“Good morning, Professor Gabain. How are you?” I walk in and set my bag on an empty chair in front of his desk. Profession Gabain hasn’t actually grabbed me, but he earned his nickname due to his inability to take no for answer. He’s insisted to get drinks together every time I’ve come to the campus. He’s older but is a decent-looking guy and is actually pretty funny.
The problem is that he’s married.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” he says with a laugh. It’s finals week and I’m not presenting anything to students today, but just passing along some information about a new equine antibiotic the pharm company I work for wants to push. I always feel weird presenting something like this to a room full of professors of veterinary medicine. I’m not qualified. I have no formal education.
And anytime I’m in a room with students, I can’t help but look out at them and feel a painful sense of longing. As hard as I try, that voice in the back of my head reminds me that could have been you.
But I don’t regret the choices I made, not for one moment.
I started as a simple data collector for the company, plugging in numbers provided to me, and worked up from there. I oversee and manage other entry-level data analyzers, and my boss has been pushing me to go full time in sales for a while now, which is why I’ve been presenting new medications to the university. I’m young, have a pretty face, and am overall good with people. I would make a good sales rep, but I haven’t been able to fully commit myself yet. I’m happy where I am; though, this is by no means where I want to end up. But for now, it works and I’m able to be home when Everly gets off the bus.
Professor Gabain makes small talk, telling me three times how some of the other professors are getting together tonight for drinks. And three times, I clearly say I’m going home to my daughter. Then I’m finally able to talk to him and a few other professors, as well as several members of the university board. I go through my usual speech, briefly explaining what this drug does, why it’s better than our competitors, and how our company would love to partner with the university and offer sponsorships. We have a good rapport with this university, and I end my last presentation of the school year on a positive note.
I call my boss on the hour and a half drive home, making it back to my house with just enough time to spare to check in on the data entries for the day before Everly gets home. I’m about to close my laptop when an email notification pops up on the screen.
It’s from the guidance counselor at Everly’s school, asking if there’s any way I can come in for a meeting with her tomorrow to discuss the ongoing bullying issue Everly has been involved in. My stomach drops to the floor. Bullying issue? Ongoing? There’s no way my daughter —who’d rather thrift her clothes than buy something new because fast fashion is harmful to women in third world countries—would bully anyone.
Which only means one thing: she’s the one being bullied.
Chapter Three
JACOB
I slide the stall door shut and step back, wiping sweat from my brow. It’s an unusually warm day in early May and I still have two more farms to stop by before I can swing by my parents for a family dinner. I’m already going to be late, and there’s a good chance I’ll show up smelling like the animals I’ve been treating today. There’s an even better chance that I’ll have to rush out, but I’m promising myself now it’ll only be for dire emergencies.
It’s a rare occurrence that all of my brothers and our sister are in Silver Ridge together. Mom will have my head if I skip out on a family dinner, and I miss my siblings, even if they do drive me crazy half of the time. And tonight isn’t just any old family reunion. We’re celebrating my older brother’s engagement.
“Do we have time for a coffee run?” Crystal, one of my vet techs, asks.
“As long as it’s iced, yes,” I reply, checking the time. We’re running late—as usual—and I’m going to need to ask Dr. Spencer to cover my next appointment at the clinic, which is just a routine wellness and vaccine checkup for Mrs. Mahoney’s dog, Axel.
Crystal and I pack up, leaving the sheep farm, and load up the truck. We have to pass by Silver Cafe on our way to Kim Walker’s place. I’d love to narrow down my focus to mostly horses and donkeys, but I don’t mind going to Kim’s and taking care of her vast array of different animals. She’s been a client for years and was with the practice before I bought it and made it my own.