day.”
And the bathroom door shuts.
Usually, I’d bust the bathroom door open and call her out on her bullshit, but since I’m the reason she can’t look at me, I leave.
“Bonjour,” Brigette says when I walk through the back door of Four Paws Veterinary Clinic. She’s already wearing her white jacket and holds her Brewed Awakenings coffee in hand.
“Good morning.”
She sits at the small table in our break room while I go to my locker to put on my white coat.
“You seem down,” she says.
I shake my head. She doesn’t need me to convey my guilt that my best friend has no idea how to handle the fact I’m getting married. So much so, that she convinced herself a week ago that she wanted me. I’ve made my feelings clear over the years, but Juno’s always had a Heisman trophy arm poised in my direction. I understood her hang-ups about us being a couple, but it didn’t make it any easier to take. I’ve done stupid shit witnessing her with someone else too, so can I really blame her? No.
“I’m fine. Just Monday.” I slide my arms through my white jacket and shut my locker.
“Are you sure? You can talk to me about anything.”
Brigette knows the situation with Juno, and I could talk to her about it and she’d understand, but I think she might feel bad about it too. And right now, I just want to drown myself in work.
“No, you ready to start the day?” I ask.
She nods, sipping her coffee. I pick up mine and we walk to the receptionist’s area. Our vet assistant, Hillary, is prepping the paperwork.
“Good morning, Hillary. Morning, Lori,” I say to Hillary and our receptionist, Dr. Murphy’s sister, Lori.
“Good morning, you two lovebirds.” Hillary winks.
Brigette slides her arm through mine and rises on her toes to kiss my cheek. “I’m afraid my fiancé has a horrible case of the Mondays.”
They both laugh because Brigette has been brushing up on her American movies. I made a list of my favorites and she pulls one line out each time she watches one.
“Office Space.” We look up to see Rhys standing in the small welcome opening. “I believe you have my stapler.”
We all laugh. Rhys is a tattoo artist down at Smokin’ Guns, which Juno’s brother-in-law, Liam Kelly, owns.
“Hey, Rhys.” I put my hand on Lori’s shoulder. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you that Rhys was coming in this morning. I ran into him this weekend and he adopted a new puppy.”
“Okay, I just need you to fill out this paperwork first.” Lori slides out of her chair to grab a prepared clipboard. “I would’ve had the file prepped if I’d known you were coming, so you wouldn’t have to fill it out while holding your dog.”
Lori’s neurotic behavior shines brightly in front of our newest customer. Although if Dr. Murphy ever retires, I’m sure it’ll be part of the agreement that I have to keep Lori on.
“I’ll watch him.” Brigette sips her coffee tosses the cup in the trash can, nudging me out of the way. I’ve never seen her not finish her entire coffee—except when I took her to Lard Have Mercy once. She lives for the stuff.
“Oh, that would be great.” Rhys eyes her from head to toe now that she’s on the other side of the window.
Brigette is beautiful. She danced for years until she found her true passion was animals. She came to Alaska on vacation and decided this is where she wanted to go to school, if for nothing more than to experience living in Alaska. She’s kind of a bucket-list girl, which scares me because I’m not a bucket list kind of guy. I’m born, bred, and happy to die in Lake Starlight. But she swears she loves it here, so all I can really do is trust her.
“Rhys, this is my fiancée, Brigette,” I introduce them, which causes Rhys’s gaze to snap back up to Brigette’s eyes instead of her breasts.
She does dress in some revealing tops on occasion. Dr. Murphy told me Lori doesn’t approve and would like me to talk to Brigette about it now that we’re engaged, but I’d rather be hit by a Mack truck than tell a woman another woman disapproves of what she’s wearing.
All I hear is Brigette ‘cooing’ and ‘ahhing’ over the new dog, Clyde. I peek over the ledge to get a look at the breed and type. Usually I can predict the type of dog someone will buy. The