Page 19 of Bailey

She stepped back, fitted the mask back on Sir, and rewrapped the compress.

Her heartbeat settled, and she backed up a step and rested one hand on the corner of the cart. “He’s swollen and puffy, but the antihistamine and the steroid will help with that. The drooling seems to have stopped a little bit, but he didn’t collapse. He doesn’t have pale gums. His tongue is a normal color, and he didn’t vomit. I don’t think he needs more than what we’ve done.” She glanced over to Trevor, and then looked at Reeves again. “Well, besides time. I want you to leave him here with me this afternoon, and we’ll monitor his vitals, and I’ll bring him back to you tonight.”

Reeves frowned mightily.

Trevor put the two used syringes on the tray and pulled it out from under Bailey’s elbow. “I’ll go put this away and check on where we can put him,” he said.

“Thank you.” Bailey watched him leave, glad she had such competent technicians in her clinic. She faced Reeves again. “I’ll put him in my office if I have to,” she said. “With the antihistamine, he’ll just sleep anyway, and I’ll be able to monitor him and help him if he needs it.”

Reeves looked down at Sir and stroked his hand down the back of his head and shoulder. The dog laid his head on his paws, and a soft smile came to her face. She had no idea what Reeves was thinking, as he never let much show on his face. He finally looked up again, and the brim of his cowboy hat didn’t hide his expression any longer.

“All right,” he said. “What time will you be done here?”

“Six,” Bailey said. “It takes a little bit of time to close, and I’ll probably have him back to you by seven.”

He still didn’t seem happy about that, and he stroked Sir again, and then again, before nodding. “Thank you, Bailey,” he said.

Her heart warmed at the sound of her name in his voice. He’d called her wildflower while laying her in bed only a few days ago, and she wanted to ask him about that. She took a step closer to him, a tingle running up her arm and settling in her shoulder in anticipation of touching him.

Her fingers finally made contact with his wrist, and then she slid them up his forearm. “He’ll be okay, Reeves.”

He didn’t look away from her, but he swallowed mightily. “I was wondering,” he said, his voice low and almost rusty. “If you’d ever want to go to dinner with me.” His voice didn’t pitch up like a question, and he stayed steady and calm as he stood there in front of her.

Bailey blinked, equally surprised and thrilled at the idea of a dinner date with the delicious Reeves Durham.

CHAPTER

NINE

When Bailey didn’t immediately say, “Yeah, of course,” in a bright, flirty voice, Reeves couldn’t hold her gaze any longer. He shifted his weight onto his left leg, which moved him a couple of inches from her and caused her to drop her hand. He had no idea how long Trevor would be gone, and the clock on the wall seemed to tick loudly into the silence between them.

Sir had definitely quieted, and Reeves was grateful for that. He cleared his throat, about to tell Bailey to forget what he’d said, when she said, “Yeah, dinner sounds great.” She turned toward the countertop and cabinet against the far wall of the exam room. “Are we going to go out or eat at your place?”

Nervous energy zipped through Reeves’s whole system. “I was thinking we’d go out,” he said, though such a thing raised red flags and caused alarms to sound inside his body.

Bailey glanced over to him without truly making eye contact. “All right,” she said. “I’ll let you plan it however you want.” She faced him fully then and nodded. “When were you thinking?”

Her friend’s wedding was next Saturday, nine days from now, with tomorrow night being Friday, and Reeves couldn’t help but wonder if God had orchestrated that yellow jacket nest at the trailhead and had somehow led Sir to it, simply so Reeves would have to see Bailey again.

He hadn’t been able to muster up the courage to text her or go next door and ask her out on a date in the two days since the rainstorm. Of course, they’d both been incredibly busy cleaning up their properties, and she had a full-time job at her clinic on top of that.

Her family and friends had cleared his path to his chicken pen and goat shed in only a couple of hours yesterday, and they’d left long before dinner. He hadn’t been alone with Bailey once while they’d been there.

“What about tomorrow?” he asked.

Bailey’s eyebrows went up, and she folded her arms even as she nodded. “I don’t have any other plans for Friday night,” she said.

“Do you work until six every night?” He swallowed hard, as his salivary glands had dried up somehow and his mouth felt sticky.

“I’m off-site tomorrow,” Bailey said. “I’m working at Wolf Creek in the morning, and I usually come back here to do paperwork, but I can bring it home with me.”

“I don’t want you to do anything different than you normally would,” Reeves said.

“Should we say seven, then?” Bailey glanced over as the door that led into staff-only parts of the veterinary clinic opened and Trevor re-entered.

“We’ve got a kennel for him,” he said.

Bailey nodded at him. “Thank you, Trevor. Will you go start the checkout process for Mister Durham, and bring me a cart for Sir?”