“Huh, what do you know.” He stares at her in amazement.
Robin lets out a low purr under my hands. “I think we’re ready. She’s calmed down. Exactly what we want before we rile her up again.” Scooping the feline under my arms, I walk her over to the sink and place her inside. The moment her paws enter the inch of tepid water, she squirms.
“Anything I can do to help?” Fernando asks with a hint of concern.
“If you can grab the shampoo and two of the containers of warmwater, that would be great. I’m going to rinse her first, then scrub the more stubborn clumps.”
Unsurprisingly, Robin is not tolerant when it comes to baths. By the time I finish washing her hindquarters, I’m drenched, but thankfully, scratch free. I run the towel over her fur one final time. Fernando opens the carrier. I place her inside with a clean towel on the bottom and zip it closed.
“Phew.” I sag against the rim of the sink. “That’s my workout for the week.”
“Doctor, I feel awful about this!” Fernando’s eyes rove the mess of towels and puddles of water littering the floor. It looks like we’ve had a small tornado hit the inside of the exam room.
“It’s fine.” I wave him off. “Comes with the territory of being a vet. I’ll mop and toss the towels into the laundry. I’ll have my receptionist tackle the rest of the mess tomorrow.”
Fernando shakes his head. “You already did all the work cleaning up Robin. Let me take care of the room.”
“You don’t have to do that.” I frown.
“You didn’t ask. I’m offering.” He begins rolling up the sleeves of his button-up, exposing forearms corded with muscles. I swallow hard. “Where do you keep your cleaning supplies?”
“In the cupboard.” I point to the corner of the room.
“Bueno.” He claps his hands together. “Leave everything to me,” he insists.
As I open my mouth to protest, my phone starts to ring. Reaching into the deep pocket of my scrubs, I spy Dylan’s name flash across the screen. I hesitate. Normally I’d never let a client clean up after their own animal, but I do want to talk to Dylan.
“Go. Answer your phone. I’ve got this.” Fernando winks.
“Hey, stranger.” I hold my phone to my ear and shut the door to the office with my hip. A surge of excited energy floods my body and I’m suddenly wide awake.
“Hi, Ava.” Dylan’s voice, on the other hand, comes out exhausted.
“How’s it going?”
“I’ve been better. I’m only just reaching the Nevada state line. There was some roadwork around Bakersfield that backed traffic up for miles. It took hours to get through.”
“I’m sorry.” I inhale sharply. “Are you still going to stop in Vegas for the night?”
“Yeah. It’s only about an hour away and I’ve already prepaid for my hotel room. How has your day been?”
“Oh, you know, same ol’, same ol’. I did a few routine exams and vaccinations. Things don’t change much around here.”
He sighs. “That’s the nice thing about Sequoia Valley—it’s predictable from one day to the next.”
“Are you missing it already? You can always come back,” I tease.
“Nope... well maybe a tiny bit,” he admits. “I am nervous about what I’m getting myself into.”
“Dylan, you’ve been talking about the move for months. All your doubts will disappear as soon as you’re back in Fort Collins.” I sit in my chair and lean back. “Remember how it was when we first moved to California? You had the same sort of anxiety.”
“Yeah . . .”
“And what happened here?” I push.
“We opened the practice we always talked about.”
“Exactly! If it worked out here, it’ll work out in Colorado.” I try and sound positive.
