Chapter 29
Brittany – Two Days Later
“I cannot believe she lost that dog,” Pauline snaps as she paces my exam room, and I try to hold in my wince and not make eye contact as I clip Mitzy’s claws, the four-year-old spaniel who I see at least every eight weeks, even though she doesn’t really need to come in.
She could go to the dog groomer, but the owner prefers me, apparently.
“The woman is threatening to sue us, even though I never agreed to keeping her dog here. I mean, geez, we’re a fricking vet for Christ's sake, not a dog shelter,” Pauline continues to rant, “How could Harper do this to us? To me? After all the chances I’ve given that girl, after I tried to help her get through her courses, paying for them! ”
I clip the last claw and gently rub behind Mitzy’s fluffy ears as a pit fills in my stomach.
Guilt fills me, but then I remember how much Max was actually abused by the nasty woman, and the guilt kind of squashes. Besides, Pauline won’t be sued. Harper, yes, but not Pauline.
Is it too harsh a punishment to have her sued just because she’s a bitch?
I shake my head. “Pauline, she won’t sue you, she can’t. You said there is video evidence of Harper accepting the money, including her stating no one can find out,” I remind her before I gently hand Mitzy a treat, then walk her over to the crate, shutting the door.
Her owner should be back by two to pick her up.
I don’t know how Dirty managed to keep only that part of the footage before erasing it all, but he did. I have to admit, the man is amazing with technology and I have a feeling he’s going to become useful over the years.
Pauline sighs, “I know, it’s just, I trusted that girl and she hurt me, Brit. Did you know she also charged a few clients to her own account?”
I look at her sharply in shock and ask, “What?!”
Surely she wasn’t smart enough to do that?
She nods and admits, “I logged on this morning after the whole crap that went down, something was niggling in the back of my mind to look, and over four thousand dollars was paid into her account in the past two months alone. Now I have to take legal action and most likely press charges.”
Holy crap!
My eyes are wide, my mouth open, and I stutter, “B-but how could she, of all people, manage that?”
Pauline shrugs and replies, “I don’t know, but I’m not letting it slide, not after losing that dog.”
I would say the guilt comes back, but it really doesn’t, the woman is a lying, lazy, thief.
I shake my head, and Pauline sighs, “Right, I’ve got to call the lawyers. Once you’ve seen the last two animals in the waiting room, you can clock out.”
“Okay, thank you,” I murmur, and she gives me a sad smile before leaving me to it, just as my phone rings and I quickly grab it.
Mama
I swallow hard and contemplate ignoring it.
Dad mentioned she wants to be put on the babysitter list for when I’m working and Asher is at the hospital, but I’m not ready, at least I don’t think I am.
Growing up, I idolized my mother, thinking her fears were completely normal. She loved my biological father so much. Losing him the way she did was hard, but I just, she married my dad not long after…
It makes you think.
Deciding to bite the bullet, I sigh as I answer, “Hey, Mama.”
“Hey, sweetheart, I’m not interrupting, am I?” she replies, the relief that I answered clear as day in her voice.
“No, I’ve got a couple of minutes,” I admit.
“Good, good,” she whispers before she clears her throat and says, “I uh, I wanted to speak to you yesterday but your father said you probably weren’t ready.
I know I haven’t done right by you, I pushed my fears onto you, and I know that wasn’t fair.
Just like it wasn’t fair to keep my marriage separate from the club when your dad, he is the club. ”
I look down and she chokes, “Months without knowing where you were, not knowing if you were dead or alive, it haunted me. You’re my daughter, my everything, and I couldn’t find you. Finding out that you were attacked because of the club brought so much back, sweetheart.”
I frown, confusion swimming, and I ask, “What do you mean?”
“Your daddy, he didn’t die from a 911 call out like everyone believes. He was targeted because of me,” she admits, and I slowly sit down on my stool. She chokes, “I was having an affair with Bobby.”
Oh my…
“What?” I whisper with shock just as the door to my room opens, and I look to see Asher saunter in, a cocky smirk on his face, but it soon drops seeing the look on my face. I put my phone on speaker because honestly, I don’t know if I’ll be able to repeat this.
She said my biological father was her universe.
“Sweetheart,” she whispers, “we were together from such a young age, and as we grew older, we grew apart.” Asher wraps his arm around my waist and I lean into him, “I wanted a divorce, to move on, but he didn’t want to break our little family up.
And-and one of the club's rivals back then, they found out about Bobby and me. They targeted your daddy after finding out he was a police officer. He was gunned down because of me.”
She lets out a sob, and I clutch Asher’s cut tightly in shock.
She continues, “It’s why I didn’t want to be around the club, why I didn’t want you around the club. I thought I was going to lose you, too, like this was my penance for falling in love with someone else. Then you went missing, and it tore me apart. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep…”
“Damn,” Asher whispers against my head, and I swallow thickly.
“Everything I did, I did because I didn’t want to lose you, and I lost you anyway. I lost time with my granddaughter after I tried to take her because I was scared she’d be next,” she sobs, and I squeeze my eyes tightly.
“Mama,” I whisper, “falling in love with someone else, it doesn’t make bad things happen to the people you love.”
“I’m so sorry, Brit,” she chokes, and my tears blur my vision as I look up at Asher, who smiles softly.
“Hey Kathleen, I’m working nights next week and my mama needs to help with some club stuff. How’d you feel watching Bailey on the days she’s busy?” Asher says, and I smile slightly even though there is a pit in my stomach allowing her to watch Bailey.
This man knows me well. I couldn’t offer. My stubbornness still harbors feelings, so he’s doing it for me and showing me she can be trusted.
“Yes, please, I would love to,” she rasps, “Thank you, Doc, thank you so much.”
“I’ll drop her off after my first shift on Tuesday,” he confirms, and I lay my head on his chest as Mama asks, “Brittany, can we, can we go for coffee at some point?”
I twitch my nose as Asher gives me a reassuring squeeze, and I say, “I’m on half day Friday.”
“Perfect, I’ll meet you at your work,” she whispers, “I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too, Mama,” I whisper in return before she hangs up with a sob, and I sigh as I wrap my arms around Asher's waist.
“Well, that was a shocker. How are you feeling, Tinkerbell?” he murmurs against my head, and I shake it, pressing my nose into his chest.
It was a lot, a huge amount.
He squeezes me tighter to him and whispers, “Talk to me, baby…”
“It’s hard, she was so adamant she caused everything all because she fell in love. Losing my memories, then regaining them, I realized I allowed her to control me, and that is what I’m struggling to forgive,” I admit.
“Even though she had an affair?” he asks softly.
I pull back a little and admit, “Shadow is my dad, he’s the only one I have ever known and even though Mama said my daddy was killed because of her and her affiliation with the club, something deep inside me is telling me he was already a target and she just doesn’t know it or want to see it that way. ”
“I’ll have Dirty look into it if you want me to, or we can leave it, it’s up to you,” he offers, and I smile, and I lean up on my tiptoes and place a soft kiss on his lips knowing I probably won’t want to know because it doesn’t change anything.
Shadow is still my dad and he still loves my mama.
Asher smiles into the kiss, and I ask, “So what do I owe this amazing pleasure?”
“I was wondering,” he whispers against my lips, “After work, if you could put on the pretty dress I’ve just placed in Pauline’s office and meet me at the lake I used to take you to when our relationship was on the downlow.”
I raise a brow and ask, “Why?”
We haven’t been to that lake in months, way before we split up, and I lost my memories.
He smiles softly and admits, “Because I want a date, my tinkerbell, it’s been over a year since I last got to treat you. Bailey is with Rose and Stone, Max is with Angel at home, so what do you say?”
He places a gentle kiss on my lips, and I melt as I hum out a ‘yes’ before kissing him back.
A date sounds pretty good to me, especially after that bomb shell. It’s weird because I’m not even mad at her for it. I know what it is like to fall in love with a brother.