Page 12 of Chains
“Is she going to?” Autumn asked as she skimmed over the charts for both dogs.
“No, she said she’ll just keep calling throughout the night.” He chuckled.
She slipped on a pair of gloves, then walked over to the dogs and checked their IV bags. Thor cracked his eyes open a bit, then licked her hand when she reached over to check one of the monitors hooked up to him.
“You’re a beautiful dog,” she said under her breath before turning her attention to the pit bull. “And you’re a real cutie.” She swiped her hand over the black dog’s side.
“You look beat,” Rodney said.
“I am. It’s been a long day.” Autumn smiled.
“And night. You were here until the early hours of the morning with Oscar. You should go home and get some rest. Dr. Jenkins is on call, so if something comes up, I’ll give him a buzz.”
Autumn nodded in agreement as she pulled off the gloves and discarded them in the trash can; then, she turned away from the table and walked to the door. Hesitating, she looked over her shoulder at Rodney. “If something changes with Thor, give me a call in addition to Dr. Jenkins, okay?”
The vet tech’s eyes widened slightly. “Uh… yeah… sure.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you later.” Autumn strode out into the hallway and went to her office. She swapped out the white lab coat for a black wool peacoat, then slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder and walked out of the clinic.
It was a lovely fall night: cool, crisp, and clear. She tilted her head back and stared at the twinkling stars in the dark sky, mentally connecting them together like she used to do when she was a young girl. One of her favorite childhood games besides word searches had been connecting the dots, and on warm summer nights, she and her friends would lie on a blanket in her parents’ front yard and try to make shapes out of the stars by connecting them.
“I haven’t thought about that in years,” she muttered under her breath as she tore her gaze away from the inky canvas and fished out the ringing phone from her handbag.
“Hi, Bret.” Autumn unlocked the driver’s door and slipped into the car.
“Hey. Whatcha doing?”
“Just leaving the office so I’m running about thirty minutes late.”
“Yeah, about that…”
Disappointment sank to the pit of her stomach.
“Are you still with me?” Bret asked.
“Uh-huh.”
“Something’s come up at work. I hate like hell doing this, but I can’t go out to dinner tonight.”
“And you just found this outnow?”
“Yeah, it fucking sucks. I told Travis that too.”
“Don’t youclaimto tell him that every time this happens?”
“What do you mean by that? You act like I’m lying or something. Why wouldn’t I want us to go out to dinner?” Irritation crackled through the phone.
“It’s just been happening a lot lately. It seems like the closer we get to the wedding date, the more you push me away,” she said softly.
“What the hell? That’s a load of bullshit. I thought you, of all people, would understand about working late. How many times have I waited around for you because you were preoccupied with some damn dog or hamster? Fuck, Autumn, I don’t need this. I’m stressed over finishing this software project that I’ve got to present to the parent company in San Francisco in a few weeks. I thought I could count on your support.”
A thread of guilt wove through her. “I’m sorry. Of course you can count on me. I’ve had a really long day, and I’m operating on just a few hours of sleep. I didn’t mean to upset you, but I was really looking forward to the two of us having dinner together. It seems like we’ve hardly seen each in the past few weeks.”
“I was looking forward to it too, but what can I do? We can go to Aspen for a romantic weekend once I get back from San Francisco, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered.
“I can come by after I get done at work.”
