Chapter 10 - BRIGHTER HORIZONS
Three years later.
The new Pacific Northwest Medical and Wildlife Center stood proudly on the very same plot of land where my old clinic had burned to the ground.
Only, it wasn't a small, drafty veterinary clinic anymore.
It was a magnificent, two-story stone-and-glass medical facility, equipped with state-of-the-art emergency surgical suites for both human trauma and animal rescue, funded by an anonymous philanthropic trust that everyone in the county knew belonged to the Moretti family.
On a bright, crisp Saturday morning in autumn, the grand courtyard was packed with local townspeople, patients, and rescued animals, all gathered for the grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony.
I stood on the elevated wooden porch, wearing an emerald-green professional dress, holding a large pair of golden ceremonial scissors.
Standing beside me, looking sharp and healthy in a tailored charcoal suit with not a single trace of his past injuries remaining, was Dante Moretti.
And sitting happily at our feet, wearing a festive red bow around his neck, was Thor, panting softly and wagging his tail as he eyed the giant celebration cake resting on the nearby table.
"Are you ready, Doctor?" Dante whispered, leaning down so his lips brushed my ear, his strong arm wrapping securely around my waist.
I smiled, my hand resting over his on my hip, feeling the solid, unbreakable warmth of the man who had walked out of the dark and into my life.
"Always, Dante," I whispered back.
May you like
We cut the ribbon together.
The golden shears sliced through the thick red silk, accompanied by the thunderous applause of the crowd, the joyous barking of Thor, and the warm, golden rays of the morning sun shining down upon a horizon that was finally, beautifully, at peace.
