to miss you around here.”

“You’ll be fine,” she said, ignoring the ache in her chest when she thought about not seeing him all the time. “Tomas and Carly are both great vet techs and Marisa will be, too, when she’s done with her training.”

“They are all excellent. But they’re not you.”

A shiver rippled down her spine at his low, intense voice.

“We’re still going to see each other. You’re at the rescue almost as much as I am.”

“That’s a slight exaggeration,” he murmured, “since you live and breathe the rescue, while I only pop in when I’m needed.”

She had loved working here at the clinic, Madi thought after they said good-night and she drove out of the parking lot. But perhaps with this new awareness she couldn’t seem to shake, some distance would be good for both of them.

“Are you sure the dogs will be okay on their own?” Ava asked, forehead creased with worry.

“Positive. Luke has a great camera system, the same one we have at the rescue. We will both be monitoring the dogs all night. They’ll be fine. They’re safe and warm and have food and water. I’m sure they’ll sleep until the first staff member arrives in the morning.”

Ava didn’t look completely convinced, but she said nothing.

“You’re good at what you do, aren’t you?” she said after a pause.

Madi sent her a sidelong look across the cab of the old truck. “I like to think so. I love it. I mean, there are some sad moments, too. Not every situation has a happy ending. But I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

“Do you ever regret not going all the way and becoming a veterinarian, like Luke?”

Tension crawled through her like a dozen spiders. She and Ava used to argue about this all the time, with her sister pushing her to apply to veterinary schools instead of “settling” for her vet tech training.

Ava didn’t understand how hard school had been for Madi, how the words swam sometimes and her thoughts became jumbled if she spent too much time studying.

Ava, a natural student and lover of all things to do with academia, likely would never be able to acknowledge that each day of college had been a struggle for Madi.

That she had managed the very difficult requirements to become a veterinary technician still filled her with a great sense of pride she doubted Ava would ever truly comprehend.

“No,” she said, her voice firm. “If I had become a vet, I would have to juggle the added pressure of running a clinic. I never would have had the freedom to start the sanctuary.”

Her words had become hard on the last few words. How did Ava always manage to leave Madi feeling inadequate at handling life?

“Now you’re annoyed with me again. I’m sorry I asked.”

“Not annoyed,” she corrected. “Frustrated, maybe. I thought we had settled this particular argument years ago.”

“I have always only wanted the best for you. I hope you know that. I want you to have everything you ever dreamed.”

“The core problem is that we have very different definitions about what that is. I am happy with my life. More than happy. I have everything I could ever want. My dream of running a no-kill animal rescue is coming to fruition, and soon I’ll be able to devote all my time to it. I am very happy.”

Or I was, anyway, until you decided to blab our entire life to the world and now neither of us can escape your book.

Ava looked doubtful and it was all Madi could do not to tell her sister to stay in her own lane, to worry about her own life, which seemed to be falling apart in front of her.

To her relief, her sister let the subject drop and they drove in silence until they were only about a mile from the farmhouse and animal rescue.

She should have known Ava wasn’t done making her uncomfortable.

“Luke really watches out for you, doesn’t he?” Ava said into the silence.

Madi would have preferred talking about her academic inadequacies. Luke was not a topic she wanted to discuss with her sister right now. Or ever.

Yes, Luke watched over her. And yes, she was grateful for his concern. But how could she tell Ava she wanted the man to stop looking out for her so that he could finally see her?

“He’s very protective of everyone,” she answered, fighting to keep her voice calm.

“But especially of you.”

“That seems to be going around,” Madi said dryly.

“Lucky you, to have so many people who love you and want the best for you,” Ava said.

“Yes. Aren’t I lucky?” Madi murmured. Why that left her feeling so bitter, she couldn’t exactly define.