Page 67 of 15 Summers Later

“I’m sorry. I can’t. I already agreed to take Ava up to Ghost Lake. She needs to talk to Cullen. We’ll be leaving in about an hour.”

“That’s a funny coincidence. Okay. Maybe we’ll see you up there, then.”

“From what I understand, the dinosaur camp is on the east side of the lake. We have to travel right through Elk Flats, so I’ll keep an eye out for a couple of strays.”

“Sounds good. Be alert, if you see them. It sounds like they’ve been wandering the mountains for at least a couple of weeks, from the reports we’ve had. If they’re starving, who knows how they’ll react to people?”

“I’ll be careful.”

A silence fell between them but it didn’t seem as awkward as she had feared.

“We missed you around here today,” he said, his voice gruff. “I thought we were going to have to do emergency surgery on Janet Mitchell’s cockapoo again this morning. He had an obstruction. Apparently he swallowed a chicken bone he pulled out of the trash.”

This was at least the third time they’d had to retrieve something inappropriate from the little furry vacuum cleaner. “Oh no. Is he okay?”

“He will be. We gave him some hydrogen peroxide and he hacked it up about five minutes later. We’re keeping him here overnight for observation.”

“I’m sorry I missed that,” she said, only half-joking. She loved when they treated an animal emergency that could be resolved easily and swiftly.

Those were the things she would miss most about working at the veterinary clinic, the moments when they were able to ease a pet owner’s mind about their fur baby or help an animal through a frightening health challenge.

Life was a series of trade-offs. She had chosen to start the animal rescue in order to serve a void in the community and had worked hard to make it a reality. In order to devote her whole attention to the Emerald Creek Animal Rescue, she would have to walk away from her work as a veterinary tech at the clinic.

That didn’t mean she would never go back, only that she was focusing on something else for now.

They talked about other patients on his schedule that day. Gradually the awkwardness eased and they slipped back into their usual comfortable camaraderie with each other.

Only after they ended the call and she returned to organizing the volunteer schedule for the next month did it occur to her that that was probably the very reason Luke had called her. He must have known that waiting even one more day would only heighten their discomfort with each other.

“This trail can get pretty dusty,” Madi said as she climbed into the driver’s seat of the side-by-side she had unloaded from the trailer. “Do you have a scarf or a bandanna or something?”

Ava looked startled. “No. Do you really think we’ll need one? I thought it was a fairly well-maintained dirt road, at least until we get closer to the lake.”

She shrugged. “Hard to know for sure. It will still be dusty. I figured you wouldn’t think to bring one and I forgot to mention it, so there’s an extra in the side pocket for you.”

Ava blinked, clearly surprised. “Thank you. You’re right. I didn’t think about it.”

“I would guess you don’t spend a lot of time in the mountains these days.”

“Not true,” she said defensively. “I go with Cullen sometimes when he needs to explore a possible site. We try to combine work with recreation. We spent some time last summer hiking in both Montana and Utah. It was beautiful.”

Madi found it odd to think of her sister going along with her paleontologist husband on a hiking trip into some of the world’s most remote places. It was hard to reconcile that with the pale, serene, controlled woman Ava had become.

“I’m assuming you’ve been in one of these, then.”

“Not often. But yes.”

“You know what they say. Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. We’ll be going through some heavy forest. You don’t want to lose a hand to a tree limb.”

Ava looked concerned. “Would you like me to drive?”

“You can if you’d like. But I’m fine. I quite enjoy it, actually.”

With a deep breath, Ava climbed into the passenger seat of the side-by-side and put on her own seat belt.

She gestured to the empty dog crates Madi had tied down in the small bed of the vehicle. “Do you want to explain what those are about? Are you expecting to bring something back?”

“I hope so,” Madi said as she started the vehicle. “Apparently there are a couple of stray dogs running through these mountains. I want to be ready in case we see them.”

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