Page 61 of Refurbished

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaady!!!!” She was off like a shot, Barnaby jogging along behind her. “Can I go away with Mr. Eion?”

Both brothers turned and looked at me. “What?”

That sounded really bad. “Oh, no, no, no. That is not what I asked. I said I would ask East if she could come see the animals at the Sanctuary. Which would include all of you.”

“Really?” East and West looked as excited as Allison.

“Yes. Of course. You are family, well, Angus’s family, but—“ I realized I was making huge assumptions here. Never had I considered letting people into my space, and I was inviting them as if it were completely normal. They would be the first visitors I had who weren’t there by necessity, but because I wanted them there.

“That’s so cool. Angus said you didn’t let people on the property.” Angus was right, but things had changed. East explained to Allison that we would schedule a time for them to go visit, which satisfied her, and she went to have her tea party. I found myself in conversation with Tyler, West’s husband. He owned a flower shop, but mostly handled large events. I had no idea how he managed to deal with something so grand all the time. Once a year already felt like too much.

“Wait, you did the flowers for the Sanctuary fundraiser, the ones with the giraffe in them?”

“I did. They are one of my favorites because they had a plant theme, instead of only flowers. All of those went to people’s homes, too.”

“Wow. I didn’t know that.”

“There was a drawing guests could enter. Those who got picked had their plant delivered the next day.”

“That’s great marketing. I hope you included your company name on everything.”

He smirked and nudged my shoulder. “Maybe a few places, but this was about the Sanctuary. Some people put donations in the fish bowl. I think it ended up being about ten thousand dollars. West will include it in the bars’ monthly donation.”

“You’re shitting me?” He laughed.

“Mrs. MacGregor knows some very wealthy people. They can’t do anything without offering cash.”

I laughed. “So true. She’s an amazing human.”

“We do a lot of work together, and I couldn’t agree more.” His smile was nice, and like all the people Angus called family, I understood why they were so important to him.

After using the restroom, I searched for my man. In what I assumed was a dining room, I heard Angus’ voice and headed that way. As pathetic as it was, I had been away from him for nearly an hour and needed my fix. That made me chuckle. I never expected to be in so deep. As I walked his way, I could hear him talking. “West, I can’t make this permanent because he is incomplete. It would never work.” I stopped. I knew eavesdropping was absolutely wrong, but what I heard sounded like he was talking about me.

“I understand, but isn’t there something you can do? He is a good guy. He deserves to have a great future.”

Angus sighed. “It guts me, West. We knew this could be a possibility, and I don’t want to tell him.”

Barnaby was sitting on the couch with Allison, watching TV. I turned on my heel. “Let’s go.” I left through the front door, with Barnaby next to me. I slipped his harness on while I moved down the sidewalk and called an Uber.

I wasn’t going to cry until I was home. Shit. He was at my home. This man, who claimed he loved me. Claimed he wanted a future with me, was going to throw me away for the same reason Trey had. I wasn’t complete, so I wasn’t worth keeping. As soon as I was a block from the Sanctuary, I gave up the fight, and the tears started to come hard. This was worse than before because my feelings for Angus were so much more intense. I thought he loved me completely; even with my amputation, he said I was enough. He had looked me in the eye and told me that, and now I know he lied to me, and it hurt.

I don’t get why he did it. Some sort of revenge for his past?

My Sanctuary was the one place that was not only a place for animals to heal but for me, too. I wouldn’t let him ruin it. Tomorrow, I will demand that Angus leave. I would sleep on the couch in the small animal nursery. Even though my back would hate it, I couldn’t be near him ever again. I’d have to talk to Amelia, but I felt she was professional enough not to hold this against me, especially since her son was the one who was dumping me. I’d never be able to tell her the things I heard him say. This was all tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, I would curl up and cry while I processed the loss. The pain I felt was worse than when I was pinned under steel and concrete.

Chapter thirty

ANGUS

After the conversation with West, I felt terrible. One of the kids from the advocacy center he and Tyler ran had been working security at The Dapper Duck. The state required a license, and until he had that, he would need to be let go. The state allowed a six-week leeway, but that time was up. His training was incomplete, and I couldn’t risk the bar and the fines we would face if we were inspected and he wasn’t licensed. Hopefully, they would get his GED sorted out, and then he could get his paperwork. He had done a great job, and I would love to have him on my team. I told West I would hold the job for six more weeks, then I would have to fill the position.

“Thanks for everything, though. Enough business talk, let’s enjoy our families.”

I gave West a stupid smile. “I am so insanely in love with him, West. He’s the one. I can’t imagine my life without him.”

“Dude, you completely deserve it. We like him too. When you are out of that honeymoon phase, I hope we get to see you both more. I miss our weekly dinners. We are really glad you came over tonight.”

I blushed. “Yeah. He gets all my time, day or night. I bought a fifth-wheel so we were a little more comfortable on the property, but I have a big surprise for him next week.” I waggled my eyebrows.