Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
WILLOW
“Can you stop by The Pastry Parlor and grab some bread? Miss Maggie always makes fresh loaves on Tuesdays.”
My eyebrows lift as I turn to look at my brother while he opens the door to usher Otto into the front seat. “Should I tell Miss Maggie you said hi?”
Miss Maggie was Noah’s preschool teacher when she was fresh out of college, and he swore he was in love with her when he was five years old. To this day, none of us have let him live it down and even Maggie joins in on the jokes sometimes.
Finn chokes back a laugh and Noah snorts, shaking his head as he rolls his eyes. “You’re funny.” He shuts the door, cutting his eyes at me. “Isn’t that joke old yet? That was how many years ago? She’s old enough to be our mother.”
“It will never get old,” Finn says to him as the three of us walk around the back of Finn’s truck, stopping by the driver’s side. He pulls open the door for me. “I wonder if she has any nieces or anything, since all the Mini Maggie’s ended up being boys.”
My face cracks as I climb into the truck, pushing Otto over into his seat. “Mini Maggie’s?” I laugh as my face scrunches. “What are you even talking about?”
Finn shrugs with a smirk drifting across his face. “Both of her kids are boys. They’re Maggie Juniors instead of Mini Maggie’s.”
Noah lightly shoves Finn and laughter escapes our older brother as he stumbles to the side. “Can you take him with you, please? Maybe just find a new home for him in town or something?” Noah begs me, a frustrated breath escaping him. “Sometimes, I regret the life path I chose.”
“No can do,” I say, shaking my head at Noah. Glancing back and forth between the two of them, I raise my eyebrows as Finn stands back beside Noah. “I didn’t come home to babysit either of you.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Finn chimes in to defend himself. “Noah just needs to learn how to take a joke every once in a while.”
“Or you need to come up with some new jokes,” Noah retorts, rolling his eyes. “You’d better head out before you’re late for Otto’s appointment.”
“Poor guy,” Finn mutters, pursing his lips. “Doesn’t even know what’s about to happen.”
“He’ll be fine,” I say, nodding my head at him. “All right, we’re off to see the wizard then.”
“That dog looks nothing like Toto,” Noah points out, lifting his brows.
“The vet,” Finn corrects me at the same time, laughing.
“And Miss Maggie,” I add with a wink at Finn and smirk.
Noah lifts his hand, gives me the middle finger, and slowly backs away, a grin tugging on his lips. “I hope you find the wicked witch instead and her little monkeys carry you away.”
“We’re glad you’re home, kid,” Finn says, tapping his hand on the door. “Thanks for taking him for me,” he adds as he nods toward Otto, who’s drooling on the center console of the truck with his tongue hanging out.
“Gross,” I say, making a face at Otto. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”
Finn smiles and dips his chin. “We’ll be here.” He shuts the door and gives me a salute before turning back in the direction of the barn, where Noah disappeared. Otto tries to climb over the center console, but I push him back to his seat before I slip the key into the ignition and start the truck.
My fingers find the button to put down his window, so he’ll stick his head out the opening and leave me alone. We pass the barn and I throw my brothers a wave as they walk through the doorway, one after the other, each leading a horse to turn out in the meadow for the day.
Just another normal day at the Alder Farm.
“Are your brothers helping you to get settled back in at home?”
A smile tugs on my lips as my mother’s warm voice radiates from my phone. “Yes,” I say, putting the truck in park as I pull up along the street. “They’ve both been great.”
“Good,” she says, a smile in her voice. “I’m just so proud of the three of you. Each of you are special in your own way and have turned into such wonderful people. And successful adults,” she adds in.
Her words wrap around my chest like a vice. Perhaps my brothers are successful, but not me. She doesn’t know about my recent failure of getting into veterinary school.
“Thanks, mom,” I say in a rush, killing the engine and unbuckling my seatbelt. “I just got into town and need to get Otto into the vet.”
“Sounds good, honey. Your father and I will be back for the Harvest Festival, so we will see you then.”
“Okay, love you!”
“Love you too!” she says back before we both end the call.
Turning in my seat, I look at Otto who’s sitting there with his tongue hanging out and head cocked. “Don’t look at me like that,” I mumble, pursing my lips. “I needed to get off the phone with her to get you into the vet’s office and nothing more.”
It definitely had nothing to do with those prickling feelings of my recent rejection letter.
Letting out a sigh, I climb out of the truck and walk around the front to the passenger’s side.
I open the door, hook the leash to Otto’s harness, and let him jump down.
My footsteps are light and the poor, unsuspecting dog follows along with me, unaware that he’s being led to his neutering appointment.
“Goddammit, Dr. Grey. Get the hell off the desk!”
My eyebrows cinch closer as I push open the door into the clinic and the bell overhead dings. Pulling on Otto’s leash, I lead him into the waiting room, stopping in the center of the room as the door shuts behind us. The room is empty and the receptionist desk is vacant.
Commotion sounds from down the hall and I crane my neck, looking to see if there’s anyone there. Otto drops down to sit beside my foot, letting out a whining sound. I give him a little pat on the head and a reassuring, “It’s okay, boy.”
A door from down the hall opens and a flurry of grey comes sprinting down the hall. Its tail is puffed out and its legs move quickly as it rushes into the waiting room. Only as it gets close, do I realize that it’s a cat and it’s coming right at me.
My feet move before my brain tells them to and I jump to the left to get out of the feline’s way. It shifts at the same exact time, moving in the same direction as me, and collides directly with my leg.
“Oh shit!”
Otto jumps to his feet, letting out a low growl as the cat spins to face him, its back arching as it lets out a hiss. Otto dips his head, his tail wagging, but he lets out a contradictory bark that makes me jump.
“Hey, knock it off,” I scold Otto as I tug on his leash, pulling his stout body closer to my side. The cat hisses again before scurrying back behind the desk.
“What is that darned cat getting into now?”
My breath catches in my throat at the sound of his voice from down the hall. I turn toward it, my ears perked and eyes wide, as he steps out from the same room the cat came from. It’s Jace… Jace Miller.
He doesn’t notice me at first as he stares down at his hands while drying them with a sheet of paper towel.
He looks exactly as I remember him, yet older, and somehow better.
Standing at least a foot taller than me, his long, lean torso fills out his navy-blue dress shirt.
The cords of muscle in his forearms flex as he pushes his rolled sleeves closer to his elbows.
His hair is still the same length, brown and wavy, resting just above his eyebrows.
There’s a five o’clock shadow along his chiseled jaw that seems to be new.
“Sorry for the wait. Joyce is running late, so I can get you checked in.” Jace stops short at the end of the hall as his gaze finally meets mine. His green eyes widen slightly, lips parting as his eyebrows cinch together. His head cocks to the side in confusion. “Willow?”
“Jace?”
A chuckle rumbles in his chest as he starts to walk again, tossing the paper towel into a trash can on his way to me. “Well, this is an unexpected surprise.” He pauses, his dimples appearing as a genuine smile spreads across his face. “For both of us, I think.”
“What are you doing here?”
He stops a few feet away from me, his eyes slowly drifting over my face as he shoves his hands into the front pockets of his slacks.
“Uh—I’m just keeping an eye on things for my aunt and uncle while they’re away.
” He rolls his lips between his teeth, his tongue darting out to wet them.
“They’re in Europe for the next two weeks and need someone here just to keep an eye on things. ”
My eyes widen and I feel the warmth of Otto’s body as he sits back down beside me, using my leg to lean on. “No way,” I say. My smile falls into a frown. “I heard about your early retirement. I’m sorry.”
He corkscrews his lips and chews on the inside of his cheek. “Such is life,” he murmurs, his voice quiet before it lifts back to a normal volume. “Enough about me, though. What about you? What brings you back to Sugar Hill?”
I need to come up with a good answer to this question for the next time someone asks. I pause for a second, sifting through my mind as I carefully select my next words
“I’m taking a year off before I start vet school.”
Please don’t ask why.
Jace’s lips twitch. “Vet school, huh? You gonna come work for Aunt Maria’s clinic one day?”
My stomach tightens at his words, but I shove the feeling away.
“Yeah right,” I laugh, rolling my eyes at him. “It would be an actual dream just to have the opportunity to work with her.” I pause, my eyebrows tugging downwards as I look past him. “Who is Dr. Grey and why were you yelling at them?”
“Oh,” he says with a sheepish grin cresting his lips. “It’s my cat.” He shakes his head, pulling his hands from the front pockets of his jeans. “Her name is Dr. Grey.”
“Like Dr. Dre?”
He shrugs with indifference, but his eyes shimmer beneath the fluorescent lights. “It sounded cool at the time.”
As if she knows we’re talking about her, Dr. Grey jumps up onto the desk behind him.
She pushes her body up against the side of the computer, purring as she rubs her head on the side of the monitor.
She’s missing an eye and the other is a swirling mixture of black, brown, and white, almost like her eyeball melted.
“Let me get you checked in,” Jace says, his voice drawing my attention away from the cat. Otto walks with me to the counter and Jace bends down as the monitor screen flickers on. “Otto, right?” Jace glances up at me. “Finn’s new dog?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, here we go,” Jace mumbles to himself, clicking the mouse a few times. “I’m still trying to figure out the whole system here. Joyce said someone was coming to get neutered.” He grimaces as he stands upright and looks at Otto. “Sorry, bud.”
He comes around the desk. “I can take him back,” he says, his hand reaching out to me. “I’ll have Dr. Edwin give you guys a call after surgery and keep you updated on his recovery.”
“Sounds good,” I smile, handing the end of the leash to him.
Jace’s fingertips brush against mine as he slowly takes it.
His skin is soft and warm, and my heart stutters.
I release it in a rush, letting him take Otto from me.
I need to get across the street to check out the store.
“We’ll talk soon,” I say in a rush with a tight smile and nod.
Jace’s eyes trail across my face again before circling back to my eyes. “Okay.”
My body shifts to walk back across the waiting room to the entrance, my head slower to turn. I’m finding it difficult to take my eyes off him. But I can’t stand here all day and ogle my old high school crush. So much time has passed since then. So much is different. We are different.
“Hey, Will,” Jace calls after me across the small space just as I reach the door. “It’s really good to see you.”
My feet falter and I pause to glance back over my shoulder. I catch his eyes on me with a ghost of a smile dancing across his lips. “You too, Jace.”
Leaving him with Otto, I quickly slip out of the clinic and only after I’m out of his space am I able to take a deep breath. He’s always had a habit of draining the air from my lungs just from looking at me.
Damn my heart for still beating a little harder and a little faster when he’s around. That’s something I’m going to have to work on because I’m not a teenager with a crush anymore. I’m an adult that has a life without Jace Miller in it.