Page 12 of Healing You
Lila stood talking to Yvonne and her assistant Carrie, while they all hovered around the coffee as though it was an oxygen tank in space. Even with dozens of volunteers helping, it had taken hours to get all the dogs cleaned and cared for. And thank God for the fact that none of them seemed to require surgery—yet. In the next day or so, they might begin to see other trauma.
“She's beautiful,” Dawn said from behind her coffee cup. Her brown-eyed gaze slid from Yvonne to him.
He rolled his eyes in response. “Mmm,” he grunted. “It'll never happen.”
Yvonne's laughter boomed through the night as she threw her head back, finding something Carrie said hilarious. She was sitting on the hood of her car, with her feet tucked beneath her. She quieted and wiped an eye, looking over at them. Her laugh turned brittle and she ducked her gaze away.
“You sure about that?” Dawn's rose-colored mouth curved.
“Yes.” He looked down at his swinging legs.
“Okay, okay. Jeez. No need to get so snippy...” But her voice faded, and when Steve finally looked at his friend again, she was staring at him, eyes narrowed. “She's the one,” she finally whispered.
“The what?”
“The one. The girl from your accident. The one you refuse to talk about, isn't she?”
He sniffed and scratched behind his neck. “Dawn—”
“She is!” Dawn pushed off the wall, pointing at him. “You scratched your neck. That's her. Oh my God, I never thought I'd meet this girl.”
“Well, you did. Can you drop it now?”
“Oh, Steve. Please tell me—”
Carrie and Yvonne walked toward them, and Steve nearly stomped on Dawn's pricey leather boots to get her to shut her trap.
“Hey,” Yvonne said, her cheeks the most lovely shade of pink. “I just wanted to thank you both again. Please send me the bill and we'll do everything we can to cover the costs. Between Maple Grove Animal Rescue and the Laconia Humane Society, we should be able to meet a monthly payment plan.”
Dawn shifted a look at Steve before grinning. “No need for the thanks. Besides, Steve spent the last ten minutes convincing me to rip up and throw away any bill I might have for tonight.”
“Please don't do that. It shouldn't come out of your pocket. That's very sweet, but we have a budget for things of this nature.”
Dawn nodded. “I know. I'm not promising to throw away the bill every time. But for now you can use that budget on the next problem. Besides, some of these guys are gonna need some serious doses of antibiotics. The first one's free, right?”
Steve laughed at Dawn's dark sense of humor. “Did you just make a dealer joke?”
“Don't pretend you weren't about to make the same joke.” Dawn shoved him with a shoulder.
His eyes stayed on Yvonne, who was doing everything in her power to find somewhere else to look. It was hard to explain to most women, but that was just Dawn. She was naturally flirtatious, but also a fiercely loyal friend. And if something were ever going to happen between them, it would have long ago.
Dawn followed his gaze to Yvonne, and she cleared her throat, scooting a few inches away from him. He inwardly shook his head. Too little, too late, Dawn.
“Hey, Yvonne, Carrie...we were going to go the 24-hour Denny's to grab something to eat after this. Wanna join?” she asked.
Carrie nodded. “I'm starvi—”
“No, thank you,” Yvonne said at the same time. She blinked rapidly, meeting Steve's glances for a half second before looking down at her phone. “I have to find homes for the twenty dogs I'm taking tonight.” She sighed. “Plus, I have a sick dog to get home to, too.”
Dawn's eyebrows furrowed. “I'm sorry.” Then she gave a quick side glance to Steve. “Should we have Carrie or someone bring you something to eat?”
“Thanks, but it's really not necessary. I'll be fine.”
With that, Yvonne headed back to the several vans of caged dogs.
“Hey, Yvonne!” Steve chased after her, jogging to catch up. “Which dogs are you taking?”
She shrugged. “I don't know which ones exactly yet. The Humane Society is almost entirely full though, so I'll be finding them as many foster homes as fast as I can.” She checked her phone. “And it's almost too late to call around to my volunteers.”
