Chapter Twenty-Two
By the time they got back to the clinic, Emmett was ready to call it a day.
He wanted to go home. The thought of Harper not staying there anymore was weighing heavy on his mind.
He couldn't go yet, though, and even if he did, she wouldn't be there.
She'd be up in town by now, collecting Tanya from school, hanging out at the grocery store with her while Alana was in rehearsal, then bringing them both home.
It was a good thing he'd only had a couple of appointments today—his heart hadn't been in it. His clients would never have guessed that, of course, but it was enough that he knew. When they arrived at the back door, Hallie was just coming out and grinned when she saw them.
"Hey, it's good to see you. How are you feeling?"
"Better than I have been, but not as good as I hope I will be soon. How are things going for you?"
"Yeah, they're going great. I'm really enjoying working here.
" Her smile faded a little. "I mean, I know I'm not really working here.
I know I'm only filling in until you're back on your feet…
" She looked him up and down. "Well, that's a dumb thing to say. I can see that you’re on your feet, but you know what I mean. "
He smiled, and Blane chuckled beside him. "Yeah, I'm on my feet, but I'm not back up to full strength yet."
"I don't know what to say to that. For your sake, I want to say I hope you heal fast, but I hope you don't for mine."
"I like her," said Blane.
Emmett gave Hallie a reassuring smile. "What he means is that he appreciates a straight shooter."
"Right," Blane agreed.
She glanced at Blane. "Well, that's good to know, because I am one." She held the door open a little wider. "But I shouldn't hold you up here, talking. You probably want to get inside and sit down, don't you?"
"Now I'm the one who doesn't know what to say. I want to appreciate you thinking about it, but at the same time, I want to deny that I need to."
Blane went in ahead of him and motioned for Emmett to follow.
"I'll tell you what, Hallie. Are you on your way out to an appointment? Do you have a minute?" Emmett asked.
"No more appointments for me today," she said. "But I can cover any if that's what you want."
"Let's go inside."
When they reached his office, Emmett sat down heavily in his chair, and Blane took up his sentry position in the corner, folding his arms across his chest.
Hallie eyed him warily before turning to smile at Emmett. "Should I be worried?"
Emmett chuckled. "No, you're good. I'm the one he's keeping an eye on. You're safe."
Blane shrugged. "Pretend I'm not here."
Hallie laughed out loud. "Yeah, like that's going to be possible.
Have you seen the size of you?" She turned back to Emmett.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?
I feel like I'm doing okay. Some of the ranchers aren't too happy to see me when I first show up, but I'll be surprised if someone's complained. "
"No, it's nothing like that. No one's complained. In fact, one of my biggest clients called to say that if any of the others aren't happy about you coming out, I should tell them that he recommends you."
Hallie threw her head back and laughed. "Let me guess—Wendell."
Emmett exchanged a glance with Blane, who chuckled and said, "Wendell, huh? You've known him for what, a couple of hours—or however long it takes to do a herd check—and you're on a first-name basis with him?"
"Yeah, it took me a while. He wasn't happy to see me at first, didn't want to let me near his cattle." She rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't believe how many of the old guys are like that. Oops."
Blane raised his eyebrows, but Emmett had a feeling he knew what that "oops" was about. He was right.
"I didn't mean you guys," Hallie added hurriedly. "I mean, you're not that old. Oh, shit. Why don't I just open my mouth again so that I can change feet? You're not old. I mean, you're older than me, but—" She laughed again. "Okay. What was I saying before I got myself into that mess?"
"It's okay," Emmett said with a smile, while Blane actually grinned.
"You weren't telling me anything I don't know. Most of my clients don't want to see any vet who isn’t me, period. Janey’s lived here her whole life, and they love her as a person, but they don’t want her as their vet.
I hate to admit it, but the two things that both you and Janey have going against you are that you're young and… "
"Yeah. And female. I know. I get it." She frowned. Wait. Is that a problem for you, too?"
"Not in the least. If you can win over Wendell, I’m sure you can handle the rest of them," said Emmett.
"That's why I asked you to come in for a chat.
What do you think—do you want to stick around?
We'd have to talk about it, of course. I don't know that I could give you full-time hours just yet, but…
" He hadn’t even known that he was going to make the offer until he saw her coming out of the clinic. But he knew it was the right move.
Blane nodded encouragingly from the corner.
Hallie pulled out the chair across the desk from Emmett and sat down in it. "Wow! Seriously? That's awesome. I didn't think you'd want me."
She paused. "I mean, I know you've needed me for these last few weeks, but that's different than wanting, isn't it?"
Emmett nodded slowly as it hit him that she was voicing the words that Harper hadn't.
They all turned at the sound of a knock on the open door. Cash stood there grinning at them. "Am I interrupting?"
Emmett hesitated. He hadn't planned to ask Hallie to stay on, and now that he had, they were going to have to hash out the details of how it would work. He'd need to give it some thought first, though.
Hallie got to her feet with a smile. "Hey, Cash, I'd love to say that yes, you're interrupting, so that I can make Emmett sign on the dotted line before I leave.
" She grinned at Emmett. "But I'm not that pushy.
I can wait until you decide how you want this to work.
But I will say that I'm okay coming on part-time, at least in the beginning.
I'd love to think that I might have a future here, working with you guys, but I imagine you'd want to give me more of a test run before you know for sure if that's what you want. "
"Okay, I'll give it some thought. How about we set up a meeting for Friday—does lunchtime work for you? Say, One o’clock?"
She took her phone out and checked it. "The only appointment on my schedule so far on Friday is at nine. So yeah, I should be back here before one, no problem."
"Let’s do that. I'll see you then, if not before."
She nodded at Blane, who gave her a chin lift, on her way out.
Cash grinned. "I'm glad you're gonna stick around, honey. You'll be good for this place."
"That's my plan."
Hallie turned back when she reached the doorway and lifted her hand. "Thanks again, Emmett. You've made my day."
"I think it'll be good," he told her. "It's time I made some changes around here."
After she'd gone, Cash came in and took the seat she'd just vacated. "What's up with Harper?"
Emmett scowled at him. "What makes you think there's anything wrong with her?"
"I saw her just now when I was passing Jim's place. She was back at the cottage."
That heavy feeling lodged deeper in Emmett's chest.
"Yeah, that look on your face right now, that's what I was afraid of. She's not just back at the cottage, is she? She's back at the cottage. She had her bags with her and everything. What's going on?"
Emmett shook his head. He didn't even know where to start.
Blane stepped forward. "Don't give him any shit, Cash. He's working on it."
"Working at screwing it up?" Cash asked.
"No, trying to figure out how it can work," said Emmett. "I know you always think you can come in and wave a magic wand, Cash. And believe me, right now, I wish you could. But it's not that simple."
Cash leaned back in the chair. "I know. I'm not trying to give you a hard time, bud. It took me by surprise, that's all. I thought things were going well."
"They were. They are." Emmett let out a breath. "At least they would be."
By the time he'd explained—with the occasional interruption from Blane—what was going on, he felt exhausted. He'd already lived through it and told Blane all about it. Going through it a third time only made the situation look bleaker from where he was sitting.
Cash met his gaze and held it. "Don't look so defeated. I don't think it's as bad as it seems right now."
"You don't?"
"I don't. And I think Blane landed on the right answer.
Let her take a step back. Let her go back to the cottage.
And you guys take your time. Just because the other guys moved faster than the speed of light when they got together with their women, it doesn't mean that you have to do the same thing.
None of them were coming from the same place that you are.
None of them had to think about anyone but themselves.
" He frowned. "I have to say though, from everything Alana's told me, I thought she enjoyed having Harper around. "
"It's not that she doesn't enjoy it. It's just... Having Harper staying with us temporarily to help out is one thing. Making it more permanent… And putting her in the role of mom. Especially with Tanya calling her Mama Bear like that—that’s something else."
Cash pursed his lips. "Yeah, but you might be making a bigger deal out of it than you think. There could be a way to turn the whole Mama Bear thing to your advantage."
"Then go ahead, tell me how, because I'm not seeing it."
Cash leaned forward, and Blane caught Emmett's eye. They both knew that Cash was having one of his ideas. Emmett could only hope that it might be a good one. Even if it wasn't a magic wand.
~ ~ ~
"He wants to be her boyfriend," said Tanya.
Harper nodded as she watched through the windshield. Alana was talking to Tucker as all the kids emerged from the back of the theater.