“Our matching process is rigorous and time consuming, but it means better success rates. Something we’re very proud of.”
“I’m so excited to get started.”
“And we’re excited to have you. You’ll get to meet the other volunteers over the weekend. I think Sandie, Hale, and Lisa are in Saturday, and then Tom and Beth are down for Sunday.”
“There’s five of them?” I asked, confused.
“Yes, didn’t I already explain that?”
“You did, but I’d just assumed someone had left since the position came up.” And I definitely remembered him telling me there were at capacity.
“Ah.” George flushed bright red. “We shuffled things around and managed to find you some hours after all.”
“Wow, that’s… wow.”
“It’s actually great timing as Sandie recently announced she’s pregnant, so she’ll be looking to drop her hours as her pregnancy progresses.”
“Oh, okay then, if you’re sure.” I couldn’t shake Mya’s insinuation George’s motives weren’t entirely innocent.
“There’s nothing to worry about, I promise. I know how important hands-on experience can be for a college application, so if we can do our bit to help you…” He let his words hang.
“Thank you, that’s very kind.”
He beamed, the color in his cheeks returning to normal. “You want to takeover while I grab the rest of the supplies?”
“For real?” I started pushing my sleeves up.
“Of course, get in here. Benji is one of our friendlier arrivals.”
“He’s so cute. I can’t wrap my head around the fact they no longer wanted him.”
“He’ll be rehomed in no time. He’s one of the better cases, trust me. Okay, if you get in here,” George held onto Benji but stepped back letting me slip around him, so I was closest to the tub and the puppy, “that’s it. Now slide one hand to his collar.” Our fingers brushed as he withdrew his hand and it was my turn to blush. George cleared his throat and jerked back.
“You can start rinsing him off and then dry him with that towel.” He flicked his head over to the counter and a stack of towels.
“Rinse and dry, got it.”
“Excellent, I’ll be right back.”
George left and I took my time washing Benji. He was a placid thing, letting me scrub and run my fingers through his soaked coat. “You like that, boy?” I cooed earning me an eager lick to the face. Laughter bubbled up, the smile on my face so wide it hurt. But there was something so right about being here, that I felt happiness wrap around me like a warm blanket.
“We good in here?” George’s voice perforated my bubble.
“We’re fi—” Benji chose that exact moment to shake off his fur, spraying droplets of water everywhere. “Oh my…”
George handed me a towel. “Here, get dried off while I pat him down.”
“Does that happen a lot?”
“Yep, hazard of the job I’m afraid,” he chuckled.
“It’s funny,” I said toweling myself off, “I’ve kind of drifted through high school, never being sure what I wanted to do. Happy to go along with my parents’ plan for me. But being here, it’s like I know this is what I want to do. Gosh, I bet that sounds so cliché.”
“It doesn’t. I felt the same, back in the day. I knew being a doctor was what my parents wanted for me. But I’d be at the hospital, visiting my gran when she was sick, or hanging out with my dad on his rare day off, and I never felt that connection. I knew it would be rewarding, to heal people, save lives. But it never felt like what I was destined to do.”
“How am I going to tell them?” I whispered the words.
“If it makes you happy, eventually it’ll make them happy.”
He made it sound so easy.
“Look at it this way, you could spend the next four years of your life at college, surfing along studying a course that’s okay, or you could spend the next four years of your life studying something that excites you. Something you feel passionate about. Who knows where the future will take you, but wouldn’t you rather be on a path you choose? Sorry,” George added. “Like I said before, sometimes things just spill out before I can stop them.”
“I admire it actually. It’s nice to meet someone who understands where I’m coming from.”
“Surely there must be someone? A best friend? Boyfriend?”
“Best friend, yes. Boyfriend, no.” My stomach dipped. “But I’m not sure Hailee really gets it. She’s always known what she wanted to do.”
George’s expression had changed, his eyes fixed on mine, searching for something.
“George?” I asked, breaking the strange tension that had descended over us.
“What? Sorry.” He shook his head. “It’s been a long day. Where were we?”
Benji chose that moment to shake his fur again, soaking George. I grabbed some towels and hurried over to them. “Thanks,” he said, “that’ll teach me for not paying more attention.”
The moment between us had passed, but I couldn’t help but wonder what had him so distracted in the first place.
Chapter Thirty
Jason
“You’re sure about this?” Grady asked for the twentieth time that week.
“This thing needs to end now.”
“I’m not disagreeing, I just don’t understand why you’re not taking Bennet and Chase for back up. Well, Chase I kind of get. If Thatcher had come after my girl the way he went after Hailee, I wouldn’t be able to—”
“Grady…”
“Shutting up,” he groaned. “So we’re really doing this?”
“I’m doing this. I just need you there in case things go south.”
He let out a low whistle. “And you’re sure we can’t hold off doing this until after we win State?”
“It has to be now.”
“If Coach—”
“Coach won’t find out.” Thatcher was many things, but he wasn’t a snitch.
“I could call a couple of the other guys—”
“If you’re having second thoughts, man, I’ll go alone.”
“Nah, I’ve got you. I just think this is a bad idea. A really bad idea.”
I didn’t disagree but Thatcher wanted his pound of flesh and he was determined to get it one way or another. At least this way, if I met him one on one, it would be a fair fight. Besides, it wasn’t the first time we’d rumbled. I knew I could take him.
“Noted. I’ll see you in ten.”
“Yeah, yeah. See you there.” I hung up and grabbed my keys off the sideboard. It was almost sundown. Cameron was out with Hailee, and Asher’s parents were in town for a flying visit and had insisted on taking him for dinner. Dad and Denise were off doing whatever the fuck they did on Friday nights. The coast was clear.
Until I walked out of the house.
“Aimee?” I stared at the girl who had screwed me over once upon a time. “What the fuck are you doing here?”