“Well, we're a dying breed so if there's anything I can say or do to continue to convince you to be an equine vet, let me know.” I start the truck, wave bye to Crystal, and pull down the long driveway. “There's a reason why equine vets are dying out. It can be heartbreaking work and certain human clientele can be extremely difficult to work with.”
“I can only imagine.” Everly watches the horses in the pasture next to us pass by as we drive down the road. “I've always felt driven to help,” she tells me. “Whether it's people or animals, I just feel like we were put on this Earth to make it a better place. Or, at least, that’s what my mom has said. I used to think she was just making that up so I would behave, but the older I get, the more I see that kind people are necessary.”
And, once again, I’m taken aback. If we had met under different circumstances, I think Jose is somebody I would actually like…and that thought scares me.
“Did you always know you wanted to be a vet?” Everly asks.
“I did, and I agree with you on always feeling the need to help. Though, I never wondered if I should help people.” I glance at her for half a second, smirking. “People kinda suck.”
She laughs. “Oh, totally. Other than my mom and my aunt Louisa, I've never heard of another grown-up admit that, though…at least, not in front of me. They always act like I'm being dramatic or something, but people really do suck. I mean, look at the world today.”
I flick on my turn signal, slowing at a crossroads. “It's definitely not an easy place to live anymore, but you shouldn't be cynical like me. Every once in a while, people can surprise you.”
“In good ways or bad ways?”
“Both,” I say with no hesitation. Like your mother. “Definitely both.”
Everly asks me more about being a vet the rest of the way to her house. Josie is in the barn and steps outside as soon as she hears the truck tires crunching over her gravel driveway. It's much cooler out today, which is normal for late spring in Michigan, and Josie is wearing black leggings, a baggy sweater, and pink rubber muck boots. Her brown is pulled up away from her pretty face in a messy ponytail, and she has dirt smeared on one of her cheeks.
She's fucking gorgeous.
“Hey, Ev!” Josie calls as soon as Everly and I are out of the truck. “Did you have a good day?”
“It was so much fun! I saw a baby horse being born—I even got to help! I want to be a horse vet when I grow up,” she tells her mom excitedly.
Josie pulls Everly in for a kiss and a hug. “I just fed the horses their grain, so why don't you go inside and get washed up then we'll have dinner. I have stuff for veggie tacos in the crockpot already.”
“Should we invite Dr. Harris to stay for dinner?” she asks her mom quietly, but not quietly enough for me not to have heard.
“I'm sure he has to go back to the clinic to see more patients,” Josie says, not before she flicks her eyes to me for half a second. I don't have more patients to see today, but I wouldn't stay even if Everly asked me to. I can tell Josie doesn’t want me here…and I’m working hard not to let that bother me. Though, I don’t know why it would bother me anyway.
But really…I do.
I just don’t want to admit it to myself. Not yet. Not ever.
“I have a lot of paperwork to finish up. That's another thing I forgot to warn you about,” I say to Everly. “The paperwork is endless.”
Everly makes a face but then starts heading up to the house. “Thanks again, Dr. Harris,” she tells me, and gives me a little wave, leaving Josie and I standing there in silence together.
Josie slowly inhales, looking behind me at the yard before zeroing her gaze on me. “Thanks for bringing her home.”
“You’re welcome. She's a good kid.”
“Of course, she is,” Josie quickly replies and then winces, closing her eyes in a long blink as she quickly shakes her head. “That came out way more pretentious than I meant it to. But, she really is a good kid. Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky to have her.”
Josie looks past me at her daughter, who’s playing with Riley in the small fenced-in area of the front yard, with a small smile on her face. I can't deny that Josie doesn't have a good heart and that when she devotes herself to something, she does so fully.
I bring my hand to the back of my neck, knowing I really do need to leave and start chipping away at the mountain of paperwork on my desk. Yet, for some reason, I stand there wanting to find an excuse to stay and talk to Josie.