Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Cassie slunk down in her seat and surveyed Water Street. No sign of Noah. Thank god. She left the air conditioner running, gave Taco a gentle pat, then beelined for Lyra’s café. The dim interior of the café and the tantalizing scent of butter were godsends for her pulsing headache.
Really, she should never go out in public again.
She had humiliated herself so profoundly the night before that it might have actually qualified for a world record.
She had word vomited all over Noah as if he was a therapist white-knuckling his clipboard, not a neighbor who was deeply concerned about her sanity.
And then she had tried to kiss him. What an idiot. Of course he had turned her down. What was she hoping for, a no-strings-attached boinkfest with the landlord? No. That would compromise all the roots she had just put down.
It would be better to stay away from Noah. Maybe forever. She would just have to leave her house in the dead of night. Even buy a couple disguises.
“You look lost in thought.”
Lyra’s voice made her jump. Her sister stood behind the counter, nursing a steaming mug.
“And jumpy,” Lyra added. “Are you feeling weird about last night? I hope it wasn’t too much.”
Oh, right. Birthday cake under the stars and a possible clue to her biological father’s secret identity. She hadn’t been in the mood to investigate after Noah shot her down.
“No, not at all.” Cassie looked around the café. This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have with people around.
“I’m alone,” Lyra added with a look of concern on her face. “What’s up?”
“I did something really stupid last night.”
“You didn’t talk to your ex?” Lyra asked sharply.
Cassie laughed. “No. But maybe worse?”
“You got drunk and friend requested his new girlfriend? Sorry, I don’t know why I’m guessing. Enough suspense. Just tell me.”
Cassie lowered her voice. “I tried to kiss Noah last night.”
Lyra gasped and almost fumbled the mug she held. “Cassie, you can’t do that. For so many reasons.”
“I know. I was drunk. And stupid. And all those damn tattoos,” she muttered, looking at the wallpaper.
“He’s like a fricken hypnotist. He listened to me word-vomit about my ex, and he bandaged me up and—” She looked at her bandaged hand.
“How am I supposed to resist a bearded woodworking hunk who’s listening nonjudgmentally and tenderly touching my palm? ”
Lyra looked like she was weighing her words carefully.
“I know I’ve told you before that Noah is a good guy.
And it’s true. But he’s very, very emotionally unavailable.
I really care about you, Cass. I can tell you’re a serial monogamist and still in a lot of pain from your divorce.
Noah isn’t ready for a relationship. He can’t dig himself out of grief enough to find the sunlight. ”
“What happened with Bobby?” The mystery had been plaguing her.
Lyra bit her lip. “I think that’s something Noah would want to tell you himself. He was there.”
Cassie frowned. “Come on. Does sister code not apply here?”
“It’s hard for me to talk about. Bobby and I dated after his divorce. And I wasn’t there at the end. I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
As much as the curiosity burned, Cassie relented. Maybe she could just figure out Bobby’s last name and google it. Unless he was buried in the local cemetery?
“I’m sorry for prying. It’s just…a mess. I made it a mess.”
Lyra set her mug down. “You can just pretend like it didn’t happen. Never speak of it again. And, uh, make sure you pay your rent on time so he doesn’t have any reason to come after you.”
“You’re right,” Cassie said, but there was a pit in her stomach. She couldn’t stop thinking about Noah’s rough hands, so uncharacteristically gentle against her palm. The very thought sent a fresh rush of goosebumps down her arms.
How was she going to keep things platonic? By keeping as busy as humanly possible.
Time for a change of conversation. Cassie pulled out her wallet. “Can I have a macchiato and like a dozen assorted pastries? I have a few interviews today for vet techs, and I don’t want to hire anyone who refuses to eat pastries.”
“Good call.” Lyra picked her head up. “What’s that sound?”
A honk came from out front. Cassie strode over to the window. Taco was sitting in the driver’s seat, one paw on the horn.
“I guess he’s tired of waiting,” she said, and Lyra laughed.
Twenty minutes later, Cassie pulled into her parking spot next to her office. She scanned the lot, but Noah’s truck wasn’t parked here. Good.
She unlocked the building and went inside. Taco followed her. The first interview was in half an hour, and she desperately needed to unbox the stupid exam tables. It would be her workout for the day.
She flipped the lights on. Hang on—the boxes were gone. Had she been robbed?
With a pit in her stomach, she slunk through the hallway to the exam rooms. Holy shit.
There was one table, exactly where she would have put it.
And was that a fresh coat of whiteboard paint on the wall?
Noah must have come in that morning to take care of it.
He had helped her even though she’d spattered him with blood and tried to kiss him the night before.
She laid a hand on the new table.
She was so screwed.
“I’m not in labor,” Sammy said in a rush. “I just wanted to see how your interviews went.”
Cassie pressed a hand to her chest. “I get full-on tachycardia every time you call me.” She poked her head out her front door and peered at Noah’s house.
He wasn’t outside, and his truck wasn’t in the driveway.
Was she disappointed or pleased that she hadn’t run into him?
Either way, at least it had been a good day.
Her heart was a thousand percent lighter than it had been in weeks. Things were coming together, and the incident the night before was almost forgotten. Almost.
“Bye, Taco. Please don’t rip open any more throw pillows. I’ll be back soon.” Cassie stopped to administer some pats, then closed the door behind her.
“Taco,” Sammy cooed. “I want to meet him so badly.”
“Maybe I’ll bring him with me when I come to visit you and the baby.”
Her mind started spiraling about the logistics of transporting a dog who was still adjusting to his new home. Hmm. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea. But who would watch him while she was gone? She’d figure it out later.
“I would love that. So the interviews?”
“They were really good. I’m putting in offers for Malik, Akshara, and Lucia.
They each have at least two years’ experience, and Akshara is also a farrier.
Jury’s still out on Pam though. She seems like a drama starter, and Taco didn’t even want to greet her.
We might be able to get by with two techs and an assistant, but don’t ask me how I’m going to pay all their salaries. ”
“What about a receptionist?”
“Oh, that’s a funny story. I was at Taco Bell a few days ago, and there was this amazing woman behind the counter, just completely overperforming and effortlessly streamlining all the chaos.
Her name’s Tara. I asked her if she had any interest in working with animals and gave her an offer on the spot. She’s amazing.”
“I’m so glad you found good help, Cass, even if it means that you just single-handedly destroyed fast food tacos for an entire town. Things will work out.”
Her heart warmed at Sam’s use of her preferred name. “How are you feeling?”
Sammy hesitated.
“You can be honest,” Cassie said.
“Like a Macy’s parade float inflated with amniotic fluid and stress. And what’s worse is I’m going to be a terrible mother. Look who we had as an example.”
“You are not going to be a bad mother,” Cassie said soothingly. “You’re the best teacher in the world, and those kids adore you.”
“What if I’m not ready for everything to change?” Her voice was small on the other end.
Cassie smiled as she climbed into her car. “I think it’s a little late for that. Everything is going to change forever, yes. But it’s going to be wonderful. Not all the time, obviously. But a lot of the time. You can do this. You will do this.”
“Thank you for adjusting my perspective,” Sam said with a hint of a smile in her voice. “How are non-work things? You fall in love with Lumberjack Noah yet?”
“No,” Cassie said defensively. “I am a penis-free island bobbing in the Don’t-Need-a-Man Sea.”
“I would never accuse you of needing a man,” Sammy said. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t want one.”
“I’m done talking about this. I have to go, I have a volunteer shift. Love you.”
Cassie hung up before Sam could ask more questions. She could’ve told her about Noah. But Sam didn’t need to be worried about Cassie’s poor decision-making skills on top of imminently bringing a new human into the world.
She slid her sunglasses on and turned her car in the direction of the sanctuary. As part of her bid to keep herself as busy as possible, she had texted Gloria about taking a volunteer shift today. She couldn’t worry about her feelings if she was telling tiger fun facts to middle schoolers.
Noah shouldn’t be there, either. And even if he was, he wasn’t a people person. He’d be behind the scenes, mucking or doing food prep. Which reminded her, she needed to check on Huck’s progress.
When she stepped into the gift shop a few minutes later, Gloria’s eyes lit up. “I’m so glad to see you. Here.” She tossed a blue shirt with the Willow Bend logo at Cassie.
“Aw, thanks Gloria.” She pulled it on over her tank top.
“You look perfect. Here, come with me. I’ll show you where your shift is. Kurt, watch the register, please,” she called into the depths of the gift shop.
There was an answering grunt, and they strolled out into the sticky late afternoon humidity. Oof, she definitely should have applied more deodorant.
“I’m really grateful to have you here. The kids will be so tickled to learn directly from a vet.”
“Happy to be of service.”
They trod the now-familiar path through the facility. Cassie took a visual accounting of all the animals they passed. Nothing seemed amiss, but she would prefer to take a closer look at them in their night rooms after closing.
“Oh, the otters look so happy today,” she said as she passed the enclosure.
“They’re loving the puzzle feeders you suggested. And they had so much fun crunching on the ice yesterday. I can’t believe we never thought to put any in the enclosure before.”
Cassie smiled. It was wonderful to see the animals thriving. Maybe they would never be able to live in the wild again, but at least they could live out the rest of their days in comfort.
“Here we are.” Gloria stopped in front of an enclosure.
Cassie gasped and pointed at what looked like a brand-new sign. “You moved Huck?”
“Just this morning. He’s doing great, and he’s even checked out Rajah and Hobbes next door.”
Cassie did a visual once-over on the tiger sticking halfway out of his tub. He looked relaxed, and his ribs were slowly disappearing. The progress he had made was nothing short of miraculous. Maybe there was something special about this place.
“Well, I’ve got to get back to the register,” Gloria said.
“Kurt can’t count change to save his life.
There’s some water in the cooler here, and you might want to sit under the umbrella.
It looks like you already got some color today,” she said, gently pressing Cassie’s arm.
It left a fingerprint. Damn translucent skin.
“I was doing some recall work with Taco in the yard,” Cassie explained. “Is it okay if I hang around after closing? I want to get a closer look at the primates.”
“Sure thing, sweetheart. See you later.”
Gloria started back toward the gift shop just as a very grumpy-looking Noah appeared around the corner.
Panic flared in Cassie’s chest. Shit shit shit. She looked to either side, but there was nowhere to hide unless she scaled the fence. Bunking with a tiger would be less scary than confronting Noah about their almost kiss the night before.
“Who called off this time?” he asked, impatience clear in his voice. He wore the same T-shirt Cassie had, but his looked like it was going to bust at the seams over his cantaloupe-sized biceps.
Fuck.
“Oh,” Gloria said. She slapped a hand to her forehead. “Silly me. I forgot. Cassie already picked up the volunteer shift, so I didn’t need you after all.”
An internal alarm bell went off. Gloria ran a tight ship. There was no way she forgot.
“I’m in the middle of a project, Mom.”
“I’m sorry about that, sweetheart. But since you’re here, why don’t you stay? Help acclimate Cassie to volunteering?” She stepped back, and Noah did a double take.
Apparently he hadn’t noticed her until that exact moment. She was invisible, as always.
“It’s just a couple hours,” Gloria added.
“Fine,” he said, walking over to where Cassie was frozen on the chair under the umbrella. He flipped open the lid of the cooler and yanked a water bottle out. He took a long swig, and Cassie had to avert her eyes.
“Thanks, honey.” Gloria walked away with a smug smile, leaving the two of them utterly alone.