Her Summer with the Brooding Vet, page 1
Eli’s hand lifted and rested on Aurora’s hip, just as her own palm tightened on his arm, almost like she was willing him even closer.
They moved in unison. Lips brushing together for the briefest of seconds before they locked entirely. Her hands wrapped around his neck, the length of her body pressed up against his.
His lips moved across her face to her ear and her neck, and she let out the tiniest groan. He could taste her perfume on his lips, smell it with every inhale.
She let out a breath and stepped back, nervous laughter filling the air between them. Her pupils were dilated, the green of her eyes nearly invisible.
“Whoa,” he said, trying to catch his breath.
“Whoa,” she repeated, a broad smile across her face.
Dear Reader,
Even though I’ve been writing for Harlequin Medical Romance since 2011, this is my first vet book! It was so nice to jump into something a little unusual for myself, and I had great fun researching all the different animal conditions you will find in this story.
My grumpy vet is Elijah Ferguson, who is not too happy to take over his father’s old practice when there’s really no alternative. My vet nurse is Aurora Hendricks and she has an unusual job history that comes back to haunt her. Besides my two main characters, there are some other stars in this book, and for once, they are not children! I hope you love the puppies Bert and Hank just as much as I do, as they help my hero and heroine to their happy-ever-after.
I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to get in touch via my website, www.scarlet-wilson.com.
Best wishes,
Scarlet Wilson
Her Summer with the Brooding Vet
Scarlet Wilson
Scarlet Wilson wrote her first story aged eight and has never stopped. She’s worked in the health service for more than thirty years, having trained as a nurse and a health visitor. Scarlet now works in public health and lives on the west coast of Scotland with her fiancé and their two sons. Writing medical romances and contemporary romances is a dream come true for her.
Books by Scarlet Wilson
Harlequin Medical Romance
California Nurses
Nurse with a Billion Dollar Secret
Night Shift in Barcelona
The Night They Never Forgot
Snowed In with the Surgeon
A Daddy for Her Twins
Cinderella’s Kiss with the ER Doc
Harlequin Romance
The Christmas Pact
Cinderella’s Costa Rican Adventure
The Life-Changing List
Slow Dance with the Italian
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
To all the dog lovers in the world. For my own red Lab, Max, and his partner in crime, our beagle, Murphy. Best dogs in the world.
Praise for Scarlet Wilson
“Charming and oh so passionate, Cinderella and the Surgeon was everything I love about Harlequin Medicals. Author Scarlet Wilson created a flowing story rich with flawed but likable characters and...will be sure to delight readers and have them sighing happily with that sweet ending.”
—Harlequin Junkie
Scarlet Wilson won the 2017 RoNA Rose Award for her book Christmas in the Boss’s Castle.
Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
EPILOGUE
EXCERPT FROM PREGNANCY SURPRISE IN BYRON BAY BY EMILY FORBES
PROLOGUE
ELI TRIED TO hold his anger at bay. ‘Is that it, then?’ he asked his advisers in the room.
His accountant licked his lips, and his solicitor took a breath.
‘You have to declare bankruptcy. There’s no other option at this point.’
Eli let out the air that had built in his lungs. If it were possible, every cell in his body was exploding right now with pent-up frustration, despair, rage, and part sorrow. All his hard work. All his devotion to opening his own practice and making it a success had now all come to nothing. The countless hours he’d spent doing bone-aching work, concentrating, serving his community, had all been for nothing. All because of a woman.
All because he was a fool.
His solicitor cleared his throat. Eli knew what was coming, and he cringed. ‘Your father’s practice,’ he started slowly. ‘The last vet has put in his notice. There are two veterinary nurses. One has worked there for seventeen years. The other has been there eighteen months. The remaining vet is currently undergoing cancer treatment. As of next week, there will be no veterinary cover for the practice, unless you make a new arrangement with other existing practices.’
Eli sighed. He’d never wanted this. Never. His whole life, people had expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps and take over once he retired. But that had never been in Eli’s plans. No one had been more surprised than he was that he’d actually been bitten by the vet bug. Yes, he’d followed in his father’s footsteps and trained as a vet. But from the second he’d started his training he’d made it clear he didn’t want to join his father in the family practice.
It had caused many a cross word. But Eli had been determined. He’d served in some larger veterinary practices, gaining experience in small and large animals, taking jobs in the UK, the US, France and Spain. He didn’t want to be indebted to his father. He wanted to build his own practice. Eli had always been fiercely independent, even as a child. And now, as a thirty-one-year-old adult, he was back in the situation he’d always sworn wasn’t for him.
Would his stubbornness allow his father’s practice to fold?
No. It wouldn’t.
Being responsible for the demise of two practices would make him unemployable. The vet world wasn’t as big as most people thought. Reputation was everything.
‘Can you arrange an advert for the practice again?’ he asked.
His lawyer nodded, but pulled a face. ‘The last advert was out for four weeks. Only newly qualified vets applied. None that have the experience the practice needs.’
‘Then maybe I’ll need to have a rethink. I could have someone work alongside me for a few months. Get them up to speed. Then, by the time Matt is ready to come back he will be able to take over the supervision.’ He pointed to his chest. ‘This—me—is only a temporary solution. If we can’t find a vet of the calibre we need, then I’ll stay as long as it takes to supervise someone new. Get the advert back up.’
His lawyer nodded as Eli stood, staring out across the city. He did so not want to do this. But he wasn’t too stubborn to see that if he chose to walk away his father’s practice would fail, and the people in the surrounding area wouldn’t have any care for their animals.
Animals. They always did better for him than people did.
And that was the simple reason he would do this—for the animals.
CHAPTER ONE
AURORA HENDRICKS TUGGED at the edge of her uniform as she juggled the puppy in one hand and her keys in the other. The little guy had wriggled so much her uniform had started to creep upwards, revealing a sliver of skin at her waist. Not exactly how she wanted to meet any potential new clients.
She gave the puppy a rub at the top of his head. ‘Hold on, little guy. We’ll get you in here and I’ll check if you’ve got a chip. I’m sure someone is missing you very much.’
As she’d driven to work this morning, the car in front of her had swerved and screeched its horn. Aurora had caught sight of the terrified puppy darting across the road and had immediately pulled over.
Ten minutes of tramping through muddy woods, leaving a trail of treats and keeping very quiet, had allowed her to coax the very frightened little guy into her arms.
He didn’t look quite so frightened now, and the mud on his paws, and her shoes, were leaving both a trail on her uniform and on the floor.
‘Are you always late? And in such a state?’ came the sharp voice to her side.
She turned her head sharply. Standing inside one of the rooms was a tall, lean-looking man, with light brown tousled hair, longer on top, that unshaven but trendy look, and an angry expression on his face.
‘And who might you be?’ she asked, equally sharply. All her senses had gone on alert. She was supposed to be opening up this morning. There shouldn’t be anyone else here—and certainly not someone who was a complete stranger.
‘I was about to ask you the same thing,’ he responded.
She blinked and took a breath, trying to still her racing heart and stave off her fight or flight response. In her head, she was calculating how quickly she could put the puppy somewhere safely and find something to whack this guy around the head with. There was a broom in the corner. That would do.
‘Since I’m the one with the keys,’ she said sharply, ‘and the uniform—’ she looked down at her smudged pale pink tunic ‘—I guess I’m the one to ask questions. Since when did you think it was a good idea to break int
She said the words, but she didn’t get the vibe from the guy. He didn’t look like some random thief. In fact, the more she looked at him, the more she was inclined to stare.
He was kind of handsome. In an annoying kind of way.
The one thing she definitely wasn’t getting was a fear factor—which she could only presume was good. Because—due to past experience—Aurora Hendricks had developed a spider-sense when it came to danger, and men.
She placed the bedraggled puppy on the table near her and kept one hand on him as she shrugged off her wet jacket.
‘So, this is your practice, is it?’ Her head shot back up as she contemplated letting the puppy go for a second to grab the microchip scanner in the nearby drawer. There was an amused tone in his words. It raised her hackles and irritated her.
She held the puppy with one hand and put a few treats in front of him as her other hand grabbed the scanner. ‘Well, until someone else shows up it is,’ she muttered. Then paused. ‘What? You’re not some other random locum, are you?’
A furrow creased his brow. ‘What do you mean—another random locum?’
She ignored him, concentrating on scanning the puppy. She checked all the usual spots where microchips with the owner’s details were usually inserted on puppies, with no success.
‘Oh, dear,’ she sighed, picking up the puppy and holding him close to her chest as she stroked him. ‘You must be an escapee.’
The man moved forward. It was as if she’d captured his attention. ‘An escapee from where?’
She gave a sorry shrug. ‘One of the puppy farms. There’s a few about here. If he’s not chipped, they hadn’t managed to sell him yet.’ She held the puppy up and squinted at him. ‘Or maybe he’s not from the puppy farm. He doesn’t look like a pure breed.’
The man gave a nod as he looked appraisingly at the puppy. ‘Maybe some kind of collie cross?’
She blinked. ‘You are a new locum, aren’t you?’ Then she wrinkled her nose. ‘But how did you get a set of keys?’
‘They’re mine.’
Her nose remained wrinkled. He reached over and took the puppy from her hands. ‘Let me check him over.’
She’d been too slow to keep a hold of the puppy, but her instincts around animals were strong. She put her hand over his. ‘No, you don’t. Not till I see some proof of who you are, and your credentials.’
He looked at her in surprise. ‘So, you’re not bothered about being in here with a perfect stranger, but I tell you I’m checking a stray and you want to see my credentials?’
She couldn’t tell if he was angry, annoyed or a mixture of both. But she didn’t care.
She looked him up and down. ‘I think I could take you,’ she said frankly. ‘I’ve learned how to take care of myself over the years. But I’ll fight you to the death before I let you near that puppy without checking out who you are.’
They stood in silence for a few seconds, looking at each other, like some kind of stand-off.
Then he gave a nod and gestured for her to follow him. He walked slowly out to the hall and stopped in front of a picture on the wall.
She turned to face it, even though she’d seen it and walked past it a million times. It was of the original owner, David Ferguson, with his fellow vet partner, and his son.
The man raised his eyebrows at her.
And the penny dropped.
She squinted at the picture and moved right up close to it. ‘That’s you?’ she asked incredulously.
She didn’t mean it quite the way that it came out. But the skinny-looking kid in a T-shirt and ill-fitting jeans was a million miles away from this over six-foot lean guy with light tousled hair, pretty sexy stubble and blue eyes. She looked even closer at the picture, and then back to his face again.
‘You might have the same hairline,’ she said finally.
He made a noise that sounded like an indignant guffaw. ‘Elijah Ferguson,’ he said. ‘Son of the late David. I’m only here until Matt is well enough to come back to work, and we can recruit a new vet to take over.’
Aurora was still thinking things through. ‘Matt mentioned that you were a vet.’
She’d actually felt instantly relieved when he’d said the name Matt. Because that meant that he knew who usually worked here. This wasn’t just some elaborate ploy to break into a vet’s and steal some drugs, or an abandoned puppy.
‘Where are you staying?’ she asked.
‘In the adjoining house,’ he said quickly. ‘But I plan on including that in the advert for the new recruit.’ He nodded upstairs. ‘I can sleep in one of the rooms upstairs while I train him.’
‘Or her,’ she said automatically.
‘Or her,’ he agreed with a smile, before holding up the puppy and looking him in the eye. ‘Now, do I have your permission to check this little guy over?’
‘I suppose,’ she said, unsurprised when he walked straight through to one of the consulting rooms behind him. It was clear he knew the layout of this place. He’d obviously spent a large part of his life here.
She accepted that he was who he claimed to be. But it still didn’t explain him just turning up like this. She was an employee. Didn’t she have a right to know what was going on? It seemed rude.
She watched him cautiously. Aurora might not have been a vet nurse for too long—only four years so far. But she was wise enough to know if someone was competent or not.
He sounded the puppy’s chest. Checked its mouth, eyes and ears. He had a little feel of the tummy and ribs, standing the puppy upright to check its gait. Then he got out the scales and weighed the little guy.
Her hands were itching to take the puppy from him. She wanted to check it over herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him to do his job, it was just that she didn’t know him.
Why didn’t he work here? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to work alongside his father, then take over from him? Maybe he wasn’t that good a vet—and his father, from what she’d heard, had exacting standards, hadn’t wanted to work alongside him.
Or maybe this guy was one of those fly-by-night vets who locumed everywhere before it was discovered they just weren’t that good.
All of this flew through her head as she watched him examine the puppy, as she filled the deep sink with warm water.
‘He’s scrawny,’ came the deep voice.
‘Well, that’s obvious.’ She could tell that from first sight, and from forty metres away.
‘Heart murmur,’ he added, and her heart gave a little pang.
‘Severe?’ Her skin had already prickled.
His eyes were still on the puppy. He shook his head. ‘No. I’d want to recheck on a regular basis, but I suspect it might just disappear as he grows.’
She walked over and held out her arms. ‘My turn. Let me clean him up, and then give him some food.’
‘What’ve we got?’
She lifted the puppy, who didn’t object as she gently submerged him in the few inches of warm water, lifting a soft cloth to remove the dirt and stones from his coat and paws. She named the two brands of food they currently had in the cupboard, and Grumpy vet scowled. ‘Is there a deal with them?’
She was trying not to smile. ‘Grumpy’ vet had just automatically come into her head, rather than his actual name. She let out a sigh. ‘I don’t know. It’s been stocked here since I arrived last year. We sell some over the counter.’
He picked up his keys, and it struck her that she hadn’t seen a car out front. ‘I don’t like it. I’m going into the city to pick up some other supplies. I won’t be long. Don’t feed him until I’m back.’
Aurora gave a nod. Dog food could be an endless debate. Some practices had deals with brands to stock their food, and usually received some sort of incentive to do so. She hadn’t been involved in any of this. There were websites and chat forums that dedicated hours to the nutritious content of every food on the market and the benefits of raw, dry or wet dog food. What she did know was the practice also had a freezer stocked with chicken and plain white fish—which they frequently used for sick dogs, alongside some rice, or sweet potato. If Mr Grumpy didn’t get back in time, she would happily make something up for the little guy.
