around it was red and raw.
She clutched the sink and stared into the cracked and dirty mirror. The foundation covering the purple bruises around her eye and on her cheek was wearing off. The bruises, too, would heal in time. Her heart and mind would take longer.
“Brooklyn Pate.” She spoke with conviction. The name, the tone…it was all a lie.
Chapter 2
Gabe Love ran his hands down the chocolate lab’s fur and closed his eyes, listening to the thoughts in the room. This was why he’d chosen to be a vet and not work in a hospital with the patients’ constant cries. Vern’s thoughts were quiet but pleading. Fix him. Fix him. I can’t lose him too.
Melanie, Gabe’s assistant, had her own thoughts that were drowning out Vern’s. We’re going to be here all night. I hope Brad doesn’t cancel. He’s going to love my sexy new lingerie.
Gabe shook his head and gave his assistant a pointed stare. “Go home. I’ve got this.”
“Really?” Her eyes lit up, thankful. Her cheeks tinted pink.
“Go.” He gestured with his head.
He could feel the dog’s heartbeat and the blood as it flowed through its veins. If others knew what he could do, they’d make it a point to avoid him like the plague. The residents of the island were none the wiser to his ability, and he’d quietly kept it that way all his life. His brother and sister would tease that he was like a Peeping Tom of the mind, but they weren’t even close. Unlike Reed, and the boxes of information he saw, Gabe could tune his out if he concentrated hard enough. The personal thoughts of the people around him varied in intensity, and most were either content or confused. It made him good at his job, and a freak just the same.
He opened his eyes and gentled his touch, coming up to the problem area. The dog whined when Gabe got close. His tail wagged, flapping against the metal table. “You were chasing that husky again, weren’t you, Bruiser? One day you’ll learn you aren’t a little puppy anymore.”
“That’s what I keep telling him, Doc,” Vern Thomas said, rubbing a soothing motion over Bruiser’s back. “He’s a horn dog.”
“We’ll get him patched up.”
The wrinkles around Vern’s eyes softened. “Thanks, Doc. You know…my niece, Scarlet, is moving back to town next month. She’s single again, and she’s grown up into a beautiful woman, successful and everything.”
Scarlet Thomas. The wallflower with her nose always buried in a book. Gabe remembered Jackson and himself pulling her ponytails a time or two in the fourth grade when she’d come to their house to play with Alexis. Jackson was head over heels when Scarlet turned into a teen and he’d seen her for the first time with hormones running amuck through his veins.
“I remember Scarlet.” He smiled as he wrapped the dog’s leg with a bandage. “Jackson had a thing for her growing up.”
“He did?” he asked, surprised.
“He did,” Gabe said. “Come to think about it, I think he asked her out a time or two and they went on one date. She thought he was only asking to be mean since he hung with the popular crowd.”
“Your brother was full of piss and vinegar when he was younger. You were too.”
“We got older, and we grew up.” He smiled while running his hand over Bruiser’s other legs just to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. “Look at Alexis. Now that girl was hell on wheels, and here she is getting married in a couple months, to the fire chief no less.”
Pity, I didn’t see Jackson first. Maybe he could’ve helped Scarlet get over her ex. Gabe held in his grin. Vern’s thoughts were loud and clear.
“I’ll have to let Jackson know she’s coming back.”
“You do that, dear.” Vern’s grandmotherly smile was sincere.
Gabe carried the dog to Vern’s car and put him in the backseat. “He’s going to be sore and out of sorts while he heals, but you can call me or bring him back in if you’re
She clutched the sink and stared into the cracked and dirty mirror. The foundation covering the purple bruises around her eye and on her cheek was wearing off. The bruises, too, would heal in time. Her heart and mind would take longer.
“Brooklyn Pate.” She spoke with conviction. The name, the tone…it was all a lie.
Chapter 2
Gabe Love ran his hands down the chocolate lab’s fur and closed his eyes, listening to the thoughts in the room. This was why he’d chosen to be a vet and not work in a hospital with the patients’ constant cries. Vern’s thoughts were quiet but pleading. Fix him. Fix him. I can’t lose him too.
Melanie, Gabe’s assistant, had her own thoughts that were drowning out Vern’s. We’re going to be here all night. I hope Brad doesn’t cancel. He’s going to love my sexy new lingerie.
Gabe shook his head and gave his assistant a pointed stare. “Go home. I’ve got this.”
“Really?” Her eyes lit up, thankful. Her cheeks tinted pink.
“Go.” He gestured with his head.
He could feel the dog’s heartbeat and the blood as it flowed through its veins. If others knew what he could do, they’d make it a point to avoid him like the plague. The residents of the island were none the wiser to his ability, and he’d quietly kept it that way all his life. His brother and sister would tease that he was like a Peeping Tom of the mind, but they weren’t even close. Unlike Reed, and the boxes of information he saw, Gabe could tune his out if he concentrated hard enough. The personal thoughts of the people around him varied in intensity, and most were either content or confused. It made him good at his job, and a freak just the same.
He opened his eyes and gentled his touch, coming up to the problem area. The dog whined when Gabe got close. His tail wagged, flapping against the metal table. “You were chasing that husky again, weren’t you, Bruiser? One day you’ll learn you aren’t a little puppy anymore.”
“That’s what I keep telling him, Doc,” Vern Thomas said, rubbing a soothing motion over Bruiser’s back. “He’s a horn dog.”
“We’ll get him patched up.”
The wrinkles around Vern’s eyes softened. “Thanks, Doc. You know…my niece, Scarlet, is moving back to town next month. She’s single again, and she’s grown up into a beautiful woman, successful and everything.”
Scarlet Thomas. The wallflower with her nose always buried in a book. Gabe remembered Jackson and himself pulling her ponytails a time or two in the fourth grade when she’d come to their house to play with Alexis. Jackson was head over heels when Scarlet turned into a teen and he’d seen her for the first time with hormones running amuck through his veins.
“I remember Scarlet.” He smiled as he wrapped the dog’s leg with a bandage. “Jackson had a thing for her growing up.”
“He did?” he asked, surprised.
“He did,” Gabe said. “Come to think about it, I think he asked her out a time or two and they went on one date. She thought he was only asking to be mean since he hung with the popular crowd.”
“Your brother was full of piss and vinegar when he was younger. You were too.”
“We got older, and we grew up.” He smiled while running his hand over Bruiser’s other legs just to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. “Look at Alexis. Now that girl was hell on wheels, and here she is getting married in a couple months, to the fire chief no less.”
Pity, I didn’t see Jackson first. Maybe he could’ve helped Scarlet get over her ex. Gabe held in his grin. Vern’s thoughts were loud and clear.
“I’ll have to let Jackson know she’s coming back.”
“You do that, dear.” Vern’s grandmotherly smile was sincere.
Gabe carried the dog to Vern’s car and put him in the backseat. “He’s going to be sore and out of sorts while he heals, but you can call me or bring him back in if you’re
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