Page 29 of Revelry
I flicked on the bathroom light and rummaged in the cabinet, snagging the first aid kit. It was only when I leaned down and placed her on the toilet seat that she untangled herself from me.
“Let me take a look at it,” I said, my voice harsh. She sat there, petite and cute, staring up at me with big, luminous eyes and a sexy mouth like she was just waiting for me and I could barely stand it. Did she know what she looked like?
I clicked my fingers three times to distract myself.
“Gertrude,” I snapped, pulling her out of her daze.
She jolted, staring at the fingers I just clicked and frowned before raising her foot. I sat on the floor and opened the kit, pulling out an antiseptic wipe and began cleaning it. “I don’t think it’ll need stitches,” I said, just to fill the thick silence.
“Are you a doctor?” she teased.
I pinned her with a stare. “Yes.”
Her mouth rounded in surprise. “Oh. Wait, I thought you were a farrier?”
I turned back to her foot and began dressing the wound. “And a vet.”
She hissed in a breath, foot twitching. “You’re a vetanda farrier?”
My lips twitched but I locked it down, refusing to smile. “People can be two things.”
“But why? Do you have time for both?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “There are a few ranches that always need something and it’s a small town so although my practice is busy, it’s not overwhelming. I fill all my time.”
“But what about your social life?”
I rolled my lips inward, not replyingwhat social life. I taped up the bandage and tapped the side of her ankle. “Wiggle your toes for me?”
She did the best she could which meant the bandage was tight enough and I ignored her adorable pink-painted toes. “If it hurts take some Tylenol for the pain and try to stay off it until it heals.”
“Tate,” she began softly. “Do you have friends?”
I prickled, why was everyone so obsessed with me having friends? We stared at each other and her eyes dropped to my mouth.
“Okay, well I’m done here.” I looked around at the wrappers from the bandage and the used wipe. It killed me not to tidy it away but I just wanted to get out of here. “Let me know if you need anything else. Goodnight Gertrude.”
“Night Tate,” she murmured and with a final look, I fled her house and went back to the lonely, bare, silent sanctuary that was mine.
And for the second time since Gertrude came back to town, I didn’t like how quiet it was.
Chapter Seven
Gertie
The sun poked through the cracks in the blinds, stabbing into my eyelids.
“Ugh,” I grunted, rubbing my eyes and smacking my dry lips. “What is that taste?”
My tongue was fuzzy, and my head pounded like there was the entire cast ofSTOMPrattling around in there. My hands throbbed and I stared at them, blinking a few times to clear my blurry vision. Rough scrapes littered my palms and stung like a bee but I was confused as to how I’d gotten them.
I threw back the blankets tangled around my legs and swung them over the side of the bed, standing. I yelped and toppled to the floor, unable to hold my weight.
“What the—" I looked down at my foot, spying a bandage wrapped around the center of it. Tugging it towards me, I inspected the work. It was neat and tidy, well done but again how did I get it?
“Are you a doctor?”
“Yes.”
