A Perfect Fluke

Six

The next morning, everyone was up at dawn. Noah had to go back to school and Liam needed to return to his clinic as well.

Me? I was just trying to process everything I learned yesterday. Sleep hadn't been easy to achieve, and I was up with the first sound. While Noah and Liam had breakfast, I took a quick shower.

My hair was still wet when I stepped inside the kitchen. Noah was finishing his cereal and Liam was making a sandwich. I smiled. Their routine was on point. Liam looked up and his lips tugged up. "Do you have plans for today?"

I shrugged. "Work on my blog, I guess."

He put the spoon of jam in his mouth. "Why don't you come to the clinic?"

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. After last night's talk, I felt like there was some sort of connection between us. It was nice, but weird at the same time. "Okay."

Noah stood up and placed his bowl on the sink. "And I can show you my school!"

Chuckling, I nodded. "I'd love that. Thank you." He grinned widely, and my heart warmed.

"We can get something to eat at Rosie's after dropping Noah," Liam said as he washed the plates they'd used.

"Sounds great." Loki stopped to nuzzle me with his nose. I patted his head. He was sweet once you got over how huge he was.

Ten minutes later, we were driving to town. The red building, the one I thought was a church, was Noah's school. It had a bell tower, and it was the cutest thing ever. Noah was all excited, he grabbed my hand and showed me his classroom, too.

After dropping Noah in school, we stopped at Rosie's for a donut and coffee. Damn. That woman could cook. I really wanted to take cooking classes with her. "I think you're Rosie's favorite client now!" He shook his head grinning as the car came to a halt.

My cheeks felt warm. "She's my favorite baker, for sure."

The clinic was small, but the inside looked like a mini-hospital. Liam greeted an old woman before introducing me to her. Mary was his assistant, and she was really kind. She showed me around the office while Liam got to work.

We stopped at the cradles where there were two injured dogs. One had a broken leg and the other one was waiting for a hysterectomy. The phone started to ring, and she left. I sat on the floor next to the German Shepherd. One of his back legs had a cast, and he looked miserable. I talked him for a while, before petting him, when something brushed against my leg. "Jesus," I jumped, placing a hand over my chest.

"That's Missy," Liam leaned on the threshold, holding a tablet on his hands. How long had he been standing there?

The cat moved fast around the room, jumping up and down and I stared at her amazed. She only had three legs. "Someone found her down the road and brought it here. Nobody has claimed her, so now she lives here," Liam explained while I kneeled to try to touch her, but she didn't keep quiet. "I tried to move her to the house but she and Loki didn't get along."

"Loki is intimidating."

Liam laughed at that. "We had to take her back here for Loki's sake. She wouldn't stop jumping on him." I cracked up at that. Missy was out the door in the blink of an eye.

"I can understand why, though."

He licked his lips. "Are you ready for an adventure?" He walked closer and gave me a hand to stand up. His warm touch shot little tingles through my hand to the pit of my stomach.

"Where are we going?" my tone was soft, breathless, even.

His lips quirked, and those dimples made my heart flip. "You'll see."