- -
- 100%
- +
She wasn’t single, she said, her eyes full of regret but not, he’d noted sadly, remorse. She was engaged to marry her college sweetheart and had no plans to break it off on account of what she called a “fling.” She had led him on, she said.
Well, on that point he certainly would not argue. Sleeping with him, telling him she loved him, making plans with him…yes, he’d say she was damn right that she’d led him on. Ethan had immediately requested an alternative seat on the airplane, enduring the remainder of the flight with a clenched jaw, knotted stomach and the blinding urge to scream at the woman who had, in the space of a few months, turned his life upside down, and then quickly and heartlessly destroyed him.
The department head, though confused at his hasty, fictional explanation, had granted Ethan’s request for a short sabbatical, a semester off. Ethan hadn’t taken a vacation since accepting the position five years before, and he supposed he was due a break. Though it hurt, not to get started right away on compiling and writing up the Alaskan data for conference presentations. He would never forget the way his breath had caught and his heartbeat raced as he’d knelt next to one of those regal bears to take a blood sample before the tranquilizer wore off. They were the most beautiful creatures he’d ever seen; they deserved saving and he would spend the rest of his life working to do just that.
He pushed out a breath, lifting his head to stare out the window once more as he listened to wind that had begun to swirl and howl. For now, he needed time—even just a few months—to figure out how to go back to the university and face Jessica, who had made it clear she had no plans to leave the team, despite what she’d done to him. He needed to come to terms with the fact that the only woman he’d ever fallen for was getting married to someone else and, worst of all, didn’t seem to give a single damn what it would do to him.
In the meantime, he had the clinic, and over the past two weeks, he had to admit, he’d become fond of the locals and their beloved pets, and even of his house calls to care for a few horses and cattle on nearby ranches. He’d always loved the research part of being a veterinary pathologist, but this…this change of pace and reminder of where his career had begun, was nice, too, at least for now.
Ethan’s head jerked up at the sound of raucous banging. It took him a minute to realize that it was coming from the front door, which he’d locked an hour ago after closing. Who on earth could be knocking—no, pounding—on the door now? Ethan knew that his father occasionally extended his workday beyond its normal twelve hours when a special circumstance arose, but no one had called to say they’d be coming in late or anything of the like.
He got up from the chair quickly, leaving it swiveling as he paced to the door. Whoever stood on the front stoop wasn’t visible from the window he’d been looking out before, and the blinds were pulled down on the other side to cover the spot where the sun hit in late afternoon; he’d have to get much closer and peer through them to identify his visitor.
Ethan rolled his eyes. Yes, it was his duty to help out the local animal population in any way he could, but the day had already been particularly trying—several regular exams on top of two challenging, back-to-back house calls—and he practically ached to warm up a frozen meal, shower away the fur and jump into the cozy bed in his parents’ guest room.
When he got to the door, he slid a finger between two blinds and peered out, but the snow was quite thick now, surprisingly so, and the visitor so bundled up that he couldn’t make out anything other than the bright crimson of a coat and matching hat. He didn’t even see any animals. But the wind was so fierce, and the snow falling in such a thick blanket, that he was compelled to open the door and let the poor person in, reminding himself that this was Peach Leaf, therefore generally void of a large city’s potential threats.
Bracing himself, Ethan unlocked and pulled open the door, breath rushing from his lungs as the icy air hit. A tall figure rushed forward, nearly pummeling him to get inside the building, and for a second he regretted his decision to be kind.
“Oh, thank you,” came a voice, definitely a woman’s, from somewhere in the depths of the coat and beanie. Ethan closed the door behind her.
“Thank you so, so much for letting me in. I thought there might not be anyone here this late and I was about to turn around and go back to my car, but…”
“Whoa, there. Hang on just a minute. Let’s start at the beginning. How does that sound?” He clasped his hands in front of his abdomen and gave her some space.
The woman stopped speaking and pulled up her hat, which had fallen down into her face, nearly covering what he now saw were large, green—a very lovely green, in fact—eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said, pushing out a puff of air. She reached out a gloved hand in Ethan’s direction and he took it, startled to discover how cold it was.
She must be absolutely frozen from head to toe. He’d checked the thermometer that afternoon and, even before the sun had gone down, the temperature was below freezing. If he hadn’t let her in, she might have been in real trouble. His semester in Alaska had taught him plenty about the dangers of extreme cold, and even though they were in Texas, which was generally mild, the hazards were the same if one wasn’t careful. It didn’t matter that the weather was out of the norm; it simply was, and therefore caution would need to be observed.
He hadn’t anticipated things getting so bad, and hadn’t much of a chance to pay attention to the forecast other than his brief check on the internet as he’d scarfed down a sandwich earlier, but now he could see plainly that the winter storm the meteorologists predicted had escalated quickly.
The woman pumped his hand up and down a few times before letting it go. “I’m June. June Leavy. I came by on the slim chance that Dr. Singh might still be here this late, and, well, I didn’t really know what else to do.”
“I’m Dr. Singh,” Ethan said, doing his best to offer a warm smile despite feeling anything but.
The woman—June—narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to study him, chuckling softly. “Wow, Dr. Singh, I have to say, you look like you’ve stumbled upon the elusive fountain of youth.”
Ethan had to laugh at that. Most folks, unless their pets were ill or aging, only came in for annual checkups and vaccinations. It made sense that the senior Dr. Singh would not have had a chance to inform all clients of his winter vacation plans.
“No, I mean, I am Dr. Singh, but perhaps not the one you’d hoped to find. I’m his son Ethan.”
June’s face visibly relaxed as realization hit and she nodded, then proceeded to remove her gloves and hat. As she grasped her lapels and moved to take off her coat, Ethan noticed the bit of roundness at her middle and the thought crossed his mind that she might be pregnant. “Here, let me help you with that,” he said, taking her coat.
He couldn’t help but catch the subtle, sweet scent of her hair as he pulled the red fabric from her shoulders. Like melon, he thought. Odd that he should even notice. Odder still he should notice that it tumbled down her shoulders in soft, auburn waves, framing a face, he could see after he’d turned back from hanging her coat on an iron rack near the door, that was rosy from the cold and, well, quite lovely.
June smiled, and it occurred to Ethan that she was aptly named. Her skin was as bright as sunshine and the curve of her wide mouth heated his insides, head to toe. Her eyes were lively and warm like summer, although…her smile didn’t quite reach them.
Not that he cared, though. Pure observation—like you’d get from any good scientist.
“Thank you,” she said. “Now, as I was saying, I drove here on my way home from work and my car broke down about, well, I don’t really know how far away, but it sure seemed like a long distance.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as if willing calm. “Anyway, I’m here now and you’re here, thank goodness.”
Ethan must have looked confused, and that would make sense because he definitely was. He was glad to help if she was stranded. Perhaps he could call a tow truck for her and let her stay to wait out the storm, but other than that, he wasn’t at all sure why she’d been headed this way in the first place.
When she stopped speaking, he took the chance to ask, “Is there something I can do to help you, Miss Leavy?”
“Actually, yes, there is. At least, I hope so.”
His heart seemed to speed up as she bit her bottom lip and reached into the pocket of her sweatshirt with both hands. Not that he thought she would pull out a weapon, per se, but because he knew instinctively that nothing she might reveal would be easy to deal with. And what he wanted at that moment, and more than that, for his life in general right then, was just that—simplicity.
But that was simply not in the cards.
So when June Leavy pulled two shivering black-and-white puppies out of her pocket and held them out to show him why she’d driven to his office, walked an unknown distance in a freak snowstorm and nearly pounded down the door, all Ethan Singh could do was sigh.
Chapter Three
As June stared at the junior Dr. Singh awaiting a response, the skin between his brows bunched into a frown over eyes that were cool and impassable, despite what she’d just revealed, making it impossible to determine what he thought of her unannounced arrival on his doorstep. Or rather, their arrival.
She knew it was late, that it would be an inconvenience to stop in without even a phone call when the veterinary office had closed over an hour before, but she didn’t know what else to do with the two little bundles. She didn’t know this man—Ethan, he’d said—but she knew his father, a kind, attentive doctor whose smiles could soothe even the saddest of children when their pets were sick, and for now, that was enough to give her hope that maybe that man’s son wouldn’t turn her, or her little charges, away on such an awful night.
June hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until he reached out both hands to take the puppies from her. Letting the air slowly from her lungs, she watched as he tucked them under his arms the same way she had when she’d discovered them in the alley.
“We need to get them warmed up,” he said, getting right to business. Ethan turned from where they still stood near the door and lifted a shoulder to motion for her to follow as he headed toward the examination rooms.
June had been in this office many times when her beloved cat reached his twilight years. Being there again caused memories to resurface that she hadn’t prepared for when she’d made the impulsive decision to stop in, hoping someone would be there to save two little lives. Trailing behind the doctor, she focused instead on the waves of dark hair that just brushed the collar of his white coat and the broad span of his shoulders. Something about the look of him—the stormy but not unkind dark eyes, the beautiful shade of his skin, like black tea with a bit of milk stirred in, and his height, which had to be considerable to reach well over her own six feet—worked to unravel the tight ball that had formed in her belly.
Driving there in what now seemed to be a full-blast snowstorm was one of the scariest things June had ever done. It was lucky that she knew the roads as well as she did, having lived in Peach Leaf her whole life; otherwise, she wasn’t sure there would have been much of a chance of making it this far, not to mention the likelihood that she and the puppies would not have survived if they’d stayed in the car. And until the extreme weather passed, it was impossible to tell what had caused her old lemon to die. Terror had struck when the engine coughed and gave up, the snow coming down so hard as the wind blew fiercely that she could barely see a foot in front of her. She’d followed the road as best she could and somehow, thankfully, had made it to the office.
What was probably only half a mile or so had become a nearly impossible journey until the glass door of the clinic came into view. And now there she was. There hadn’t been time to mull over the next step—how she would get home with no working vehicle, especially with the weather throwing such a fit.
At least now she wasn’t alone. Even though he didn’t seem too happy to see the three of them—and really, who could blame him?—June knew somehow that he would do his best to help. Then they would just have to go from there.
Dr. Singh stopped in front of one of the exam rooms and lifted his chin toward the door, presumably asking June to open it, which she did quickly. When they were all in the room, he held the puppies out to her. “Okay, I need you to hold them for a moment. I’ll be right back.”
The apprehension she felt must have been poorly hidden because when he saw the look on her face Ethan’s stoicism seemed to evaporate briefly; his eyes softened and the thin, serious line of his lips was replaced by a curve at one corner of his mouth that could almost pass for a grin.
“It’s okay, Miss Leavy. I’ll be right back, I promise. I just need to get some supplies, and it would help if you’d keep the puppies warm for just a moment longer. Can you do that for me?”
June nodded. She’d gotten the babies that far, but the thought of being responsible for them any longer seemed more daunting now as the stress of the day compounded and the idea hit her suddenly that they might not make it. Even now, in the safety of the clinic, with a trained veterinarian to help, the chance remained that the little ones might not pull through.
“Good,” he responded, nodding. “You had a great idea earlier, keeping them close together in your pocket. That way, they had each other’s warmth, plus that coming from your body.”
A little flutter passed through her chest at the mention of her body coming from Dr. Singh’s mouth, but she just shook her head and took back the little bundles of fur, tucking them into her sweatshirt once more.
“All set?” he asked.
“Yes, I think so.”
At that, he left the room and June concentrated on snuggling the little pups close, willing her warmth to be enough to keep them alive. She couldn’t tell how they were doing, other than that the tiny heartbeats she’d felt for before were still thumping softly, and their sweet brown eyes were open. With any luck, that meant they were okay, but a part of her warned that there could be any number of things wrong on the inside.
She swallowed and closed her eyes, and a moment later Dr. Singh returned with what looked like a pile of fluffy towels. He placed the bundle on the exam table and moved to the bench where June sat, wrapping one around her shoulders and gently settling the warm terry cloth in place, a gesture that was completely logical considering that she still shivered from the cold, but also surprisingly intimate. She couldn’t recall the last time a man had done something so simple and caring for her, and before she could think about it, she found herself gazing up at him with a warm smile.
“Thank you,” she said. “That feels…wonderful.”
“You’re quite welcome. We’ve got a small washer and dryer in the staff room, so I warmed these up for a minute or two.”
As he spoke, though he didn’t exactly return her smile, soft crinkles formed at the outer corners of those deep brown eyes and it struck her just how exceptionally attractive this man was. She hadn’t even known that the older Dr. Singh had a son, but then, they’d only shared a doctor/patient-parent relationship, so it made sense that he wouldn’t have gone into detail about his family.
Strangely, now, June very much wished he had.
Ethan went back to the table and returned with another towel, kneeling to spread it on the floor at her feet. He sat cross-legged in front of it. “Here, let’s put the pups in this while I take a look at them. Safer than having them up on the table for now.”
June nodded and retrieved them from her pocket one at a time, cringing as they squeaked in protest at the brief separation. “Do you think…” She swallowed. “Will they be all right?”
“It’s hard to know until I can look them over,” he said, wrapping the towel around the puppies. “But I will say this.” He looked up at her. “You’ve done a great job here, keeping them warm and bringing them in. From what I can see so far, I think they have a good chance, all because of you.”
June’s insides melted a little at his compliments, but she wouldn’t feel better until she knew the puppies would be okay.
After a few moments, Dr. Singh pulled the towel to one side and very gently moved one puppy closer to him, stroking it softly behind the ears with one hand as he ran his fingers over each tiny limb, probably feeling for broken bones. He then felt the pup’s adorable pink tummy, almost grinning when the little guy—she could see plainly now that the term was accurate—closed his eyes.
June placed her nervous hands into the pouch of her hoodie, crossing her fingers.
“It’s a good sign that they don’t mind being held,” Ethan said, using a thumb to gently pry the animal’s mouth open, examining its tiny teeth before listening to its heart with the stethoscope that circled his neck. “Their friendliness toward humans will certainly make it easier to place them in homes when the time comes,” he pointed out matter-of-factly. “Where did you say you found them?”
June cleared her throat, surprised at how much she disliked talk of giving the puppies away, even though she had no intention of keeping them for herself. “Behind the pizza shop, where I work.”
The doctor winced, then looked up and met her eyes, listening intently as she spoke.
“We were done for the day, and I went out to toss the garbage. That’s when I found them behind a Dumpster.” Her throat threatened to close up as she thought again of someone leaving two little dogs in the icy alley.
“Any idea how long they were there?”
June shook her head. “No. I wish I had more to tell you, but unfortunately, that’s it. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Well, you did precisely the right thing, though it would appear you endangered yourself attempting to make it here. These are quite the lucky little guys, having been discovered by someone like you. Their fate might have been much worse, as I’m sure I don’t have to tell you.” An unmistakable wave of sadness crossed over the veterinarian’s face.
“I wasn’t thinking about that. I just wanted them to be okay…still do.”
Ethan nodded and set down the first pup, picking up the other—a girl—to go through the same exam. “There’s a good chance they will, thanks to you.” Finished, he tucked the brother and sister back into their towel and folded his hands together in his lap.
“So, how’s it look?” she asked, nails digging into her palms.
Ethan stared at her, his eyes warmer now, perhaps resigned to the outcome of his evening. She hadn’t even considered that he might have plans…perhaps a wife at home waiting for him. Then again, he wasn’t wearing a ring and he hadn’t texted or called anyone upon her arrival, or once he’d realized that he would be at work for a bit longer.
“Well, I’ll have to do some blood work within the next few days to get a full picture, but from what I can tell at this point, it seems they’ll be okay.”
Relief flooded through her at the optimistic statement.
“They’re about three and a half weeks old, give or take. No broken bones, healthy lungs and hearts, and their teeth are coming in, which is great news.”
“So they can eat solid food? We won’t have to feed them with a bottle?” June had to admit she was a little disappointed. The idea of holding the tiny puppies and feeding them sounded…nice. She had always wanted children, anyway, but after her experience with Clayton, she wasn’t sure she could trust anyone enough ever again to even think about building a life with another person. Another person who had the potential to break her heart. Maybe someday, if she ever had the time and energy to spare, she could have a little puppy just like these to care for. Maybe she could try letting herself love something again…one day…but it would take time, far more than she could spare with her life the way it was, working sixty-hour weeks at the pizza parlor just to pay her rent and keep her car in working shape. She hoped things wouldn’t be that way forever; it was a sobering thought.
“Yes, they can eat solid food, but we’ll need to mix it with some canine milk replacer that’s specially formulated for puppies. Cow’s or any other kind of milk would upset their tummies.”
For some reason, June grinned at the word, so much more fatherly and sweet than the more technical stomachs.
“Do you have that here?”
“Sure do. We’ve got plenty, and I can have my receptionist, Sadie, order more in the morning if need be.” He lifted a corner of the towel and glanced in at the puppies. “For now, we need to get them some water and get a little food in them. We won’t give them too much yet, as I don’t know what or how much they’ve been eating and I don’t want them to get bloated.”
June nodded as he stood and held out a hand to help her do the same, then knelt to pick up the squeaky bundle. He led her to the back area and into a room lined with shelves of food and medicine, handing over the puppies so he could scan the stock for what they needed.
“Ah, here we are,” he said, lifting a small bag from a top shelf.
He opened a cabinet and pulled out two shallow bowls, then headed to the back room, stopping at a sink to fill one with water. Into the other, he poured a small amount of pebble-size kibble. He grabbed a bottle from a nearby refrigerator and poured thin, white liquid on top, like milk on cereal. Placing the bowls on the floor in a corner, Ethan motioned for June to set down the towel. At the scent of the food, two little black noses began to wriggle and both humans laughed quietly.
“The little stinkers are cute, aren’t they?”
Ethan looked up at her as he spoke and this time his smile reached those gorgeous, mahogany eyes. She felt his gaze all the way down into her middle, as warm and comforting as the towel he’d so recently wrapped around her shoulders.
“Very,” she replied, her voice little more than the squeaky sound the puppies made.
Dr. Singh helped her to guide the puppies over to the bowls, and they watched with bated breath, waiting to see if the little ones would eat. Finally, both pups sniffed at the bowl of food and buried their faces in the kibble, and the sound of Ethan’s and June’s sighs of relief were audible.
As the dogs worked on their dinner, Ethan disappeared into the supply closet and returned holding what looked like a baby gate and paper towels. He set to work in the corner of the room, spreading out what June now saw were puppy pads, which he surrounded with the gate, creating a little pen. “All right. We’ll settle them in here for a bit, give them a little time and see if they’ll do their business, then we can put them to bed.”
He looked up at June. “If I’m correct on their age, they should be able to go to the bathroom on their own.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if they’re too young, they’ll need a little help to go, but I’m hoping they’re old enough.” He winked at her. “Time will tell.”
“Ah.” June had never been around such young animals before; once again, she was thankful to have an ally who knew far more than she about this unexpected development in her evening.
“In the meantime, is there anything I can get you?”
Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t yet eaten and it was almost nine o’clock, but she doubted there was much in the way of people food in a veterinary clinic. “I’d love something hot to drink. That is, if you have anything.”
“Come,” Dr. Singh said, holding out an arm. June walked through the door in front of him and he left it open, leading her to what had to be the staff break room, where he pulled a chair from a small, round table, motioning for her to sit.