# Chapter 46: The Man Who Came to the Vet
Hello, dear readers and listeners! Welcome back to another emotional stop on our journey through *Searching For Someday*. I’m so happy you’re here with me today. Chapter 46 is one of those quiet but powerful chapters that sneaks up on your heart. It’s not loud. It’s not full of drama for drama’s sake. Instead, it’s about a man who has spent too long protecting himself, a woman who never asks to be taken care of, and one sick dog who becomes the bridge neither of them expected.
The chapter opens with Slade Montgomery finally facing a truth he can no longer ignore. His original plan to debunk Kinnections has fizzled. Even the suspicion he’d been chasing didn’t really exist. The company isn’t illegal. It isn’t immoral. The women who run it do so with pure hearts and intentions he actually admires. And with that realization, there is nothing left keeping him and Kate tied together—at least, nothing on paper.
But Slade feels the ache of that emptiness more than he wants to admit. He reaches for the phone, determined to do the right thing. He’ll call Kate, apologize for his rotten behavior, and formally withdraw his name from her list. He told himself he wanted an engaging affair with a woman who enchanted him, but he knows now that he has no right to muck around in Kate’s life. She isn’t a woman who plays games. She’s almost thirty and still a virgin, and that means whoever she lets into her life will be important. Serious. Permanent.
The thought of being counted on for a happy ending makes sweat prick his skin. Slade has seen what happens when someone is trusted and then fails. His last client—a poor woman left alone with two kids while her husband moved in with a younger fling and blew through the kids’ college fund—proved how badly things can end. Slade doesn’t want to be another man who promises more than he can give.
So he calls Kinnections. Kennedy answers, and the pause that follows his request for Kate is awkward enough to make him wonder how much she knows. Kate isn’t there. She’s at the vet. Robert is sick. Slade’s heart starts racing. He asks which vet, ignores Kennedy’s warning that she should give Kate space, and hangs up. Then he moves fast. He stuffs folders into his briefcase, grabs his jacket, forwards his calls, cancels meetings, and rushes past his boss without stopping to chat. Kate’s dog means the world to her. And Slade knows she’s probably handling this alone, like she always does—poised, controlled, fiercely independent, never showing weakness. She wouldn’t ask anyone for support because she’s the one who takes care of everyone else.
Not today. Just once, he wants to take care of her.
Meanwhile, Kate is already at the vet, asking Dr. Burke if Robert will be okay. Her voice is calm, but her lower lip trembles. Robert has had problems before—bladder issues, skin infections—and she’s learned to wait before dragging him in. But this morning, she had to express his bladder manually and knew he was in pain. Every time she walks through the vet’s doors, she wonders if she’ll come back out with him. She was warned early that paraplegic dogs can have many health issues, and she swore she would do everything possible to avoid them.
Dr. Burke tells her the infection has spread out of control. Robert will need strong antibiotics, lab results, lots of water, a splash of cranberry juice, extra bathing, and careful monitoring. Relief loosens Kate’s chest. They’ve gotten through bad infections before, and Robert usually fights them off like a champion. His big brown eyes study the doctor as if waiting for the final diagnosis. Kate kisses the top of his head, holds up his chin, and looks him straight in the eye. She tells him it’s just a bad bladder infection. Meds and baths. Not so bad. More time with Mommy.
As if he understands, Robert flops his head back down on the table, totally chill. Kate smiles and starts planning the next two days. She’ll stay home today, but tomorrow is the big expo in Manhattan. It took two years to get Kinnections into the lineup, so she has to go. Her mom can probably stay with Robert, and then—
The door flings open.
Slade walks in, his suit a bit rumpled, his gorgeous surfer hair mussed. He demands to know how Robert is, crossing the small exam room like he belongs there. Kate’s mouth falls open. She stammers, asking what he’s doing there. Dr. Burke frowns and says this is a private room for owners only. Slade says he’s a friend. His presence pumps up the room and takes over. Kate lets out another squeak, but he ignores her and bends down to look Robert in the face. “How ya doing, buddy?” The dog’s tail thumps, and his expression lights up. Shock billows through Kate as Slade strokes him, glancing from her to the doctor with a worried light in his eyes.
Dr. Burke clears his throat and asks Kate if this man is a friend of hers. The question throws her off, but the word stumbles out anyway: “Yes.” Slade introduces himself, shakes the doctor’s hand, and Dr. Burke relaxes. He explains again about the bladder infection, the antibiotics, the baths, the water, the manual expression, and the lab results. Then he tells Kate to wait outside while he brings Robert out shortly. Slade rubs Robert’s ear and follows her out. Kate eases into the waiting room, where Animal Planet chirps merrily on the small TV and a golden Lab waits patiently with his owner.
And in that ordinary waiting room, something shifts. Slade didn’t have to come. He didn’t have to cancel his day, rush across town, and stand in a vet’s office pretending to be just a friend. But he did. For Kate, that matters more than any apology he could have rehearsed over the phone.
**Reader’s Impressions & Star Rating**
This chapter is tender, honest, and quietly romantic in the best way. Slade’s internal battle is so human—he’s afraid of being needed because he’s seen what happens when someone fails the people who depend on them. But the moment he drops everything to show up for Kate and Robert, we see who he really is beneath the fear. Kate, on the other hand, remains strong and independent, but her love for Robert softens her in a way that makes her deeply relatable. The vet scene could have been ordinary, but it becomes a turning point because Slade chooses to be present. It’s not a grand gesture. It’s better—it’s a real one.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
**Next Chapter Prediction**
I predict that Slade will stay with Kate at the vet and then offer to help her get Robert home. That small act of care will crack open a much bigger conversation between them—about why he came, about his fear of serious relationships, and about what Kate actually wants. Kate may try to push him away because she doesn’t want to need anyone, but Slade won’t let her face this alone. There’s also the Manhattan expo looming, so we may see Slade step in as support in a way that blurs the line between client and something far more real. And with Robert recovering, I suspect their connection will deepen into either a confession, a kiss, or both. One thing is certain: Slade withdrawing from Kinnections may not mean withdrawing from Kate.
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