Chapter Three
“Maybe You’re a Magnet for Waitresses”
“Are you out of your damn mind?”
Cal ignored Bryon, staring in the direction Melissa had headed. She’d left minutes ago, but he could still feel her presence, as though she was standing right before him. He sucked in a breath, his heart thumping as he inhaled her lingering scent.
He hadn’t imagined any of it. She really had been here. Melissa had stood on this porch just minutes ago.
Bryon tapped him on the shoulder, glaring at him. “Hey, want to tell us why you just sent our vet away?”
Right. Cal let out a sigh, turning to face his friends. Maybe he’d overreacted a bit. Then again, had he? At the time, sending her away had seemed like an appropriate reaction to seeing the woman who’d abandoned him on the day of his wedding.
You know everything about me, and you still chose me.
His wedding vows from ten years ago were still vivid in his memory.
Thinking about them now, he felt foolish.
She hadn’t chosen him. The second she found out everything about him, the second he’d revealed himself to her as a shifter, she’d discarded him like the four years of their relationship had meant nothing.
“That,” he began, “was my ex-fiancé.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that already.” Bryon looked like he was deciding whether to wait for an explanation or chase after Melissa. “Doesn’t explain you sending away the only vet we’ve come across in weeks.”
He and Henry didn’t understand. Of course they didn’t. Cal had never really opened up to them about what had happened with Melissa. All he’d mentioned was that he’d been engaged once. Neither of them knew how things had ended.
And right now, that was all Cal could think about.
When Bryon mentioned that a vet would be showing up soon, Cal hadn’t ever imagined it would be Melissa.
When had she become a vet? She’d been working as a waitress for most of the time they’d been together.
And when she disappeared from his life, he’d figured he’d never see her again.
He’d even tried to make his peace with it.
And now she was back.
It seemed like a cruel twist of fate. At the sight of her, it had taken him every fiber of his will to remain still.
She was just as beautiful as the day he’d lost her, if not more so, and the sight of her had been a painful reminder.
Watching her leave again, even if at his behest this time, had been pure agony.
But she didn’t get to just waltz back into his life, did she? He couldn’t pretend that the last ten years hadn’t happened.
Slowly, and without omitting a single detail, he explained to his companions how Melissa had dumped him on their wedding day. Even before he was done narrating, both men looked horrified on his behalf.
“Damn,” Henry said. “That’s really rough. Can’t even imagine how seeing her must feel now.”
Bryon nudged Cal in the arm. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that, man,” he told him, “but you can’t let it affect your judgment now.
Remember what’s at stake. We’ve got animals dying in the woods and no vet to help us.
You can’t still be hurt about something that happened a decade ago. You have to move past it.”
“How?”
The man shrugged. “Get laid. Get over her by getting under someone else. It works every time.”
Cal shook his head. In the years since Melissa took off, he’d considered dating again, but for some reason, the prospect of starting over with someone new hadn’t appealed to him.
Having casual relations was out of the question.
There was only one person he could think about sleeping with, and he’d just sent her off the property.
Perhaps it would be easier to get over her if she wasn’t so damn great-looking. The woman was a knockout.
“Yeah, and you’re not a bad sight either, Cal,” Henry said, somewhat teasingly. “I’m pretty sure Angelica from Rubicon Valley’s got a thing for you. Maybe you’re a magnet for waitresses.”
“She’s a barmaid,” Cal pointed out.
“Semantics.”
“And I’m not interested. Look, I can’t have Melissa working here. Not after what she did. It’s bad enough that we’re back in the same town. The last thing I need is to end up working with her.”
“You just dismissed our one chance to help the animals in Paradise Woods,” Bryon reminded him. “Just moments ago, you were complaining about animals dying.”
Cal’s jaw tightened. The man was right. Barely half an hour ago, he’d buried a doe in the woods, too late to save her.
How many more animals would be left for dead because there was no vet to stitch them up in time?
Especially since they hadn’t even gotten to the root of the problem.
Cal still had no idea who or what was behind the animal deaths.
But hiring Melissa after all that had happened...the mere thought was gut-wrenching. He couldn’t do it.
“No,” he said. “There’s got to be some other way.”
Bryon smacked himself on the forehead. “Cal, you’re a great guy, and I respect you, but wolf to bear shifter, you’re being a complete idiot right now.”
“You don’t understand—”
“What’s really at stake right now, huh? The dying animals or a relationship that died ten years ago?”
Silence followed Bryon’s words, and for a few seconds, all three men simply stared at one another. Bryon looked almost apologetic, like he realized he’d gone too far. After a moment, he tightened his jaw.
“Look, you need to pay attention to what matters more right now,” the wolf shifter said.
“What you’ve gone through, what’s happening right now?
It’s rough. I can’t say I understand it.
But you need to put that aside. And if you’re not going to let Melissa join the sanctuary...
well, you’re going to have to find a replacement, or learn to become a vet—and fast.”
“Bryon’s right,” Henry chimed in. “You need to get Melissa back.”
“No,” Cal said with another shake of his head. “I’ll figure out some other way. For now, I’ll patrol the woods some more, make sure the area’s safe. But there’s no way in hell I’m letting Melissa Kinley work at Green Sanctuary.”