Almost a Bride, page 6
A vet tech she hadn’t met before entered the room and immediately bolted into action when he saw what was going on.
“Gavin. Mandi,” Gray said, motioning between them with a nod of his head. “Gavin is my right hand. You’ll see Nora in a second, too. They started here after Madison decided to go to vet school. I couldn’t run this place without them.”
She remembered his assistant Madison. Gray used to have a high turnover rate with assistants. Mandi had once recommended that he pay more for someone highly trained and devoted to being a vet tech.
He placed a stethoscope against their little chests and listened.
“They sound okay, considering. Let’s get them hydrated, do a fecal float, blood draw for viruses—FIV and FeLV etcetera... You know the protocol,” he told Gavin, who looked like he’d already organized three groups of testing supplies on trays.
“They must be starving,” Mandi said.
“No doubt. We’ll get a starting weight and put them on formula.” Gray took the tortoiseshell from her hands. “We need to do a few quick tests first, like checking for internal parasites. Do you want to name them? It helps us mark their charts. I prefer names to numbers. Names help them get adopted. Why don’t you do the honors?”
“Me? I don’t know.”
“Two girls and a boy. Where’s that creative mind of yours?”
Her professional, competitive side kicked into gear. It sounded cold, but creative advertising was what they needed to get the kittens adopted. The right names would make a prospective family feel connected. Drawn in.
“How about Sandy, Windy and Storm?”
“All tying in to the beachy feel. I like that.” He did a double take at her shirt. “Are you bleeding?”
Mandi frowned and looked down. A small dot of blood had seeped through her shirt. The kittens must have scratched harder than she thought they had. She peeked under without lifting her hem too high. Gray took one look and shook his head.
“Mandi, we need to get those scratches treated. You don’t want to know what organisms these poor guys could be carrying,” he said.
Nora walked in and blubbered at the sight of the kittens, but quickly joined Gavin with equal efficiency to get the litter worked up.
“Nora, I don’t think you’ve met Mandi. She’s...an old friend. Could you take over cleanup with Gavin?”
“Got it.”
“Thanks. Mandi, follow me.”
This clinic was his kingdom. He was in boss mode and she didn’t work for him, but she trailed after him without complaint. She glanced over her shoulder and was astounded at how quickly and efficiently everyone moved. Gray’s team knew exactly what they were doing. Watching them work was a beautiful thing. Seeing those kittens being loved and cared for was beyond beautiful. This was what Gray did. He saved animals. Her chest pinched at the reminder of why she’d fallen for him all those years ago. But that was then.
“Here we go.” He pulled out a box filled with wound cleaner, antibiotic ointment, gauze, bandages...you name it. “Just lift your shirt enough.”
“I could just go home and shower. I’m sure Nana has antibiotic ointment lying in a cabinet somewhere.”
“Mandi, you can do that, too, but we really should take a few precautions here. Bacteria multiply faster than you can imagine.”
She bit her lower lip.
“Seriously?” Gray asked. “I’ve seen you in a bikini. You don’t have to take the shirt off. Just lift it. Or here, take this stuff into that bathroom there and treat yourself. I just don’t want those cuts getting infected. And regardless, if you develop a fever, you need to get seen and let them know what happened.”
A fever? How bad was this? Fine. He was right. She had probably spent more time around him in a bikini than in jeans. She knotted her shirt at the bottom edge of her bra like a halter top and held it in place. Her lace bra didn’t come close to qualifying as a bikini, but he didn’t need to know that.
He grimaced at the sight of mini slashes all over her waist.
“It was worth it,” she said, eyeing the little cuts. Most weren’t deep enough to bleed, but they still left red, slightly raised lines. Two cuts to the left had definitely broken skin.
“Yeah. Thanks for saving those kittens and bringing them here,” he said, as he cleaned the area, apologizing when she jolted at the sting. His touch was gentle and almost made her forget why she’d gotten mad at him earlier. He looked up at her as he grabbed a new gauze pad. “My only worry is those kittens have fleas and you have broken skin. Fleas are a vector for a certain bacteria, Bartonella, that can get in open wounds and cause cat scratch disease. I’m sure you’ll be fine—I’ve never had a case here and we’ve had plenty of scratches occur—but like I said, watch for fever, malaise or swollen glands over the next few days to two weeks. Just be aware.” He applied ointment and put bandages on the two deeper ones.
“Great. I think you might have just triggered the hypochondriac in me,” Mandi said, lowering her shirt. All she needed was to get sick on top of everything else.
“You’ll be fine. I can’t put a number on how many scratches I’ve personally suffered and not one ended up getting infected.”
“If you say so. Thanks. Um. I’m going to head back to Nana’s—my—I mean our—place.” That sounded so strange. Awkward, to say the least. Something shifted in Gray’s face.
“We need to talk about that, but not here,” he said.
“Agreed. You can stop by later, but I can tell you now, I need you to buy me out. It’s that, or agree to putting the place on the market. My father didn’t lose time in expressing an interest.”
Gray’s jaw hardened and his eyes darkened.
“I can tell you now, none of that’s happening.”
CHAPTER FOUR
JOHN RIVERS PACED across his newly built deck that overlooked the sound, but neither the picturesque scenery, nor Coral’s somewhat annoying consolation, settled his nerves.
“What do you mean she told you off?” he asked.
“She brushed me away. Wouldn’t even listen. In fact, she was kind of rude. I’m telling you, that girl certainly didn’t inherit your business sense.” Coral took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll come around. It’s too soon after the funeral to talk about it. Emotions are still raw.”
He felt more than raw. He’d been reduced to feeling inconsequential...practically nonexistent. The whole town would eventually find out that his mother had put a stranger—an outsider—ahead of him. They would talk. Gossip behind his back, just like when he was the kid in school with no father... Times were different back then and bullies highlighted things like that. Even adults had a tendency to zero in on a person’s vulnerability and bring it up, like when Audra had run off and left him. People had talked about it ad nauseam.
He hated pity. But it didn’t matter what he did or what he achieved in life, it never seemed to be enough. He loved his family, but he would never understand why his mother wasn’t prouder of all he’d achieved. He had loved Audra, but she had made it clear she didn’t love him anymore. If she ever truly had. Marrying so young had been the biggest mistake of his life. His mother had warned him about rushing into marriage when the two of them barely knew each other. He had ignored her. And Mandi...all he ever wanted was to protect her from making the same mistakes in life he had made. At least she had come to her senses about marrying Grayson. That man was no more right for Mandi than Audra had been for him.
Mandi tended not to listen to him, though. She may not have gone into law, as he’d wanted, but he’d be damned if she took another wrong turn and threw her career away on account of seeing Gray again. He needed to make sure the man didn’t take advantage of her feeling vulnerable right now.
He downed the glass of brandy Coral had poured for him and went inside. He could hear her closing the sliding glass door behind her. He wished she’d close the front door behind her, too, but he didn’t want to be rude. Every ally mattered when your own family was against you.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said, turning his laptop on and opening the documents page. “In the meantime, find out exactly how much the property is worth. I also want numbers on at least two adjoining homes.”
“Big plans?”
Did he ever. He’d spent his life making a name for himself, not only in Turtleback but along the entire Outer Banks. People didn’t live forever. Life was short and this was his chance to leave a permanent mark. The location. The proximity to a historic lighthouse. It was all too perfect. So long as that vet didn’t get in the way. But everyone had a price. He shrank the file with old notes he had on Zale from back when he’d convinced Mandi to marry him and opened a new online search.
“My dear, you should know by now. I only deal in high stakes.”
* * *
GRAY HADN’T DEALT with such a confusing barrage of emotions since the day WITSEC US marshals had facilitated his new life in Turtleback. He hated anger as much as he hated people who lacked morals and ethics. He also hated those who lacked compassion—for all life—and honesty. Yet, here he was, angry and living a lie.
But you did it for the greater good. He lived every day reminding himself that the truth got him here but the sacrifice had been worth it. Just like Mandi insisted that the injuries she’d suffered in rescuing the kittens were worth it. He loved that about her. But love wasn’t enough. Was it? Keeping the truth from her had to have played a part in her leaving. She had sensed that he was holding back and they had argued about it more times than he cared to remember. She was digging; he was denying.
But his truth would only endanger them both. He couldn’t draw that kind of danger to this quiet, unsuspecting town. His sacrifice would have all been for nothing.
That a person would knowingly endanger someone else blew his mind, but he knew people could be bought. He’d never given much credence to the saying that everyone had a price, until that day, when he had made the conscious decision to let his life get mixed up with the criminal world.
There was no price when it came to keeping Mandi and every other person and thing around here safe, including the turtle nesting grounds. He didn’t trust Mandi’s father when it came to preserving nature. Nature didn’t make bank deposits. John was too shortsighted to understand why protecting those nests was so important. It didn’t make sense that Mandi would even consider selling out to him. Had she really been gone so long that she’d forgotten what this all meant? The house...the beach...helping to protect and save endangered species like the Kemp’s ridley sea turtles? Had she forgotten how many turtles had been lost to cold shock farther up the East Coast the last winter she’d spent here? Or how many hatchlings never made it to the water because of people who didn’t care? People like John. How could she not consider what Nana had valued in her life? Both of them had stopped discussing the subject at the clinic when Chanda had stepped into his office with another chart. She had raised her brows to indicate their voices had been carrying.
He climbed the wooden steps to Nana’s place—he’d always think of it that way—with Laddie at his heels. Nana’s place. Her hummingbird bird feeder hung empty from its hook above the front porch railing. The afternoon rains had kept the flowers from dying in the garden beds along the side of the house, but weeds were beginning to sprout everywhere. He’d never noticed the paint chipping along the railing before, probably because he usually approached the house from the beach side. The back porch was Nana’s favorite place.
He knocked because it was the right thing to do. It didn’t matter that he had a key. He’d never actually lived here before, even if he’d spent plenty of hours in the house helping Nana with minor repairs when he could.
A small gasp escaped Mandi’s lips when she opened the door.
“You’re such a stunning, handsome boy.”
Gray’s ego skyrocketed for the fraction of a second it took for him to register that she wasn’t looking at him. She went down on her knees and began petting Laddie. The dog wagged and sniffed. “So, you’re Laddie. Your mane is something else.”
“Yep, this is my sidekick. My wingman.” The little traitor.
“I saw him from a distance on the beach.” Mandi hesitated as if trying to take back her words. Had she been watching them? She cleared her throat. “But he’s even more beautiful up close.”
Laddie gave her palm a lick and gave Gray a look of approval.
“He’s an amazing friend. Needs a good brushing every week to keep his coat from matting but it’s good bonding time, and when he sheds, I find the longer hair easier to clean than the shorter, needlelike type.”
“You are so beautiful and calm,” she said, running her fingers through Laddie’s rough coat.
“Patient. Loves kids and animals. And very smart. He knows this place. He used to keep Nana company.”
“I know. Sometimes, when I called her on the phone, she would tell me your dog was hanging out with her.”
“Can we come in?”
Mandi’s eyes widened.
“Oh gosh. I didn’t mean to trap you in the doorway. I got distracted. Can you blame me?”
“Nope. Happens to me on walks all the time.”
He closed the door behind him and noticed her keys sitting between a conch shell and her purse on the console near the door. Something stirred in his chest. The pewter turtle. She was still using it? He fingered the matching turtle key chain in his pocket. He’d given it to her on her twenty-first birthday. He had assumed she’d gotten rid of everything related to him after she’d called off the wedding. Interesting. No doubt Nana had noticed, too. Nothing escaped her. That woman could have spotted a flea trying to hide in a pile of sand. She could read between the lines, too. He was beginning to believe more and more that it had something to do with this whole house-sharing situation. Maybe she really was trying to give him a second chance with Mandi. He certainly wasn’t throwing that away.
“Make yourself comfortable. After all, it’s your place, too,” Mandi said. Her words sounded rehearsed and defeated.
“Mandi, I didn’t put her up to this. You must know that. I was as surprised as you were when Burkitt read her will.”
“I never said you did.” She frowned at him and shook her head. “Gray, in the past, I may have accused you of being a locked box, but I never thought you were manipulative.”
More like Pandora’s box.
“Thank you for that. The manipulative part, at least. Besides, we both know Nana can’t be manipulated.”
That earned him a chuckle. Mandi sat on the floor cross-legged and patted her knee. Laddie lay down beside her with his head on her lap.
“Nope. Nana was too strong for that. I think that’s why my dad was always frustrated with her. And she with him.”
“We can make this work, Mandi.” Gray sat on the sofa and rested his elbows on his knees. “Just because you live in New York doesn’t mean we have to sell. Most folks only get to dream of having a beach vacation home.”
Mandi closed her eyes briefly, as if carefully planning each word.
“I can’t keep it, Gray. With Nana gone, there’s nothing left for me here...at least nothing that warrants me coming back enough that I’d need a house, including if I ever visit my dad. Not that he has ever asked me to. I need the money more and I probably won’t have the time to come down here anyway. And before you criticize me for that or accuse me of being like my father, remember why I worked so hard to put myself through college. Remember that I refused to let my dad pay my way. And you of all people know how much that accomplishment meant to me. Especially getting into graduate school.”
“Trust me, I know. I believe you left me for it.”
She stopped petting Laddie.
“That’s not why I left. Not entirely, and you know it. I’m not in the mood to fight about that. Please. Let’s put that behind us. I just want to sort out this situation. Look, the fact is that graduate school left me with a whale-sized debt, and on top of that, there’s the cost of living in New York, which—don’t get me wrong—is worth it because my new job is the kind of opportunity most people only dream of. If I prove myself to them, I can work my way up the ladder and find myself in a position where I’d get to travel for business, expenses paid, and see places I’ve never been. Maybe someday, I’ll have enough free income to donate regularly to charities the way Nana did. I’ve worked hard for this, Gray.”
He did know college costs were astronomical. That’s why he had gone the army route. The only catch was having to work for them a few years postgraduation. That’s what led him to the Navy’s Marine Mammal Program and the rest was history. Or, the erasure of his.
“Isn’t this new big-city job of yours paying enough?”
She raised an irritated brow at him.
“Not everyone walks out of college and starts earning a doctor’s salary. It’s one of the most prestigious advertising firms on the East Coast. I’m starting at the bottom like all newcomers. Look. I don’t want to rent this place out, because I’ve seen what renters can do. Besides, there’ll be times of the year when there won’t be business, especially this far south along the Banks. And I didn’t think you’d want to share the place with strangers. Hermit that you are.”
“Agreed. No renting. I don’t like that idea either.”
The idea of college kids partying and puking in here or people bringing dogs that weren’t trained like Laddie and letting them loose bothered the heck out of him. They’d destroy all the turtle nests. But he also had to consider the strangers who’d be coming and going. People he’d have to deal with as a landlord if he chose to keep living at the lighthouse and rented the cottage. Considering his witness protection situation, it wasn’t a safe choice, or one his WITSEC contact would approve of. Nope. Renting was indeed out of the question.
