Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Cassie slammed the door of her car and headed for the Maples’ sprawling stable.
Her field bag was heavy on her shoulder.
The sun shone brightly in a cloudless blue sky, and for once, the humidity had abated.
It would have been a perfect day for a picnic, or paddleboarding, or anything other than trying not to get kicked by a horse.
But she needed money to pay the technicians who had just accepted her employment offers. And now she needed to patch the drywall in her ceiling and find a non-shattered chandelier…and buy a dining room table that didn’t dissolve into dust at the first sign of trouble.
Of course two of her DIY projects had combusted in front of Landlord McHandyPants. And they hadn’t even talked about him kissing the crap out of her at Willow Bend.
Her unspoken wish had been granted—he’d acted like it never happened. So why wasn’t she happy?
“There she is,” a voice said from back of the stable. “Thank you so much for coming, Dr. Cassie.”
“Happy to help keep these beauties healthy. How’s little Cassie?”
“Magnificent. Putting Millie through her paces already.”
“Excellent. I’ll do a little checkup while I’m here too. Do you have time to bring everybody out to the pasture so I can observe their gait?”
“Sure,” Tina said. “I’ll get Bo on it.”
“Where would you like me to start?”
Tina led her to the end of the stable, where the male racehorses stayed.
“Any races coming up?” Cassie asked as she approached the first horse, Al Capony.
“As a matter of fact, yes. Wednesday is a big one at Chesapeake Downs Casino.”
“Oh?” She gave the horse’s mane a gentle pat and did a visual once-over. He looked strong and healthy, but a closer examination was necessary.
“You should really come,” Tina said.
“To the race?” Cassie pressed her stethoscope into the horse’s chest. “I’ve never been.”
“You can have a spot in my friend Eloise’s box. I’ll introduce you. She and her husband own the casino. Bring a date.”
“Oh, I don’t know…” Cassie said, focusing on the rhythmic thumping.
“Trust me. This is the networking event your practice needs. Our friends are desperate for a solid vet team.”
Cassie debated. She had yet to figure out just how much large animal service the clinic was going to provide, but working at a mixed clinic before had really felt like home.
Besides, she needed the money, and it would always be good to make some solid connections. People with deep pockets who cared a lot about horses might also be inclined to care about Willow Bend. She could bring Noah along, plug the new animal sponsorship program, and kill two birds with one stone.
Or maybe she shouldn’t bring Noah. He wasn’t exactly super friendly and might scare prospective benefactors away. But with some coaching, he could pull off a conversation. Right?
“I’ll be there,” she said.
“Wonderful.”
Cassie peered at Al’s teeth, then turned back to Tina. “What should I wear?”
“You don’t need to go full Kentucky Derby. A sundress is fine.”
“Thank god. I wouldn’t even know where to find a fascinator. Thanks for inviting me,” Cassie added.
“I told you, I want this place to feel like home. You’re one of us now. Stick with me, and we’ll make sure your practice is so busy that you need a second staff veterinarian by this time next year.”
Cassie smiled and busied herself getting vials out of her bag so Tina wouldn’t see the emotion in her face.
Aster Hollow was truly starting to feel like home. If she had never mustered up the courage to track down her half sisters, she may never have set foot in this charming town full of people who had accepted her and helped her carve out her own space.
Even Andi was starting to come around. Cassie had woken up to a carton of farm-fresh eggs on her porch that morning.
Who cared if she was currently estranged from her adoptive parents? She still had Sammy, and now she had two bonus sisters, a new practice, and a whole town behind her. Suck it, universe.
Speaking of her practice, the start date for her staff was swiftly approaching. Everything was changing, whether she was ready or not. They would spend a few days training, scheduling new appointments, and starting patient charts, then they’d be off to the races.
It was exciting. But also terrifying.
Three hours later, Cassie climbed back into her truck. Her back was sore and her pants were dusty, but it had been a fruitful appointment. All of the Maples’ ten horses were vaccinated, and she had triple-checked the stallion who was racing this weekend.
Now, how was she going to convince Noah to come to the race?
She pulled out her phone and went to open her messages, but impulsively clicked on one of her social media apps instead.
At the top of her feed were three separate event announcements for the sanctuary. Food Truck Fridays, Nocturnal Night, and Coffee with Cougars, which was sure to confuse some attendees. Finally, Noah was taking her advice.
She navigated over to messages and sent one to Noah.
Cassie: You’ve been busy on social media! Good job.
Noah: Thanks. I hate it.
Cassie: See you tonight for cleanup.
There was no response. But she didn’t expect one. She put her phone away and pointed her car toward home.
Hours later, Cassie rolled up to the gravel lot of Willow Bend at closing time.
Lyra and Will were supposed to meet them here too.
While Lyra knew coffee like the back of her hand, she was also very handy with a paintbrush.
She’d come over the previous evening to talk shit and do the trim work on Cassie’s master bathroom.
At least with an audience around, Noah would be unlikely to bring up what did or didn’t happen between them over the past week. She was probably imagining the look in his eyes right before the chandelier came crashing down anyway.
How would she convince him to come to this horse thing on Wednesday?
She slipped in through the service entrance and walked the narrow path between exhibits.
It was weird how familiar the sanctuary had come to feel.
It was like a second home full of unruly primates and sun-loving big cats.
She checked in on the lemur who had been limping and was pleased to find him climbing around the enclosure without difficulty.
She rounded a corner and ran smack into Noah. It was like running into a sentient boulder that had the power to hypnotize her nether regions.
“Oh, shit,” she said. “Sorry.”
He was impossibly good-looking, as always. She may or may not have watched him swim through a crack in the blinds that morning.
“It’s fine,” he said. “I heard from the bird rescue this morning.”
“No way. How’s Herbert doing?”
She elected not to tell him that she had been in near-daily contact with them, checking on his progress.
“All healed up. They’re going to release him in a couple days.”
“That’s great news. Izzy will be so happy. You’ll have to tell her.”
Noah grunted noncommittally. Back to normal.
“What’s on the agenda for the evening?” she asked.
Noah patted his pockets and pulled out his phone. “Weeding and fresh mulch by the front sign, dusting and straightening the gift shop, power washing the fence. Take your pick.”
“I’ll weed. Are you feeling prepared for the interview?”
“What’s there to prepare for?”
Cassie bit her lip. “What are you wearing? What are you going to say? What specifically will you plug? Who’s your target audience?”
Noah looked like a deer in headlights.
“Maybe you should reach out to Izzy’s mom. Doesn’t she do marketing?”
“Fine,” he said. “The wheelbarrow and mulch are in the shed.” He tossed her a set of keys.
“And what are you going to be doing?”
“Changing light bulbs, trimming branches, mucking,” he said gruffly. It was hard to tell if something had pissed him off or if he was just being himself.
“Are you doing anything on Wednesday evening?”
He looked like he was thinking. “No. Why?”
“Just wondering.” It was probably better to wait until after the interview before asking about the horse race to make sure he was in a better mood. “See ya,” she said, heading off in the direction of the shed.
She felt his eyes on her as she walked away. Maybe she should’ve specified she was interested for purely platonic and business-related reasons.
“There she is,” came a familiar voice.
She whirled around to spot a lanky flannel-wearing man. “Hey, Will. How are you?”
He leaned in to hug her. He smelled great, like an expensive, woodsy cologne.
“Good, good. Business as usual. How’s the clinic coming?”
“Slowly. I just hired my staff, but they won’t start until the first week of July. There’s a lot kind of hanging in the balance…” she mused, staring off into the distance.
“Where are you headed?” he asked.
“To weed and mulch around the sign.”
“I’ll help.”
He probably should check with Noah, lest they all befall his wrath. But at least this way, they’d be done faster.
“Thanks.”
She led the way to the shed, and together, they filled the wheelbarrow with gardening supplies. They knelt in the grass and set to work.
Will was so easy to be around. He was the opposite of Noah—warm, chatty, and he immediately put her at ease. He’d dropped everything to help her move without even really knowing her.
She didn’t get a sense that he had ulterior motives, but as she constantly reminded herself, she wasn’t always a great judge of character.
“Have you always lived here?” Cassie asked.
Will nodded and drove a trowel into the earth. “Mostly. I played professional soccer for a few years, so I moved around a lot after college. But after my mom died, playing just felt kind of stupid and pointless.”
Cassie’s mouth dropped open. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know your mom had passed away.”
“It was a while ago,” he said. For the first time, the at-ease facade slipped. “Sometimes I think about leaving,” he added, “but this place is home. I love being on the bay and having space to roam.”
She yanked a dandelion out and threw it in the weed bucket. “Wow, professional soccer.”
“It was brief. I wasn’t that good,” he confessed.
“You don’t play anymore? Even for fun?”
He shook his head. “And now I’m a corporate pencil pusher.”
“At your dad’s company, right?” Lyra had mentioned it to her. “What does he do?”
“He’s in real estate. Most of his work is in Baltimore or DC, and he has apartments there, so he’s really only home on the weekends.”
“Oh, so you live at home?” she asked in a way that she hoped sounded non-judgmental.
He scratched his cheek, leaving a streak of dirt. “I know. It’s kind of pathetic. But if you saw the house, you’d understand. The bay is our backyard. And even if he was home all the time, we’d barely bump into each other.”
“No wonder you don’t want to leave,” she said.
“It does allow me to embrace a certain…lifestyle,” he admitted. He pulled hard on a weed, showering them both with a cloud of dirt.
Cassie dusted herself off. “I’ve heard a thing or two about that. No interest in settling down, huh?”
“Why would I want to settle down? I’m twenty-nine. The world is my oyster.”
There was a beat of silence.
“Do you really want to be working for your dad?” Cassie asked.
“I…don’t know,” he admitted. “But it pays the bills, so it doesn’t really matter.”
“I think it does,” she said. “Not that I’m telling you what to do. But do you really want this to be the rest of your life?”
“Hey,” he said, waggling a spade at her. “I didn’t come here to be interrogated. I came here to help my good buddy save his family business. Now, do you want to tell me the coolest thing you’ve ever seen as a vet, or am I going to have to regale you with pointless stories about my fraternity days?”
Cassie laughed, and a crunch of gravel caught her attention. She looked over Will’s shoulder to spot Noah with a sour look on his face. He made eye contact with her, then walked away.
Why did she feel like she’d just done something wrong?