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CHAPTER 35
Macy
I dropped my cell phone on the desk in the library, my heart so heavy I couldn’t move out of the chair.
There weren’t very many of Damian and Nic’s wedding guests left outside, so I’d gone in search of a quiet place to make a call to the sanctuary to check on Karma.
The aged Bengal tiger had been sick for a long time, but I’d thought she’d linger long past the time that I was due back in the United States.
Now, I wasn’t sure I’d get there in time to be there with her when she died.
It shouldn’t really matter. It isn’t like I’ve never lost an animal before.
Tears began to trickle down my cheeks, and I didn’t bother to check them since I was alone.
The problem was, I got way too emotionally attached to some of the animal patients I cared for, which was an issue I’d always tried to improve on.
I tried to stay more detached, more clinical, but Karma had always been special.
She’d been extremely abused when she’d come to the sanctuary, and because one of her legs had been deformed, she’d needed a lot of care.
Maybe the two of us had bonded because we’d sensed each other’s pain. She’d been extremely wary about trusting anyone, but she’d eventually come around. At least for me, she had. She just wasn’t all that crazy about anyone else, especially men, which I completely understood.
I’d comforted her.
She’d comforted me.
Yeah, maybe I’d crossed a few professional lines by hanging out with Karma way more than I should have, but I didn’t regret that. She’d seen nothing but torture and pain for most of her feline life. She’d deserved a little peace and contentment in her older years.
“Macy?” a concerned baritone voice said from behind me.
I swung around in surprise.
Leo Lancaster.
I swiped at the tears on my face, embarrassed. He was the last person I wanted to find me crying over a crippled tiger.
Not that he wasn’t a nice guy, but Leo was into science and preservation. I couldn’t see him being the type of guy who would understand.
“Hey,” I said weakly. “Do you need to use the library? I can go—”
He frowned. “You’re crying,” he said, stating the obvious. “Is everything all right?”
God, I loved that sexy British accent of his, and the fact that he looked like the subject of every woman’s wet dream didn’t hurt, either.
I shrugged. “Sorry. I just found out that I’ll probably lose a patient before I can get back to California. I was a little upset. I’ve been working with her for a long time.”
He put his hands into the pockets of his tuxedo. “Dog? Cat? Ferret?”
Um…maybe I’d neglected to tell him what type of veterinarian I was. “Bengal tiger,” I confessed. “I’m an exotic animal vet.”
He raised a brow. “A little larger than I was expecting and a bit wilder. Probably not as easy to give a cuddle to, either.”
“Actually, Karma is very affectionate. She came to us after being abused for most of her life. Her leg is deformed. It was crushed. She’s always needed a lot of care, and we bonded pretty hard, even though I shouldn’t have let that happen. Maybe it sounds really stupid to be that attached—”
“It doesn’t,” Leo interrupted. “I understand, Macy. I’ve had losses that crushed me, too.”
I looked at his face, but I saw no sign of anything except compassion in those gorgeous blue eyes of his.
