Free Rescue (Emily and Mason) by Nadene Seiters Page A

feel better about the situation. Gail has a frustrated look on
her face as she does this one, giving me a sidelong glance.
    “I’ll hold the next one,” I tell Taylor as he puts away the
tabby. Gail won’t meet my gaze after I verbally stand up to the boss, my
shoulders squared. Taylor seems relieved that I offered and points at a cage
full of kittens.
    “They all need their first shots, good luck.” An adult cat
is bad enough. Little kittens that still are a bit wild because they were barn
cats are worse. I hold my breath as they all hiss at me from the back of the
cage.
    I decide to do it like I did with Baby, dive right in and
expect to get bit the first time. I still have a bandage on my thigh from that
incident. I’m never going to tell Emily about that, she would be upset about it,
and it was something that needed to happen for me and Baby to understand each
other. Now I know why she doesn’t want to report every small dog bite. It’s not
like Baby lunged at my throat and pinned me to the ground. She was afraid.
    I reach my hand in and grab the first kitten I can, a small
gray one with bright blue eyes. The eyes are wide as I gently scruff it and pet
the top of its head as I bring it over to the table. Gail puts the needle in
quickly without a hitch, and within fifteen minutes, we have seven kittens with
their first shots. Taylor looks a little miffed over by the door and eventually
slips out, leaving us the list of cats that need shots.
    “Wow, why did he get involved in an animal shelter when he
can’t handle a few cats?” I ask Gail quietly, not needing to scruff the next
one. He’s so fat I doubt he feels the pinch of the needle on his hind end.
    “I don’t know, but I try to avoid having him come in here at
all costs. He’s fine when they’re in an emergency situation, but when it comes
to understanding them he lacks in that area. He’s a good man, just rough
sometimes.” I’m shocked that Gail adds that last part and wonder if she isn’t
blinded a little by his good looks. Then I really think about it. Taylor is a good
man, and he is rough around the edges. Maybe that’s why I bristle when he gets
around Emily.
    I wouldn’t worry if there was no reason to worry. Perhaps
he’s counting down the time until Emily’s eighteenth birthday to ask her out on
a date. It’s in another three weeks. I managed to get into his file a few days
ago to see exactly how old Mr. Warren is, and he’s not old enough to warrant
being called Mr. Taylor Warren. He is only twenty four years old, four years
older than me.
    I also took the liberty of looking into Gail’s file, and
found that she is thirty one years old. Which means that her boss is younger
than her, I wonder if that gets under her skin sometimes? I also wonder how
Taylor Warren got the position as head veterinarian here without so much as an
ounce of time anywhere else. He must know the person who owns this place, very
well.
    Those were the only two people I was really interested in,
and I know from the fact that Jesse talks to me almost nonstop when she finds
me that she’s twenty two. Her birthday is in three days. If she reminds me one
more time, I’m going to get her a muzzle for her birthday. It seems that her
efforts at having Taylor notice her have gone unrewarded, leaving her high and
dry.
    Gail and I finish up with the last cat and flip up the chart
in the manila folder to see who’s next. We’re off to the dog kennel it looks
like, and I see Baby’s name on that list. When her eyes reach the name her
cheeks puff out with a held breath, and she lets it out slowly, her eyes
narrowing.
    “Don’t worry about it, she’s really doing great. I’ll be
able to handle it,” I tell Gail, taking the envelope from her. We make our way
to the dog room, and I almost roll my eyes when I see Taylor speaking with
Emily. He has a hand out as if he’s going to touch her arm, but I can tell by
the stiff way she’s holding herself that Emily