The Doctor's Calling
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Stella Bagwell
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Harlequin
HarlequinChapter One
“What did you say?”
As the question left Laurel Stanton’s lips, she was transfixed on the man seated behind the large, messy desk. Dr. Russ Hollister had owned and operated Hollister Animal Clinic for twelve years, and Laurel had worked as his assistant for the past five of those. It was unimaginable to think her days with him were coming to an end.
His gaze locked on hers, he picked up a pen and tapped it absently against a stack of files. At thirty-eight years old, he was a tall, muscular man with big arms and hands to match. His shaggy blond hair was never combed and a dark five-o’clock shadow always covered the lower half of his face. But that was easily explainable, she thought. The man never had time to shave or get a decent haircut.
“Just what I said,” he spoke with exaggerated patience. “As of January twenty-fifth, I’m taking the position of resident vet at the Chaparral Ranch. The Cantrell family owns the cattle and horse operation. I believe you’re acquainted with them?”
Laurel had gone through high school and college with Alexa Cantrell. Now her friend lived in Texas with her Ranger husband and their children. Alexa’s mother, Frankie, spent most of her time in Texas, too, where she had grown sons from a previous marriage. Only Quint, Alexa’s brother, remained here in New Mexico to keep his late father’s ranching dynasty going.
Laurel swallowed hard as a sinking weight hit the pit of her stomach. She’d noticed that Russ had been acting a bit unlike himself here lately, as though his mind were preoccupied with more than work, but she’d never dreamed he was about to do anything this drastic. What in the world could have come over him?
She said, “I’ve been friends with the Cantrells for years. They’re great folks, but—”
Bewildered by it all, her voice trailed away, however, he seemed not to notice as he quickly replied, “That’s one of the main reasons I decided to make this major job change. The family is trustworthy, solid and dependable. I can be sure that the ranch will always remain in their hands and I won’t ever have to deal with the uncertainty of a new owner coming in and replacing me.”
Being a resident vet for a prominent ranch like the Chaparral was an impressive position to hold. Plenty of veterinarians would give their eyeteeth for such a job, she thought. Besides the prestige, there would be many other advantages, such as not having to deal with tons of paperwork, the demands of the public and traveling all over the county in the middle of the night. Still, Russ had always been his own boss. It was hard for her to imagine an independent guy like him willing to be an employee rather than the other way around.
“But you own this clinic,” she reasoned. “Your business is so great that you can’t handle it all. Why—”
Before she could get the whole question out, he interrupted, “That’s right. I can’t handle it all. It’s grown to be too much for you and me to deal with.”
Questions and doubts tumbled through her mind as her gaze slipped over his rugged features. She’d never thought of Russ Hollister as a handsome man. He was too rough around the edges for that description. But he was sexy as all get-out and totally unaware of the fact, which made him even more unbearably attractive.
Five years ago, when he’d first hired her, he’d been a married man. But three years later, that had all changed when divorce had parted him from a classy, career-driven wife. Ever since then, Laurel tried not to think of him in terms of being “available.” He was nothing more to her than her boss, or, from the sound of things, soon-to-be former boss.
Pressing fingertips against her puckered forehead, she tried to put her concerns into words. “I realize you’re overworked and—”
“We’re both overworked,” he corrected.
“Okay. I agree. You have to deal with people and things that would frazzle the nerves of a saint, but this place and all the animals—who will care for them? You’ve been here—”
“I don’t need for you to tell me how long I’ve been here, Laurel. The floors in this old building are stained with my blood and sweat. But that’s soon ending. I’ll be leaving the end of next week. And Dr. Brennan will be taking over shortly afterward. So there’s no need for you to worry. The horses from the track and all the other animals around here won’t go without a vet.”
But what about her? What about the long, arduous hours she’d invested in this clinic? In him? Were they all for naught? She wanted to fling the questions at him.
This isn’t about him or what he means to you, Laurel. This is about your job, your livelihood, the sum of what makes up your life. This isn’t about your personal feelings.
Russ was a demanding boss who spoke bluntly and, more often than not, took her for granted. But he was also honest and fair. And where animals were concerned, his heart was as big as Texas. It wasn’t enough for him to simply cure a patient from illness or injury. He always went a step further to make sure the animal would remain healthy and happy. There was never a time he put himself before the welfare of his patients. She admired him greatly, and though he often irked her with his caustic tongue, once she’d begun working for him, she’d never considered working for anyone else. She was hopelessly devoted and attached to the man.
Suddenly feeling weak in the knees, Laurel sank into one of the hard metal chairs that were normally reserved for pet owners. But it was eight o’clock at night—far past closing hours—and the building was empty, except for him, her and the few cats and dogs that remained at the clinic for more extensive care.
“I see,” she said, her voice low and hoarse, then asked, “Does Dr. Brennan have an assistant?”
Shrugging, he leaned back in the wide leather chair, and the indifference she saw on his face made her wish she had the guts to reach over and pop her palm against his jaw.
“I haven’t questioned the man about his staff,” he said frankly. “That’s his business.”
After five years, Laurel was used to his curtness, and most of the time she ignored it. But his announcement had knocked her for a loop. She wasn’t in any mood for sarcasm.
Her back teeth grinding together, she quickly rose to her feet. “Well, did you ever think it might have been more thoughtful to let me in on this a bit sooner? Jobs aren’t exactly hanging from tree limbs right now. But I suppose I’m just an afterthought in all of this.”
He arched a brow at her. “Sit down.”
The quietly spoken command made her hackles rise. “Why? I still have work to do before we close up. And I’d like to get to bed before midnight.”
“I’m not finished with this conversation yet. That’s why.” He pointed to the vacated chair as though she was a child instead of a thirty-year-old woman, and it was on the tip of her tongue to tell him what an ass he could sometimes be. After all, her job was coming to an end. But what else could he do to her, she asked herself. Fire her before the week was out? The thought sent a bubble of hysterical laughter rising in her throat, and she realized she was very close to breaking down in front of this man who had little to no patience for weakness in human beings. Yet he had a massive heart where animals were concerned.
Biting back a weary sigh, she sank into the still-warm seat. “Okay. Lay it on me,” she invited with a fatal dose of sarcasm.
He frowned. “First of all, I didn’t share all of this with you earlier, because I knew you’d be upset.”
She sputtered in disbelief. “Upset! That’s putting it mildly. I’m going along thinking my job is secure and you spring this on me! Wouldn’t any normal person be upset?”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, and she suddenly felt his gaze roaming her face and hair. She had no doubt her gray eyes were sparking fire and her cheeks were pink. As for the rest of her, she was certain she looked as tired as she felt. Her long chestnut hair had loosened from its thick, single braid and now hung raggedly against the front of her left shoulder. What little makeup she’d applied this morning had been washed away by the early-morning drizzle that had fallen while she and Russ had trudged into a cattle pen to treat a bull with an infected horn. Her blue jeans and green-plaid flannel shirt could no longer be deemed clean, and her black cowboy boots were caked with dried red mud.
It was rare that Russ ever took the time to really look at her, and Laurel never fussed with her appearance. Not for him or any man. But now as she faced him in the dimly lit office, she realized his warm brown eyes made her feel quite uncomfortable and very much like a woman.
Since he was making no effort to speak, she decided to do it for him, saying, “Don’t bother to answer. I shouldn’t have said any of that. This is your clinic. What you do or don’t do with it is entirely your business. I’m just an employee.”
So why did she feel like so much more? she wondered, her spirits as dead as the potted plant in the window behind his head. Maybe it was the fifty or sixty hours she spent every week with this man. Maybe it was the emotional ups and downs she’d gone through as the two of them had lost and saved animals of all types, ages and sizes.
A grimace creased his broad forehead and pressed his hard lips into a crooked line. “Do you think you can manage to be quiet for two minutes?”
“I don’t know,” she quipped. “Do we have the time to do a test?”
He tossed down the pen and used the hand to rake a path through his sandy-blond hair. “If you’d shut up, I might be able to explain that I’ve not forgotten you in all of this. Do you think I’d just heartlessly dismiss you without any warning?”
She didn’t think he was heartless. He showed love and kindness to the animals every day. Just not to her. But then, he wasn’t that sort of man. And she was his assistant, not his girlfriend, she reminded herself.
Swallowing a sigh, she blurted, “I’ve never been able to read your mind. So I can hardly know what’s in it now.”
His nostrils flaring, he darted her a sharp look. “Good thing,” he muttered, then shook his head with something like self-disgust. “I don’t know why in hell I’ve put up with you all these years. Or why in hell I want you to go with me. You’re a pain. A big, fat pain. But the truth is I don’t want to work without you.”
That last shocking remark straightened her spine and scooted her butt to the edge of the chair. “Work! Without me? What are you talking about?”
“The Chaparral,” he snapped with impatience. “I want you to remain my assistant. I will need one there. Or hadn’t that crossed your mind?”
All sorts of things had been rolling through her mind these past few minutes, she thought. But nothing like this!
She glanced at the watch on her wrist. “It’s been less than five minutes since you’ve sprung this news on me. I haven’t had time to think about anything!”
He deliberately swung his attention to the clock on his desk. Once the second hand made a complete sweep of the numbers, he said, “Okay. You’ve had five minutes now. What do you think?”
Her insides were suddenly trembling, and she quickly clasped her hands together to keep them from outwardly shaking.
“First of all, the Cantrells offered you a job. Not me. And secondly, the ranch is several miles west of Ruidoso, and part of the trip is over rough, graveled road. The commute there would take at least forty-five minutes one way. That’s—”
“The Cantrells have already agreed to hire you—if you want the job,” he quickly interrupted. “And you wouldn’t be commuting. You’d be living there—on the ranch. Just like I will be.”
He was leaving his large home in the suburbs and moving to the ranch? And the Cantrells were offering her a job and a place to stay, too? Something was wrong with this picture. She’d not spoken to Alexa in several weeks, but that didn’t mean her old friend might not be pulling strings. As grateful as Laurel was for the offer, she’d been independent since—well, since she was a little girl. She didn’t want handouts from anyone. And she especially didn’t want to be hired because Russ had made stipulations to include her.
“I find all of this hard to believe. I mean, I believe the part about you—I’m sure the Cantrells were willing to offer you the moon to get you to work for them. But me—the ranch hardly needs my services.”
Leaning forward, he pulled a card from a Rolodex and tossed it on the desk in front of her. “If you don’t believe me, call Quint and talk with him. I’m sure he can answer any questions you might have.”
Quint Cantrell was Alexa’s younger brother. And since their father, Lewis, had died several years ago, he was now the man in charge of the ranch. Through her friendship with Alexa, she knew him quite well. But she didn’t want to talk with him tonight. She needed time to calm herself, to think about what all of this was going to do to her life.
“I’m not sure I have any questions for Quint,” she said after a moment. “Because I’m not at all sure I want to take the job.”
Surprise flickered in his eyes, but he couldn’t be any more surprised than she was at herself. The words had popped out of her mouth with a will of their own, as though something inside her had plucked the remark straight out of the chaos going on in her head.
Long seconds stretched in the quiet room before he finally asked, “You aren’t interested in the job?”
“I didn’t say that. I said I wasn’t sure about it,” she corrected.
“You were just bemoaning the fact that jobs weren’t hanging from tree limbs. You have something else in mind that you’d rather do?”
She resisted the urge to squirm upon the seat. There had been times in the past when she’d thought of moving on to work for another vet or changing to a different job that still involved caring for animals. Anything to get her away from the hopeless attachment she felt toward Russ. But she’d never been strong enough to take such a step.
“Not exactly,” she answered vaguely. “But moving to the Chaparral—that would be a major move for me.”
“I’m well aware of that,” he said bluntly. “It’s a major move for me, too.”
“That’s true,” she reluctantly agreed. “But it’s different for you.”
“How so?”
Groaning wearily, she scrubbed her face with both hands. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore tonight, Russ. I’ll think about it and give you my decision tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow is Sunday. You don’t work on Sundays, remember?”
Only because she’d demanded that he give her that one day off. Otherwise, she’d be working nonstop for seven days a week. As for Russ, he had to come to the clinic no matter what day of the week it was. There were always small animals to be cared for and fed, and then there were the horses and cattle penned in the shelters behind the building that needed the same attention. Sometimes she took pity on him and showed up on Sunday afternoons to help him. And though he’d never said he appreciated her gesture, he always added overtime pay to her weekly check.
But money or salary from Russ had never been an issue with Laurel. All she’d ever really wanted from him was his appreciation, along with a little thoughtfulness. And his companionship throughout the workday. Unfortunately, the latter had become the thing she wanted from him most of all.
“All right then, I’ll phone you.”
“No. You won’t phone me,” he said flatly. “You’re going to give me your decision directly to my face.”
It was just like him to make something as difficult as possible for her, she thought crossly. “Okay. Monday morning. I’ll give you my answer then.”
She started out of the small room, but before she could slip out the door, he called out her name.
Pausing, Laurel looked back at him and for one brief moment she wanted to burst into tears. She wanted to beat her fist against his chest and ask him why he was doing this to her. She’d never been good with changes. She’d been through too many tough ones to ever dream a good change could come into her life.
“Don’t bother about cleaning up the operating room. I’ll deal with that and anything else that we left undone. Go on home.”
He’d never given her a break like this before and she wondered why he was making such a gesture tonight. Because their time in this clinic was nearly over? Because their days of working together were almost at an end?
They didn’t have to end, she thought. She had a choice. She could follow the man to the Chaparral. But would that be the right and healthy thing for her to do?
Suddenly her throat was burning, and when she spoke her voice was unusually hoarse. “Thanks, Russ,” she said simply. “I’ll see you Monday morning.”
* * *
It was nearing midnight when Russ maneuvered his four-wheel-drive truck over the snow-packed driveway leading up to the house he’d called home for the past twelve years. The large split-level brick structure was situated on the eastern edge of Ruidoso Downs and had a beautiful view of Sierra Blanca. Though it was far from being a mansion, it was a comfortable, spacious house with more amenities than Russ wanted or needed.
He was basically a simple man and had only purchased the property because his ex-wife, Brooke, had insisted it was a fitting home for a doctor.
Doctor, hell, he mentally snorted. He wasn’t a doctor. He was a vet. But she’d never wanted or tried to see the difference. She’d had huge ambitions for him and herself. And in the end, he supposed those ambitions were the very things that had split them apart. As for the house they’d once shared, he’d remained in it simply because it was much easier than moving, and it was close to his clinic. Besides, the rooms didn’t hold many memories, good or bad, of their marriage. The time they’d spent together within its walls had been very limited.
But Russ rarely thought of Brooke anymore, or their ill-fated relationship. At least, he’d not thought of her until about a month ago when he’d spotted her in a restaurant in downtown Ruidoso. Once they’d divorced and she’d moved away, Russ hadn’t seen her in the area. But she had longtime friends here, so it wasn’t really a surprise to see her dining with old acquaintances. Especially since it had been during the Christmas holiday season. No, the surprise had been Brooke’s obvious pregnancy.
She’d never been willing to give him a child. But apparently the new man in her life had changed her mind about becoming a mother. And that idea had jolted him, had left him wondering just what his life and work were all about.
After parking his truck in the garage, he entered the house through a side door leading into the kitchen. Inside the warm room, he shrugged out of his heavy jacket and slung it over a chair. At the refrigerator, he pulled out a longneck beer and twisted off the cap.
He rarely consumed alcohol, especially not cold beer on a winter night. But right now he was feeling the need to blunt the image of Laurel’s face. Earlier this evening, when he’d told her he was closing the clinic, he felt he’d never seen such utter disappointment on anyone’s face. And that alone bothered the hell out of Russ.
He’d always been an independent person. He lived to suit himself and made his own decisions on what he thought best, not what someone else believed. For the past two years Quint Cantrell had been encouraging Russ to become the Chaparral’s resident vet. In fact, the ranch owner had vowed he wouldn’t fill the position until Russ was ready and certain he wanted to accept the job.
During that time, Russ had weighed the offer, asking himself if selling his clinic and moving to the Chaparral was the right thing for him to do. Working exclusively for the ranch would simplify his life and allow him to do the work he loved under much easier conditions. It would give him time in his life to do more than simply caring for animals from sunup to sundown, and falling exhausted into bed every night, only to get up and start all over again. He wanted time for a home and family. All those reasons had been weighing heavily on him, but he’d been reluctant to make changes. Until he’d seen his ex-wife pregnant. She’d clearly moved on, and it was time that he did, too.
He truly believed that selling the clinic and moving to the Chaparral was a step in the right direction for himself and for Laurel. In spite of what his devoted assistant thought, he had considered her in this move. After all, he wasn’t blind. He’d been watching her work herself to a weary stupor day after day, and this change in jobs would ease the load on her shoulders, too. But there simply hadn’t been any option of taking on more staff or a partner. Now he wanted that easier life for Laurel just as much as he wanted it for himself. Yet it was plain she wasn’t happy about any of this, and now he was beginning to wonder if he had the woman figured all wrong, or even worse, if he’d taken her for granted.
A loud meow at his feet drew Russ’s attention downward. A coal-black Tiffany with long hair and big green eyes was giving him a look of disgust.
“What do you want, Leo? You’ve got food in your bowl. Look right here.” Russ walked over to the automatic feeder and pointed to the mound of dry morsels. “And I’m not about to open a can of salmon for you tonight.”
The cat marched over to a nearby cabinet, sat back on his haunches and pawed at the handle. Russ cursed beneath his breath. The damn cat was spoiled and too smart for his own good. “Listen, you little black monster, you wouldn’t even be in this house if it wasn’t for Laurel. You’d be out on the streets begging—no, I take that back—you wouldn’t even be alive if she hadn’t picked you up from that cold alley. You would’ve died from distemper. Maybe you ought to be thinking how fortunate you are instead of demanding fish or liver every night.”
The cat shot him a bored look, then pawed at the door again. “You ungrateful feline,” Russ muttered at him. “Maybe when I move to the ranch I’ll just leave you behind. What do think about that?”
Even as he made the threat to Leo, he knew that no matter where he lived, the cat would always have a home with him. A year ago Laurel had arrived at work early one morning, carrying in a limp ball of black fur, its eyes and nose covered with dried infection and so weak he could barely make a faint meowing noise. His lungs were in distress, plus he was dehydrated and starved. Russ didn’t think the animal had much chance of surviving, but Laurel had begged him to try. They’d hooked him up on an IV, shot him full of antibiotics and made sure he was warm. After that there hadn’t been much left to do except wait and pray.
After two days, and a great deal of Laurel’s nursing, the cat began to improve. Eventually he recovered enough to be adopted out, and Russ had expected Laurel to be the first one to offer the feline a home. After all, she seemed crazy about the animal and she already had two dogs and three other cats. One more mouth to feed wouldn’t make that much difference. But she’d stunned him by suggesting that Russ take Leo home with him.
At first he’d laughed and scoffed at the idea. Russ didn’t have pets. He dealt with enough animals throughout the day to go home and contend with another at night. But she’d continued to hound him by arguing that Russ needed the cat and the cat needed Russ.
He didn’t know why he’d given in to her and brought the cat home. Most of the time he and Leo merely tolerated each other, but he had to admit there were times, like tonight, when Russ was glad the house wasn’t empty and there was someone here who actually needed him.
“All right, so I’m bluffing and you know it,” he muttered to Leo. “But you’re still not getting salmon. Just a few treats, that’s all. You’re getting too fat.”
He doled out a few moist morsels to the cat, then fetched his beer from the table and carried it into the den. A television sat in one corner of the long, comfortably furnished room, but he didn’t bother switching it on. The only thing he ever watched was the news and weather, and even that didn’t interest him tonight.
Monday morning. I’ll give you my answer then.
Laurel’s promise continued to haunt and shock him. All along, he’d thought she wouldn’t hesitate to follow him to his new job. Now he wasn’t so sure. What would he do if Laurel told him she didn’t want to accept the job at the Chaparral? Find another assistant to replace her?
Hell. He couldn’t replace Laurel. He knew that and he figured she knew it, too. No one else would put up with his moods and demands the way she did. No one else would devote herself to his work the way she did. And lastly, no one else at his side would feel right.
He was staring thoughtfully into the quiet shadows when Leo suddenly jumped into his lap and stared expectantly up at him.
“I don’t know, boy. Maybe I’ve made a mistake.” He placed the beer aside and stroked a hand down Leo’s arched back. “But you proved me wrong when you survived. If I’m lucky, Laurel will prove me wrong and take the job. If she refuses my offer—well, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Leo meowed as though he understood, and Russ groaned.
After the hell Brooke had put him through, he’d never dreamed he’d allow his peace of mind to hinge on another woman. But here he was, agonizing over what Laurel might or might not do.
Had he lost his mind? Or was he just beginning to realize exactly what his assistant had come to mean to him?
He was afraid to answer that.
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