Chapter 33
33
PAIGE
I sat down at my desk and let out a long breath. It had been a long week so far, and it was only Thursday. I had a lot of paperwork to do for the new hires, and it was all by hand, considering I still couldn’t be on the computer. But they both started and seemed to be doing well. At least, that was what Cole said. I didn’t interact with them too much although I was trying to draw Matt out of his shell a little bit. He was shy, and unfortunately, he was quiet with customers, some of which took that to mean he was ignoring them until I explained that wasn’t the case.
I saw a note on my desk for a parts order and recognized it as Billy’s handwriting, which might as well have been written in Chinese for all the more I could make out. Smiling, I stood, grabbed a pen along with the note, and went out to the garage.
Everyone was working today, and as soon as I pushed open the door, all heads lifted and eyes locked on me.
Lifting my notepad, I looked across the garage at Billy. “Billy, I need you to clarify stuff on this note.”
He started toward me. “Like what?”
“Like all of it.”
I smiled when Matt and Ryan laughed, but when my eyes locked on Cole’s, I swallowed hard. He’d been looking at me differently since we went to Lanie and Jake’s, but not in a bad way. It was a look I’d never seen on a man’s face when he was talking to me, but it felt too good to ignore.
Billy stood in front of me and recited what he’d written so I could write it down in legible handwriting. I thanked him and once again looked at Cole when he spoke. “You good?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I’m good.”
We hadn’t talked too much since Friday night. We spent the weekend together but almost in couple harmony. He cooked because after I burned the toast for breakfast, we both decided that the cooking was best left to him. We cleaned up the apartment and hung out, not really talking about anything, but it was nice to have an entire weekend without a headache. He watched me cautiously all weekend, which should’ve felt like hovering, but it didn’t.
It just felt like he cared.
Notepad and pen in hand, I turned to go back inside when something caught my eye. Startled, I jumped back. I startled easily since the attack, and Cole, not one to miss anything, walked over quickly.
“What’s wrong?”
I studied it when I saw it move again. “Oh my goodness.”
“What is it?”
I pointed my pen. “I think it’s a cat.”
Moving across the garage, I heard him mutter, “A cat,” with relief in his tone. I approached the cat, now sitting in the corner of the garage, just watching us approach. It didn’t try to run away, but I wasn’t sure it could have.
I squatted down, held out my hand, and whispered, “Come here, baby.”
The cat glanced at Cole but slowly made its way out of the corner and over to me, cautiously smelling my hand before rubbing its head against it.
Glancing up at Cole, I saw he was watching me. “It looks like it’s in bad shape.”
He studied me for a moment before standing and looking around the garage. I stayed with the cat, petting it, but was curious as to what he was looking for. “What are you looking for?”
“A box.”
“A box. For what?”
“To take it to the vet. Maybe it’s lost and has one of those chips to scan or something.”
I smiled, then looked back down at the cat. “Did you hear that? We’re gonna take care of you.”
He finally found a box and brought it to me, but I wondered if the cat would let me pick it up. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try, so I carefully lifted the cat into the box where it lay down.
Cole stood and faced the guys who had formed a half-circle behind us. “We’ll be back. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay, boss,” Billy answered but gently put his hand in the box to pet the cat's head. “It looks like it’s starving.”
That was what I thought too. With a wave, I followed Cole, who was carrying the box to the truck. He opened the door, waited for me to climb in, put the box on my lap, and jogged around the front end.
“I hope they can see us.”
He dug his phone out of his pocket and started the truck. “We went to school with the veterinarian in Cranberry. He’ll squeeze us in.”
I rolled my eyes because it seemed as if Cole knew everyone. “Of course you did.”
I peeked over at him to see he was grinning while pulling out of the parking lot with his phone to his ear. I listened to him tell the vet what was happening and thanked him before ending the call.
“He said he’ll squeeze us in as soon as we get there, which will be in about five minutes.”
I gently pet the cat’s head and watched it close its eyes, hoping the cat was enjoying my touch and not because anything serious was going on.
We arrived, walked right in, and true to the vet’s word, we were ushered into a room. Cole had just put the box on the exam table when the doctor walked in.
“Cole.” He held out his hand, which Cole shook.
“Hey, man.” He gestured to me. “This is Paige.” He motioned toward the vet. “Paige, this is Dr. Lasso.”
“Andrew’s fine.” He held out his hand, and I shook it. “Let’s take a look and see what’s going on.”
He examined the cat, then opened the door, calling for someone else. She appeared almost instantly, and he gave her instructions. “Scan her. We’ll also need to try to get her to eat and drink on her own.”
After she left, Andrew faced us. “Congratulations, it’s a girl.” When he grinned, Cole snorted and shook his head. “Bridget’s scanning her for a chip, and we’re going to give her some fluid and food. If she’s strong enough to eat and drink, we won’t need to do anything intravenously. If not, we will. Other than that, she looks fairly healthy, but we’ll run the normal tests to be sure, considering she’s pregnant.”
My eyes widened. “Pregnant?”
Andrew chuckled. “Yeah, I figured I’d throw that in at the end. We’ll do a quick ultrasound to determine how close she is to her due date, but I think it’s fairly soon. It may be why she came into the garage. She was looking for help. She only weighs four pounds, which tells me she hasn’t been finding much food.”
“Poor thing,” I muttered.
He gestured toward Cole, but he was still grinning, and I wondered why. “Do you have some time to wait, or do you want to come back for her?”
“How long will everything take?” Cole asked.
“If she eats and drinks for us, maybe thirty minutes. If not, we may need a few hours.”
Bridget popped her head back in. “No chip.”
Andrew nodded. “I didn’t think so.”
“Does that mean she doesn’t have a home?”
He held up his finger for me to wait and spoke to Bridget again. “Is she eating?”
Bridget smiled. “She already took several syringes of water and is eating like a champ.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Go ahead and do her blood work and set up the ultrasound machine. I’ll be right in.”
“Sure,” she answered quickly and then disappeared.
“Bridget seems like she’s on top of shit,” Cole said.
“I wish I had five more just like her.” He frowned. “Sadly, she won’t stay long. She’s a veterinarian student who should graduate next year. That’s why I give her so many responsibilities. She knows what she’s doing.”
“Maybe she can join you.”
He chuckled. “I’ve already approached her, and she’s thinking about it. Truthfully, I need another vet in the office, so I’m crossing my fingers.” He stood. “Since the cat’s eating and drinking, let me get an ultrasound, and then you should be good to go.”
“Okay,” Cole said just as the door closed behind Andrew.
“I can’t believe she’s pregnant,” I mumbled.
Cole turned his body to face me. “We’re keeping this cat, aren’t we?”
“She needs us.” I gestured toward the closed door as if she was on the other side of it. “She came to us for help.”
He sighed. “I knew it as soon as you saw her.”
I tried to look sorry, I really did, but it was obvious I wasn’t pulling it off when he dropped his head. “Sorry.”
We shared a grin, and he shook his head. “No, you’re not.”