16. STERLING
It’s extremely busy at the clinic today. Once a month, I offer free spays and neuters, and people come from all the neighboring towns to participate. We get a lot of barn cats that farmers ask animal control to bring in from their property. Cats are certainly helpful for catching mice, but at times the population gets out of control.
Lots of people also bring their dogs. It always feels great to give back to the area. The farmers really love me, which is great, but I find myself with more ears of corn than a man could ever eat by the end of the day.
I haven’t had a break in hours, and my mind races with thoughts of Emma. Every time I walk past the front door, my eyes are glued to the wall. I will never look at it in the same way ever again.
Emma seemed to enjoy our kiss just as much as I did, but she hasn’t responded to the text I sent her last night and that worries me. It’s not like her. Not knowing what her and Peter talked about is driving me crazy. Did he actually tell her not to speak to me? That would be kind of ridiculous. We’re working together on this shelter project, so it’s not even possible.
“Dr. Cole. Dr. Cole.”
“Sorry, yes?” My vet tech Sarah clears her throat. I’m staring at the wall again. This may become a problem.
“Sorry to interrupt… whatever it is you were doing, but we’re ready for you in the operating room.”
“Be right there.”
Sarah gently squeezes my shoulder, then lets her fingers trail down my arm as she walks away. I really need to talk to her about that. No matter how gruff I get with her sometimes, she always makes a point to flirt with me at some point in the day. She’s an attractive woman, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not interested. And this isn’t the type of thing I want to encourage.
I’ve never been anything but professional, but she doesn’t seem to get the hint. I’ll have to figure that out later. I don’t have time for it right now. I check my phone one more time before heading to the operating room for a response from Emma.
Nothing.
I can’t send another text, right? That’s going to look desperate. I mean what is the rule for, ‘We kissed for the first time (amazing) and you pinned me up against a wall (which as I mentioned was well received), but then your brother showed up (terrible timing, again) and ruined the moment and now you’re not responding to me’?
Text again? Wait a few days? There needs to be some sort of handbook. I shove my phone into my pocket and head back to take care of the next animal.
My day continues on this way for hours. Surgery, check my phone, nothing. Surgery, check my phone, nothing.
After the last surgery of the day, I check my phone one last time and there’s a message. Finally. But it’s not from Emma. It’s from Peter. This day just keeps getting better and better.
He wants me to come over tomorrow night, says Linda is making my favorite, enchiladas. This can’t be good. He wants to feed me right before he takes me out back to kick my butt for kissing his sister. No thanks.
But there’s no way I can no. Someone really needs to create a manual for these situations.
“Sounds great,” I text back. Lies, all lies.
Peter and I text back and forth a few times. I ask what I can bring. He says just yourself. Ugh.
Feels like I should at least bring a bottle of wine in case I need to defend myself in some way. Not that I’ve ever lay a hand on Peter. He’s always been there for me.
He’s the only one from Cedar Creek besides my family who knows about what happened with my ex-fiancée. I’m not sure I could have made it through that breakup without him.
Celia was my whole world. I never thought I’d be engaged so young, but our relationship was a crazy ride from the day we first crossed paths.
As a veterinary student, I had my share of memorable experiences, but nothing has ever compared to the day I met Celia. Little did we know we’d be laughing about it for years to come.
Ours was not a typical first encounter. We were both sophomores in vet school and assigned as partners to work on a rather… spirited patient. We were in our exotic animal rotation, studying different exotic animals that people sometimes keep as pets.
Our school exposed students to a variety of species to provide a well-rounded education. That day, each pair was supposed to give a physical examination to a different animal. Celia and I were excited to see what we got. All the animals were in crates or cages, and each was hidden under a blanket. We were told that would help keep them calm before the exams. That hypothesis was proven wrong when it came to our patient.
We slowly removed the blanket to reveal the most adorable looking ferret. He had a long, slender body and chocolate brown fur. His eyes sparkled with curiosity, looking up at us in wonder. He was sitting very still, which we took as a sign of a laid back nature. He had a collar we were supposed to hook a leash to, but he seemed so harmless we skipped that step and just opened his crate.
Big mistake. Huge.
The ferret sprung from the cage with the speed and agility of a tiny ninja, landing directly onto Celia’s unsuspecting head. With a yelp of surprise, she stumbled backward, shaking her head to dislodge the little fella from his new perch.
But he was not to be denied. He clung to her long red hair like he was a tiny ferret cowboy trying to win a bull riding event. He wanted that Texas belt buckle prize and he was not falling off his bull for nothing.
As you can imagine, the entire class stared in awe as Celia bucked and spun but the ferret hit the golden eight second mark and just kept on riding. The more she struggled to free herself of him, the more his tiny claws dug in, holding on for dear life.
Hoots and yeehaws from the class were not making Celia’s predicament any better. Funny, but not helpful. So as her trusted partner, I decided to step in to rescue her.
I saw a dish of raw meat beside our cage and decided it was the only option at this point. I grabbed a piece, along with the ferret’s leash.
Celia looked at me suspiciously, “Sterling, what are you doing?”
“Um, so, I’m going to try and distract the ferret with the meat and then clip his collar.”
She slowly nodded her head. I took measured steps toward her, holding the meat out for the ferret. I extended my arm as close as I could, but he just didn’t trust me enough to take it out of my hand.
“Celia, I’m going to put the meat on your head. I think it’s the only way,” I told her. The whole class groaned loudly. Again, not helpful.
Celia gritted her teeth as she answered, “Sterling, don’t you dare put raw meat in my hair.”
I had to stifle a grin at what this day had come to. Celia was adorable and taking this amazingly well but clearly the raw meat put her over the edge. But I couldn”t stop now.
I lifted my hand to drop the meat on her head, while she continued, “Sterling, no, don’t do it. I will never forgive you.”
It was for her own good. I had to save her from the world champion ferret cowboy. It was now or never. I dropped the meat. Celia winced. The class groaned... again.
The ferret? He took the bait. Clearly the bull riding helped him work up an appetite. He grabbed the meat and started nibbling. I moved to the side slowly, then snapped the leash on his collar in one quick movement.
The class cheered, startling the ferret, who jumped off Celia’s head onto the floor. The raw meat fell off her head and rolled down her arm. I clasped my hands over my mouth. There was no way I gonna laugh at that last unfortunate event.
I grabbed the meat off the floor, along with the ferret and put them both back in the cage. The class started chanting my name, “Sterling. Sterling.”
Celia glared at me. I thought this might be the shortest partnership in history. But then she broke out into an infectious giggle that lasted for minutes and won my heart in an instant.
She asked me to double check that the ferret hadn’t made any deposits during his time on her head. Once I gave her the all clear, she gave me a hug and that was it. We were inseparable after that. Nothing like a rogue ferret to bring two people together.
We got engaged after graduation and opened a clinic. Everything was right in the world. Just until it wasn’t.
We made plans to come back to Cedar Creek and move our clinic there, but then Celia changed her mind. She said she wasn’t coming. The engagement was off.
I was… well shocked doesn’t even come close. There are no words to describe how I felt. It was so out of left field. I never even got a good explanation. She just said that she wasn’t a small-town girl.
I mean, okay, I get that, but I would’ve been open to going somewhere else. It didn’t have to be Cedar Creek. But I never got a chance to tell her that. She just left, changed her phone number, and dropped off the face of the earth.
To say I was crushed is an understatement. I could barely get up in the morning to go to work. But I had to. I’d just bought this place and had a mortgage. Folding was not an option. And it was Peter who helped me keep it together. Peter who was by my side every day until I could stand on my own again.
I owe him. His opinion deserves to be heard. So I’ll go dinner. And I’ll leave the wine bottles at home.