Instead, she had to go back to Sarah’s for the third time and get the food she’d forgotten because she was a dumbass who forgot the dog’s food. If it had been the toys or something, that would have been fine, but no, she forgot the food.
“Because, of course, I did.” Sighing, Yasmine scratched Hope’s ears again, then made herself get to her feet. At least she could wear sneakers and jeans now that she wasn’t going back to the office. That was something. “Okay, sweet girl. I’ll be back.”
She quickly changed into a more comfortable shirt and a light cardigan. While she would sometimes wear yoga pants and a sweatshirt around the house, Yasmine never felt comfortable going out in public like that. She did sometimes envy her friends who could just walk out to the grocery store in their pajamas.
Once she was in the car, she called the vet’s number that had been on Sarah’s fridge. To her relief, it was Hope’s vet. They were horrified to hear what had happened to Sarah and were very helpful with information about Hope.
She didn’t need any special medication, food, or anything. She needed surgery.
“Basically, one of her blood vessels that should have been closed after birth never did,” Dr. Henry explained kindly. “Blood is flowing the wrong way, which puts too much strain on Hope’s heart. Without surgery, and soon, that will mean heart failure.”
“Oh, my…” Poor baby. Poor Sarah. Both she and her pupper were having heart issues. “So, surgery is the only way?”
“Unfortunately, it’s fixable but only with the surgery, and the bills just to figure out what was going on with Hope have really added up already.” Dr. Henry sounded incredibly sad, as though she already knew what the outcome was going to be.
Yasmine felt freaking sad. She was sure it had been expensive as hell already, and now Hope needed surgery? While Sarah was going through surgery for her own heart issue? How was she supposed to afford that? Yasmine’s own heart clenched.
“When does she need to have the surgery?”
“As soon as possible.” Dr. Henry hesitated. “Sarah was considering her options, and we had a long discussion about it Monday. She needed more time, but I’ll be honest, Hope doesn’t have that much more time. I would give her a month or two at most if she doesn’t have the surgery.”
Fuck.
There was no way Yasmine was going to let that happen. She had plenty of savings. Sure, it was supposed to go toward it in case of an emergency in her life, but what was this if not an emergency? And maybe Hope wasn’t her dog, but that sweet girl was already tied up in Yasmine’s heart.
Would Sarah say no to Yasmine paying for her dog’s surgery? Some people got touchy about money stuff, while some people wouldn’t care as long as their pet survived. Which would Sarah be? Even if she said no, she was in the hospital. It wasn’t like she could stop Yasmine. And Yasmine had already basically dognapped Hope, without Sarah’s knowledge, even if Grace had signed off on it.
Maybe it would be better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Yasmine thanked Dr. Henry for all the information and got off the phone. She hoped Sarah gave her permission to save Hope because there was no way Yasmine wasn’t going to do it.
Thirty minutes later, thanks to traffic, she was back at Sarah’s house and going through the back door. Again. Which was the most backdoor action she’d gotten in years.
I really need to get laid.
She needed to go back to The Outlands, get a kinky scene in to spank her out of her headspace, but it was just so depressing sometimes. Seeing so many of her exes living out the life she wanted with women who weren’t her.
Sliding open the back door, she immediately spotted the food. Right where she’d left it in the kitchen, rather than by the front door, which is probably why she’d forgotten it. Sighing, she went over to pick it up. At least this was gonna be quick.
Then she heard something that made her freeze in place.
The most awful sound she’d ever heard.
A key turning in the lock.
Someone had a key to the front door, and they were unlocking it right now.
But who?!
Grace had said none of Sarah’s family lived in Pennsylvania. Their friends were scattered. Who the heck had a key?
I’m not supposed to be here.
She’d broken in. Okay, maybe she hadn’t broken in because the back door had been unlocked, but she didn’t have a key to let herself in, so she had definitely done the entering part of breaking and entering. Whoever was coming in had a key, which meant they had permission from the owner, Sarah, to be here, not from Sarah’s good friend, Grace.
Yasmine’s heart was pounding, her breath coming so fast, it almost made her dizzy. She grabbed onto the food bin and straightened, her mind racing, thoughts scrambling as she stood still, even as every instinct in her body was screaming at her to do something.
Anything.