A Pup to Rescue Their Hearts

by Alison Roberts

  As if to speed him along, his pager beeped. Josh read the message and Stevie heard the relief in the way he released his breath.

  ‘Taylor’s results from the lumbar puncture are back. She hasn’t got meningitis.’

  ‘Oh, thank goodness for that. Her mum will be so relieved.’

  ‘She will—so I’d better scoot so I can pass on the good news.’ Josh stood up but he was eyeing Stevie’s paper bag. ‘I don’t suppose I could take another one of those with me?’

  Stevie grinned. ‘Help yourself.’

  Josh turned away, a triangle of toast in his hand, but Stevie found herself frowning. She was puzzled.

  ‘Why did you bring me all the way up here to show me a photo?’ she asked. ‘You could have done that in the staffroom.’

  Josh looked over his shoulder. ‘I got the feeling that you’re like me. That you wouldn’t like having your private life gossiped about. Any secrets are safe with me, Stevie.’

  The thought came instantly. Mattie would be safe with him, too. And nobody here would have to know anything about it, would they?

  Stevie could feel a smile taking over her lips. ‘I don’t think I’ve shared a real secret since I had my first best friend at primary school.’

  ‘I’ve never told anyone mine,’ Josh said around a mouthful of mousetrap. ‘I guess that means we’re friends?’

  Stevie had to laugh. ‘I guess it does.’

  Her smile faded as she watched him walk towards the stairwell door. Had he really chosen her as the first person to share an intimate secret with? She’d already known that Josh Stanmore was a brilliant doctor and totally dedicated to his young patients but she was aware of far deeper layers to this man now. He’d had a tough upbringing but he had reached a level of education and skill that made him a leader in his field. He’d seen her son’s best qualities within a short time of being with him and he was caring enough to want to follow up on that meeting, which made him perceptive and kind and...and possibly the most genuinely nice person that Stevie had ever met.

  Mattie deserved to have someone like Josh in his life as a role model, she decided. And if she felt like it might be awkward because she worked with Josh, then maybe she just needed to get over herself.

  It could work. At least she was quite sure of one thing she had learned about Josh Stanmore today.

  She could trust him, which meant she was as safe with him as Mattie would be.

  No. Make that two things. As impossible as it seemed, it really felt like Josh could see her for who she really was. That he not only understood what made her tick but that he approved of her.

  Liked her...?

  So, yeah... As unexpected as it was, it did seem like they were already friends. She sat amongst the vegetable gardens for a few more minutes, to eat the rest of her lunch, but when she got up to go back to work, Stevie found she was still a little puzzled. Josh had said he had someone to help him with his housework. Did that mean he lived alone?

  Surely not... The man was gorgeous. He was also talented, confident, successful and had the ability to make a woman feel more than a little special. For the vast majority of women, that would be a totally irresistible combination.

  Thank goodness she wasn’t in that majority. That she was pretty much immune, even to charm and charisma on that kind of level.

  * * *

  ‘So...what can you see, Mattie?’

  ‘You can still see where it was broken.’

  ‘But can you see that new bone growth around the break?’ Josh touched the smudged area on the illuminated X-ray in the vet’s consulting room. ‘Do you remember what that’s called?’

  ‘A...fracture...um...callus?’

  ‘Wow...’ Jill, the vet, sounded impressed. ‘Have you been studying orthopaedics, Mattie?’

  ‘Josh is teaching me.’ Mattie seemed to grow an inch as he straightened. ‘He’s my Big Brother.’ His face brightened. ‘Did you know that the bones of dogs and cats are almost exactly the same as the arms and legs of people?’

  It was Josh’s turn to be impressed because there was no hint of amusement on Jill’s face at being given a basic animal anatomy tip.

  ‘I did know that,’ she said. ‘It’s fascinating, isn’t it? Do you know the name of the bone that Lucky broke?’

  ‘He broke two,’ Mattie said confidently. ‘The tibia and...’ He looked up at Josh. ‘And the fibia?’

  ‘Fibula,’ he supplied.

  ‘Oh, yeah... I remember now. And it was an oblique fracture.’

  This time Jill did laugh. ‘I think someone’s after my job. What’s the treatment plan now, Mattie?’

  But Mattie shrugged, suddenly shy, and Josh was reminded of the first official sessions he’d had with Stevie’s son after getting the surprising news that she had agreed that he could become Mattie’s mentor. It was a good thing that nobody had come looking for Lucky yet because that was the connection Josh had been able to build on as they took the small dog for outings in the park, taking turns to carry him.

  The dog wouldn’t be ready to chase a ball anytime soon, either.

  ‘I’m very happy with the way the bone is healing,’ Jill told them, ‘but Lucky needs to keep the cast on for another few weeks yet. He might have a bit of a limp for a while after that, too.’ She glanced at Josh. ‘You still planning to keep him?’

  He could feel the sudden tension in the room as Mattie’s body went very still.

  ‘For now,’ he said. ‘There’s obviously no one trying to find him and I’ve got used to having him around. I really like the little guy.’

  Mattie said nothing more until they were out of the clinic and had tucked Lucky back into his crate in the back of Josh’s Jeep. For the first time, he wasn’t going to take Mattie back to Big Brother Headquarters to wait for Stevie to collect him. He was going to drop Mattie back home himself.

  But Mattie wasn’t looking too pleased about the new arrangement. He was scowling as he responded to Josh’s reminder to put his seat belt on.

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘How long is “for now”?’ Mattie demanded.

  ‘Sorry, what?’ Josh started the engine.

  ‘You said you were only going to keep Lucky “for now”. That means you’re going to give him away later, doesn’t it?’

  Josh killed the engine. The depth of emotion in this lad’s dark eyes wrapped itself straight around his heart like a vice.

  ‘There’s only one person I’d ever give Lucky to,’ he told Mattie. ‘And that’s you, buddy. As long as no one turns up to claim him, he’s kind of our dog, isn’t he?’

  The way Mattie struggled to swallow made it obvious how close to tears he’d been. He turned away to stare out the side window. ‘We’re not allowed dogs in our apartment,’ he muttered.

  ‘I know.’ Josh started up the car again. ‘But your mum told me that, one day, she wanted to live in one of the villages around here.’

  Mattie was silent again, until they got close to his address. ‘Can I really have Lucky, if Mum and I get to live in a proper house?’

  ‘We’d have to talk to your mum about that but, if she said yes and nobody else has said that Lucky belongs to them, then I’d be more than happy for you to have Lucky. I know how well you’d look after him.’

  Mattie thought about that as Josh parked the car. ‘Mum said it’s really expensive to get a house but, after she’s been in her new job for a while, she’s going to go and talk to the bank about getting a mortgage.’

  ‘Hmm...’ Josh needed to shut down this line of conversation. ‘That sounds like a good plan.’

  Stevie’s financial situation was none of Josh’s business, even if they were friends. And they were friends. They’d shared secrets, hadn’t they? And mousetraps. The unfortunate misunderstanding of that first meeting was forgiven and forgotten. They had an easy, enjoyable
professional relationship and a connection that nobody else at Gloucester General knew anything about and Josh wasn’t about to break the trust that had been put in him as Mattie’s mentor.

  Mattie was learning to trust him, too and the most surprising thing about that was how important it felt to Josh. Life changing, even. He was being gifted a position of huge influence in the life of a young boy—maybe even the kind of relationship he might have had as a father if he’d chosen to take that path in life.

  He was never going to have a son of his own. There were too many children in the world who weren’t getting the best of what life—and families—could offer. They were missing out. Like he had. Like Mattie was, even though he had the most amazing mother. What Josh hadn’t expected was to feel like winning Mattie’s trust was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

  That he would do whatever it took not to let anything break a trust like that.

  Not ever.

  * * *

  Oh, help...

  She’d only expected Josh to drop Mattie off in front of the apartment block, not come up four flights of stairs with him. Should she ask him to come in? Offer him a coffee or something?

  Stevie could feel the curse of the redhead sneaking up on her as spots of warmth bloomed on her cheeks. This was awkward, which was a shame because it had become so easy to be around Josh at work in the last few weeks. Maybe it was awkward because it reminded her of the way she’d slapped him down so harshly when he’d offered her coffee...

  And then it was suddenly, blindingly obvious.

  He hadn’t been hitting on her that day, at all. He’d just been being friendly. Welcoming. The way she felt she ought to be right now.

  Mattie was pushing past her to get into the apartment. ‘We took Lucky to the vet,’ he told her. ‘And it was so cool. I got to help with the X-ray. I had to wear this really heavy apron thing. Can I call Gran and tell her all about it?’

  ‘Yes,’ Stevie called after him. ‘But hang your coat up first and don’t leave your schoolbag there...’ She turned to smile at Josh. ‘Would you like a coffee or something?’

  The beat of hesitation, and the flash of something she couldn’t quite interpret in his eyes, told Stevie that Josh was also remembering that unfortunate first encounter at work. But...maybe that was amusement she could see in his face? A dismissal of something that would never have been an issue if they’d known what they knew now about each other.

  And, weirdly, Stevie was aware of something that was almost disappointment. As if she’d prefer that he had been hitting on her and that, now that they knew each other better, he might think of doing it again...

  Wow...maybe she wasn’t quite as immune to this man’s charisma as she’d thought she was.

  Not that it would make any difference. Her initial worry that it would be inappropriate to be working with the man who had become a ‘Big Brother’ to her son had proved unfounded. What would, however, be completely unacceptable was anything more than a professional relationship or a friendship between them.

  For a very intense moment, Stevie could imagine that she could see her own thoughts being mirrored in Josh’s eyes and it felt as if the attraction was mutual. Almost in the same instant, however, Josh broke that eye contact and the moment evaporated.

  ‘Tell Mattie I’ll think up somewhere more interesting than the park for us to go to next week. And I’ll see you at work, Stevie.’

  It was definitely a relief to close the front door of her apartment and, for a long moment, Stevie stayed where she was. She didn’t need to remind herself that this was all about Mattie. Or that she’d never hesitated to make sacrifices in her life that were necessary to put her precious child first. What was one more?

  It wasn’t as if she needed a man in her life because she was obviously coping perfectly well without one. And it wasn’t as if Josh was feeling the same attraction. It was unfortunate that an almost forgotten part of her life—and her body—had chosen to wake up right now but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. Lifting her chin, she turned away from the door. Towards her family.

  ‘Is Gran still on the line, Mattie?’ she called. ‘I’d like to talk to her too.’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  IT HAD BECOME something of a ritual, picking up the glossy real estate magazine from outside a nearby agency when she and Mattie went out to get groceries on a Thursday evening. After dinner and any chores were completed, they would both have an hour or so to treat themselves. Mattie would play his computer games. Stevie would find a picture-perfect Cotswold cottage for sale and clip the advertisement from the magazine to add to her collection. It was still a dream but it was starting to feel as if it wasn’t a stupid dream because life was getting steadily better as she and Mattie settled into their new lives.

  There were still things to worry about, of course—like the gang of local boys who’d persuaded Mattie to shoplift and got him into trouble with the police. He was managing to stay away from them but that was apparently causing problems. Not that Mattie was saying anything, but Stevie suspected he was getting bullied on a regular basis because of something Josh had told her today. That was another ritual that was adding pleasure to her life—meeting Josh amongst the vegetable gardens on the roof on the odd occasions their lunch breaks coincided.

  ‘It was just a bit of name-calling going on from down the street when I walked home with him.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘He asked me to promise not to tell you. He’s very protective of you, Stevie.’

  ‘So you’re not going to tell me?’

  ‘Can’t break a promise.’

  But there had been reassurance in that gaze. If it was something that could compromise Mattie’s safety, she could be sure that Josh would tell her anything she needed to know.

  ‘Is there anything else I should know about?’

  ‘Well...he misses his mates from his old school.’

  ‘Yeah... I know that.’

  ‘And he misses his grandma.’

  ‘I know that too. I was going to get Mum to come and visit us but there’s just not enough room in our apartment. Or hers, either. She moved into a tiny unit in a retirement village last year and there’s only a two-seater couch as an extra bed.’

  She’d hoped she wouldn’t need to spell out that other accommodation was beyond her budget.

  ‘He reckons he’s old enough to go by himself. On the train.’

  Stevie had shaken her head.

  ‘He’s too young to go that far by himself. What if he got off at the wrong station?’

  ‘A bus, then? The driver could keep an eye on him. And maybe your mum could meet him at the other end.’

  Stevie could almost hear the sound of Josh’s voice as she remembered their conversation and she let her head rest on the back of her chair as she closed her eyes and let that awareness wash over her. Had he and Mattie already discussed this and come up with a plan during one of their weekly sessions? A flash of something that could have been jealousy rippled through Stevie at the thought of Mattie confiding in someone other than herself but, in virtually the same instant, she was both touched that Mattie was trying to protect her from worry about him and aware that she had to give Josh credit for being a big part of why their lives were so much better. Both her own and Mattie’s.

  His time with Mattie was the highlight of her son’s week, even more important than the after-school programme he was now happily attending and, for Stevie, any time Josh’s path crossed hers at work was definitely a highlight. She’d known that they would both be safe with him but now she was really starting to believe that. To feel completely safe. And she was over that brief flash of attraction to the man, despite how powerful it had been. They were friends, that was all. And they were both invested in Mattie’s happiness.

  It was a part of good parenting, wasn’t it? Letting go a bit? Enco
uraging independence? Stevie went to the door of Mattie’s small bedroom and watched him for a moment as he focused intently on the screen of the tablet he was holding.

  ‘Hey, Matt?’

  ‘Shh, Mum... I’m busy. Gotta open my parachute and find where I’m gonna land on the island.’

  ‘Okay. We can talk later. I was just thinking that maybe you might like to go and visit Gran for a weekend soon and see your old friends. We could think about you going on the bus.’

  ‘By myself?’ The screen was forgotten.

  ‘Would you like to do that?’

  ‘Yes...’ Even the sound of something crashing loudly in the game didn’t make Mattie look down again. His face had the same kind of glow that Stevie had seen when she’d gone to that veterinary clinic that day to find him there...with Josh...

  And there he was again. In her head. And somewhere deeper than that as well, because even thinking about him created an odd feeling of warmth. Comfort, almost. He was a thread that seemed to be weaving itself throughout every aspect of her life. Even giving Mattie the independence of a bus ride by himself had been Josh’s idea. What would happen, Stevie wondered, if that thread got pulled out for whatever reason? Would her life unravel?

  Was she trusting Josh too much?

  Instinct told her that her trust was not misplaced but it was hard won after so many years of fiercely guarding her own independence as well as protecting her child. If it was just her that was in danger of getting hurt, it wouldn’t matter nearly so much, but this was about Mattie and seeing that joy on his face was what mattered more than anything. Maybe it was okay that Josh was becoming such an important person in her son’s life but there were others that shouldn’t be neglected and her mother—Mattie’s only grandparent—was top of that list.

  ‘Let’s video call Gran when you’ve finished your game and see what she thinks about the idea.’

  Mattie swiped his screen. ‘I’m done. Let’s call her right now.’

  * * *

  There was always something a bit different about a Saturday morning ward round that Josh Stanmore thoroughly enjoyed. It was more relaxed, possibly because elective surgery only happened on weekdays, consultants were only called in when necessary and the prospect of an afternoon and evening off was a bonus. Less pressure in general gave Josh extra time to spend with the more junior members of his team. It also gave him more time to spend with his patients.