Chapter 2 #2
I noticed a small crack, a strained smile she couldn’t quite hold. Beneath it rested something that made it hard to swallow…sadness. She said, “Erika is here. She’s in the office. She needs a break, though. We’re all worried if she pushes much more, she’ll—”
“What the hell did you do to my favorite dog?” Erika’s voice cut through everything.
Relief hit me hard.
Erika came toward us fast—or as fast as she could, one hand braced under her stomach, the other already reaching out to me. Pregnancy rounded her, slowed her, but didn’t dull that sharp, take-control energy she carried into every room.
“His tail got stuck in the truck door.” My voice sounded distant to my own ears. I scrubbed at my hands, but the blood had already dried into the creases of my skin. It wouldn’t come off. None of it would.
Erika’s eyes flicked to Gia.
Gia didn’t hesitate. “Laceration. It’s not broken. No need for amputation. We’ll sedate, flush, and place a few sutures.” Clinical. Clean. Like none of this was tangled up in family history and land and leaving before sorting everything we hadn’t said.
Erika studied her for a moment longer than necessary.
Then she turned back to me. Really looked at me.
She saw past the blood. Her expression softened ever so slightly.
We hadn’t always gotten along, but in the past three years since she stormed back into my brother’s life and married him, she’d become a part of our family.
And now none of us could imagine life without her.
“Oh, Timothy…” She wrapped me in a tight, surprise hug I didn’t feel I needed.
I tensed and didn’t hug her back.
Erika said, “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
With things stacking up fast, I was in danger of falling apart. That never went well. I never collapsed into a puddle of tears. I got angry and lashed out.
Buck shifted behind me, his head popping up like he should be going with me.
“Stay,” I commanded of him. “Your dad will be here soon.”
Gia murmured something low and steady to Buck.
Erika squeezed my arm. “Buck is in good hands.”
I nodded, but for my sanity I avoided looking at Gia as I quickly walked to Erika’s office.
Five minutes later, after I’d washed off what I could of the blood and changed into one of my brother’s extra t-shirts, I exited the bathroom, intent on finding Dad. Instead, I stepped straight into my worst nightmare.
Dr. Amanda Green lurked in the hallway like she’d been waiting for me. My nerves were already stretched too thin. Seeing the woman who borderline stalked me whenever I was on Vision Veterinary grounds standing there smiling made me freeze. I could hear my pulse in my ears.
She twirled the ends of her shoulder-length curly brown hair and gave me a slow once-over that did nothing for me. There wasn’t anything sexy about me right now. I smelled like antiseptic, sweat, and dog blood.
“I was just passing by when I heard your dog got hurt. Is he going to be okay?”
“Not sure yet.” The words came out sharp. If she stayed in this hallway another thirty seconds, I was liable to either start yelling or put my fist through drywall. At this point, both felt equally possible.
“Still waiting on you to commit to when we’re going on that date you promised.” Her eyes drifted down my body again. “I guarantee you a night…” Her mouth curved. “You’ll never forget.”
I’d never promised her anything. She’d previously shared photos of a whip and leather handcuffs she owned, trying to tease out of me whether I was into that sort of thing.
No. My brain added for extra emphasis: Oh, hell no.
She seemed like someone who would ignore any safe words and inflict pain just for spite. I’d barely survived dodging her for the last six months since she started working here. Usually, I could fake politeness long enough to escape, but today my control was hanging by a thread soaked in gasoline.
Every instinct in me screamed to snap at her. Tell her to get the hell away from me. Tell her I wasn’t interested. Tell her if she looked me up and down one more time, I’d get mean. But alarm bells in the back of my mind warned me that might turn her on.
Plus, Amanda was one of only a few equine vets in this county. Right now, my life was held together by injured animals, bad timing, and favors I couldn’t afford to cash in. So, I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt and swallowed every ugly thing clawing its way up my throat.
I pretended to examine my arm. “Missed some blood. Better wash that.”
I hightailed it back into the bathroom and decided not to emerge until tomorrow.
* * *
I braced my hands on the edge of the bathroom sink and bowed my head, forcing my thoughts into clean, contained, and manageable lines.
I was damned good at compartmentalizing.
I had to be while I juggled the farm and Hurst HVAC without letting either one burn to the ground.
I hadn’t wanted the responsibility when I was nineteen, but I had no choice.
Now, over fifteen years later, I still had no choice.
Another new hire down the drain. Finding people willing to stick with the job felt impossible.
Everyone seemed to want short hours, high pay, and every unrealistic benefit under the sun.
Meanwhile, I had three new construction installs in the next two weeks and an endless queue of home repairs waiting.
What I needed was trained employees, not another person who'd quit before learning the trade.
A harsh sound tore out of me—half groan, half laugh.
I lifted my gaze, staring at my reflection like I could bully myself back into control.
And then—Gia.
I slammed my fist against the counter hard enough to rattle the faucet. Pain shot up my arm, sharp and grounding, but it wasn’t enough to stop the memories forcing their way forward. Her face. Her voice. Everything I’d spent years sealing behind concrete walls. She wouldn’t stay where I put her.
I squeezed the edge of the sink until my fingers ached. I shoved the regret and the want, all of it, back down with brute force. I wouldn’t allow the decades-old scar to be ripped open. I buried it deep enough to breathe again.
Right now, I had to sort out what to tell Sofia.
How did I tell my little girl that the mother who already treated her like a once-a-month obligation—despite living only fifteen minutes away—had left town for good?
She wasn’t late. She wasn’t distracted or resentful of the time she felt forced to spend with Sofia, like usual, but gone. Gone.
I exhaled sharply, scrubbing a hand over my face. I didn’t regret Sofia. Not for a second. She was the best thing I’d ever done
I tugged up the hem of the borrowed t-shirt to scrub some blood off my stomach.
Two years ago, this size shirt would’ve clung.
Now it didn’t. Eighty pounds gone, burned off somewhere between sleepless nights, never-ending work, and the kind of fear that never really lets go once it finds you.
My therapist prescribed me an outlet for healthy coping: running before sunrise.
Miles of it. I let the anger over the loneliness and uncontrollable trajectory of my life bleed out while pounding down back roads.
Most days it worked to quiet down the noise.
I let out a rough breath and lifted my head fully, meeting my own eyes in the mirror.
“Get it together,” I muttered.
“You in there?” Josh called out from the other side of the door. Two knocks.
“Sure…yes.” I straightened and pushed outside with my big brother mask of everything’s-great in place. Covertly, I glanced around for signs of Dr. Green, blowing out a relieved breath to find she was gone.
Josh looked like he’d lost a bet with three different professions and refused to commit to any of them.
Gray baseball pants, green scrub top, sneakers, glasses pushed up into his hair—like a catcher, a veterinarian, and a CEO had all gotten dressed in the dark and accidentally merged into one person.