Wrapping the reins around the brake, Kern twisted on the seat and stared at her. ‘I want to spend time with my aunt and with the sweet, wonderful woman I’m starting to care about. That’s if you’ll give me a chance?’
Ruby eyes widened. ‘Me?’
‘Who else?’ he asked. ‘Ruby, I am everything you shouldn’t want, but I’m hoping you’ll give us a go anyway. I’m asking for a chance to show you how good we can be. I want to make you happy, Ruby. I want to prove to you that I’m no coward when it comes to our love.’
‘Are you sure this is what you truly want—?’
Kern brushed her knuckles with a kiss. ‘You’re all I want, Ruby. You’re the dream I’ve lived through every night since we met. When I’m with you anything seems possible. You’re funny, shy and adorable. I want to spend every day around you, enjoying your company. Since that first day, when you drove onto the farm and ordered me to get dressed, something has happened to my heart.’
‘What?’
He smiled and squeezed her fingers. ‘It’s come back to life. You did that. You revived me—brought me out of the coma I’d lived in for so long. If you want to leave and run, then fine—pack your caravan and drive away. But every time you glance in the rear-view mirror you’ll see me, coming right after you.’
Ruby grinned. ‘Will that be on horseback or in a cart?’
‘I’ll follow you until you’re ready to build a life with me. A better one for both of us. Let me give you a home. Somewhere safe and permanent. Somewhere we can stay for ever. Where you can make long-term friends and find clients.’
‘What about Fin? If you intend living on the farm, you’ll need to reach a truce.’
‘Fin’s left and he isn’t coming back. I received a solicitor’s letter this morning, informing me that he has booked himself into a clinic to get help with his drinking and his depression. The accident with Dog made him realise he needed to change.’
Concern for the elderly man filled Ruby. ‘Really?’
‘He’s also signed over his share of the farm to me. All of this—the land and the house—are mine now. All I need is for you to agree to share it with me.’
‘You really mean it, don’t you?’ she asked, amazed by the love she saw shining from his eyes. ‘You really want me?’
‘I can’t promise an easy time, and there won’t be much money for a while, but I’ll give you everything you need. I’ll hold you in the night and love you through the day. I’ll do all I can to make you happy.’
‘Kern, come here,’ she ordered, beckoning him with a finger.
He leaned nearer, his eyes never leaving hers. ‘Yeah?’ His loving smile touched her heart.
‘Kiss me. We can talk more later, but right now you need to kiss me—because I’ve never felt so happy and I’m scared it might all fly away.’
‘I can do that.’
‘I know you can, Kern,’ she said, filled with complete faith in the man sat next to her. The man she loved deeply.
And then he kissed her, and Ruby knew that the future looked perfect and she couldn’t wait to live it with her man.
EPILOGUE
Six months later
RUBY SLIPPED OUT of the four-poster bed, tugging the top cover off with her. Wrapping it snugly around her naked body, she crossed the bedroom floor to the open door. Hazy sunlight peeked through the curtains, indicating that it was still early in the morning.
As she pulled the door fully open, something shiny on the carpet caught her eye. Pieces of small silver horseshoe-shaped confetti trialled along the hallway towards the narrow staircase. Intrigued, Ruby followed the trail, running down each step to the next, all the way to the lower floor of the farmhouse.
Over the last six months she and Kern had cleaned and stripped the house until it was a basic shell, ready for them to spend the next few years renovating, turning it back into a home—their home.
So far, they’d redecorated the main bedroom and the bathroom. Nothing fancy or expensive, but clean, bright and charming. A small start on the future they’d promised one another.
The smell of toast caused Ruby to pause at the kitchen door. Spying two uneaten slices left on a plate in the centre of the pine kitchen table, she wandered into the room and picked one up. Taking a bite, she murmured with pleasure before heading to the open back door.
Shivering as the early-morning air wrapped around her bare shoulders, she smiled softly as she spotted Kern, dressed only in his jeans, standing next to one of the newly mended paddocks, watching the six horses inside.
Crossing the grass, she stopped behind the man she loved, who over the last months had shown her how good a relationship could be. Not destructive, not bitter, but warm, loving and wonderful. Everything he’d promised and more. Because he was more than she’d believed possible.
Tenderly kissing her favourite spot between his shoulder blades, she greeted him. ‘Hey, handsome.’
A deep chuckle hummed through Kern’s body as she wrapped her arms around his waist. ‘Morning, beautiful.’
‘What’s with the horseshoes?’ she asked.
Kern stole the toast from her hand and took his own bite before turning to face her. Stroking his free hand over her tousled hair, he smiled lazily down at her. ‘It’s a treasure hunt.’
Her eyes widened. ‘I love treasure hunts.’
‘I know you do. Somewhere on me there is a gift just for you.’
She frowned and stepped back, running her eyes over his stomach up to his chest, until something dangling from the silver chain around his neck caught her attention. Something sparkly and gold.
Meeting his eyes, she whispered, ‘Whose ring is that?’
He kissed her instead of answering. Long and lingering. Finally, he pulled back to speak.
‘Marry me,’ she butted in, before he could utter a word.
She’d barely managed to get the words out, her heart was racing so much. Shaking, she waited for his answer.
Kern glared down at her. ‘That’s supposed to be my line.’
She nodded and gripped the bed cover tighter to her. ‘I know, but you’re taking too long. Marry me.’
He pulled her back against him. ‘I can’t promise you a family, but I’ll try to give you one. The doctors always insisted everything works as it should—perhaps you and I will get lucky.’
‘We can adopt if it doesn’t happen,’ Ruby reassured him, aware how sensitive the subject was for him.
But she didn’t need a child to be happy. As long as they woke up together each day, her heart would be full and all her needs fulfilled. She loved this man deeply. He was all she’d yearned for and prayed for in her life.
‘We already have Dog and the horses.’
Kern slipped his hand into her curly hair. ‘I love you.’
Her grin went from blissful to seductive. ‘I love you too. Now, come back to bed and let’s celebrate our engagement.’
‘Are you intending to seduce me once we get there?’ he asked.
She nodded, and tugged him back towards their home. ‘Just make sure you do the same.’
‘Oh, baby, I intend to—plus more.’
* * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out this other great read from Shelley Rivers
Tempted by the Brooding Vet
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Keep reading for an excerpt from A Pup to Rescue Their Hearts by Alison Roberts.
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A Pup to Rescue Their Hearts
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CHAPTER ONE
PAUSING ON HIS way to grab a coffee in the paediatric ward’s st
affroom was a deliberate action on the part of Dr Josh Stanmore. He’d spotted that new nurse coming towards him and, as Head of Department, he knew it was high time he introduced himself and made this new staff member feel welcome. He’d noticed her before, of course. Who wouldn’t when that wildly curly, rich auburn hair would make her stand out in any crowd? The fact that she was undeniably gorgeous was not something that was consciously crossing Josh’s mind right then, however. His motive was professional, not personal.
Even more unlikely to occur to him was the thought that this momentary, random interruption, in his quest to find a caffeine hit to help get him through the rest of a busy afternoon, would end up saving a life.
Maybe it was because he didn’t want the newest addition to the paediatric staff of Gloucester General Hospital to feel intimidated by the HOD watching her approach that made him avert his gaze for a moment. To turn his head and glance through the windows of the playroom that ran the width of this end of the ward. A playroom that was deserted for the moment because afternoon visiting hours were over and it was a rest time for all their patients.
Except...the playroom wasn’t quite deserted, was it? Josh could see small, bare legs beside a large, pink bean bag. And an even smaller hand, lying palm upwards, with the fingers curled as if the child was asleep.
Or...unconscious?
With a muttered oath, Josh stepped swiftly through the door of the brightly decorated room, moving far enough to be able to see the rest of the child and instantly recognising that she wasn’t one of the patients on this ward. This little girl wasn’t wearing a plastic identification bracelet on her wrist and she was not wearing pyjamas or slippers. She had sparkly pink shoes on and a dark blue dress that was...good grief...almost the same shade as her lips.
It took Josh only another two strides before he could crouch beside the child. To check her mouth for any obvious obstruction to her airway and then slide his fingers down to her neck to feel for a pulse at the same time as assessing whether she was breathing or not.
She wasn’t.
Josh had no idea how long this child had been unconscious. She wasn’t breathing but she still had a palpable pulse so he wasn’t too late. There was no time to go looking for equipment like a bag mask or a defibrillator. There was only one thing to do and Josh didn’t hesitate. He pinched the little girl’s nose shut as he pulled in some air before covering her mouth with his own to try and deliver a lifesaving breath. And then another.
Breaths that failed to make that small chest rise.
He knew he had to call for assistance but fear was enough to make him take another few seconds to scoop this little girl into his arms and turn her face down with her head lower than her chest. He flattened his hand so that he could apply back blows that might be effective enough to dislodge whatever was blocking her airway.
* * *
She’d seen him standing near the door to the playroom and the fact that her path was about to cross for the first time with that of the man who was effectively her new boss had been enough to make Stephanie Hawksbury’s heart skip a beat. For a moment she thought he might be waiting for her but then he ducked into the playroom and, by the time she got close enough to see through the windows, he was on his knees on the floor, playing with a child.
Wait...
Nobody played with a child by hitting them on the back like that. It took Stevie only another split second to process what was actually going on and the armload of toys she’d been returning to the playroom fell from her arms to scatter and bounce on the floor. She shoved the door open, dragging in a deep breath.
‘What do you need me to do, Doctor?’
‘Get the door.’ His words were terse as he got to his feet with the child cradled in his arms. ‘Treatment room...stat...’
Stevie held the door and then ran to get in front of him so that she could hold the door of the well-equipped treatment room that was used for a wide range of procedures that included anything from inserting a new intravenous line to a full-on resuscitation attempt.
Like this one...
Josh Stanmore laid the small girl on the bed in the centre of the room. Stevie was already pushing the airway trolley closer. If he’d been delivering back blows, it was obvious that Josh thought this small patient was choking and it was very obvious that she was becoming hypoxic from lack of oxygen. The small face was as white as a sheet, making the contrast with her blue lips all the more shocking.
Stevie would get the defibrillator next, of course, because if the breathing had stopped completely, a cardiac arrest would not be far away. She also turned her head towards the large red button beside the door that could trigger a cardiac arrest alarm that would have a dedicated team rushing towards them to assist.
Josh must have seen the direction of her glance but he wasn’t about to stop for anything just yet—perhaps because he knew he had all the equipment he needed in this room and that he also knew they had only a matter of minutes before irreversible brain damage could occur and they couldn’t afford to lose even precious seconds. He didn’t have a whole team of medics to direct but the intensity of the gaze that was currently fixed on Stevie suggested that he thought she was capable of providing whatever assistance he needed.
And, dammit...that was exactly what she going to do. Whatever it took. There was no way she was going to let a child die in front of her like this.
‘Start chest thrusts,’ Josh ordered. ‘I’m going to try direct vision to see the obstruction. If that doesn’t work, we’re going to need to do a surgical airway.’
Stevie positioned one hand on the centre of the child’s chest and began pushing in the same way she would for compressions in CPR. Even if the child’s heart was still beating, this was the protocol for a choking child because the action, like back blows, could potentially dislodge the obstruction.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Josh choosing a curved blade to snap onto the handle of the laryngoscope and clicking on the light to test it. He was also scanning the trolley.
‘I can’t see any Magill’s forceps.’
‘Second drawer down on the left.’
‘Got it.’
‘Shall I try another breath?’
‘Yep.’
Josh was at the head of the bed and was pulling the stainless-steel trolley close. As Stevie positioned the mask over the child’s mouth and nose and squeezed the bag to try and deliver air to her lungs, she saw Josh tug the tie loose on a sterile pack and roll it out to open it.
A cricothyroidotomy kit, with a large IV cannula, five-mil syringe, oxygen tubing and a three-way stopcock for a needle cricothyroidotomy. There were also scalpels and tubing if a far more invasive surgical airway was required. Stevie’s heart sank at both the glint of the scalpel and what her fingers were telling her as they tried to squeeze the bag. The air inside it was going nowhere.
‘Still obstructed?’
‘Yes.’
‘Right...’ Josh sounded perfectly calm. ‘Let’s see what’s going on, shall we?’
He slid a rolled-up towel beneath the girl’s shoulders to tilt her head into what was known as the ‘sniffing’ position. Holding the laryngoscope in his left hand, he gently inserted the blade into the right side of their patient’s mouth and Stevie knew he would be displacing the tongue to the left, which could allow the bright light to show him any visible foreign body in her airway. His movements were careful and confident and, although she was holding her breath, Stevie realised she had complete faith in this doctor. He knew exactly what he was doing and he didn’t appear to be at all intimidated by the fact that he was dealing with a life-or-death emergency and a ticking clock.
And he could see something... Stevie could only see the back of Josh’s head but she could feel the intent focus of his entire body as he lifted the small-sized Magill’s forceps he was holding in his right hand. Like an elongated and angled
pair of scissors with blunt, circular ends, these forceps were specifically designed to be used in airways, to guide the placement of tubes or to remove foreign objects.
It was a delicate manoeuvre. Josh had tilted his head to be able to see what he was doing with the forceps and there was nothing Stevie could do for the moment other than watch. She saw the lines deepening around Josh’s eyes that told her this was no easy task. She heard the tiny sigh that suggested relief as he seemed to be winning and then she noticed the way he caught the corner of his bottom lip between his teeth as he held onto his concentration.
And then his breath came out in a growl of frustration.
‘Lost it,’ he muttered. ‘It’s so slippery...’
Stevie swallowed hard. The next step would be to insert a needle into this child’s neck, which would buy them a little more time, but if that didn’t work, they would have to create a way to get air into her lungs by cutting a larger hole. And the seconds were ticking past relentlessly. Had she made a mistake in not hitting the alarm button sooner?
As if he’d heard her thought, Josh flicked her an upward glance.
‘This time,’ he said quietly. ‘Trust me—we’ve got this.’
She did trust him, Stevie thought. Even though she didn’t know this man at all—hadn’t even been properly introduced to him, in fact, in the few days since she’d started working here—she was ready to trust him even when it was a child’s life hanging in the balance.
He moved even more carefully this time as he slipped the forceps down the little girl’s throat, and the tension ramping up as he paused for a long moment to make sure he had a good grip on whatever the slippery object was, meant that Stevie could actually hear her own heartbeat thumping in her ears as she continued to hold her own breath.
It probably only took a few seconds for Josh to pull the forceps slowly clear but it felt like for ever because she had to know that they hadn’t lost their grip. Relief surged through her body as she saw them emerge from the child’s mouth with something between the ends and—in the same instant—she could see and hear the desperate gasp as the little girl sucked in her first breath in too long. Or had that sound come from her own lips and that was why Josh’s glance flicked up again to meet hers?
Awakening His Shy Vet Page 17
