Page 23 of Clearly Charmed

‘Nice work. What about the other thing?’ I prompted, knowing she and Jessa would never tell me if I didn’t ask. They both gave me what looked like an orchestrated shrug.

‘Ladies,’ I pushed.

‘Fine,’ Bree grumbled. ‘That couple from Silverton, and the older woman from Longmont, might have been whispering about looking for pentagrams and spell books on the shelves in the waiting area.’

I groaned and dropped my head in my hands.

‘Everyone else was nice and normal,’ Jessa offered way too brightly.

‘See, not everyone thinks you’re going to hex them. Although maybe you should consider that option with Normie.’ Bree gave me a grin that fell somewhere between amused and serious.

Jessa tucked a loose blond hair behind her ear and glanced at Bree. If I didn’t know them so well, I would have missed the slight hint of tension.

‘And what else? May as well spill it all.’

‘I noticed some supplies were moved around, and that blanket you like to use after anesthesia was on the floor in Exam Room One,’ Bree said.

‘I was going to tell you about that.’

Bree set her chin, waiting for an explanation.

I glanced at the reception desk, remembering my body pressed against it. Bryce’s mouth hot against my neck. A zip of heat raced through me. Crap. I hoped that didn’t happen every time I looked at the damn desk.

Bree cleared her throat. Crossed her arms over her chest. She got all kinds of squirrely when I brought in emergency cases on my own without any kind of backup. Thanks to town gossip, she and Jessa knew about my special touch with animals. How people often reacted to me, which made them overly protective.

‘On the Elderberry Ridge trail two days ago I met a guy.’

A pleased smile bloomed across Jessa’s lips.

‘No, not like that.’

Well, okay, he was hot. Clear blue eyes that reminded me of the lake in the peak of summer. Toned arms that were more than a little distracting. He was a good kisser, too. Had an instinctual way of putting his hands in all the right places. Too bad he was also a damn liar.

‘His dog was off leash.’

Bree cursed under her breath. More than a few times, we’d had to stitch up dogs who’d gotten an angry slash from a bear, because they were roaming the woods without supervision.

‘The dog sat on my feet, and I knew something was wrong. The owner came barreling out of the woods a little while later, and I told him to keep an eye on his dog, that he could be ill, which, of course, he took as all kinds of weird.’

‘That doesn’t explain the emergency,’ Bree pressed.

‘The dog grew sicker. The man, Bryce, he found out I was at Clo’s and brought the dog to me there. I checked him over. He was in bad shape, so I told the owner to follow me here.’

Jessa shifted in her chair, her eyes clouding with worry. ‘How did he know about Clo’s? Better yet, how did he know you’d be there?’

‘Fucking Mo,’ Bree spat out.

I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t thrilled with Mo’s need to push the magical lore around town.

‘What was wrong with the dog?’ Jessa asked.

‘Marijuana poisoning.’

‘He let his dog ingest that shit? What an idiot,’ Bree said.

‘It wasn’t his fault. The dog must have found it somewhere on the trail. You know how the high school kids love to hike up to the ridge at night and get high.’

Jessa’s lower lip quivered. ‘Is the dog okay?’