Page 105 of Phishing for Love
Aaron opens the front door for me. My heart is pounding as I force my feet to walk out the house, trying my best not to jostle Ash, who’s lying limply in my arms, eyes half closed.
Please be all right, I find myself whispering over and over again.
Aaron pulls the front door shut behind me. His Mustang is parked in my driveway. There’s a grim set to his jaw as he strides swiftly past me to open the passenger door. I climb in carefully and he reaches across me, buckling me in. He glances briefly at Ash and something frightening crosses his face.
Suddenly, it’s hard for me to breathe.
“Aaron,” is all I can get out.
Behind that one word is a raspy plea,Please save him.
“I’ll get there as fast as I can,” he assures me grimly before closing my door and jogging to the driver’s side, sliding in, and starting the car.
“What’s wrong with him?” I ask unsteadily.
Aaron doesn’t immediately answer. He’s concentrating on backing out of my driveway. From some dim part of my brain, I register Mr. Silva’s head popping out from behind his hedge, eyes wide at how fast Aaron is reversing.
“Which way?” Aaron asks.
I stare at him numbly, my mind fuzzy with all kinds of terror.
“Tess!” His brusque tone snaps me out of my frightened trance. “I need you to direct me.”
“Yes. Okay.” I take a deep breath and give him directions to the vet clinic.
He floors the accelerator, following my directions. He’s driving fast, but not recklessly.
I know he needs to concentrate, but I have to know. “What’s wrong with Ash?”
“I spotted the bouquet of flowers on your dining room table,” he says in a grim voice. “There are lilies in the bouquet.”
I stare at him in incomprehension.
“Lilies are poisonous to cats.”
I absorb his words numbly, trying to make sense of them. “What?”
“All parts of the lily plant are toxic to cats.”
“In what way?”
“If they ingest even a small amount, it can cause rapid kidney failure.”
“How do you know this?”
His jaw tightens. “You don’t want to know.”
Fear swells in my chest, pushing on my lungs, making it hard for me to breathe.
As Aaron speeds down the street, I look down at Ash so limp in my arms. I can’t lose him, I just can’t. I’ve had him since he was a kitten. Since Mr. Silva spotted him cowering behind a dumpster, wrapped him up in his jacket, and brought him over to me. One look at that tiny, bedraggled face and those hopeful green eyes staring up at me, and that was it. He was mine.
“Please, hurry!” I beg, even though I realize Aaron can’t possibly drive any faster than he is.
The traffic light in front of us changes to amber. Aaron doesn’t slow down but drives straight through.
“Hang in there, Ash,” I murmur brokenly, tears burning my eyes. “Please hang in there.”
I stare blindly out the windshield. A massive lump of terror has lodged itself in my throat. I’m gulping down breaths.
