Vetted

by K'Anne Meinel

  “I have a surprise,” she said mysteriously as they made a final trip into the clinic. “You get Rex and I’ll go get the surprise.”

  “Rex?” she asked, surprised. “I get to take Rex?”

  Fiona nodded with a grin. “Chuck wanted to get rid of him months ago, but I convinced him to keep him in lieu of giving you a well-deserved raise. He’s quite valuable you know, and we have his papers and everything.”

  Allyssa wanted to cry. That had been one of the things she regretted having to leave behind. She’d never had a dog and had enjoyed spending so much time with him at the clinic. Their nightly jaunts through the clinic together, his protectiveness and companionship, she would have missed that. Now she wouldn’t have to.

  Seeing the joy on the taller woman’s face, Fiona grinned from ear to ear. “You aren’t going to cry, are you?”

  Allyssa couldn’t say a word as she shook her head and headed for Rex’s pen. He stood up when he saw her, his tail thumping madly as he greeted his favorite human. “Guess what, Rex? You get to go with us!” she told him as she snapped a leash on his collar. She took him, with barely a limp, to the back where he could use the grass, now covered in snow, one last time. He snuffled into the snow looking for his favorite pee spot. She saw as Fiona came out with a small kennel, looking all smug and putting it in the back of the Jeep. That was why she had to have the space! Fiona went quickly back inside and as Allyssa cleaned up the poop that Rex had dropped so prodigiously, several others followed her out to give Allyssa hugs and well wishes including a few of the techs: Babette, Chuck, and Bruce.

  “Thank you so much. I’m going to miss you guys,” Allyssa sniffed. Rex was waving his tail as everyone petted him goodbye too. He had brought them all together. He had survived his ordeal.

  “Thank you, Allyssa, for all your hard work,” Chuck said, sincerely.

  “You’re a good kid. Take care of her for us,” Bruce thumb-pointed at Fiona who was grinning.

  “Thank you for teaching me so much!” Babette added as she hugged her. “I’ll teach the new girl exactly what you taught me!”

  “Oh, teach her more than that,” Allyssa teased. They had all learned so much. It had been a work in progress and she was going to miss these people who had all come to mean a lot to her.

  They soon had all their farewells done and Allyssa got in the Cherokee, turned off the overdrive since she was pulling the now heavy trailer, and followed the work truck with the camper on it. She’d seen the inside of the camper and it was nice, which made her happy for Fiona. They were going to stop and pick up supplies at Sam’s Club before they headed out onto the interstate.

  “They don’t have a Sam’s Club in Oregon?” she asked, sardonically.

  Fiona laughed. “Of course they do, but I want everything with us as we will be coming in from here and not down from the nearest town. That way we don’t have to make the trip twice.

  It was getting late as they went into the warehouse to buy a flat cart of vegetables, frozen meats, and other goodies that Fiona insisted they stock up on. “The nearest store is some ways off and I don’t want us to run out,” she explained.

  “Won’t the meat defrost?”

  “I am not turning the heat on in the camper. It’s separate from the truck heat.”

  There was no worry about leaving the dog and the cat in its cat carrier in the car in this winter weather as they drove. Already snow was coming down.

  “Is that snow going to be hard for you to drive in?” Fiona asked worriedly as they gassed up both vehicles before heading out into the storm.

  “I’ll just follow you,” Allyssa assured her, more concerned about driving at night. They were both exhausted from packing everything all day. Had they really been married first thing that morning?

  It was almost as though Fiona had read her mind. “How about we stop somewhere in Wyoming for the night and give us a rest?”

  “Sounds good,” she agreed readily, willing to let her wife take the lead. Her wife … that was still so odd to say. They hadn’t consummated their marriage, but it wasn’t as though Allyssa wasn’t curious about what that would entail. She had no idea beyond the hugging and the kissing, and while she was interested, she was also nervous about it. She was sure her wife knew more about it, but hadn’t the nerve to ask her about her past relationships.

  It wasn’t that Fiona wasn’t thinking about it either. She wanted the younger woman more than she was willing to admit. She had heard Allyssa when she told her parents that she loved Fiona, but she had said that for effect so they would accept them, right? She hadn’t told Fiona she loved her, and other than expressing that she liked her, Fiona hadn’t told Allyssa either. Plus, the fact that Allyssa was a virgin was weighing on her mind. Could she be a good first for the woman? Would she like sex with a woman? Would she even like sex? She seemed to like the kissing. She had a lot to think about during the many miles they had to travel.

  It was almost a straight shot from Denver north on I-25 to Fort Collins. Fiona signaled that she was pulling off when she saw a place for them to stop and eat. It occurred to her they hadn’t eaten since breakfast together and going the whole day without food certainly wasn’t wise.

  “Are you doing okay pulling the trailer?” she asked, putting her arm around Allyssa to give her a sideways hug as they walked into the restaurant.

  Allyssa stiffened slightly as people stared, but tried to brush it off. She wasn’t used to being touched, or having people stare. She felt ashamed as Fiona’s arm dropped from her. “Yes, so far so good.”

  “You’re going to get tired after dinner from a full stomach. Think you can make it to Laramie before we stop for the night?” She stopped to ask the hostess, “Table for two please?”

  “I think I can manage,” she answered as they followed the hostess. Sitting, they both wriggled out of their winter jackets and Allyssa grinned at the familiar site of Fiona rolling up her sleeves. She always did that, and it surprised the younger woman that she noticed that. She’d had too much time to think on her own these days.

  “Are you regretting the trip yet?” Fiona teased as she opened her menu the hostess had left with them.

  “Nope, it’s just so late to be starting out,” she commented as she started reading the vast array of choices.

  “Well, we’ll get into Wyoming, stop for the night, and then get a good night’s sleep,” she blushed for some reason. So much for a wedding night they never had; they would both be too tired. “Then in the morning the real drive will start.”

  “How did you manage this trip by yourself all the time?” she asked, curious about the trips she knew Fiona had taken for the holidays to visit with her family. She’d known that she flew, but there had been others she told her about where she drove.

  “I’d just drive...” she said almost distractedly as she chose her meal.

  “How long of a drive is it?”

  “Oh, about thirty-two or thirty-three hours,” she answered airily and then looked up at the silence. “What?”

  “You never told me it was that long of a drive,” she said quietly.

  “You never looked on a map or thought about the distance?”

  Allyssa blushed, shaking her head. She had known they would be driving a while, but with a dog and a cat in the car for that many hours she knew this was going to be a long and tiring trip. “You never said,” she pointed out.

  “Want to turn around?” she tried to tease, but it fell flat.

  Allyssa started to fidget. “I have to go use the restroom,” she said instead. “Could you order me a BLT?”

  “You don’t want something different?” she asked, but her wife had walked away. She swore under her breath and then placed both their dinner orders when the waitress came by. She didn’t want to fight with Allyssa this soon into their marriage. It hadn’t occurred to her that she wouldn’t realize the distances between places or that the ranch was very remote. She had promised her the dream of having animals and a li
fe together. The reality might just fall short for her once she realized it all.

  For Allyssa, who hadn’t traveled very much beyond her own little world, Denver had been the be-all and end-all. Her parents didn’t need much more than their country club, friends, and family. They didn’t go to exotic locations, that was for other people. They didn’t need expensive vacations, that was a waste. The girls had learned to ski and gone to Vail, but that was on supervised trips and only for prestige and to impress their friends. They didn’t need much more, or so their parents thought. Carmen’s honeymoon in Hawaii had been thought to be pure extravagance, but it spoke of how well Derek provided for her.

  Allyssa was feeling a little out of sorts. She was enjoying the adventure, but was so unsure of so many things. Her initial enthusiasm was waning and being alone in the car for hours was not thrilling her; she had far too much time to think. The things she had said to her sister, to her mother even, all of it was weighing heavily on her mind. She had said such things before, but had always been ignored. This time she had made herself heard and they had been properly scandalized. She was feeling guilty for the pleasure she derived from it all. They couldn’t understand her impetuous marriage to a woman. They wouldn’t understand her desire to be free of them all. She knew she had properly outraged all of them. Her father had behaved as though he were in a fog and she wondered at that. All of this was bothering her, but she shouldn’t take it out on Fiona, and she shouldn’t worry her. As she used the bathroom and cleaned herself up, she splashed water on her face to freshen up and then washed her hands. She realized she needed to make amends with her wife. It wasn’t Fiona’s fault she was still a bit immature. It was time for Allyssa to grow up and take life by the reins.

  “Hey there, feeling better?” Fiona asked when she returned to the table.

  “Yep, needed to go bad,” she smiled, trying not to let the shock of the length of the trip come back and ruin their moment together.

  She had been gone so long the meal was already being served. Fiona had almost gone into the bathroom to see if she was okay, but thought it better to give her privacy.

  “You even remembered the extra-well-done fries,” Allyssa commented happily.

  “Yep, you’ve had the same meal every time we went out for months,” she teased as she tucked into the fish she had ordered for herself.

  “Mmm,” Allyssa said as she took a big bite of the sandwich. “The bacon,” she said around her bite, “is seasoned with pepper!”

  “It’s that good?” Fiona asked, amused. She had seen Allyssa put a couple sides of bacon in their groceries at the warehouse. She’d wondered about that.

  “It’s my favorite. Here, taste this,” she offered her sandwich, but Fiona shook her head, laughing. “C’mon, you have a little bit of mine and I’ll have a little bit of yours,” she indicated the fish.

  Fiona couldn’t believe how that one phrase could be so provocative. It hit her nether regions like a shot. Gulping, she allowed Allyssa to feed her a bite of her sandwich. She had to admit the thick, crispy, peppered bacon was delicious. To hide her anxiety, she forked up a bit of her fish to share with her wife who licked it delicately off the prongs, causing Fiona to focus on the pink little tongue that darted out. She swallowed again self-consciously.

  “That’s good,” Allyssa exclaimed, trying to stay in the good mood she had put herself in. Something about Fiona’s eyes was weird and she wanted to gaze in them, lean in, and … she pulled herself up sharply and concentrated on her meal.

  “Yes, it is. Is that the same kind of bacon you bought at Sam’s?” she asked to make conversation, anything to get her mind off the thoughts of….

  They had a long, but boring conversation about food and what they liked. Finally, it was time to go. After taking Rex out for a bit of a walk around the parking lot in the blowing snow, they were on their way once again. Allyssa followed behind the work truck and back onto the freeway heading north on the I-25 before turning off and heading northwest on Highway 287. Rex sighed a few times, already tired of the novelty of riding in the Jeep. Allyssa could concur with the dog. The food had made her sleepy, the hard work that day tired out her muscles, and the emotional upheaval with her family had exhausted her. She was thrilled to see Fiona signaling and pulling off into a Travelodge in Laramie, Wyoming. Allyssa wasn’t sure if she should get out and follow her or wait in the warm SUV. She peered through the blowing snow and saw Fiona make a come-hither motion, so she locked up the vehicle and followed her.

  Allyssa arrived in the lobby just in time to hear Fiona say, “I’d like a room please. Do you allow pets?”

  “Yes, we do,” the clerk told her with a smile. He looked up at Allyssa and said, “I’ll be with you in one moment.”

  “Oh no,” Fiona said, “we’re together.” She smiled at Allyssa who looked back at her gratefully. She was just so tired.

  “Okay, one bed or two?”

  “One,” Fiona said without thinking about it and saw the startled look of the clerk before he carefully schooled it after a glance at the young woman with her. It angered her for a moment, but she too kept her face calm.

  “Please fill this out.” he slid a registration form across the counter, again glancing curiously at Allyssa, who pulled off her cap and shook out her hair.

  Fiona dutifully filled out the required information and reached for her wallet to pull out a credit card and her license.

  “Oh, Doctor Herriot,” he said, sounding impressed.

  “Yes,” she said, giving him a false smile as she watched him enter the information in the computer.

  “We require all guests to be registered,” he glanced at Allyssa, assessing her.

  Allyssa pulled out her own license and slid it across for him to gather the information that he needed.

  “Is this a current address?” he asked them both.

  “Yes, we are in the process of moving,” Fiona answered for them both as he typed.

  “Oh, this is your sister?” he asked stupidly, although anyone could see they looked nothing alike—Allyssa was tall, thin, and blonde, and Fiona was shorter, thicker, and brunette.

  “No, this is my wife,” Fiona relished telling him and watched as his eyes opened wide.

  “We can’t have...” he began, but she interrupted him.

  “It’s legal in all fifty states now,” and her tone held a bit of warning.

  He gulped slightly, realizing the error of what he had been about to say. “You mentioned you have pets?”

  “Yes,” she nodded, “a cat and a dog.”

  “We’ll need a pet deposit,” he said, sounding firm, but also apologetic.

  “That’s fine. I get that back if they don’t do anything to the room, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he answered obligingly.

  They were finally checked in and Allyssa looked at him curiously, wondering what the problem had been and why it was an issue. Then she realized, it’s us. People aren’t used to same-sex partners. She hadn’t really thought how other people would react to it. Was this going to be an issue everywhere? Were people always going to stare or gawk? She whirled as they left the office to see the clerk staring at them in wide-eyed wonder. She turned back as they went to repark the vehicles, wondering if she should be embarrassed. No, she was proud to be married to Fiona. She hadn’t really thought about what it would mean other than they would be together forever. She didn’t want to lose her wonderful friend. She wanted the future they had talked about.

  Fiona was fuming. That insolent shit. How dare he make assumptions? It was none of his business who and what they were to each other. She hoped Allyssa did change her name to Herriot. She was proud to call Allyssa her wife. Although they hadn’t consummated their marriage, she felt her best friend was her wife in every way. Had they only just married that morning?

  They parked the long and big vehicles along the far side of the snow-covered parking lot, out of the way of others. Allyssa took Rex for a quick walk around
so he could poop and pee while Fiona took in their two bags and returned for the cat carrier and the litter box.

  “Can I help you?” she asked as a rambunctious Rex tried to drag her into the room, eager to see where they were going.

  “No, I got it. This is the last,” she said as she held the door for the two of them and shut it behind her. She pushed the button on the keychain and locked up the Cherokee, wishing her own truck had a remote starter and alarm. It really wouldn’t be a bad idea since she did carry narcotics and other drugs, but those were well packed deep in the trailer for now and only she and Allyssa knew where.

  Rex immediately tried to climb on the bed, but Allyssa pulled on his leash and said firmly, “Down.”

  “Let’s see how she fared,” Fiona said as she put the cat next to the cat pan in the corner, pushing away a now eager Rex who tried to nose in and see. Allyssa watched as Fiona pulled a fluffy gray cat from the carrier along with three little kittens.

  “Awww,” she said, loving the sight immediately. “When did she come in?”

  “Yesterday, and I knew they wouldn’t keep them. She’s a stray and she birthed these with no problem,” Fiona explained. “No, Rex. Back,” she warned him, but it was too late. The cat swiped at his tender nose and he ended up yelping as her claws made contact.

  “Come on, Rex. Get away from the mama kitty,” Allyssa warned him.

  “Why don’t you slip the leash over the door handle so he can’t go beyond there and Mama Cat can eat and drink over here,” she indicated the space. “We better put the cat pan out of reach too and not too near her food.” She carried it into the bathroom and put it under the sink.

  “Did you grab food for her? I didn’t think of….”

  “Yes, I got food for them both in there,” she indicated a bag that Allyssa hadn’t noticed. “Why don’t you feed Rex and I’ll get her something.” She left the cage door open for mama who was worrying about her kittens. They were mewing and blindly looking around, their heads jerky as they moved.