He raises his eyes to meet mine. “It was nice of you to take care of Ron’s pup like that. Can I at least contribute to the cost of boarding her?”
I shake my head. The simple fact that he wants to help makes my insides turn to mush. “We’re just doing what anyone would do. It’s a small town. We take care of each other.”
“I see that,” he replies as we stand. He returns the remaining cards to their home on the counter, pocketing the one on top. “I better hold onto one of these. Ace and I just moved here a couple months ago.” The sweet drip of his southern drawl melts like hot fudge on a sundae. “That’s why we’re here. Need to get this old boy established with a good vet.”
Ace stirs at Oliver’s side as though balking at being called old.
“Well, my sister is the best vet around.” Lucy beams.
“I don’t doubt that one bit,” Oliver says, not taking his eyes off me, and now I’m the one blushing.
I clasp my hands together. “Well, what do you say we get you in an exam room and check for ticks?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Lucy’s widening eyes, and the subtle shake of Kayla’s head.
Oh my God. Did I just tell this man I wanted to check him for ticks?
Oliver grins. “Well, that’s a bit unconventional, but if you insist.”
I clear my throat. “I mean, we’ll, uh, just be looking at Ace. Definitely not you.”
Oliver’s laugh comes easily. “He’s a lot cuter than me, anyhow.”
That’s debatable.
“Come on back,” I say, motioning for him to follow me. Ace might be the one I’m examining, but it couldn’t hurt to steal a couple of glances at his dad.
“You’re a healthy boy, Ace,”I say, cupping the pooch’s snout in my hands after wrapping up his exam. He gives me a happy lick, and I pull a treat from the pocket of my lab coat for him. I catch Oliver’s eye across the exam table, and my chest fizzes as though I swallowed a mouthful of Pop Rocks. “I’ll get your prescriptions, and we’ll be all set. Any other questions for me?”
“So, how long have you lived in Loving?” Oliver asks casually, giving Ace a scratch on the head.
“I actually grew up here,” I answer. “I’ve been a vet at the clinic for seven years.”
“Did you buy out the place? I couldn’t help but notice your last name happens to be on the sign out front.”
I give him a wistful smile. “No, I didn’t. My father was the original Dr. Haggerty. He passed five years ago, and I took over after that.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry,” he replies, his deep chestnut eyes softening.
“It’s okay.”
It’s what I always say when a new patient brings up this topic, because what elsecanI say? How unfair it is that a man who was the picture of health died in his sleep of a widow-maker heart attack? Or how much I still need my father, even as an adult? Nothing about it feels okay, yet it justis.
My chest tightens. “He truly was the best.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, it looks like you’ve filled his shoes quite nicely,” he says. “And since you’re a born and raised Loving, Tennessee girl, maybe you can tell me what people do for fun here.”
“Fun? What’s thisfunyou speak of?” I joke. Though, to be fair, it isn’t much of a joke. Fun isn’t something I have a lot of these days.
He chuckles. “Come on. What do you do on the weekends?”
I shrug and tuck my hands into the pockets of my lab coat. “I think they host karaoke at Dos Margaritas on Saturday nights. My sister and her fiancée like to go sometimes.”
“What about you?” he asks with a playful glint in his eyes. “Don’t you ever like to just go and unleash your inner pop star?”
“Karaoke is usually more of a spectator sport for me,” I answer with a laugh.
“Same. Except for that time I had a little too much rum a few years ago at my old chief’s retirement party. I serenaded him with ‘It’s Raining Men.’”
