Chapter 32
Magnolia
Sloan was checking in one last time on the mom he named Peaches . Once she dropped her guard, she was the sweetest little pit bull mix with a pink fuzzy nose, hence the name Peaches . I heard his low murmurings to her, “Doc says you can get out of this joint tomorrow. Don’t worry, girl, I’m going to get you everything you need. You’ll never spend another night alo—”
“Sloan?” I whispered, trying not to disturb his moment but wanting him to know I was here.
“Oh.” He cleared his throat and stood, unable to hide the redness that was creeping up from his collar to his cheeks. “Didn’t hear you there.” He ran his hand through his hair while keeping his eyes on Peaches. Clearly, it was tearing him up that he had to leave her here.
“Do…do you want to stay here tonight? I can go pick up some pizza, and we can make a night of it.” Before I knew what was happening, I was offering to basically have a sleep over here, with him. The stress and sadness he was unable to hide at leaving Peaches was doing weird things to my soul. I found myself wanting to be where he was and offer any comfort I could.
“You mean that?”
“Sure. I can go pick up some comfy stuff for us to wear while I get the food,” I offered, knowing that Doc wouldn’t care one bit about us staying here with the animals.
“Absolutely not. You’ll stay here, behind a closed, locked door. I’ll pick up some stuff for you from Lexie and grab the food.” He looked at me, waiting for my response.
“Bossy,” I mouthed at him, but I was unable to even pretend I was mad about it.
He kissed my forehead before stopping and having a brief conversation where Doc shook his hand, and he picked up Louise in a hug and kissed her cheek before setting her down. Louise was blushing like a sinner in church on a Sunday, and despite the despair that lingered around for the majority of the day, I couldn’t help the lightness I felt in my heart.
Doc made his way to me while Louise tried to compose herself after Sloan’s outward burst of affection. “Always liked that kid.” His gaze was on Sloan’s back as he made his way out of the clinic.
“Mmm…” I said in a non-committal tone, opting to change the subject. “Say, I told Sloan we could stay here tonight, use the kitchen and break room to keep watch on Peaches.”
“Sure, sure. The couch turns into a bed, and the TV has a Roku stick with Netflix.”
I felt my face pale. I didn’t want him thinking that we needed a bed.
“I didn’t know the couch was a bed, Doc.”
He shrugged. “Had to find a place for the random interns we’d get to sleep. That’s also why we upgraded it to have a full kitchen and a shower in the bathroom.”
I puffed out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in, thanking whoever was listening that he didn’t think I was going to be hooking up at work.
“I’m going to get going, and I’ll be back early. Let me show you how to set the alarm once Sloan gets back. In fact, once we clear out, you should set it until he gets back, anyway.”
“Aye, aye, captain.” I gave him a mock salute and he chuckled while we walked over to the panel on the wall, then showed me how the codes worked. He showed me how to set the system to clock any outside movement, but not inside since we and overnight animals would be here. He then showed me the sensors on the windows, which were open and shatter ones. I thought it was way cool , and I was feeling safer by the second. After a five-minute tutorial, Louise approached, asking if he was ready to go.
Interesting…
The question must have shown on my face because Doc wasted no time clarifying that they carpooled to work most times since they lived next door to each other. Though I didn’t miss the way his words caused Louise to frown.
“Well, goodnight, Magnolia. Thank Sloan again for me.” She stalked away, but I didn’t miss the slightest waver to her normally stern voice.
“Call me if you need anything? You hear?” Doc’s voice shifted my focus from Louise.
“Will do, now go. I’ve got it covered.”
He shrugged off his white coat and grabbed his lighter vest, then made his way to the front door which Louis had just disappeared out of. I decided to busy myself with doing one more check on the animals, and I just couldn’t help myself from double- and triple-checking Peaches and her pups.
Finally giving in and sitting next to her crate so as to not overwhelm her with my nearness, I started talking to her.
“You’re a very lucky lady, Ms. Peaches. Sloan’s going to take the best care of you. I swear he will, or I’ll gut him like a fish. Yes. Yes, I will.” Her happy little tail was pounding on the ground of her kennel while she pushed her fuzzy cold nose toward me and showed me her belly for scratches.
“Is that so?” Sloan’s voice startled me, and I jumped up, almost bumping into his chest.
I must have forgotten to set the alarm.
“Jesus, you scared me.”
“You must have been lost to some good conversation.” He looked at me warmly, eyeing between me and Peaches.
“Something like that. You made it back quickly.”
“I didn’t like the thought of you being here alone. I would have been here faster, but Lexie almost took out my kneecaps with a baseball bat and informed me to tell you, ‘ What good is a cell phone if you never check it?’”
“Shit!”
I made my way out to my car, knowing I left my phone in the center console. I was terrible about my phone when I was at work. More often than not, I opted to leave it somewhere it wouldn’t distract me, promptly forgetting about it for hours.
I had just about reached the door when I was basically upheaved from my trajectory and thrown over a muscled shoulder.
“What the heck, Sloan?”
I pounded on his back and was put down, but this time, Sloan was between me and the door.
“ No. What the heck you , Magnolia! Did you not hear anything Doc said? Guns? Be extra careful? It’s dark outside, and you’ve actively helped and have taken animals from these people.”
“So that means I can’t step outside by myself?” I all but yelled in his face.
“Yes!” he yelled back
“That’s entirely unreasonable.” I gawked at him. This was real life. People didn’t stay inside for weeks, and they sure didn’t have bodyguards that followed them around.
“Well, it’s entirely unreasonable for me to risk losing you when I just got you back.” The desperation in his voice was clear, and we were chest to chest—well, as chest to chest as you could be with his height and my lack thereof.
“Uhm…” I took a step back because being so close to him was making me lose all rational thought. Truthfully, my only thought was, climb him like a tree .
“Please, could you just listen to me and not put yourself in danger for once? I would love to be able to spend all day, every day, escorting you everywhere, but I don’t think I could swing it. Unless…” His eyebrows bunched together, and he whipped out his phone.
“Sloan, what are you doing?” I wasn’t yelling at him anymore, but I was suddenly very curious as to what idea was brewing in his head.
“Dad, it’s me. Say, I know you retired, but could you work the restaurants in my place for the next few weeks? Maybe Mom, too?”
“What?” I half screeched and half jumped on top of him to grab his phone. He can’t be serious about escorting me around every day.
“No, everything is fine. That’s just Magnolia being as unreasonable as always.” He backed me up a bit from him and switched the phone in between ears to prevent me from taking it. “Absolutely, I’ll tell her. Call you later. Bye.”
“Dad said hi, and that he’s missed you,” he said warmly and some of the anger I’m feeling dissipates. I always loved his parents.
“You can’t really think you’re going to follow me around all day, every day.” I pouted.
“My schedule suddenly became open.” He stepped toward me, effectively ending any distance I had put between us. “Never underestimate what I’ll do to keep you safe, Magnolia.”
“Now, where were you going?” he asked.
“Just to get my phone from my car.”
“Stay here. Keys.” He held his hand out to me, waiting for my keys, and knowing he would win, I gave them to him without any fight.
He smiled at me. “Good girl.”