๋ก๊ทธ์ธ๊ณต์
Chapter Twenty Two
์ต์ ์
๋ฐ์ดํธ:
2024-10-29 12:48:31
๊ด๋ จ ์ฑํฐ
Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty-threeJacobโIs the scheduling system glitching again?โ I ask Darla, walking up to the reception area with an iPad in my hand. โThere's nothing scheduled for me this weekend.โ Darla spins around in her chair, glasses down on the bridge of her nose. โDon't tell me you forgot.โ โForgot what?โ I ask with a slight wince. โYou're giving a presentation at the Michigan Horse Fair this weekend.โ Oh, shit. I knew I had a charity gala coming up but completely forgot about this weekendโs horse fair presentation. โThat's this weekend?โ โYep. You did already write up your presentation, didn't you?โ โI did.โ I let out an exasperated sigh. It's Thursday evening and we're about ready to close the clinic for the night. I've worked endlessly all day to catch up on my small animal appointments that I rescheduled over the last week. My two new hires are starting next week, so it should be smoother sailing from here on out. Though, I'm p
์ต์ ์
๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-10-29Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-fourJosieโGoodnight,โ I tell the horses as I close the barn doors for the night. Using the flashlight on my phone, I go around and double-check that the chicken coop is locked and that the gates are latched closed. Bowser, the cow, and the llamas are finishing the last bit of hay in the threshold to their run-in shelter.Stars twinkle above me, and a chorus of crickets and katydids fill the night. โRiley,โ I call looking out at the dark pasture. โCome on, buddy. It's time for bed.โ I make a kissing noise and wait for a beat listening for the jingling of his collar. I never had a dog that I could trust enough to let loose like this, and anytime I don't see Riley, I immediately assume he's wandered off and is lost. Only a few seconds later, I hear him. I narrow my eyes as I look through the dark. He comes bounding out of the pasture, ducking under the fence and running towards me at full speed. I cast my flashlight beam down and pet him, smiling as he wags his
์ต์ ์
๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-10-29Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty-fiveJacobGo fucking figure that the very first person I see when I step into the bar is Josie fucking Walker. She's sitting at a table on the completely opposite side of the room and yet our eyes still meet. I don't care if the annoyance is visible on my face.It's off-hours. I'm not her vet at the moment. โDr. Harris!โ a woman croons no sooner than the doors shut behind us. I take my eyes off Josie and see Lauren Wallace standing next to her sister, who takes her animals to the clinic to be treated. I only recently realized how much Lauren made Chloeโs life hell back when we were all in high school. Chloe has always felt like a sister to me and, now that she will soon be my sister-in-law, I feel all the more protective of her. โHello,โ I say flatly, side-eyeing Mason. He also shares the same protective nature over Chloe as I do. โAnd agent Harris,โ Lauren adds, looking at Mason. โCome on, Lauren,โ her sister says, giving her arm a
์ต์ ์
๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-10-29Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty-sixJosieโOf course not,โ I say through gritted teeth. I saw a random night out with Poppy going a million different ways, yet this is not an outcome I ever wouldโve expected. Sitting here, watching Poppy shamelessly flirt with anyone is awkward enough, but itโs made ten times worse when said person is Jacob fucking Harrisโs brother.And then letโs add the fact that Jacob is sitting right next to me. To be fair, he looks just as uncomfortable and annoyed with his brother as I do right now.Really, neither Poppy nor Mason are doing anything wrong. Theyโre both single and weโre at a bar on a Thursday night. Thatโs what normal adults do, right? I wouldnโt know. I havenโt attempted to date anyone since my last relationship ended in a restraining order. โYou guys are welcome to stay,โ I go on, trying to sound a little more convincing this time. โI feel bad eating in front of you, though.โโDonโt,โ Mason tells me. โWe were going to order food anyway.โ โGreat.โ I force a sm
์ต์ ์
๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-10-29Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-SevenJosieI jump, bumping into Jacob. He quickly opens the gate and ushers me inside, holding me close to him with one arm and swinging the gate closed with the other. The little picket fence that surrounds the house is only about three and a half feet tall and wonโt keep any wild predators out. The chances of a wolf coming down from Northern Michigan are slim, but not zero. I go from worrying about myself to being convinced that the llamas are dead nowโ consumed and partially digested inside this thingโs stomach.The wolf catches up to us and lunges, his paws land on top of the fence, his tail wagging.Wait, whatโฆ.?I let out the breath I was holding as I now realize itโs not a bloodthirsty wolf. Itโs a dog, happily wagging his tail in greeting. It looks like the large stray dog from a few days ago.โGunther!โ Jacob exclaims. Heโs still protectively holding me close to him, and itโs only then that I realize he put himself between me and the fence, going in the line
์ต์ ์
๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-10-29Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Twenty Eight
Chapter Twenty-eightJacobMaybe Mason was right.Itโs a jarring thought, one I donโt think Iโve ever had before. And itโs definitely not something Iโll admit to him. But Iโm starting to think that he might have had a point back when we went to the bar not that long ago. I just wrapped up giving my second presentation at the Michigan Horse Fair, and my Q&A session had almost as many questions about my personal life as it did questions about equine medicine. โDr. Harris!โ an attractive redheaded woman calls, hurrying from her spot in the audience. She goes around the podium, stopping just feet before me. The panel is over and everyone else is filtering out to get to the next presentation, grab food, or walk around and shop.โHi,โ I say, remembering her from her rather crass question of how my wife handled my long hours. She smiled when I told her I didnโt have a wife, and I swear sheโs undone a few of the buttons on her green plaid shirt. Sheโs attractive, probably just a year or so y
์ต์ ์
๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-10-29Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Twenty Nine
Chapter Twenty-nineJosieHow could I have been so stupid?I freeze, eyes meeting Jacobโs. It's bad enough that Jacob thinks I'm incompetent, so much so that he has to tell his vet friends about it, but it's downright embarrassing to come face-to-face with all of them after just hearing Jacobโs story.I whirl around, wanting to walk in the opposite direction as fast as I can. But my arms are full of items I've bought today, and I move so fast that I drop a bucket full of rainbow polo wraps. I bend over to pick them up and end up dropping a sample of senior feed on the ground along with it. Jacob rushes forward to help me.โJosie. Hi. IโฆI wasn't expecting to see you here today.โโObviously,โ I snap and set down the saddle pad I had folded over my arm.โListen,โ he starts and picks up one of the polos that came unwrapped as it fell out of the bucket.โSave it.โ I snatch the polo from his hands and shove it back in the bucket without wrapping it back up. โIt's been clear from the start
์ต์ ์
๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-10-29Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Thirty
Chapter ThirtyJacobI wake up Monday morning feeling just as exhausted as I was when I finally crashed into bed only five hours ago. I'm still drained from the weekendโSaturday felt like it was three days long instead of just one. Despite our best efforts, we were not able to save the mare. Putting down any animal is hard, and it's not something vets get used to. You just eventually learn to numb your emotions enough to survive. This mare was due to give birth in under a month, and her owner was an 11-year-old boy who stayed with her until the very end.Yesterday was another day filled with emergencies. It started with a horse who ran through a fence, getting big lacerations on her chest, and ended with another euthanasia of a cow who stepped over a low-hanging fence and got hit by a car. Iโm emotionally drained and haven't yet decided if going to the clinic is going to be a good or bad thing.And, despite everything thatโs happened since I left the horse fair on Saturday, I haven't
์ต์ ์
๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2024-10-29
์ต์ ์ฑํฐ
Bitter Loveย ย ย Epilogue
EpilogueJacobNew Yearโs EveโฆโDo you have it?โ Rory asks, eyes wide.โI regret telling you anything,โ I hiss, kicking her under the table.โYou needed to tell me so I could help,โ my sister counters and eyes Everly, whoโs about to burst with excitement. โDo you have it?โโYes,โ I whisper-yell back. โI didnโt set this whole thing up only to forget the ring.โ Weโre at Josieโs house, and a glistening blanket of fresh snow fell overnight, giving me a perfect excuse to go on a trail ride through the woods.Where Iโm going to propose to Josie.Iโve known sheโs the only one for me since the moment I first kissed her and not long after that everything became clear to me. We tried taking things slow, figuring out our lives together, but being apart is painful and any night I lay down to go to sleep and Josie isnโt next to me fills me with a sense of emptiness.I love the nights when Josie, Everly, and I sit around the living room, playing a game or watching a movie together. And getting up a
Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Forty Five
Chapter Forty-fiveJosieโAm I doing it right?โ I take a few quick steps forward, moving my hands above my head.โNo.โ Everly shakes her head. โThatโs not even close. Watch and follow me.โ She shows me the dance move again and I canโt for the life of me follow along. Iโm not very coordinated when it comes to any sort of dancing.Everly and I both laugh when I trip and almost fall, catching myself at the last minute on the pasture fence. Weโve been out here for the last half-hour or so filming videos for social media. Phoenix Horse Rescue and Rehab is official now, though weโre still waiting for our tax exemption paperwork to come back from the IRS. Louisa helped me file everything before she left two weeks ago, and while I read online that some charities got their paperwork back within weeks, itโs most likely going to take at least three months before we see anything.โJust watch, by the end of summer. Iโm going to be a TikTok dancing sensation.โEverly laughs a little too hard and th
Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Forty Four
Chapter Forty-fourJacobโIs everything okay with the horses?โ Crystal walks swiftly back to the desk in the barn. โI saw Josie leave in a hurry and she looked like she was holding back tears. Did we get blood work back already and it wasnโt good news?โFuck.I didnโt want to lie to her. I didnโt want to start something with anything less than total honesty. But nowโฆnow I think I ruined things before they had a chance to even blossom.Swallowing hard, I keep my face neutral. โNothing has changed since this morning with the horses.โโOh, good. That scared me. Did Josie just get emotional?โโYeah. She got upset,โ I say and Iโm telling the truth. I need to focus on my job, but my mind is blanking. It takes me a few seconds to get my brain working again, forcing myself to think about anything but Josie. โPongo can go for a walk and the thoroughbred can go in an outside run next to the gray mare. Put her out first and bring her in last. He was very buddy-sour at the auction and got upset w
Bitter Loveย ย ย Chatper Forty Three
Chapter Forty-threeJosieโTime for bed,โ I tell Everly, plucking the TV remote from her hands. โItโs late and you should have showered and packed your backpack for the morning already.โEverly goes to protest but yawns instead. Both Louisa and I see it, so she knows thereโs no point in arguing.โCan I borrow something from your closet?โ Ev asks as she starts up the stairs. โIโve worn everything I brought a million times already.โโYou havenโt been in school for a million days,โ I counter and turn my head as I sit on the couch. Iโm exhausted and ready to crash into bed myself. โBut yes, you can borrow something.โโThanks, Mom.โ Everly hurries up the stairs and I take a mini break on the couch. I lean back, letting my eyes fall shut. I can hear Louisa in the kitchen, struggling to get the cork out of a wine bottle. I only have an old-fashioned corkscrew here, not a fancy electronic one like she has at home.โHey, Mom,โ Everly calls from the top of the stairs.โYeah?โโWhy do you have D
Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Forty Two
Chapter Forty-twoJacobMy ringing phone stirs me from my sleep. Blinking my eyes open, I reach for it on my nightstand and then realize itโs not there, but in the pocket of my pants which I discarded on the floor. It hurts to pull myself away from Josie, whoโs still sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, I practically fall out of bed to grab my pants, dragging them over so I can get my phone from the pocket. Itโs an unknown number, and I send the call to voicemail. If itโs an emergency, theyโll be directed to a call center who will then, in turn, call me back. That number is one I do know, and Iโll answer.But itโs a holiday, for fuckโs sake. All I want to do is sleep next to Josie, feeling her small body against mine. The second before I flop back down, I look her over. She looks so fucking good in my bed. I want to wake up to this every damn morning. Her hair is messy, and she has pillow creases on one side of her face. Wanting to remember this moment, I scan my eyes over her again
Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Forty one
Chapter Forty-oneJosieI glance in the rearview mirror, gripping the steering wheel tightly. The roads are still wet from last nightโs storm, and there are branches and leaves scattered on the pavement. But, despite my nerves, my hopes are soaring high right now.Iโm on my way home with my first official personal rescuesโand my new thoroughbred is related to my childhood dream horse. If thatโs not fate, then I donโt know what is. I decided to name him Loki, continuing with Aunt Kimโs Norse God theme, and Everly wants to run an online contest for the rescueโs social media followers to name the gray mare.Weโre taking them, along with the three ponies Jacob is hauling, right to the clinic. He already talked to Crystal, who set up stalls. Theyโll stay there until we can be sure theyโre healthy and not contagious; though, Jacob told me not to be surprised if the mare needs to stay longer. Sheโs in rough shape and lacks the light in her eyes Pongo has, looking like sheโs completely given
Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Forty
Chapter FortyJacobA loud crack of thunder rattles the window, waking me up. Josie is still asleep in my arms, and it feels so fucking good to have her here with me like this. Itโs more than just thatโฆit feels so fucking right and I canโt explain it.The wind presses against the side of the motel, shaking the door. The worst of the storm was supposed to get here around midnight, and it seems like itโs right on schedule. We fell asleep with the bathroom light on, and it flicks off along with the rest of the power when another gust of wind blows. This time, Josie startles awake, sitting up a bit with a gasp.โItโs okay,โ I tell her. โThe power went out.โโOh. Right. Itโs storming.โ Her voice is thick with sleep, and she lays back down, resting her head on my chest. I tighten my grip on her and she hooks one leg over mine. I kiss her forehead, listening to the storm. Josie slides one hand across my chest, running her fingers up and down my arm until she falls asleep again.Iโm tired and
Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Thirty Nine
Chapter Thirty-nineJosieJacob holds my hands above my head, pinned against the door behind me. His lips press against mine and I stand there, too shocked to move, too stunned to react. In the back of my mind, a voice tells me to push him away, to tell him to stop.Because he still vexes me and Iโm not done being mad at him yet.But my willpower is gone, resolve chipping and crumbling at our feet. Why would I want him to stop when it feels this good, and each fleeting second that passes by makes it harder to forget just what I was so angry about in the first place.My eyes fall shut and I part my lips, kissing him back. Jacob lets go of my wrists, sliding his hands down my arms as he moves his mouth from my lips to my neck. I gasp, feeling heat flood my veins and my heart pounds in my chest.โJosie,โ he breathes, stepping in closer. His hands land on my waist and he grabs the hem of the scrub top in both fists, balling it up. โTell me to stop and I will.โ He brings his face back to m
Bitter Loveย ย ย Chapter Thirty eight
Chapter Thirty-eightJosieWell, shit.I step inside the room, wanting out of the rain. Jacob steps in right behind me, and weโre both thinking the same thing. Because there is only one full-size bed in this room, not two.โMaybe thatโs a pull-out couch.โ Jacob strides in, going right to the little sofa next to the bed. โNope. You take the bed, Iโll take the couch.โShivering, I take my coat off and hang it on the back of the door. My torso is dry, but the rest of me is soaking wet and Iโm freezing. โIโm smaller. I can sleep on the couch.โโItโs fine,โ Jacob presses. โIโve spent many nights on hay bales using horse sheets as blankets.โโIn comparison, the couch isnโt so bad.โ I set my purse and the little bag of supplies I bought from the motel office down on the small table, and then lean over to unzip my boots. I stepped in a puddle on my way into the office and just one sock is soaked, which annoys me more than having them both being wet. โDo you mind if I turn the heat up?โโNo, g
