Chapter 44
The drive home seemed quicker than the drive there.
I was deep in thought the entire time, thinking about what Jay had said about reporting Dr. Pike to the dental board.
If the board believed me, there was a chance his license could be suspended, and possible criminal charges could follow.
I didn’t know how far it would go, but reporting him to the board seemed like a good place to start.
The tricky part was finding more people to report him as well, so it wasn’t just me.
Jay said he’d help me. I didn’t know exactly how, but I knew he had more resources than I did.
So I was consumed the entire drive home, to say the least. I was trying to think of people who may have also crossed paths with Dr. Pike in the past. I’d only worked at the clinic for a few months though, so I had limited contacts.
By the time we pulled up to the house, I was surprised by how fast the time had gone, and I was actually exhausted.
The trip, though short, had been rather eventful. All the emotions and interactions had me feeling drained, and I honestly just wanted to take a bath and go to sleep.
“Do we need to pick up Luna?” I asked Jay.
“Margaret said she’d just bring her by in the morning. She loves babysitting her, so she always waits till the last second to give her back.”
I gave a little laugh, but even I could tell it was half-hearted.
The house was quiet and a little chilly when we got inside. It was getting closer to winter every day, and up in the mountains, it was even more apparent.
“I’ll get a fire going,” Jay said, setting his things by the door. “Do you need help getting your things upstairs?”
“No, I got it.”
There was a brief moment of awkward silence, and then he turned. But before he could walk away, I blurted out, “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked, turning back to face me.
“For standing up for me. For helping me get through that trip. Just for, you know, everything,” I finished lamely.
His gaze softened, and he smiled. “Of course, Amapolita. Thanks for coming with me.”
I felt a weird desire to say more, but I told myself I really needed to stop rambling. He was still my boss. Still my neighbor.
Some things had blurred a tad while on the trip, but we were home now. So it was back to business.
I took my suitcase and, with a slight nod of my head, started toward my apartment above the garage.
The little place was starting to feel like home, and I let out a sigh of relief when I finally got inside and was able to fall onto my bed.
“Finally,” I said aloud to the slanted ceiling.
I rolled over and grabbed my phone, finding new messages from the Flossy Posse.
MACEY: You home yet from the CE conference???
HOPE: Just got back, actually.
TYLER: We should meet up at the Velvet Anchor.
MACEY: I agree. I have so much I need to tell you guys!
HOPE: Tomorrow sounds great. Let’s do it.
TYLER: Was the conference fun?
HOPE: As fun as CE can be.
MACEY: I hate those conferences. I’m so sorry you had to go, honestly.
TYLER: They’re not that bad, Macey.
There were a few more messages ranting about CE courses before I told them I was in desperate need of sleep. Though I was tired, I was grateful to have friends who reached out to me.
I had a message from Emily, too. She’d sent a picture of herself in Canada at Lake Louise, posing with a giant fish.
That made me smile.
There was even a message I’d missed from Mason, telling me he’d be coming back to visit California in a few weeks and that he’d like to see me.
But there were no messages from my parents. It had been crickets since I’d last heard from my father and told him to stop calling.
I’d asked for it, hadn’t I?
I wondered if Dr. Pike would tell my father we’d run into each other at the conference. They were best friends, after all. Surely he’d hear of it.
I sighed and walked up to the small bookshelf next to the bed, grabbing one of my floppy paperbacks. I really needed to stop thinking so much.
I lay on the bed, opened the pages, and escaped from my own problems to be in another world for a while.