by Leslie North
They would.
Avery pushed open the door to her bedroom and sighed.
No Tucker.
She hadn’t planned to let him stay in her bed, but it had felt so good to fall asleep next to him. Now, the queen-size mattress looked enormous. It couldn’t be possible that her bed was empty without Tucker—she’d been by herself for so long. It couldn’t be possible, yet as she climbed under the covers, Avery knew that it was.
9
It was tough for Avery to drag herself out of bed the next morning. She spent several minutes lying there, stretching and yawning and willing herself to get up, get up. But a quick glance at her phone told her it was almost ten in the morning. It had come up quick, after a late-night delivery at the Hanson farm. The Hansons bred sheep herding dogs, and Bryony, their two-year-old, had been in labor for too long. It wasn’t the first late-night call Avery had ever taken—not by far—but she was still dragging because of the flu. She yawned again and forced herself upright. She’d delivered the puppies, but she hadn’t gotten home until almost four a.m. A message popped up from the Hansons—a picture of Bryony nursing the puppies. Good. All was well.
It was great at the Hanson farm, anyway. Things were too quiet in her own home. Where was Shanna? Avery’s heart leaped up in her throat, anxiety clutching her. Shanna was a responsible kid and not a baby anymore, but she shouldn’t have let herself sleep in quite so long.
Avery threw on some fresh clothes—she’d showered at four and her hair was still damp—and went in search of her daughter. Shanna’s bedroom door stood open, revealing her bed. It was neatly made. She strained to hear sounds from the kitchen, but there was nothing. Avery came slowly down the stairs, worry racing through her veins, and heard a sound through the wall.
Voices.
They came through the door in the front hall—the door that attached the clinic to the main house. Avery went through and down the narrow hallway to the front office.
And there they were—Shanna and Tucker, both of them holding tools and looking down at something near the window. Avery was struck by the sight of them—Shanna, lanky and getting taller by the day, already wearing jeans and a hoodie. Tucker, also in jeans. His hugged his ass in a way that made Avery feel almost primal. And the flannel shirt he wore? Just as good. He had a tool belt slung low on his hips, and she traced the muscled lines of him. Avery shook her head to rid herself of the distraction.
The motion must’ve caught Shanna’s eye, because she turned around and her face lit up.
“Hey, Mom. You’re finally awake.” She beamed proudly at Avery. “We’re kinda busy in here.”
“Morning, Avery.” Tucker’s voice sent a shiver of want down her spine.
“What are you two up to?” Avery had been cold all night, but now heat rose to her cheeks.
“We’re fixing the office so you can use it. That way, you won’t have to do all your paperwork at the dining room table. And you can see patients in here.” Avery felt their eyes on her. She regretted putting on the crew-neck sweatshirt. Something bothered her about this—that Tucker had taken control of her office. While she was sleeping, no less.
“I have some plans for the space, you know.” Avery tried to keep her tone light. “I don’t need too much help.”
“Yeah.” The smile on Tucker’s face was irresistible. He stepped over to a table that held a bunch of tools and papers, then plucked one from the stack. “This one, right?” It was Avery’s notebook, which featured the list of things that needed to be done along with her wish list for the clinic.
Avery looked her daughter in the eye. “That was in the drawer of my side table, Shanna.”
Shanna bit her lip and raised her eyebrows, everything about her expression begging for forgiveness. “My dad—Tucker—he can help with all that stuff.”
Dad hit Avery square in the heart, and she saw the same shock and emotion reflected in Tucker’s face.
“I-I didn’t mean—Tucker can help.” Shanna’s face had gone a deep crimson. “He is my dad, but I don’t have to call him that. I mean…I don’t have to call you that.” Shanna shoved her hands into her pockets.
Tucker recovered first. “Whatever you’re comfortable with is fine with me.”
Avery could tell by the rigid set of his shoulders that this wasn’t entirely true, but after a moment, Shanna pursed her lips.
“I think I’ll call you Tucker.” She smiled up at him. “For now.”
Avery let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. It was just as well. Tucker might not be around for the long haul, no matter what he’d said before. Men like Tucker couldn’t get rid of their wanderlust so easily. Visions flashed into her mind of the screen door swinging shut behind him, of his truck growing smaller and smaller in the distance, and then, horribly, Shanna’s face pressed up against the window, tears rolling down her cheeks.
This was not the time to think of that. Avery had a more urgent matter at hand.
“You’ve both been very…thoughtful.” She stood up tall. “But I need a licensed contractor for this work, not a photographer.”
Tucker shot her a look that made her think of the way they’d teased each other back in high school. “I don’t think so. Most of the things you’ve got listed here, like the counters and the shelves, can be done by a handyman.” His green eyes shone with amusement. “I happen to have those skills. Remember? My dad raised us able to do most of the work around the ranch, and that included basic carpentry, painting, and some plumbing. The only contractor you’ll need is an electrician for the rewiring.”
It was too much, standing here with him, and with Shanna, the three of them in an uncomfortable standoff. Last night, the bedroom seemed so empty without him. But now Avery wasn’t sure. Maybe it was too soon to let him into her life to this degree, especially in light of everything that had happened in the past. An old wave of jealousy and hurt cascaded through her, and suddenly she couldn’t meet Tucker’s eyes. That ancient pain made her want to have it out with him, but not in front of Shanna.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea. I’ve made my own plans, guys.”
Tucker set the notebook down and held up both his hands, like he was trying to calm a timid foal. He came toward her, stopping only when Avery took a step back.
“I owe you.” His eyes held nothing but sincerity. Avery tried to come up with something to say—anything to say—but before she could speak, he leaped into the silence. “For saving me after my fall.” Tucker gestured over his shoulder at Shanna, who had taken a broom and started sweeping, pretending mightily to ignore them. “For her, and for all the lost time. I want to help. It’s obvious that you need help.” Avery bristled, but Tucker’s voice took on a calming tone. “There isn’t a lot for me to do on the ranch right now, and you’d be doing me a favor if you’d let me burn off some work energy in here. It’s a win-win situation. I get to work on a project, and you get a vet clinic suitable for patients.”
As much as she wanted to argue with him—and Avery did want to argue with him—she just couldn’t resist the sound of his voice. Or the clean, cedar scent of him. Or the way he made her feel so safe when he stood close by. None of it made any sense. He’d hurt her, badly, and there was no undoing that pain—but Tucker now stood in front of her, offering his time and his skill. And his argument made sense. Avery didn’t expect repayment for helping him during the storm, but like it or not, she did need help.
Getting the clinic up and running wouldn’t happen if she had to spend all her extra time dealing with contractors. She knew it wouldn’t. Avery didn’t have a lot of extra time. Since she’d taken over Doc’s business, she’d been struggling to manage all his clients. When she wasn’t working, she was with Shanna. It didn’t leave a lot of room in her life for anything else, which was how Avery liked it—but it did mean she’d have to give up some control if she wanted the clinic to be shipshape.
Or maybe it was just that she needed coffee. Coffee probably factored into it qu
ite a bit. But Avery couldn’t muster up the will to fight him on this. It made too much sense.
“Fine.” She smoothed a hand over her hair. “But you have to run things by me before making any decisions.”
“It’s a deal.” Tucker stuck out his hand for her to shake, and she shook it. Then a smile quirked the corner of his lips. “I have a suggestion.”
“What’s that?”
“That we meet for lunch.” Tucker dropped her hand, brushing his fingers against hers for an extra heartbeat or two. “To discuss what’s going on and what needs to be done.” He stepped back with a glint in his eye. “You let me know.”
10
A cold, crisp week went by, and Tucker spent every day at Avery’s house, working on the clinic—aside from a brief stint in the town’s urgent care one afternoon to make sure he was all right. Or, at least, he tried to work on the clinic. When the storm lifted, it set them all free—Shanna back to school, Avery back to making house calls all over town, and Tucker doing his best to make progress. Avery wasn’t always available to give her input, which meant he had to track her down and drag it out of her.
“Just keep it simple,” she kept saying, over and over. “Simple as you can.” Every time he asked her about a hardware-store run or a detail in the clinic, she tensed up, her shoulders rising and her face getting red. It wasn’t pleasant for either of them, so he kept to the list as much as possible.
Tucker was sad to admit it, but Old Doc Oates should have retired years ago, or at least sprung for some updated equipment for the clinic. He’d let the repairs go, for the most part. Tucker got his brothers to help with some of the broken pipes—thank god the water had been turned off in anticipation of renovations—and he’d called in a favor with a local electrician to get a new electrical panel installed and some of the wiring redone so he could finish the drywall and mud before painting.
He opened the door of the panel and surveyed the wiring, remembering how steamed Avery had been when she’d found out he paid for it. Now he presented her with each and every invoice, even though he hated how it made her clench her teeth when she thought he wasn’t looking. Avery obviously didn’t know she was cringing so outwardly at the sight of the bills.
Today, another problem had reared its head.
Her X-ray machine.
Avery had found him in the bathroom repairing some cracks in the walls.
“I can’t get the X-ray machine to work.”
He’d heard the panic in her voice and quickly set down his tools. “Do you need help?”
Avery had shaken her head. “It’s done. Dead. I even called the company to make sure. It won’t turn on, and I need it. I have to buy a new one.” Her face flushed. “How am I supposed to run the business if I can’t even take X-rays? It’s non-negotiable.” Avery bit her lip, and he wanted to fold her into his arms and hold her tight until she felt better. But the tension that took up all the extra air in the room kept him from doing it.
She’d gone out on a house call, and Tucker had found himself in front of the new electrical box.
He took out his cell phone and dialed Liam.
“You rang?” Liam chuckled on the other end of the line.
“You know people, don’t you? From all your time on the circuit. I’m sure you met tons of people every night, shaking hands after you were done riding.”
“You’ve got that right. What kind of person do you need?”
“I want to know if you know a person who owns a…” Tucker opened the door and closed it again, thinking. “Some kind of medical distributor. I need a veterinary X-ray machine.”
Liam whistled. “That’s a tall order, buddy. How do you expect me to come up with that?”
“I don’t want you to buy it. I want you to find it.” A plan was slowly forming in Tucker’s mind. “You gotta know a place. Right? Or a person who knows a place.”
“Let me call you back.”
Tucker wandered back out to the main room and started working on some trim. Of all the repairs and upkeep, it seemed Doc had cared least about things like the trim. Chunks had been taken out, and it was badly in need of paint, and Tucker had decided that it would be better just to replace it. They’d end up replacing it eventually anyway. The first step was to pull out the old trim, which had been put on decades before and stretched around every room in the office. All of it would have to come up. He’d have to destroy a little bit to make it better. It was always risky to do this—to knock something down and build anew—but it would be better in the long run. He was still working on it an hour later when Liam called back. Tucker picked up the phone with hope singing in his veins.
“You got good news for me?”
“I did some research, and I found a wholesale warehouse near Colorado Springs.” Liam read off some details about the place. “You can get a good deal on an office machine, like you mentioned, and a handheld that Avery can take with her when she goes on mobile calls. The lady over there was telling me that the set had been returned by a vet who’d gone out of business.”
“Wow, Liam. People just like to tell you things, don’t they?”
Liam laughed, but when he spoke again, his voice was solemn. “I just have good phone manners, that’s all. Anyway, they want to move the equipment quickly, so you’ll have to make a decision. And they want the entire payment up front.”
Tucker swallowed hard. “What’s the entire payment?”
“Twenty thousand dollars.”
“Jeez.”
“I know. It’s a real chunk of change. But from what the lady was telling me, and from what the Internet says, it would be a steal—and it’s practically new equipment. Avery would be set for a long time. I’m sure she’d see that.”
From the way Avery had reacted whenever he talked about the cost of the clinic renovations, Tucker was sure that she would not see that. And he was almost sure that she did not have twenty thousand dollars to cover the cost of the machine, even if it was a good deal. He couldn’t bear the thought of telling her that he’d found the solution to her problem and watching her face light up, only to deliver the news that she had to fork over more money than she had. He’d seen how much stress the broken machine had already caused her.
“Give me the number. Do you have it there?”
Liam rattled off the digits.
“Thanks. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“What are you going to—”
He disconnected the call and dialed the number for the warehouse, adrenaline spiking.
“Hello, this is Lindsey at Wholesale Medical. How can I—”
“Hey, Lindsey. I think you just talked to my brother, Liam. At least, I hope it was you. My name’s Tucker Wells. I’m calling about an X-ray machine and portable machine you have there.”
She laughed. “You’re right. That was me. We’re looking to offload the equipment as soon as possible, so if you wanted some more details—”
“Is it good quality, Lindsey?”
“Oh, yeah.” Tucker had spent a lot of time in life making snap decisions about people, and as Lindsey went through the feature lists, he made another one. “It’s all top-of-the-line. We just don’t feel right selling it at full price because it was already delivered and installed once.”
“I’ll take it.”
Tucker tugged his wallet out of his back pocket, pulled out a bank card, and read her the numbers. The decision he had to make was an easy one. He had the money in his bank account. A combination of his inheritance money and photo sales over the years had built up to a tidy nest egg, and he couldn’t think of any better way to spend it than on Avery and Shanna’s future. She needed the X-ray machine. And he couldn’t risk losing her again.
He made arrangements with Lindsey to have the equipment delivered to the clinic and ended the call, heart racing with what he’d just done. Twenty thousand dollars was a lot of money to spend in one go, but he’d done it—he’d saved Avery from any more worry about the machine. It would mean he’d n
eed to get that room pretty well squared away before it arrived. Tucker attacked the repairs with a new urgency. The equipment would be a centerpiece of the clinic, and it was coming soon.
Five days later, a truck rolled up in the driveway. Three guys piled out to move the machine into the big room in the back of the clinic, which Tucker had made over in record time. Fresh paint on the walls, new trim, new flooring—everything. It was ready to go, and once the X-ray equipment had been installed, it looked perfect. And with all his extra work, she could technically open for business as early as next week.
Tucker headed out to the supply closet to get a broom. There were still a few pieces of plastic and foam to get swept up. He was on his way back to the new machine when a flash of sunlight on metal caught his eye. Avery’s truck pulled into the driveway.
A flash of doubt made his stomach do a slow turn, and Tucker’s hand was suddenly slick on the broom handle. The X-ray equipment was done—it had been set up, and it wasn’t going anywhere. But had he done the right thing?
11
Avery sat in the front seat of her truck, looking at the sprawling building that made up the farmhouse and attached vet clinic. The old doctor had had a good idea—a clinic, right at his house, where he could live and work. Only he’d never quite got it to fruition. He’d spent most of his time doing house calls. Now, with Tucker’s help, she could realize that dream…if everything fell into place. And it might not, now that the X-ray machine was dead.
She leaned her head back and took a deep breath. The house call had been to check on the newborn puppies at the Hansons’, and she’d taken Shanna along with her. Shanna had talked nonstop on the way back home about wanting a puppy, and Avery had agreed to check out the local shelter—she didn’t need a working dog to herd sheep, which was what the Hanson puppies had been born to do. The discussion had ended because she’d dropped off Shanna at Cade and Becca’s house for a sleepover with Joey. It had warmed her heart to see Shanna running off with Joey, laughing in the winter sun, without a backward glance.
