Page 17 of Call it Fate

He seemed to stand even taller, his back straight with pride. “After you left, I decided there was something you were right about. I wasn’t happy with my future career choice. It was more my father’s choice than mine, so I decided to take a break and re-evaluate.” He went on to tell me about Milo and how the combination of events convinced him to become a veterinarian.

“Now, I work for Valley Animal Hospital in Charlotte. Doctor Anders, the owner, is considered one of the best veterinarians in the country. It’s an honor to work for him. In fact, I’ve applied for a surgical internship, and I’m hoping to do that under his teaching. I’m waiting to hear about that in the coming months.”

“Wow, Zach. That’s so great. I’m happy for you.”

“You sound like you mean it.”

“Of course, I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I think that brings us back full circle. We need to talk about what happened back then. I think we have different ideas of what went down.”

I bit my lower lip, but he was right. There was no more putting it off.

“So, will you then? Have dinner with me, that is?”

I fidgeted for a minute, shifting from one foot to the other as I contemplated what to do. I didn’t think having this conversation in public was the best, but then again, I didn’t want Iain barging in, either.

Maybe if we caught up over dinner and got back on friendlier terms and worked through our own issues with each other, I could bring him back here and then tell him about Iain. Maybe once he knew the background, he’d understand better. Be more forgiving. Be less likely to hate me and try to take Iain away.

“Okay,” I whispered, knowing my answer was going to change the course of three lives. “Let me grab my coat.”

The breath he blew out sounded as if he’d been afraid my answer would be no.

We both looked up in surprise as my entryway burst open.

“Doc! Oh, thank god, I found you.”

CHAPTER9

Zach

“Doc! Oh, thank god, I found you,” a voice wheezed.

Startled by the abrupt interruption, I looked up to see a red-faced man stumble to a halt in front of us. Seeing his red and blue striped tie askew and hair that looked like it had been in a wind tunnel, I peeked outside to see if a storm had blown up before turning back.

“Joe? Is everything all right?” Emalee looked over my shoulder in concern.

“It’s Mayor Sterling,” he wheezed, turning wide eyes toward me. “You’ve got to come help. Something’s wrong with him,” he gasped as if he’d been racing in a marathon.

I frowned. “I’m sorry. You must have me mistaken for someone else. I wish I could help you, but—”

“Please hurry.” He started for the front door and peered over his shoulder. “Come on!”

I shot Emalee a questioning look, but she was already grabbing her coat and thrusting the one I’d hung on the coat rack in the vestibule at me. I had no idea what I could do, but maybe the regular doctor was busy. I supposed I could at least assess the situation.

We chased Joe down the sidewalk toward the red brick building that anchored the intersection at the end of Main and Market Streets. We darted up the few stone steps and into a large, oval-shaped room with shiny floors. Women and men dressed in smart business attire hovered with bewildered expressions in small groups. A few had hands over their ears to lessen the sharp barking noise that came from within the room.

Joe disappeared into the second room on the right. I almost ran into him when he came to an abrupt stop. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a nameplate designating the room as “Mayor’s Office.” Concerned the mayor might be the victim of a dog attack, I wrenched my coat off and held it in front of me as my only meager defense and carefully pushed my way through a small crowd into the room where the hullabaloo was even louder.

I stopped short. There was no dog, only a man with a harried expression standing next to…

“Is that a…abird?” I couldn’t stop gaping at the unexpected scene in front of me.

The man looked over his shoulder. “It’s an African Grey parrot,” he replied indignantly as if I should know from the barking noises it made while flapping around in its cage, sending feathers everywhere.

I remained standing where I was while the man returned his attention to the chaos in front of him, crooning to the parrot to “please settle down.”

“I was asked to help Mayor Sterling,” I called above the fracas.

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