Like Cats and Dogs by Kate McMurray (scary books to read TXT) 📗

the puzzle of diagnosing problems. A vet’s knowledge of medicine has to be even broader than a human doctor’s because anatomy varies so much between animals. I also have to have knowledge of what each species or breed’s common issues are. Like, rabbits have sensitive stomachs, bulldogs tend to have respiratory issues, beagles get epilepsy, cats get UTIs. That kind of thing. And I love all that stuff, love studying the whys and hows of it.” Caleb sighed. “I have to remind myself of that sometimes.”

“Why is that?”

“I think I’ve just been going through the motions since the divorce. I have always put distance between myself and my patients to an extent because getting attached just leads to heartbreak. But it’s like there’s a wall between me and the rest of the world. It’s one of my own making, no doubt, but… I guess I didn’t realize how much I was cutting myself off.”

Lauren didn’t want to cheapen the moment by making a joke, because she appreciated that Caleb was sharing this much of himself. She could hear the frustration in his voice. She slid a hand across his chest and gave him a little hug. When he sighed, she kissed him softly.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“Be careful. You start talking about yourself in that way and I may start to like you.”

He lay back down on the back. “You’re a weirdo. I tell you I’ve become a jerk, and you’re like, ‘Mmm, give me more.’”

“No, what I heard you say is you’ve been a jerk, but you don’t want to be. You’re being smart and introspective. You went through something really difficult and you’re still dealing with the aftermath, but it sounds to me like you’re coming out the other side. I appreciate your honesty. It’s almost admirable.”

He cracked a smile. “Almost?”

“If I compliment you too much, it will just go to your head.”

He rolled his eyes. “Here I am, sharing with you, pouring my heart out, and you mock me?”

Lauren ran her hand across his strong chest. She kissed his chin. “I’m not mocking you. I’m…providing comic relief after a serious moment.”

“Right, of course,” he said, but he smiled.

Lauren couldn’t help but wonder what he must have been like before the divorce. Had he been happier? Less grouchy? Had he been idealistic, hopeful, nice?

Would she have liked him then?

Probably. A man as sexy as Caleb with a pleasant disposition to match? That sounded like Lauren’s dream man. Of course, he’d been married back then.

And, well, despite his grouchiness, Lauren kinda liked the man he was now. She smiled at him, probably looking silly, but Caleb reached up a hand and ran it through her hair, meeting her gaze and continuing to smile.

If her friends could see the way she and Caleb were grinning at each other now, they wouldn’t believe it. And that was fine; she didn’t need to tell them yet.

***

Hank nearly pulled Caleb’s arm out of the socket as he pulled him down the street. Caleb had decided to go for a long walk to clear his head. In the short time he’d lived in this neighborhood, he hadn’t explored it much, and having Hank lead him around was a decent excuse.

Hank was a huge dog. He was dumb and friendly but still kind of a beast. Labs were sometimes susceptible to obesity, but that wasn’t really the case here. Hank wasn’t fat, just large for a dog, close to a hundred pounds. So he could put some good force on the leash. Caleb worried he’d have little choice in where they went today.

But when they got up to Montague Street in the heart of Brooklyn Heights, Hank seemed more interested in sniffing everything. Montague was bustling at this time of day, people popping in and out of the various businesses and restaurants. It was charming, in a way, the nineteenth-century brownstones juxtaposed with the brightly lit signs of the modern stores that lined the street. The short, narrow streets of Brooklyn Heights almost reminded Caleb of a much smaller town, like a little village tucked into the wider city.

Caleb’s attitude toward New York City since he’d moved here had been “Why not?” It hadn’t been his first choice; he’d mostly just tagged along with Kara. He was still getting his bearings, not used to the tempo or size of the city. Boston had been just as expensive but felt more compact. Here, it could take an hour or more to get to some parts of the city, the subway ran all night, and he could get nearly anything his heart desired delivered almost instantly. He’d picked Brooklyn Heights on the recommendation of a vet school buddy, and it was a very nice neighborhood, but he didn’t know much about it besides that it was expensive and looked to be full of Old Money.

He let Hank lead him toward the end of Montague Street, which Caleb knew must have terminated near the river. He’d been in the neighborhood for such a short amount of time, though, that the sign pointing toward the promenade surprised him. He had a vague understanding of the neighborhood’s geography from looking at maps, but he hadn’t ever walked to this section of it.

This end of Montague was gorgeous. Old brownstones were largely left unchanged by a century of progress. Caleb could easily picture what this neighborhood must have looked like at the end of the nineteenth century, with women bustling about on their errands wearing voluminous skirts instead of jeans, with men in hats and suits instead of T-shirts. This pocket of Brooklyn was out of time, perhaps. And just ahead, Caleb could see a slice of the East River.

“Want to check it out, Hank?”

Hank barked and happily let his tongue loll out of his mouth.

Caleb laughed and said, “All right. Come on, buddy.”

There was a short walkway, and then, suddenly, the scenery stole Caleb’s breath.

The promenade was a long esplanade that overlooked the East River and lower Manhattan. Caleb