At the mention of someone special, my mind goes to Chloe and her rain-soaked hair. She is special, but she’s not in my life.
“Sam,” Rory calls, coming to the little window. She waves me in, saving me from having to answer Lauren’s question. I end up changing into scrubs and assisting with the rest of the surgery, fascinated with both the similarities and differences in a dog versus human surgery.
Dean and Mason are sitting in the waiting room when we’re all done, and Rory and I go up front.
“How’s Tigger?” Lauren asks, holding her sister’s hand.
“Dr. Harris,” I say, feeling almost weird referring to Jacob as a doctor when I go by the same name, “said he’s stable. He’ll be out to talk to you soon.”
“Why are you here?” Rory asks Dean.
“We came to check on you,” he replies with a frown. “Nice to see you too.”
Rory rests her hands on his chest. “You know what I mean. Is everything—”
“Adam is fine,” he tells her. “I already called your mom and let her know we got tied up.”
“Thank you.”
Someone knocks on the front door, making us all jump.
“It’s my husband,” Lauren’s sister, whose name I haven’t caught yet, says and gets up. One of the vet techs comes up front at the same time and lets him in, and then waves them back into an exam room, leaving Dean, Rory, Mason, Lauren, and me in the waiting room.
“You still want to go out and get that drink?” Mason asks me and then looks at Rory and Dean. “You guys too?”
Rory shakes her head. “I’m pooped. But Dean, go if you want to.”
“Nah, I’ll take you home,” he tells her, and Rory smiles.
“A drink sounds good,” Lauren sighs.
“You’re welcome to join us,” Mason says without missing a beat.
“I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“You wouldn’t be imposing. At all.” Mason waves his hand in the air. “It’s been a stressful night. You need to unwind.”
Rory catches my eye and shakes her head.
“Oh, I definitely do,” Lauren goes on.
“Do you, uh, need to call the mister and let him know?” Mason asks smoothly.
Lauren moves her head back and forth, pushing her hair back again. “There is no mister…not anymore. I got divorced last year.”
“You hear that?” Mason’s eyes light up way too fucking much. “She got a divorce last year. That must have been so hard for you.”
“It was.” Lauren lets out a small sigh and leans in. “I came back to Silver Ridge to hopefully get things right this time around.”
“Getting a drink is a good way to get the night started off the right way,” Mason goes on. “And like you said, you could really use one tonight.”
Lauren smiles again, acting like she’s thinking it over before she nods. “You’re right. A drink sounds so good right now.”
“Great.” Mason looks at me, mouthing wingman when Lauren isn’t looking. Sighing, I just shake my head. “What do you say, Sam?” He goes on, purposely calling me out. “You’re coming with us, aren’t you?”
I open my mouth to say no, that I want to go back to Jacob’s and play video games. But he’ll be here for a while, staying to check on the dog until the morning. It’ll leave me alone with my thoughts, and when I’m alone, I think about her.
“Yeah,” I say, regretting it already. I need to go and find someone else to regret in the morning too. “I’ll go.”Chapter ElevenChloe“It happened again,” I whisper into the phone, swallowing hard as my eyes dart around the dimly lit living room. She’s driving home and it’s one of the rare occasions we’re actually talking on the phone since she can’t text and drive.
“You wrote a creepy scene and freaked yourself out?” she asks with a laugh.
“Yes,” I hiss. “And then I heard Balloon scratching on the door to be let out. But he’s not here, Farisha! He’s not here!”
“There are raccoons all over the forest. That’s probably what you heard.”
“How can you be sure? Coming here alone was a mistake!”
She laughs and something hits the large living room window, making me jump. Eyes wide, I turn, expecting to see a man with a hook arm or a deranged clown standing next to the glass. Instead, I see several large bugs flying around one of the exterior lights, and some sort of beetle hits the window again.
I let out a breath, shaking my head at myself. I get really into what I’m writing, and being alone in this house surrounded by water and trees reminds me how isolated I am, especially since no one is next-door right now at Wendy’s house.
“You need to get out of the house,” Farisha says. “Sahil is working tonight. I’m sure he’ll give you a free drink or two if you stop by The Cantina.” Sahil is Farisha’s younger brother who bartends at a bar in downtown Silver Ridge. They have the best margaritas in town.