by Marie Force
Stuck under a tidal wave of fear, Sydney couldn’t seem to move.
“Syd.” Luke’s firm tone snapped her out of the daze she’d slipped into. “Go to the truck. I’ll bring him out. Hurry, honey.”
The urgency she heard in his voice spurred her to move on unsteady legs. Her heart beat too fast, and her hands shook as she flew out of the house and into the truck.
Luke followed right behind her, carrying Buddy. He deposited the dog gently onto the bench seat, his head resting on Syd’s lap. “There you go, boy,” Luke said as he got in and started the truck. “Probably just something you ate that you shouldn’t have.”
“You really think that’s all it is?” Syd asked, blinking back tears as she cradled Buddy’s head. This could not be happening. “I don’t know what I’ll do if—”
Luke’s hand covered hers. “Don’t go there. He’s going to be fine.”
While Sydney hung on to his reassurances, the speed with which he maneuvered the winding roads where she’d been so frightened the night before told her he was worried, too.
Janey chugged a steaming cup of coffee in the vet clinic break room while Joe massaged her shoulders. She’d been tense from the moment Luke called Joe looking for her.
“What’re you thinking?” Joe asked. He’d insisted on coming with her to the clinic.
“That I wish Doc’s niece hadn’t chosen this week to get married.”
“There’s nothing he could do for Buddy that you can’t do, too.”
“What if he needs surgery? Oh my God.” She shuddered and fought back the need to puke and hyperventilate at the same time. “I’ve certainly never done that on my own.”
“But you could. If you had to, you could.”
“Keep reminding me of that, will you?”
“I’ll be right here, baby. Whatever you need, I’m here.”
She leaned into his strong embrace. “Thanks.”
He turned her to face him. “You’ve been training for this your whole life, Janey. Whatever Buddy needs, you’ve seen Doc do it a million times.”
“I know.” Janey took another deep breath and released it. “You’re right. I can do this.” She rolled the tension from her shoulders and mentally prepared to fly solo.
“Luke said he’s a young golden retriever, so it’s probably nothing serious.”
“Let’s hope not. Otherwise, he’s got a second-year vet student on his case.”
Before Joe could reply, they heard the clinic’s main door push open.
“Janey!” Luke called out.
“Showtime,” she whispered to Joe, who squeezed her hand and released it.
“Right in here.” She ushered Luke, who was carrying Buddy, and Sydney into an exam room. Janey took one look at the dog, who was clearly suffering, and could tell right away this was no simple case of an upset belly. Figures. The dog cried out in distress when she examined his rigid abdomen.
“Oh God. Buddy.” Sydney seemed to be trying—and failing—to keep a lid on her panic. “Will he be okay? Janey, please, tell me he’ll be okay.”
“Let me get some films of his belly so we can see what’s causing his pain.” Drawing on her years of training and observation, Janey walked through the steps Doc would’ve taken—exam, X-rays, blood, pain management. She was shakier than she should’ve been, and it was easier to blame the single beer she’d had earlier than the fact that she had no business handling an emergency of this magnitude on her own.
The X-rays revealed a blockage in Buddy’s intestines. She stepped into the exam room to update Sydney and Luke.
Janey pointed to the X-ray. “He swallowed something, and now it’s lodged in his lower intestine. It’s got to come out. Soon.”
“What do we do?” Sydney asked, her face devoid of color.
The arm Luke had around Syd seemed to be the only thing keeping her on her feet.
Janey felt Joe’s hand land on her back and was grateful for his support. She squared her shoulders, fortifying herself for what needed to happen. “Here’s the thing—Doc Potter is off-island at a wedding. His backup vet was due to arrive today, but he missed the last boat and won’t be here until morning.”
Sydney moaned, and Luke tightened his hold on her.
“Can Buddy wait that long?” Luke asked.
“This kind of thing can go bad really quickly. He’s still strong, and in my opinion, he’d be better able to withstand the surgery now than he will be in eight or nine hours.”
“But if Doc Potter is off-island, who’ll do it?” Sydney asked, wiping tears from her face.
Janey made an effort to keep her voice strong and confident. “I will. I’ve seen it done a hundred times, and I’ve assisted Doc in surgery since I was eighteen.” Her stomach surged with nerves and nausea, but Janey kept her expression calm to reassure Sydney. “I’m not yet a veterinarian, but I’m Buddy’s best hope.”
“Let her do it, honey,” Luke said. “She can save him. I know she can.”
“Okay,” Sydney said with only a hint of reluctance.
“I’ll need you to sign a release and fill out some other paperwork while I get him prepped for surgery.” Janey took a few steps to close the distance between them and hugged Syd. “I’ll do everything I can. I promise.”
“Thank you, Janey.”
“I’ll give you a minute with him.” Janey and Joe stepped out of the room. She turned to Joe. “Will you track down Cal Maitland for me?” The island’s new medical doctor had replaced Doc Robach when he retired the previous winter. “His on-call number is the same as Doc Robach’s was. Should be in the phone book.”
“What do you want me to tell him?”
“That I need him to assist in an emergency surgery. Tell him to hurry.”
“Could I help?”
“I appreciate the offer, but I need someone who won’t pass out cold on me when I’ve got poor Buddy’s guts in my hands.”
Joe winced. “When you put it that way, let me find Cal for you.”
Janey went up on tiptoes to kiss her fiancé. “Thank you—for all the support. It helps.”
He returned her kiss and gave her a tight hug. “I have no doubt you can do this, Janey. No doubt at all.”
“Let’s hope you’re right.” While Joe went to get a hold of Cal, Janey called Doc Potter to let him know what she was about to do in his clinic.
Chapter 13
Luke watched Sydney pace from one end of the small waiting room to the other—at least a hundred times. She vibrated with tension and had bitten several of her nails to the quick, a habit he remembered her trying hard to break as a teenager.
“Syd, why don’t you sit for a bit? You’ll wear yourself out pacing like that.”
She shook her head and kept moving.
Luke stood to block her path. He rested his hands on her shoulders, and was surprised when she shook him off.
“Don’t.” She stepped around him and continued to pace.
“Syd—”
“You don’t have to wait. I’d understand if you wanted to get home.”
If she’d punched him in the face, she couldn’t have hurt him any more than she had with that cold, detached statement, as if he was nothing more than the guy who’d driven her there. Big Mac’s warning about handwriting on the wall chose that moment to run through his mind.
Part of him wanted to walk out the door and leave her to deal with whatever might come. The other part of him couldn’t bear to leave her alone if the news was bad. He returned to his seat to watch her pace.
Back and forth she went another hundred times before Janey finally emerged.
Sydney ran to her. “Tell me he’s okay.”
“He did very well. We removed the blockage, which was a hunk of garbage bag, by the way.”
“Oh, he found that on the beach! Remember, Luke?”
Suddenly, she was euphoric again. “I remember,” he said.
“Why would he eat something like that?” Sydney asked Janey.
“You’d be surprised at the stuff they eat. Anything that tastes good is fair game.”
“So he’ll be all right?” Sydney asked.
“He’ll be sore and slow for a while, but he should be just fine.”
Sydney hugged Janey. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what I’d ever do without him.”
“No need to worry about losing him anytime soon. Come on back and see him for a minute, and then you should go home. He’ll be out of it for a while.”
“But I can’t leave him alone.”
“I’ll be with him. He’ll be sedated most of the day to keep him still and quiet, so you should get some sleep while you can.” Janey led them into the recovery room where Buddy was attached to IVs. His belly had been shaved for the surgery.
“Have you met Dr. Cal Maitland?” Janey introduced Luke and Sydney to the tall, broad-shouldered doctor who offered them a friendly smile.
“Thank you for helping Janey,” Syd said.
“She didn’t need much help,” he said in what sounded like a Texan drawl. “She knows what she’s doing.”
“Is it okay to touch him?” Syd asked as she tentatively approached Buddy.
“Sure,” Janey said.
Sydney bent her head, pressed kisses to his face and ran a hand down his back. “I’ll be back in a little while, Buddy. You get some rest, okay?” She kissed him again. “Love you, good dog.”
Sydney turned to Janey. “Let me give you my cell number in case you need me.”
A few minutes later, Luke followed Sydney out of the clinic to find the sky still dark but rippled with red streaks announcing sunrise. She was rigid with tension as they pulled out of the parking lot. Even though she was seated just a few feet from him, she seemed a million miles away.
“Would you mind terribly if I went home to my place?” she asked.
Luke gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Nope.” Whatever she wanted. He certainly wasn’t going to force himself on her.
A short time later, he pulled up to the Donovans’ yellow house and let the truck idle. He had no idea what to say to her. Apparently, she didn’t know either, because she sat there for a long moment before she finally looked at him.
“Thank you for staying all night.”
“No problem.”
“I’ll see you later.”
Luke said nothing as she got out of the truck and hurried into the house as if she couldn’t move fast enough to get away from him. What the hell was that all about?
Sydney closed the front door and slid down to the floor. Only now that she was alone could she give in to the overwhelming fear and dread that had gripped her during the long night. Luke had already seen her unglued once. He didn’t need to see it again.
Sobs shook her body, making her chest ache and her head pound. She kept telling herself Buddy was fine, the thing she’d most feared hadn’t happened, but she’d come so close to losing the last remaining link to her family.
A soft knock on the door had her raising her head from her knees and wiping her face.
“Syd. Let me in. I know you’re upset. You don’t need to be alone.”
Riveted by his voice, she couldn’t bring herself to move.
“Come on, baby. Let me in.”
Tears cascaded down her face.
“Sydney.” His voice was so soft, so tender. “I’m not leaving you alone. I figured out about two seconds after you walked away that you were on the verge of a meltdown and didn’t want me to see you that way again. But I’m not going anywhere. You can melt down every day if you need to. I’ll be right here with you.”
Sobs hiccupped through her, one right after the other. All at once, she was on her feet, opening the door. Braced in the doorway, arms over his head, his tall frame took up most of the space. He scooped her up with one arm and carried her into the house.
“Hold on,” he whispered. “Hold on to me.”
Sydney wrapped her arms and legs around him and buried her face in his neck, comforted by his familiar scent.
He lowered them into a big easy chair, settling her on his lap. “It’s okay, baby. Get it all out. I know how scared you must’ve been all night long. I was scared, too. Buddy is such a good boy, and he’s been right by your side when you needed him most.”
All the fear and dread and worry about Buddy melded with the ongoing grief she lived with every minute of every day, making her feel weak and defeated. She’d tried so hard to put her life together again, but two frightening episodes had set her back.
They sat there until long after the sun came up and lit the room. Luke stroked her hair and whispered soft words until no tears were left, until her sobs became an occasional hiccup. Telling her again to hold on, he lifted her and headed for the stairs, going directly to the room he knew was hers from years of throwing pebbles at her window.
He set her down next to the bed and helped her out of her clothes and into the oversize T-shirt she slept in. Next, he led her to the bathroom and waited outside the door for her before he tucked her into bed and stretched out next to her on top of the comforter.
“Come here, Syd.”
She turned into his embrace, taking comfort from his strength.
His lips were warm against her forehead. “Sleep, baby. Close your eyes and let it go for a while. I’ve got you.”
Sydney released a long shuddering breath and closed her eyes, relieved to let it all go, relieved to be surrounded by his unconditional love.
Janey found Joe asleep on the sofa in Doc’s office. His arms were tossed over his head, and his long body was sprawled awkwardly over the too-short sofa. She delighted at the sight of him. He was always there for her when she needed him, and she couldn’t wait to be married to him in two short weeks.
That she’d once fancied herself in love with someone else seemed so foolish now that she was completely, totally and forever in love with Joe.
Approaching the sofa, she bent to kiss his lips.
He woke with a start. “Oh. Hey, babe,” he said, rubbing the sleep from his face. “How’s Buddy?”
“Having a nice drug-induced snooze at the moment.”
Joe reached for her. “You look beat. Can you close your eyes for a minute?”
“Maybe one or two.”
Before she knew what had hit her, he had her arranged on top of him, her head tucked into his chest and his arms around her. “Very smooth.”
“Why thank you.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Get some sleep. I’ll listen for Buddy.”
“He’ll be out for a while yet. You could go home if you wanted to.”
Joe tightened his hold on her. “I’m right where I want to be.”
Janey let go of the tension from the long, stressful night. “Thanks for being here.”
“You did a great job. You saved Buddy’s life and Sydney’s sanity. I’m so proud of you.”
She raised her head to kiss him. “That’s sweet of you to say.”
He framed her face and held her still for another kiss. “Watching you take control of the situation—even though you had to be panicking on the inside—was very sexy.” Another kiss, this one with a touch of tongue thrown in.
Janey smiled at him. “Is that so?”
“Mmm,” Joe said as he outlined her mouth with the tip of his tongue. “Very.”
Wanting to encourage him to keep kissing her, she squirmed on top of him.
“Watch the merchandise,” he muttered.
She ran her hand down his belly to cup his erection. “This merchandise?”
“Is there any other?”
“Not for me.”
Laughing, he said, “Good answer. You think Doc Potter has this place bugged?”
Janey took a look around her mentor’s office. “I don’t think so. Why?”
Joe tugged on the button to her jeans. “Because if he does, he’s about to get one hell of a show.”
“I thought you wanted me to sleep.”
“You will. After.”
Grant stood outside Abby’s Attic, the downtown store Abby had opened three years ago. She had created an offbeat success of the Main Street boutique that was part gift shop, part toy store, part eclectic antiques. She’d opened the store after she came home from Los Angeles.
They’d moved there together right out of college to pursue his dream of writing movies. But as much as Grant loved the hustle and bustle of the city, Abby never had clicked with the place. She’d yearned for the simplicity of their home island, and nothing he said or did could convince her to stay once she made up her mind to go home. They’d been living together nearly ten years by then, and he couldn’t imagine life without her. But more than anything, he wanted her to be happy. That she wasn’t happy in LA was clear to everyone who knew her there.
Something she’d said to him before she left had remained with him ever since. “You can write anywhere, Grant. Anywhere in the whole world. Why can’t you write in the one place where I want to be?”
Convinced he needed to stay where the work was, he’d let her go. They’d had a bicoastal relationship ever since and had been making it work—somehow—until last summer when he came home for Mac’s wedding and Abby issued an ultimatum Grant hadn’t seen coming.
She was all done waiting for him. Either he came home to be with her, or she was moving on with her life without him. He’d panicked, of course, and told her he needed one more year to turn things around in LA. Nothing had gone his way since the magical night he’d received the Oscar nearly three years ago—ironically right around the time Abby had left. Lately, it seemed, he couldn’t get a job flipping burgers in Hollywood.
As it turned out, winning the big one had been a disaster for his career. He’d become his own worst nightmare: a one-hit wonder. The latest blow had come a week ago when he’d been rejected for a job he’d been promised by a producer friend. “I couldn’t get it past the money people,” his friend had said when he called to deliver the crushing news.
It was another disaster on top of the one that had come a few days before—news from home that Abby planned to marry someone else.
Grant had been awake all night after the phone call from the producer. At about three in the morning, it dawned on him that he’d had enough of Hollywood. He’d had enough of living without Abby, of pretending he had any kind of life at all without her by his side.
