Chapter Six #2
With a Scout’s honor, my hand shot up. “I never thought you were an idiot, Reese. I thought maybe you watched a little too much Hawaii Five-O, but not an idiot. And Pickles is going to do great. He’s young and healthy otherwise, so even if we need to operate, I don’t foresee him having any complications from the anesthesia. ”
Her knee knocked into mine again as she seemed to relax a little more.
“How does your leg feel? And your back, for that matter?” I almost reached out to touch the mark myself, but resisted, curling my fingers into my palm.
“I’m a lot sorer than I thought I was going to be. Now I’m just left wondering how long these marks are going to stay in place.”
“You’re young. They’ll probably be gone in a couple of weeks,” I said, knowing from experience.
“You just said that like you’re my eighty-five-year-old grandpa,” she chuckled.
“Maybe I am that old! That’s why I have so much knowledge,” I teased.
“Dr. Iona, a Benjamin Button veterinarian,” she said with fake wonder in her voice.
I knocked my knee into her this time. “You never know! It could happen!”
She kept her knee pressed to mine and smiled down at Pickles. We sat in comfortable silence for a moment. I studied her face and watched as her smile disappeared. She sighed heavily, lost in thought.
Why did she seem so sad? I needed to see that smile again. I needed to say something. Anything. “Are you okay?” I asked lamely.
Her melted gold eyes met mine, and she hesitated for a second before finally saying, “Sometimes I worry that I don’t belong anywhere.”
I didn’t know what I had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. The way she said this felt so vulnerable, and I suddenly couldn’t remember the last time I had been this open with someone.
“Where are you from?” I probed.
“I don’t really have a hometown. I was born in Phoenix, Arizona.
My parents divorced when I was around four.
My mom remarried a man in the Air Force when I was five, so we moved a lot after that.
Sometimes we would stay in a place for two years, but more than likely we would be there for only one year.
I made friends when I was younger, but we never stayed in touch for long.
Everyone eventually moved on.” She paused and looked down at her hands, like she was unsure if she could continue.
Without another thought, I reached out and grabbed one of her hands. She looked up at me and was as shocked as I felt.
“I got so used to moving all the time that now I feel uncomfortable staying in one place for too long. But now I’m starting to think I don’t belong anywhere,” she said.
“Did you know that Hawaii doesn’t have a single veterinary program?
” I asked her, holding on to her hand as if she might disappear at any moment.
“I had to apply to programs on the mainland. Ended up going to Oregon State on a scholarship, so I was gone for four years. We couldn’t afford for me to come home on school breaks, either.
I only got to come home once during that time.
Don’t get me wrong; Corvallis was beautiful, and the people were nice enough.
The class sizes were so large that people constantly surrounded me, and yet, I’d never felt so alone. ”
I had never told anyone how lonely I had felt during vet school, but something about Reese made me feel brave. Reese’s eyes were a little misty as I spoke.
“As soon as I got back to Oahu, I knew this was where I was meant to be. I knew then I could never be happy anywhere else. Maybe you need to find the place you find impossible to leave.”
Reese didn’t get a chance to respond as we heard a knock on the door. Kalani stepped in.
“Pickles’ owner is here,” she eyed our joined hands and gave me a slight eyebrow raise.
Reese immediately withdrew her hand as Beth walked through the door with mascara smudged down her face. Reese jumped up and ran to Beth, encompassing her in a hug.
Beth focused on Pickles as she reached for his face. “My baby! Are you okay?” She turned to me, and her mouth dropped open. “You’re the vet?”
“Nice to see you again.” I stood and stretched out my hand. “Sorry, it’s under these circumstances. Officially, I’m Dr. Iona, but you can still call me Kelly.”
“You guys know each other?” Kalani asked from the doorway.
“It’s a long story,” I told her.
“Another time, then. I need to pick the kids up from school, but you can tell me this long story later. Rodger should be here soon. I called him, figuring you would need him to stay the night with Pickles.”
I nodded my head. “Thanks for doing that.”
Kalani left, leaving me alone with the cousins.
“We didn’t formally introduce ourselves the other day. Mrs. Beth Scott,” she added as she showed off the five-carat diamond on her hand.
Got it. Don’t worry, Beth, there was a different woman in this room that I was interested in.
Did I really just think that? When was the last time I had truly been interested in a woman? I felt closer to Reese after fifteen minutes alone than I had with women I had dated for months.
“And you already know my cousin, Ms. Reese Phillips,” Bailey winked as Reese’s cheeks turned a dark pink.
“Mrs. Scott,” I changed subjects, trying to spare Reese and me any more embarrassment for the day. “I was just discussing with your cousin my plan for Pickles.”
I went over the plan with Beth, and then reluctantly excused myself. With Kalani gone, I needed to man the front desk.
I typed away for about five minutes in Pickles’ chart when I heard the exam room door open. Reese was the one who emerged and approached the desk.
“I am going to get Beth some food. She is going to hang out here for a while before heading home. Is there anything you recommend?” Reese asked.
“There’s a great taco truck just a little down the way,” I said. It was like her eyes had this gravitational pull on me. She was the sun, and I was the Earth, and I couldn’t resist her.
She leaned in close to me, our hands almost touching on the desk.
“Tacos sound great.” I thought she was going to leave until she said, “I’m sorry for venting to you earlier. You don’t even know me. I shouldn’t be offloading my problems onto you.”
“I don’t mind. At least, not with you.” I couldn’t explain why or even when I’d decided to, but I was leaning my head in towards her. Slowly, I closed the distance until we were less than an inch away. I could feel her breath on my lips and could almost taste her. I needed to taste her.
Her eyes kept flitting back and forth between my eyes and my lips. She gave her bottom lip a slight bite, sealing my fate.
“Hi, hi! Am I interrupting something?” My mother appeared out of thin air. At least, that was how it felt.
Reese jumped back about three feet, and suddenly I felt like I was thirteen again.
“Mom!” I said, a little out of breath. She was standing in front of the desk, holding a to-go bag. We really needed to get a bell for the front door.
Reese looked between my mom and me, trying to make the connection. Any second now, she was going to ask the dreaded question, and whatever we had between us not even thirty seconds ago would be over. It always was. People always pitied you if they knew you were unwanted.
Instead, she surprised me by not saying anything at all. She was just observing.
“Is this the girlfriend you were telling me about?” Mom’s eyes glowed with excitement, and I felt my stomach drop.
I was just about to kiss Reese, and now my mom had not only interrupted us, but was implying that I had a girlfriend I was about to cheat on.
Reese looked at me with accusing eyes. Molten lava replaced the soft golden glow.
I looked between her and Mom. That lump in my throat was bigger than ever. So, I did the dumbest thing I could have done and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Mom, this is my girlfriend. Reese Phillips.”