The Vet's Secret Son
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Annie O'Neil
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CHAPTER ONE
ELLIE LIFTED THE small ball of fluff up in front of her face and gave it a nuzzle. Puppy time after a difficult surgery was always curative. ‘Who’s the best little-bitty puppy?’
The pitch-black Labrador put its paw on her nose then gave her a tiny pink-tongued lick on the cheek. Even though she’d had a million puppy moments like it, Ellie’s heart strained at the seams.
‘You’re definitely the cutest.’
As if in protest, the other puppies—a mad mix of golden, red, black and a solitary chocolate one—began tumbling up and over her legs, vying for cuddles.
Four weeks old and full of life. A perfect litter of ten, spanning every colour of the Labrador spectrum. It was the last litter Esmerelda, Ellie’s beloved Lab, would have, and even though she knew she wasn’t entirely objective, she was certain it was the best.
She picked up another one and breathed in the sweet, scrummy puppy scent. Mmm... Perfect. She couldn’t wait for Mav to get back from surf school. Her son’s giggles of delight combined with puppy cuddles...sheer heaven.
‘Having a bit of puppy therapy, are we?’
Ellie looked up and saw her long-term mentor smiling down at her. ‘Ha! You caught me, Henry.’
‘Tough surgery?’
‘Very.’ She told him about the golden retriever who’d been injured when he’d tripped whilst carrying a big stick.
‘And the oropharynx?’
‘There was a truckload of splinters in his tongue and his mouth. A huge one was lodged in his throat, the poor lad. He’s in Recovery now. I don’t know who’s feeling worse. Him or his owner.’
Henry gave a sympathetic shrug. ‘It’s a tough call sometimes. I just had a woman sob the entire time I clipped her cat’s nails!’
Ellie made an empathetic noise. ‘Mrs Coutts?’
Henry grinned. ‘You clearly know your patients’ owners well.’
‘One of the keys to our success here in Dolphin Cove.’ She patted the newspaper-covered play area where she was stretched out, puppies using her like a climbing frame. ‘Join me?’
Henry, who’d valiantly stepped in to be her emergency locum vet over the last few months, grinned and sat down opposite her. ‘How could I resist?’
The puppies climbed and tumbled over him, vying for cuddles. For someone with a puppy tucked in the crook of each arm, her mentor didn’t look all that chirpy.
‘You’re looking serious. Got a new surgery you need to brainstorm?’
Henry shook his head, his white hair flopping across his forehead as he did so. He looked every bit the mad professor. Semi-retired and as smart as a whip, he was also her hero. Who else in the whole of the UK would’ve given up their summer holidays to come down to Cornwall and take over the roster of complicated surgeries her business partner had lined up?
She shoved aside the niggle of discomfort the question elicited and smiled at him. Just about no one, that’s who. No one she cared to lay eyes on, anyway.
‘It’s not that,’ he said, easing yet another puppy into his arms.
Ah. So there was something.
Ellie gently extracted her insanely curly ponytail from one of the puppy’s mouths. One day she’d get her hair under control. She snorted. And one day pigs would fly. ‘Not a pull toy, little one,’ she cooed, easing a final golden coil out of its gummy mouth.
She inspected Henry as the pup he was holding scampered away and he pulled one of her favourite pups, the only chocolate Lab in the litter, into his lap. He was looking awfully serious.
The chocolate pup put both of its paws on Henry’s beard then slid back down into the nook of his arm and instantly fell asleep.
Ellie laughed. ‘I guess that was enough playtime for him.’
‘Guess so.’ Henry cupped the little pup’s head in one of his big old hands. His tone was much more reflective than a vet with over forty years of experience might be. He must have seen thousands of puppies curl up into sleepy little balls of fur and puppy snorts over the years.
‘C’mon, Henry. Out with it. There’s something playing on your mind. You rescued me in my hour of need. If I can do anything to help you in yours, just say the word.’
She wasn’t kidding. When Drew, her business partner and her bestie, was in a horrific car accident, Henry came right down. Drew’s long stint in hospital was coming to an end, but there was still ample rehab and healing to keep him away from the surgery for at least the next eight to ten weeks. More if there were any setbacks.
Uh-oh. Drew hadn’t had a setback had he?
Henry readjusted the puppy and something about the look in his eyes made her scoop one up into her own arms. She gave it a nuzzle as Henry began to speak. When he’d finished, she could hardly hear for the buzzing in her ears.
It wasn’t Drew. It was a favour. And not just any old favour. He was asking her to do the one thing she’d promised she would never do. Let Lucas Williams work at Dolphin Cove.
But she owed Henry. She owed him big time.
Four months ago she’d barely held it together when Drew’s life hung in the balance. Henry had come to her rescue. Not only did he tackle Drew’s incredibly complicated surgeries, he also brought along students from the Royal Veterinary College down for internships to help ease the load. Much to her embarrassment, he used Ellie as an example of what you could achieve if you stuck to your guns: build one of Britain’s most innovative veterinary surgeries in one of its most old-fashioned villages even when your heart had just been smashed to absolute smithereens.
Okay.
He didn’t say that end bit.
He focussed on the good. Which was how she’d survived her heartache and the epic life change that came in its wake. The Dolphin Cove Veterinary Clinic was literally her dream come true. And now it could all disappear in the blink of an eye. If she let herself be prone to dramatics. Which she was, because...oh, damn!
This felt almost as bad as— No. Nothing felt worse than having the love of her life take back his proposal and throw all of their hopes and dreams to the wayside to become television’s favourite celebrity veterinarian.
The Uber-Vet.
Bleurgh.
Uber-Louse more like.
The man on television—which, obviously, she’d only ever watched season after season by total accident—was so far removed from the geeky, funny, hilariously wonderful man she’d fallen in love with she could barely stand to look at him.
So much for I’ve got to save my dad’s clinic, Ells. I just want to keep everything low-key to keep the stress down. I’m all they’ve got now. I don’t want to ruin your dream.
It scared her to realise how raw the old wounds still were. Wounds she had done everything in her power to heal as she’d embarked on the new life she’d built for her and her son.
‘He really said you have to go now?’ Ellie knew she was repeating exactly what Henry had just said, but she didn’t seem able to get the facts to sink in.
Lucas Williams, ex-love of her life, wanted Henry to take over his stupid television show. Immediately. And to make that happen? He was going to come to Dolphin Cove and replace Henry.
The skin prickled at the back of her neck.
This was the moment she had hoped against hope would never happen.
Henry scrubbed a hand through his hair. He of all people knew what a bit ask it was, but there was a lot at stake for him as well. ‘The students depend on these scholarships, and with money so hard to come by these days—’
She waved her hand to get him to stop talking. She, more than anyone, knew how important the scholarships were. There was no chance she could’ve attended the Royal Veterinary College without a bursary. Denying other students the chance because of pride? It would be an unspeakably selfish thing to do.
She forced herself to repeat the facts to Henry to make absolutely sure she’d got them right. ‘So, what you’re saying is, Lucas Williams is giving up his job as the Uber-Vet and he wants you to be the new one?’
‘That’s right.’ Henry nodded. ‘We’d film at the veterinary college, raising its profile, and all of the proceeds would go towards scholarships for less well-off students.’
Just like she’d been.
‘And you have to go tomorrow?’
‘Day after. Lucas is going to drive down tomorrow. The television producers seem to be mad about the idea and they want to start filming...’
‘ASAP,’ they said in tandem.
She looked out beyond the low wall of the puppy pen to the big old floor-to-ceiling glass windows that faced the private cove beyond the clinic. Still sunny. Still gorgeous. At least something was the same. Another perfect summer’s day in Cornwall.
She squinted at the sun. It’d be hours yet before it dipped into the sea, but those hours were quickly evaporating and before she knew it, it would be tomorrow morning, Henry would leave and the man who had changed her life for ever would be arriving. And all of this exactly when she had one of the most important surgeries in Dolphin Cove Veterinary Clinic’s entire history on the books.
Prosthetics for a beautiful Bernese mountain dog. A gorgeous beast of a dog called Moose who’d struggled to recover from a car accident a few weeks back. Ellie, a specialist in emergency surgery and internal medicine, had done her best, but had ultimately held up her hands and said, ‘It’s not enough. This dog needs more.’ The type of ‘more’ only an orthopaedic surgeon could envision. An orthopaedic surgeon exactly like Lucas Williams.
The father of her child. The son he didn’t know he had.
She swallowed back an uncomfortable lump of guilt. ‘And there’s no one else in the entire world who can come down apart from him?’
‘You want and deserve the best, Ellie. Lucas is the best there is.’ She scuffed her foot against the floor exactly the way Maverick would’ve if she’d told him it was time for bed.
‘Of course, I could always turn down the offer and stay here.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Of course Henry must go. It was a once in a lifetime offer. Putting the finest veterinary college in the UK in the limelight as well as giving its poorer students a critical financial lifeline? There was no way she could insist Henry stay. Even so. ‘Just...give me a minute to process this, all right?’
Henry opened his mouth, presumably to say she’d be fine, but...urgh! She didn’t want fine. She wanted everything to stay exactly as it was. Well. Not exactly. She’d rather Drew wasn’t in recovery from his accident and that he’d never been through the emotional and physical wringers the past couple of years had thrown at him, but what was the point in working your fingers to the bone and aiming for the moon and the stars beyond it only for life to throw her biggest fear into her path?
A clammy skittering of goosebumps ran across her skin.
She could’ve done what her parents and Drew had suggested when she’d found out she was pregnant. Told Lucas she was having his son. But to do so precisely when the papers had started crowing about a rumoured engagement between the Uber-Vet and his producer? No chance. Instead, she’d poured all her hurt and anger into building the clinic even Lucas would admire.
She gave her arms a rub as a chill swept through her.
What good was venom or comeuppance when the secret she held would change his life?
Lucas would be angry. He had every right to be. Over five years of not knowing he had a son... She’d be raging if she were in his shoes. But she’d done what she’d done for a reason. Lots of reasons. One of which was ensuring she had full custody of Maverick.
All that might change now.
Who was she kidding? Everything would change once Lucas found out Maverick was his son. Anyone who cared for animals the way he did couldn’t be all evil.
Henry slipped the sleeping puppy in his arm onto a bed. ‘I’d better get up to the flat and start packing.’
‘Don’t leave.’ Ellie gestured for him to stay then twisted her coils of strawberry blonde curls into a messy topknot. ‘Not just yet.’
‘How many more weeks until Drew’s out of hospital?’ Henry asked as he sat back down, even though he knew the answer as well as she did.
‘He’s home in the next couple of weeks, but he’s got a good two months of rehab before he can come back here to the clinic and even then...’ She glowered, the frown quickly softening as a pair of puppies began to climb a small set of steps onto a short slide and...whoosh. So adorable! Maybe she’d give Drew a puppy as part of his rehab. He hadn’t seemed so keen on doing all the exercises they’d given him last time she’d visited him in hospital, but once he was home and had a puppy to entice him out on a walk...
‘And his recovery is going well?’ Henry asked.
What was going on here? Henry had visited Drew practically as much as Ellie had. Saying that... Ellie knew Drew better than just about anyone in the village. Not only was he her best friend from Dolphin Cove, he had been a student alongside Lucas and Ellie at the Royal Veterinary College. He’d watched her fall in love. He’d been part of the plotting and planning for each and every component of their dream clinic. He’d been there to mop up the tears when Lucas had ripped her heart out of her chest and walked away from each and every one of their plans. He’d also been sitting beside her as she’d watched the smiley face appear on that fateful pregnancy test nine weeks after they’d returned to Dolphin Cove to set up the clinic without Lucas. She’d clocked one missed period up to stress and heartache. Two?
Well.
She had her boy and she loved him to bits, so...not everything about her time with Lucas had turned out badly.
She forced herself back onto topic. ‘I think it’s fair to say being a patient doesn’t really suit him.’ Poor Drew had already suffered so much loss. If he was permanently disabled because of his leg injuries? Nightmare. She couldn’t imagine him living a sedentary life. Not happily anyway. The man was made of motion. Except for these past few months. Suffice it to say her bestie was going to have to pull some hardcore determination out of the bag if he wanted to stand at an operating table for eight-plus hours ever again.
Henry tapped Ellie on the knee, presumably having seen her drift off into A World Without Drew. ‘Ellie, love. I know you’ve been through a lot lately, but I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t the right thing to do. Think of all of those amazing vets I can send down here for internships.’
Ellie heaved a melodramatic sigh, hoping Henry knew she wasn’t actually angry, just...digesting things. ‘I know. I should be cracking open the champagne for you. I just... It’s one of those crossroads moments.’
‘One you, of all people, have the strength to get through.’
‘You think?’ The last thing she felt right now was strong. Terrified, shaky, anxious and defensive? Definitely. Able to hold her own against the man she’d once loved with every fibre of her being? Not so much.
‘You’re made of stronger stuff than you ever give yourself credit for,’ Henry said, scooching over to her side of the puppy pen and giving her a half-hug. ‘Who knows? Maybe it’ll be the best thing that ever happened.’
‘Ha!’ She crinkled her nose up. ‘Having the Uber-Vet here is not going to be the best thing that ever happened to me.’
‘No.’ Henry gave his beard a thoughtful stroke. ‘But having Lucas Williams here might be.’ Henry smiled as if he knew something she didn’t then left the room, Ellie’s jaw still hanging open in disbelief.
Lucas pulled off the main road, such as it was, and onto the long, wooded drive leading down to the clinic. Seeing the clinic sign and then glimpses of the cove peek through the woodland felt as familiar to him as if he’d done it a thousand times. In a way he had.
They’d talked about every detail of their ‘fantasy clinic’ a thousand times. More.
Back when this site had been private land, they couldn’t have dreamt of affording let alone building a state-of-the-art clinic on it. Dreaming the impossible was easy with Ellie. She was a woman who could look at anything and spot nothing but possibility. Nothing but hope. Which went a long way towards explaining why he’d fallen in love with her the instant she’d walked into that first day of veterinary college wearing a studious expression and a tiger onesie.
It surprised him how raw he felt, seeing their shared dream as a reality he wasn’t a part of.
Sure, he was proud of turning his father’s failing clinic into something extraordinary, too. It had saved his family from unimaginable problems, but...looking at Ellie’s clinic on the website before he’d come down here had stirred something in him he hadn’t been sure still existed. Hope. Hope that the two of them might be able to find a peace with their complicated past.
Most of the staff photos were action shots, unlike his well-lit posed one taken by the production photographer. There were loads of Drew, of course, but the pictures of Ellie were the ones that had punched him in the solar plexus. Ellie deep in concentration in surgery. Ellie playing with the pups she bred as service dogs from Esmerelda, the puppy he’d given to her with a diamond ring on her collar and a question on his lips.
Will you marry me?
If only—
He loosened his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and continued to drive. If only a lot of things.
As he drove through the woodland, a broad expanse of lawn opened out before him and then the drive split—one lane signposted for the main clinic and community petting zoo and the other for the surgical ward. He let out a low whistle.
Ellie and Drew had clearly worked their socks off. He felt a burst of pride on their behalf and then, in its wake, an all too familiar stab of guilt.
He steered the car towards the main clinic. The car park was still relatively full, even though it was near the end of the day. The building was a glass, beam and wood-shingled number that oozed confidence and comfort. Exactly the type of place you’d want to bring your pet if they were hurt. Exactly the type of place he and Ellie had envisioned opening all those years ago. He huffed out a laugh. She’d really gone and done it. With her trusty childhood friend Drew, who she had no doubt fallen in love with by now. Had kids with. Pets of their own.
At least she’d kept Esmerelda.
A dog isn’t just for a proposal...
He imagined Drew slipping a ring on Ellie’s finger, felt a surge of something fiery and hot fill his chest, then checked himself. He had no rights in that area. And certainly no right to be jealous. Who Ellie loved or didn’t love was no longer his business. Helping her was.
He parked the car, clapped his hands together and gave them a rub. He’d waited a long time to make amends. Maybe too long. Tunnel vision had been the only thing that had kept him going as he’d dealt with the massive debt his father’s London-based veterinary clinic had accrued as Parkinson’s had begun to take its toll on his father’s health, then dementia and then, six months ago, his passing.
There were countless other threads to his family’s complicated story, and making sure Ellie wasn’t mired down with them had made breaking things off seem like the only option. Now, with Henry taking over the reins of the show he’d created to save his family from financial ruin, he felt as if he was breathing freely for the first time in years.
A bell tinkled above his head as he entered the bright, welcoming atrium-style reception area. At its heart stood a small oak tree. The tree, a couple of metres in height, was planted in the centre of a wraparound bench seat where patients and their owners sat waiting for their appointments.
The sight threw him back in time, feeling his hand close over Ellie’s smaller, more delicate hand as he’d passed the acorn from his to her palm when they’d decided this was the perfect spot to build their clinic.
From the tiny acorn...
He gave his head a shake. It was probably a fake. Who planted an oak tree in their atrium lobby?
Ellie Stone, that’s who.
He scrubbed a hand through his hair and made himself examine the place with a more practised eye. This was, after all, to be his workplace for the next few weeks. If Ellie didn’t chuck him out on his ear.
Pushing her reaction to the side, he scanned the atrium. The interior, whilst modern and clearly designed for animals, was as warm and welcoming as a classic country hotel. A huge stone and wood reception desk stood a few metres back from the door. In lieu of the near obligatory plastic chairs or benches most vet surgeries had, the Dolphin Cove Veterinary Clinic had inviting sofas and window seats built into the multi-angled reception area in addition to the bench seat round the tree. There was a floor-to-ceiling cat scratch and even a little cave off in a corner with a sign on it reading ‘For pooches who prefer a quiet space.’
Behind the reception desk, a young woman who would’ve looked more at home on the back of a horse at an elite show jumping event was tapping something into the computer. She looked up when he approached. ‘Hello, may I—? Oh, my gawd! Are you...?’ She waved at the other two people sitting in the reception area. An elderly woman with a cat in a soft carrying case and a stylish young man with a tiny Pekingese on his lap. ‘It’s the Uber-Vet!’
Lucas shook his head. Fame and recognition were his least favourite aspects of his job. That and the non-stop rumours about his imaginary engagements. He’d barely had time for dating let alone having enough head space to think about falling in love. And that was the thing, wasn’t it? You didn’t think about falling in love. You just did it. Precisely as he’d done with Ellie.
‘Don’t move!’ The girl scuttled round the desk with her phone pinched between her immaculately manicured nails, ‘Can we do a selfie?’
Check that. Selfies were his least favourite part of being the Uber-Vet.
‘I’m getting a selfie with the Uber-Vet!’ The girl sing-songed at the two pet owners as Lucas resisted a sigh and put on an obliging smile.
The flash on her phone went off, and then, as she took a couple more, she launched into a monologue. ‘I’m Tegan. I work here. Obvs. This is Mrs Cartwright and her very well-loved Siamese cat, Tabatha.’ She stage-whispered, ‘Bit of a hypochondriac but we love her.’ She raised her voice. ‘Mrs Cartwright? Would you and Tabatha like your photo taken with the Uber-Vet?’
‘Who?’ Mrs Cartwright, an immaculately turned-out, birdlike woman, peered at him with bright blue eyes. ‘Oh, no,’ she said, after she’d given him a quick once over. ‘No, thank you. I’ll wait for Ellie. As you know, I’d far rather Tabatha saw Drew as he is very familiar with her ailments, but...’ She heaved a weary sigh. ‘My poor, poor Tabatha.’
Tegan dropped to her knees in front of Tabatha and began making meow noises.
‘I’d like a photo,’ the young man holding the Pekingese said. The dog’s immaculately groomed coat flowed over his arms as he swept her up and alongside Lucas. ‘Here...’ He handed him his phone. ‘Can you take it? Your arms are longer. And stronger. My boyfriend would be so totally jel if he knew I was cuddling up to you. Teegs! Come over and get in the photo with us.’
Tegan obliged, happily squishing Lucas into the centre of a Tegan and Pekingese sandwich.
Lucas grinned and bore it. Nearly six years on Britain’s television screens had kept his father’s clinic from closing and miring his family in debt, so...he held up the phone. ‘Ready? Smile!’
When the flash went off, he saw stars for a moment. When they cleared his heart smashed against his chest. There she was.
Ellie Stone. Even more beautiful than he’d remembered her. Wild golden red curls. Her lean, athletic body wearing scrubs as if they’d been handmade for her every curve. A pair of trendy trainers on her feet. No surprise there. Shoes had always been her weakness. Green eyes, as pure and welcoming as the sea beyond the clinic. They flashed brightly then narrowed.
Maybe not so welcoming.
‘You’re late.’
‘Ellie!’ Tegan swotted at her arm. ‘Don’t be rude. It’s the Uber-Vet!’
‘I know exactly who he is,’ she bit out.
‘Cool.’ Tegan grinned. ‘Then you won’t mind if I run out and get Torky, yeah?’ She turned to Lucas and gave his arm a squeeze. ‘He’s my twin and, like, totally wants to be a vet, just like you.’
Lucas sucked in a breath. Not the right thing to say in front of your boss who was an excellent vet herself.
Tegan continued, oblivious to the icy stare Ellie was giving her. ‘Ells? Would you take our picture when we get back? Me and Torks. What? Why are you so frowny?’
Lucas’s eyes zapped to Ellie’s. He’d stupidly held on to a sliver of hope that enough time had passed that she might be the tiniest bit happy to see him. She arched an eyebrow as if to say, This is a veterinary clinic, not a red carpet.
No smile. No glimmer of delight. No, Oh, my goodness, my Prince Charming has just walked through the door.
Not quite the happy reunion he’d been hoping for.
Ellie sniffed and gave Tegan what he used to teasingly call her ‘Mum look’. Teasing because he’d imagined her giving that look to their own children one day. He’d loved that look. Hell. Who was he kidding? He’d loved all her looks. Happy, triumphant, giddy, loving...
‘I do mind, Tegan. Torquil is busy in the surgical ward and you should be busy answering the phone.’ She tipped her head towards the reception desk, where the phone was, indeed, ringing.
Tegan, full of attitude, swept back behind the reception desk and very pointedly answered the phone, ‘Hello, Dolphin Cove Veterinary Clinic, Tegan speaking. How may I help you?’
‘Sorry about that—’ Lucas began, but Ellie cut him off with an eye-roll.
‘She’s young. She’ll get over it.’
‘It’s good to see you, Ellie,’ Lucas said, meaning it. ‘How are you?’
She crossed her arms over the dark blue scrubs dotted with...were those toy poodles?...and glowered at him. Funny how toy poodles took the edge off a glare.
‘Hmm. Good question.’ She tapped her chin with her index finger. ‘Do you mean...how are you, Ellie, after six years of not ever speaking to you? Or, how are you, Ellie, seeing me swan into your clinic as if I owned the place. Or...wait a minute.’ She put her finger up in the air as if a light bulb had just gone off, her green eyes blazing with emotion. ‘Best yet...how are you, Ellie, after I dumped you and made it very clear there was no place in my life for you despite the fact you were the one to always say there is no I in team?’
‘What?’ screeched Tegan from the reception desk, hand over the phone receiver. ‘You used to date the Uber-Vet? Ells. You are a dark horse, girlfriend! Ellie and the Uber-Vet. Who knew?’
‘His name’s Lucas!’ Ellie ground out.
At the same time Lucas said, ‘Lucas is just fine.’
‘Ah! Lucas!’ Henry appeared from one of the long corridors stretching out beyond the reception desk. ‘There you are. I see you’ve caught up with Ellie.’
‘Henry.’ Ellie wheeled on him. ‘This was a terrible idea. I’m going to find someone else.’
‘Someone else to who can do the Bernese surgery?’ Lucas said, knowing he was on solid ground. ‘I don’t think so. The only one on the British Isles who can do that surgery is standing right here.’
Ellie opened her mouth, presumably to protest, but nothing came out.
‘Oh, dear. Well, I...’ Henry’s eyes bounced between the pair of them as his brows dived towards his nose in consternation.
‘Actually, Henry,’ Lucas continued with a smile, ‘Ellie and I were just discussing where I should put my things. Weren’t we, Ellie?’
‘We were doing no such thing,’ she growled.
‘Oh, well.’ Henry gave his beard a thoughtful stroke. ‘You’re more than welcome to stay in the guest flat with me. I believe there’s a sofa bed for the night or I can move out of the bedroom tonight and sleep on the—’
‘No!’ Ellie snapped. ‘My house? My rules. My veterinary clinic? My decision whether or not you even touch one solitary hair on an animal’s head.’
The young man with the Pekingese piped up, ‘It’s a bit late for that. He’s already held my Audrey here.’
Ellie’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. ‘And you are?’
‘Caspian Smythe-Bingham.’
She opened her mouth, presumably to say ‘Who?’ when a look of recognition flared then softened her features into a welcoming glow of recognition. ‘Caspian, yes, of course. I’m ever so sorry. I’m not normally so...um...’ She gave Lucas a dismissive flick of her eyes then looked at Henry. ‘Henry, if you don’t mind showing our temporary guest into the coffee room, I’ll meet with you both after we take a look at... Audrey, right?’ She reached out her hands for the Pekingese who curled up against his owner’s chest.
‘Oh, no.’ Caspian stroked his dog’s long hair. ‘Audrey doesn’t seem to like you.’
Ellie gave a nervous laugh. ‘Not to worry. Sometimes it takes a minute or two to get to know one another. Why don’t you bring her into the examination room, and we’ll take a look there?’
Caspian arched an imperious eyebrow. ‘If you don’t mind, I’d really rather the Uber-Vet took a look at her. They have a bond already, you see?’
The expression on Ellie’s face was so cross it took all of Lucas’s power not to laugh. Not that he wanted to irritate her more than he had, but...this was actually a little bit funny. Maybe the funnier later variety of funny, but...
‘Why are you laughing?’ Ellie’s glare bored into him.
‘I’m not laughing.’
‘Course you are,’ Ellie snipped. Her eyes darted to the door as a young boy and an older woman who looked very familiar came in. Ellie’s entire demeanour changed. ‘Exam room three,’ she crisply instructed Lucas. ‘You take Audrey. We’ll all have a look.’
‘Only if you’re sure.’ Stepping on her toes was the last thing he wanted to do.
‘Of course I’m sure.’ She pointed him down the corridor towards the exam room then gave a little hip-height wave to the two who’d just come in.
‘Did you want to see them?’
‘No,’ she snapped. When her eyes met his, the sparks flew hard and fast. Like a fresh log had been thrown on a bed of hot coals that had been lying in wait...smouldering...waiting for the perfect moment to flare and burn as brightly as they once had.
‘Right you are, then.’ Lucas stepped to the side so that Caspian could follow Ellie. ‘After you.’
With a rather pointed swish, Ellie whirled around and headed down the corridor as briskly as her trademark trendy trainers would take her. Henry mouthed a silent ‘Good luck’ to Lucas as he followed in her wake.
It was going to be an interesting few weeks. Truth be told, he hadn’t been convinced she’d let him in. But now that she had he was going to keep his foot firmly in the door, no matter how many times she tried to slam it. The fire in her eyes had told him everything he’d needed to know. There was something to salvage between them. And he wasn’t leaving until he found out exactly what it was.
