Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
I finished cleaning up the kitchen. I needed to focus on my looming wedding. A wedding I couldn’t seem to bring myself to plan. I needed to go pick up my invitations and start mailing them out. I needed to do a cake tasting. I needed to go to a dress fitting. The caterers wanted a confirmation on the menu. I had no desire even to try and attempt to make these decisions. Instead, I just pushed everything off for another day.
I heard the sound of Jackson’s truck. I froze and looked at the clock. Only 15 minutes had passed. I looked around. Should I hide in my room? Should I just pretend that he hadn’t wholly devastated me with yet another kiss? Maybe we needed to talk about it.
I heard his footsteps on the stairs, and then he opened the door. It looked like he carried in his arms a dirty white stuffed animal. That dirty bit of fluff lifted its head and looked at me with fearful wide black eyes.
“What’s that?” I gasped, rushing forward.
He looked down at what he carried in his arms. “I found this little one on the side of the road. I couldn’t leave it.”
It was a dog. Long white fur matted with blood and crusted with dirt. It looked skinny and pitiful in his arms. Big floppy ears, black eyes, and a black nose. It had a long, wide scratch down its nose. It smelled terrible.
“Oh,” I said, galvanized into action. “Put the dog on the couch.”
Jackson looked at me. “She’s pretty dirty.”
I grabbed a big white throw and laid it on top of the couch. “Come on, put her down.”
Jackson gently laid the dog on the couch. It curled up into a ball and whimpered in misery.
“Is she hurt?” I asked as I crouched next to it.
Jackson moved beside me. I watched as he expertly ran his fingers gently over its legs and body. “No broken bones but she feels skinny.”
I held my fingers to the dog’s nose, and she timidly lifted her head up and licked my fingers.
“Oh, baby. You’re such a sweetheart, aren’t you?”
Jackson spoke, “I can take her to the shelter tomorrow, but I just didn’t want to leave her out there.”
I turned and gave him an incredulous look. “You won’t be taking this dog anywhere.”
“We should get it some water.”
I jumped up, almost tripping over myself to get to the kitchen. I placed a bowl of water on the floor. The dog slowly crept off the couch and looked at us warily before she started to drink with great big gulps.
“Easy girl,” Jackson said, as he pulled the bowl away. “You want to go slow on that.”
The dog whined. What if it had internal injuries? What if it needed a doctor? I tamped down my fear. “We need to bring it to the animal hospital. Make sure she’s okay.”
Jackson looked at me. “Right now?”
I stood up.
“I'm going to get my purse.” I stopped and looked at him. “Uh, can you drive us? ”
Jackson patted the dog’s head. “Looks like we are going to the hospital, buddy.”
The dog lay in my lap while Jackson drove. It panted in fear. I had wrapped her up in the white blanket, and she did not attempt to try and move. Her weak state worried me.
Jackson carried the dog into the hospital, and the staff showed us into an examination room. Jackson comforted the dog on the waiting table while I sat and filled out the paperwork. Not that I knew anything about the dog, but I added my phone number and address.
The vet walked in. She was tall and blond, and her hair pulled into a ponytail. She had high cheekbones and gorgeous brown eyes. “What have we here?”
“Found this one along the road,” Jackson said.
She smiled up at him. “A good Samaritan. I like it.”
We watched as she performed a full exam.
She took her stethoscope off and put it around her neck. “No signs of injury other than she just seems weak and severely malnourished. Do you want to drop her off at the shelter?”
I stood up. “No. I'm going to keep this dog.”
Jackson gave me a wry look. “Are you sure?”
The vet gave a flirty smile. “Your girlfriend seems pretty dedicated to this one. Hope you like dogs.”
I cleared my throat. “Uh, we’re not dating.”
Her eyes went back to Jackson’s face. “Oh. Interesting.”
She turned around. “I'm going to give it a few shots. Assuming that she hasn’t been immunized for anything. I'm also going to prescribe some nutritiously dense food to help put some weight on. Don’t restrict quantity. Let her decide how much she wants to eat. I think as soon as she has some food, she'll perk right up.”
“Thanks,” I said. I moved next to Jackson and put my hand on the dog’s head. “Can we give her a bath? ”
“I would highly recommend it,” she laughed. “Please use pet shampoo. We have some special shampoo that is gentle on a dog’s skin. She doesn’t seem to have fleas or bites of any kind, so no need to use anything else.”
“You're just the cutest little thing I have ever seen,” I cooed into the dog’s face. It stared up into my eyes and then licked my nose. “We're going to take such good care of you.”
Jackson rubbed the back of his neck. “This dog doesn’t know it yet, but it just checked into a 5-star hotel with room service.”
The vet laughed. “We have an assortment of leashes and collars and other dog paraphernalia in our store. You might want to take a look on your way out.”
While Jackson cuddled the dog like a baby in his arms, I rushed around like a mad person in the store. I bought a dog bed, shampoo, squeaky toys, chew ropes and even a frisbee. I bought three collars, an assortment of leashes, dog food, dog treats, food bowls and a book entitled, “How to be the best dog owner in the world”.
While I waited for the receptionist to bag everything up, I heard the vet speak in a low voice to Jackson. I looked over. She stared up at him and then she wrote something on the back of a card and tucked it in his shirt pocket.
Jackson swung into the truck beside me and looked over at us. “Well, no one can accuse you of doing anything half-assed.”
I leaned forward, my lips on the dog’s ear. “That’s Jackson. He’s super nice. You're going to love him.”
The dog whimpered, and I could feel her tail wag against my leg.
Jackson snorted and started backing up the truck.
“So, what else did the vet say?” I asked as I cuddled my face on top of the dog’s head.
“What do you mean? ”
“She wrote something on a card and gave it to you. Any other tips for our baby here?”
He paused. “It was nothing.”
“Well, it was something because she wrote on a card and handed it to you.”
“She gave me her number.”
“Like for house calls?”
“Uh, I think for other things.”
My mouth dropped open, and I stared at him in amazement. “Did you ask her for her number?”
“I did not.”
“That’s just rude,” I cried. “She’s at her place of employment.”
I spoke into the dog’s ear. “Your vet is a shameless opportunist.”
Jackson laughed. I looked up at him because I was physically unable to not look at him when he did. He was so unbelievably beautiful when he laughed. And I realized with a shock of jealousy that ripped through my body that he had every right to call the vet.
I worked to keep the jealousy out of my voice and said in a sweet voice. “Well, she's gorgeous. Are you going to call her?”
“Why are you so intent on setting me up?”
“I'm not.”
“Sure seems like it.”
I leaned forward and spoke into the dog’s ear. “Don’t listen to Jackson. He’s a very bad man.”
He laughed again. “Tell your dog there that I'm not going to call the vet.”
“Oh?” I said airily, “Not hot enough for you?” Unable to ignore how my heart gave a squeeze that he wasn’t interested.
“Nah. I just like to do the chasing.”