Not Your Ex's Hexes (Supernatural Singles, #2)(26)
The adults all looked to the older teen.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear some of it. I have about three. They’re not the newest models or anything, but they work.”
“Then why were you about to get rid of them?” Damian asked.
Terrance flashed him a duh look. “Because they’re not the newest models. I could even help you set them up. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Rose clapped her hands excitedly. “Three is a great start, and until we raise funds for more, we can rotate them depending on what’s happening that day. Like, we can mount one on the fence when the horses are in the pasture for the day, and keep one in the barn. Maybe the treatment room.”
Rose glanced to a too-quiet Damian who still hadn’t taken his eyes away from the giraffe feed. “Well? What’s the verdict, doc?”
“I’ll think about it.” Damian’s voice sounded resigned. “About as long as I’ll think about firing people if they don’t get to work. Let’s move it. Terrance, with me.”
The teen and Damian strutted out of the office, taking her rising excitement with them.
Miguel’s hand landed on her shoulder in a supportive squeeze. “This is an amazing idea, Rose.”
Her own smile wavered. “I’m not so sure Damian thinks so.”
“He does, or at the very least, he will because even he can’t deny it’s a good idea. He’s gotten so used to hiding in the shadows that the idea of stepping out into the sun—or the public—makes him a bit uncomfortable.”
“That I definitely understand.” But being born into the Maxwell family—and the second sister in a Magical Triad—she hadn’t had much choice in being in the public eye. “So you think he’ll eventually warm up to the idea?”
“Depends on how warm you’re talking about.” Miguel’s chuckle had her smothering her own slight giggle. “Give him time. There’s a reason why he became a doctor of four-legged creatures and not two-legged ones. He loves animals, yes, but he loves avoiding people more.”
Being the sister of two of the world’s biggest introverts, Rose understood the draw of a life out of the spotlight, but she couldn’t help wondering if there was more behind Damian’s story than not wanting to deal with people.
Not a complete shut-in, he’d befriended both Linc and Adrian in college, and had quickly found a way into the inner circle of their Supernatural friend squad. And it was obvious he cared about Miguel and Terrance a lot, checking on them both throughout the day.
Damian Adams cared.
He just didn’t want anyone knowing it.
* * *
Blood tests. Physical exams. Avoiding a kick in the head by a temperamental stallion with wickedly accurate aim. Add in a few drop-in patients and a surprise surgery to remove a knotted mess of gift-wrap ribbon from a goldendoodle’s stomach, and Damian was more than ready to shower off the day’s hay dust and grime and call it a day.
Rose surprised him at every turn, from her work ethic to the way she calmed Jasper without so much as a flicker of Magic. She hadn’t muttered a single complaint despite being given the dirtiest jobs at the sanctuary, and once she’d finished her own assigned tasks, she often snuck off to help Miguel or Terrance with theirs.
Damian made his last rounds, turning off lights around the barn before seeing that Rose’s car still sat outside. He’d assumed she’d escaped at the same time as the others but realized otherwise as he followed a soft melodic murmur to Bella’s birthing stall.
Rose sat in the hay, the pittie’s head nestled in her lap as she stroked her fingers around the pooch’s ears, humming something that suspiciously sounded like a monster ballad from the early nineties. She lifted the small water dish to the dog’s muzzle in a gentle offering of fluids, and surprisingly, Bella’s pink tongue flicked out, lapping it once, then twice.
“If she doesn’t make a drastic turnaround, I’ll have to start another IV on her tomorrow.” Damian announced his presence.
Rose barely startled. Still stroking Bella’s head, her golden gaze flickered up to meet his. “Was she sick before she delivered her puppies, or after?”
“She had a few minor issues beforehand, but all of this started the second she realized her pups were gone.”
Rose nodded sadly, her fingers rubbing Bella’s ear. “She’s grieving … and there’s no one to take care of her?”
“In her condition, not anyone could. She eats and drinks enough to keep her organs from shutting down, but in the last day or so it’s almost like she’s given up.”
Rose cupped water in her hand and held it up to Bella’s muzzle. Big brown eyes looked up at the witch before she flicked her tongue out once and then closed her eyes, her head settling deeper into Rose’s lap.
First Jasper, and now Bella seemed to be under Rose’s thrall, and he couldn’t blame them. Something about her even calmed his inner demon, and that scared the hell out of him. Had him thinking things he had no business thinking.
Like a repeat performance of their backroom interlude wasn’t such a bad idea.
Never mind he had his no-repeat rule for a reason. Repeats led to the risk of attachment, or at the very least, expectations. His and Rose’s one and only time together had already filled him with both of those, and in addition, wondering how much better it would get if they had time, a horizontal surface, and all their clothes off.