A Perfect Holiday Fling (2 page)

With a groan Callie pushed away from her desk and followed her assistant to the surgical recovery room just to the right of the laboratory. Samson’s unique bark could be heard from down the hallway.

Callie couldn’t tell every dog she treated by their bark, but the Whitney’s had been bringing their two Dobermans to her clinic since they were puppies. Samson was one of the meanest dogs in all of Maplesville, topped only by his sister, Delilah, who had to be the meanest dog in the entire world.

Elaine Whitney had brought Samson in for an emergency neutering after he’d come home from a night of pleasuring every neighborhood female canine in heat. She usually only performed neuterings on Mondays, but Callie was more than willing to make an exception. Anything to prevent the creation of a bunch of mean little Samsons.

She entered the recovery room where Evan, the high school senior who worked part-time as an assistant vet tech, was trying to wrestle the big Doberman into his chest harness.

“I’ve got him,” she said. Both of the Whitney’s dogs hated all people…except for Callie.

Stooping, she rubbed Samson behind the ear and the dog immediately stopped fighting.

“You’re okay,” Callie crooned, scratching the underside of his belly. She looped the harness around the dog’s front legs and took the Elizabethan collar Evan held out to her. Snapping the satellite dish-looking contraption in place, she clipped a leash onto Samson’s regular collar and led him into the waiting room.

“All done,” Callie said as she transferred the leash into Elaine’s hands. “Anita will give you pain medication for him, and remember, no baths for the next two weeks. He may be a bit lethargic for a few days, but he’ll be back to his old self soon.”

The front door swung open and a man Callie had never seen before entered, followed by a little boy who looked vaguely familiar. The man had something covered up in a bath towel clutched to his chest. Samson started barking uncontrollably.

“I think he’s back to his old self already,” Elaine said as she struggled to restrain the huge dog.

Anita Collins, the receptionist who had been with Callie since she opened the clinic six years ago, brought over a white paper bag containing Samson’s medication.

“Call me if there are any complications,” Callie told Elaine as she walked her to the door and held it open for her.

Elaine stopped in the middle of the doorway. “Oh, Callie, I forgot to tell you. My cousin, Maurice, is planning to visit over Christmas. You know he’s still single, right? He’s going on fifteen years with the post office, too.”

Callie just barely held in the inappropriate word that nearly spilled from her lips.

“I’m so busy these days,” she said, gesturing to the nearly full waiting room.

“Just a dinner date won’t hurt,” Elaine persisted.

Callie gave her a noncommittal smile and closed the door behind her. If she had a nickel for every time someone had tried to fix her up with their single, male relative this past year, she’d be done paying off her student loans. All of Maplesville had made it their mission to find the poor, sweet divorced vet a new man.

Callie fought the impulse to sigh and turned to the waiting room, which really
was
crowded, even for a Saturday afternoon. She felt a twinge of guilt for taking those five minutes to win an eBay auction, then remembered that a coveted Fijit would soon be en route to her mailbox. The guilt didn’t last very long.

Callie petted J.T., Rebecca Hamilton’s pug, on her way to the reception desk.

Anita handed her a stack of patient files. “You’ve got three vaccinations and Mickey Peterson just called to say that Piper ate an entire family-size bag of peanut M&M’s. He’s on his way with him now.”

“Here’s the form,” came a deep voice.

It was the man who had come in with the little boy and the pet that Samson had wanted to eat as his afternoon snack. His head had been bent over the clipboard when she’d walked passed him, so Callie had missed the almond-colored eyes and sculpted jaw.

Anita took the forms that he held out to her, but his eyes were on Callie. Her heart rate ramped up to about twice the speed it had been beating just a minute ago.

“Mr. Sutherland’s cat is your most urgent case, Dr. Webber. The cat has a bad cut on the ear and is apparently bleeding on his underbelly.”

“My nephew found him in a drainage ditch,” he explained.

Callie walked around to the other side of the reception desk. Maybe the sudden heat that had engulfed her would die down if she put some distance between them.

“Have Evan bring him into exam room two.” She looked up at Mr. Sutherland. “What’s the cat’s name?”

“Uh, he doesn’t—”

“He needs a name, Uncle Stefan.” The little boy had made his way to the counter, clutching the bundled cat to his chest.

“Jacob, go back and sit before you drop him.”

“But he needs a name,” he mumbled in a tiny voice that pulled at Callie’s heart.

His uncle pinched his eyes tight. It was obvious that he’d rescued the cat for his nephew’s sake, but had no intention of keeping it long enough to warrant giving it a name.

“I’ll see you all in the exam room in just a few minutes,” Callie said.

Stefan Sutherland nodded and, with a hand on his nephew’s shoulder, returned to the seat next to the display of bird feed.

“Holy crap,” Anita whispered.

“Tell me about it,” Callie said under her breath.

“Oh!” Anita exclaimed, drawing several eyes toward the reception desk. She popped up from her chair and tugged Callie to the corner where they kept the all-in-one copier/printer. “You know who he looks like? The woman who bought the Duval’s old house on Magnolia Drive a couple of years ago.”

“That’s where I’ve seen the little boy.” Callie nodded. “I don’t remember her name.”

“Stefanie. She’s a nurse at Maplesville General with my sister. She’s the one whose husband was killed in that bad car accident...” Horror blanketed her receptionist’s face. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

Callie rolled her eyes. “It’s been fifteen years, Anita. You can say the word accident around me. I won’t break.”

In fact, she hardly flinched anymore.

“That guy must be her brother,” Anita continued. “They look so much alike.”

And the little boy must be her son. How awful to lose his father at such a young age.

Callie’s heart constricted as she recalled him hugging the injured cat to his chest, with that solemn, almost haunted look on his face. She knew that look. She’d seen it so many times, staring back at her in the mirror.

She checked on several patients before making her way to exam room two.

“And how are we doing in here?” she greeted.

The little boy, Jacob, was sitting atop the exam table, cradling the cat, who was still wrapped in a towel. His uncle stood just to the right of him, his arms crossed over his chest. His stance highlighted the well-defined muscles of his upper body, his shoulders and arms like solid stones underneath his snug thermal shirt.

His jaw was rigid, the smooth, light brown skin taut with concern and a hint of aspiration. If she were to take a guess, it would be that he would rather be anywhere but here with their newfound feline friend.

Callie scooped the cat from the boy’s arm. “Let’s see what we have here.” She hitched her chin toward him. “You mind helping him down, Uncle Stefan?”

The thick lashes that shadowed his cheeks flew up as if surprised to hear his name. He then effortlessly lifted the boy from the chest high exam table, the movement causing his biceps to bulge even more. Callie pointedly ignored the inappropriate ripple of sensation that cascaded down her spine.

She set the cat on the exam table and, snapping on a pair of latex gloves, examined the tabby. It looked as if the left ear had seen the inside of another animal’s mouth. She’d put her money on Samson. He’d probably encountered him during his carousing last night.

The cat whimpered as she cradled it in one hand and turned it over to inspect the belly.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Callie murmured. She glanced up at Stefan through the veil of hair that had fallen across her face. “Any idea when this happened?”

He shook his head. “We only found him about an hour ago.”

“I found him!” The little boy piped up.

“Jacob found him.” His uncle stroked his head. “I think he may have snagged himself on a fence or something.”

“I’m not so sure. It looks to me like this little one got into a fight. Those are teeth marks here. You see?” She pointed out to Jacob, whose eyes widened in awe.

Callie peered up at Stefan. “And it’s a she, not a he.”

One brow shifted skyward.

“Hmm,” he said, his deep voice reverberating across her skin. “I’m usually better at figuring that kind of stuff out.” His mouth hitched in a glimmer of a smile, and Callie had to cough to keep from laughing.

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, fighting the sudden need to peel off her lab coat. The temperature seemed to have climbed about twenty degrees.

She adjusted the arm of the halogen lamp and continued her examination. After thoroughly inspecting the tabby’s coat and looking in its ears with her pen light, Callie pulled the stethoscope from around her neck and did a check of the respiratory system.

Jacob took a step forward. “Can I listen?”

Stefan clamped a hand on the little boy’s shoulder, but Callie nodded.

“It’s fine.” She gestured to the stool in the corner. “Pull up a chair.”

She surreptitiously studied Stefan’s tall frame as he reached for the stool and set it next to the exam table. He was easily six-foot-two, and an obvious fan of physical fitness. She’d guess military. Everything about him screamed the armed forces—from the severe haircut to the way he carried himself in general.

Callie waited for Jacob to climb up onto the stool, then she brought the arms of the stethoscope from around her neck and placed them in his ears. She positioned the chest piece just to the right of the cat’s front right limb.

“Do you hear the heartbeat? It sounds like someone’s hitting a drum really fast, doesn’t it?”

“I hear it!” the little boy said with a smile that revealed that he was missing a bottom tooth. “Is he scared? My heart goes fast like that when I’m watching a scary movie.”

“Hmm, maybe you shouldn’t be watching scary movies,” Callie said.

“Mommy doesn’t let me, but Uncle Stefan said if I don’t tell her he wouldn’t tell either.”

Guilt flashed across Stefan’s face. This time Callie couldn’t hold in her laugh.

“Okay,” she said. “I think this girl is going to be okay. I’m going to have my assistant take her to the back and get her cleaned up, and then I’ll put a few stitches on that ear. She should be good as new.”

“She needs a name,” Jacob said.

“She probably already has a name,” Stefan replied. “We need to find her family.”

“But—”

“Jacob, buddy, we talked about this on the way here.”

The little boy’s bottom lip poked out so adorably, Callie wanted to pull him in her arms and give him a hug. She buzzed for Evan, who arrived moments later to retrieve the cat.

“Why don’t we go back into the waiting room?” Callie suggested. “If it’s okay with your uncle, I think Anita may have a lollipop behind the counter just for you.”

As Jacob walked ahead, Callie caught up to his uncle. Her voice lowered, she said, “Uh, Uncle Stefan, you do realize that the cat probably doesn’t have a family, don’t you?”

He glanced her way, and she noticed that the almond-colored eyes had streaks of gold.

Good Lord
, that was nice.

“Yeah, I know,” Stefan said. “I’m just buying myself some time until I can figure out what to do. There has to be an animal control shelter in this town.”

“It’s full.”

He stopped short. “You gotta be shitting me.”

Callie hunched her shoulders sympathetically. “I was there giving rabies shots earlier this morning. Sorry.”

His head fell forward, and he massaged the back of his neck. Jacob walked up to them. “Uncle Stefan, do you want a lollipop?” He held up a red sucker.

Callie’s heart melted. Could this little darling be any sweeter?

And could his uncle really be so cruel as to send his new cat to the animal shelter? The little boy had lost a parent not too long ago. Surely his mother and uncle knew how much having a pet would do to help the healing process.

But the irritated expression still darkening Stefan’s face did not bode well for the new cat.

Callie returned to the surgical room and used a local anesthetic to numb the cat’s ear. It took eight stitches to repair the damage.

She supervised Evan, who had aspirations of studying veterinary medicine, as he cleaned the cuts on the tabby’s underbelly, then followed him out to its owners in the waiting room. Temporary owners, if Stefan had anything to say about it.

“She’s still shaken up, so she will probably be pretty subdued,” Callie said. “It’s supposed to dip into the low 30’s, so please keep her inside tonight.”