Unfortunately, Mr. Arnold was right about his dog. He had several broken bones and internal bleeding. It would cost a lot of money to try and save him, and chances were, with his age, he still wouldn’t survive. I left them to say their goodbyes, then went to the back to euthanize him. Buster’s eyes closed, his breathing and heart rate slowed, then he was gone.

Tears pooled in my eyes as I tore off my gloves and went to the front. “Amy can you please finish up for me. I think I’m going to get out of here for the day. I have a lot on my mind, and that didn’t help matters.”

“Of course, honey,” she replies as I push out of the door.

I climb behind the wheels and drive. I don’t know where I’m going, only that I need to get away, have some alone time.

I drive for miles down every back road I can find. Suddenly, I remember that I forgot to call and set up the interview. I already had a vet in mind from the stack of applications I had gone through. That way if Liam asked for my opinion, I would be able to tell him which one I would choose for myself.

I pull to the side of the road and open my email on my phone. Scrolling through, I find the email I had sent to Liam months ago. I go through it and find the name I’m looking for; Dillon West.

Tapping on his number, the phone dials.

“Hello?” he answers.

“Hello, this is Vesper Lawrence. Is this Dillon West?”

“Yes, how are you, Vesper?”

“I’m great, thanks for asking. I know it’s been a while since you submitted your application, but I was wondering if you were still interested in the job at The O’Connor Ranch?”

“Yes! I would love to,” he replies.

“Great. Would you like to set up a time for your interview?”

He agrees, and I set it up, texting the information to Liam. I shift back into drive and head home, wanting to take a long, hot shower to forget all about this day. In fact, I think I might make a whole day out of it. I’ll lounge on the couch, watch tv, eat junk food, and drink until I forget all about Liam’s weird behavior and Buster.

It’s going on eight p.m. when Liam walks through the door, completely unannounced.

I’ve been drinking wine most of the day. To say I’m a little buzzed is an understatement.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were coming by.”

“I didn’t either. I was planning on calling you, but I figured this conversation is better in person.” He sits down on the couch beside me.

“Oh.” I push myself up into an upright position. “What’s up?”

“Why didn’t you tell Tyler about us?”

I shrug. “It’s none of his business.”

“Why haven’t you invited me to meet your parents?”

My face scrunches together. “You can meet them if you want?” I say, but it sounds like a question.

“Yeah?” he challenges, his brows pulling together. “How would you introduce me?”

That’s what this is about. A label. “I don’t know. How would you want me to introduce you?”

He lets out a deep breath, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees and holding his head in his hands. “What I am to you, Vesper?”

I hold up my hand but let it fall back into my lap. “You’re Liam. My friend, currently my boss since I’m taking care of Lucy. And… we have fun together.”

“And by have fun, you mean what exactly?”

“You know. We hook up or whatever you want to call it?”

“Damn it, Vesper!” He stands, pacing back and forth. And all I can do is watch him.

“We’ve been together exclusively for months. And you still think all we are, is fuck buddies?”

“I… I…”

He scoffs and shakes his head. “I want more with you, Ves. Why do you think I asked you to move in?”

My heart is pounding in my chest as I watch him pace back and forth. “I don’t know. It came as a surprise to me. I thought we were just having fun. I told you that I didn’t want anything serious months ago!” I stand up, a little light headed from all the wine.

“I told you I wanted you by my side every single day. I love you, Vesper. And I want to move forward. I want a real relationship with you. I want to meet your family. I want to be called your boyfriend until the day I slip that engagement ring onto your finger.”

Whoa! Engagement rings? How did we get to this? My heart hammers faster than it ever has before and my head now feels like it’s completely detached from my body, like it’s a balloon floating up to the ceiling. My stomach tightens into a knot, and I need to sit back down.

“Liam, I…” I shake my head.

“If you can’t give me all of yourself, we can’t keep doing this. Every day, I fall more in love with you, and you can’t even call me your boyfriend?” Anger is rolling off him in strong waves, and each of those waves are drowning me.

“I just…”

“What?” His voice is deep and rough.

“I just need some time. Please. Let me think about all of this.”

He nods. “You do that, Ves.” Without another word, he storms out, slamming the door behind him.

I’m stuck in a place, wondering how in the hell did we get here. Yesterday, we were happy and together. There wasn’t any threat of a life changing decision hanging over my head. Now, it feels like it’s time to choose. I don’t want a relationship. I want to keep my time open, so I can dedicate all the time I need to my clinic and work on expanding the business. I didn’t plan on doing the whole relationship, love, marriage thing until much later—when my business was growing and standing on its own.

If I do this with Liam now, will it take me away from my dreams? Am I okay with that, if it does? What do I want more, love or my dream?

I feel like stomping my foot. I want both. I just want one before the other. Why can’t he understand that? Why can’t he be okay with doing what we’re doing now, until everything is in place like I’ve always planned it?

Tonight, is not the night to decide. I’ve had a shitty day. I’m drunk, and I’m in desperate need of sleep. I push all my thoughts aside, lock up, and go to bed where I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When I wake up in the morning, I feel even more tired than I did before I went to sleep. My head is pounding, and my eyes are sensitive to light. I hold my hand in front of them as I stumble to the bathroom, hoping a hot shower will make me feel better.

When I step out, I find Amy in my apartment. I pull on my robe and sit on the couch next to her.

“What’s up with you today?”

I let out a long breath. “Liam. He wants a relationship. A real relationship.”

“That’s great, Ves!”

I look up at her. “Is it?”

“Isn’t it?” she replies.

“No. I’m not ready. I have my life planned out. I was going to open my clinic, find some steady ground to stand on, then work toward expanding. Love comes after all of that. And now, here he is, confessing his love for me and forcing me to make a decision.”

She looks over at me with kind eyes. “You can’t plan everything, Ves. No matter how hard you try.”

“I know,” I mumble.

“Do you want to be with him?”

I nod. “I do, I just want a chance at achieving my dream first.”

“He can’t sit around and wait for you to be ready.”

“I know that.” I lean my head back, looking up at the ceiling.

“Why can’t you see yourself achieving your dream with him by your side?”

I look over at her, and open my mouth, but I don’t have an answer.

Over the past week, I’ve picked up my phone several times to call Liam, but every time I see his name on the screen, I chicken out and hang up. He hasn’t called, texted, or come by. He’s giving me space to make the decision. And even though talking with Amy has put some things into perspective, I still have no idea about what I’m going to do. It almost seems easier to forget about it and ignore the fact that if I don’t decide soon, I’ll lose him whether I want to or not.

I stay late at work, cleaning up, paying some bills, and going through the applications. I decided that if I want to expand and grow, that needs to start happening now. The practice is making a little more money each week, and I finally have enough in the budget to hire another vet and someone to fill in for Amy—someone to book appointments, answer phones, and help to clean up around here.

Amy peeks into my office. “Hey, what are you still doing back here?” she asks, walking in and sitting down across from me.

I lean back in my seat and push my strawberry-blonde hair away from my face. “Just working… thinking.” I meet her eyes. “I think I’m going to focus on the clinic and let things with Liam calm down. It’s just not the time.” I shake my head.

“Really?” she asks, arching her brows.

I shrug. “I mean, what are the chances of it working out anyway? He will get bored with me and move on. Then I’ll be stuck trying to salvage what’s left of this place while picking up the pieces of my broken heart. I’ve worked very hard at keeping myself in check these last few months, and this last week, not seeing him has hurt. I’m not going to lie. If it hurts already, it will only be worse in the future.”

She leans forward, holding onto the arms of her chair. “This is your decision, Ves. So, I’m only going to say this once and we’ll never speak of it again.” Her eyes are wide, waiting for me to agree.

I swallow down my fear and nod her on.

“Liam loves you. I know you have this image of him in your head where he’s a playboy and fucking different women every weekend, but that’s not him. And you shouldn’t punish him for the way you’re labeling him. He wants you. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have hung around this long. And as far as this place goes.” She motions around the room. “It’s not going anywhere. It’s just a small part of your life. You need balance, not just work. You need to be able to go home at night and feel like all your hard work has added to something. I mean, what’s the point in having all of this, if you have nobody to share it with?”

I groan and rest my head on the desk.

“Whatever you choose, you need to do it soon. I ran into Tyler in the town and he said that Liam was packing up and going back to California.”

My head pops up. “What? Why? When did you see him? How long ago?”

She smiles wide because she knows that I’m not ready to end things. She knew even when I didn’t. “I just saw him at the gas station when I went on break, a couple of hours ago. He said that Liam’s been acting strange this past week and that he finally decided that the ranch isn’t where he needs to be. He said he’s leaving this evening.”

I push away from my desk, grabbing my coat, purse, and keys. “I have to go. Can you lock up?”

“You know it.” She smiles wide, excitement shining in her eyes.

I rush out the door and into the cold night. It’s been snowing for hours now and my SUV is covered in a thick blanket of snow. I climb behind the wheels and twist the key, blasting the defrost. Grabbing the ice-scraper, I jump out and work on getting the snow off the windows. The night is cold and dark. Not a star in the sky because of the gray, low-hanging clouds. The air around me is crisp and sharp, cutting through me and hauling my breath.

By the time I get back into the car, my fingertips are numb, and my nose is frozen and running, but I don’t have time to think about how cold I am. I have to catch Liam. I have to tell him that I’m sorry, that I can have him and my dream. I was stupid for not seeing it before. It’s only now that I know he’s leaving that it all makes sense.

I back out of my parking spot, praying that I catch him in time.

The roads are slick and icy as the snow falling doubles its pace. It’s mesmerizing to watch it swirl and dance in front of my headlights. As hard as I try to focus on the road, I’m lost in my thoughts, my mistakes, and my prayers to catch him. I don’t even notice when my tires cross the line on the road.

A loud honk jars me from my thoughts. Bright headlights blind me. I hear a scream and realize its mine as my car flips and spins. The sound of twisting medal is all I can hear, as glass shatters and rains down on me. Then, blackness.