Playing by Heart: Summer Beach Vets, #3

by H. Y. Hanna

  “All right, all right... I can take a hint,” Kylie said good-naturedly. “Give us a holler if you want anything else.”

  Pippa blew out a breath of relief as the waitress sauntered off. “Bloody hell, she should work for National Security or something! That woman could probably drag state secrets out of the toughest special forces agent.”

  Matt chuckled. “Kylie takes a bit of getting used to. But she’s got a heart of gold underneath that prickly exterior.” He took a sip of his wine. “So tell me... what’s it like teaching ESL to adults?”

  “It’s great,” said Pippa enthusiastically. “I mean, your students are really motivated to learn—it’s not like dealing with kids in a school classroom. And it’s fascinating to see how different cultures approach learning English and the individual challenges they face. Like... for example, the Asians are really worried about ‘losing face’ so they’re really nervous about speaking because they’re so afraid of making a mistake. So their grammar and vocab are really good because they study very hard, but their conversation skills are really poor. Whereas students from Western countries are much more relaxed about trying things out and they’ll try to talk to everyone in English, even with lots of mistakes—they actually end up speaking a lot better, a lot quicker.”

  “I think it’s like that in anything,” said Matt. “Even in vet school, the ones who weren’t afraid to try, even if they made mistakes, usually progressed a lot faster. Especially in practical skills, like surgery.”

  “Yes, that’s what I keep telling them! But you know, it’s really hard to overcome cultural habits. And besides, they...”

  Matt watched Pippa, enjoying the way her eyes lit up and her face became so animated as she talked. She obviously loved her job and the interaction with students from different backgrounds. He was surprised when he next glanced at his watch and realised that two hours had passed without him even realising it. The café had become very full—a busload of tourists had arrived for dinner and together with the usual post-work crowd popping in for drinks, the place was heaving. Kylie wasn’t stopping to chat now as she flew from table to table, taking orders, serving drinks and food. The other stools were all taken, as well as any free space along the bar, and he and Pippa had been forced to gradually edge their seats closer to each other to make space for others.

  Matt was very conscious of their elbows brushing constantly as they both leaned against the bar. He caught the scent of Pippa’s perfume, sweet and floral. A strand of blonde hair had come loose from her ponytail and was falling across her temple. He had to resist the urge to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.

  She glanced at him and made a smiling comment about the crowd.

  Matt replied.

  “Sorry?” Pippa leaned in close to him.

  He tried to raise his voice above the hubbub in the café.

  Pippa shook her head in frustration and leaned even closer. “Sorry, I can’t hear you...”

  Matt bent and put his lips next to her ear. “I said—Kylie’s got more state secrets than she can handle now.”

  Pippa laughed and turned her head quickly, bringing her lips suddenly within inches of his. They both froze. Matt saw her lips part in surprise and a blush rise to her cheeks. He felt an overwhelming urge to reach out and pull her to him, to bend his head, close the distance between them, and taste her soft mouth. He could see her pulse fluttering at the base of her throat and felt his own pounding in a matching rhythm. He caught his breath as he saw the expression in Pippa’s eyes. Slowly, he lowered his head. Just another inch...

  Someone jostled him, breaking the moment. They jerked back from each other.

  “Sorry, mate,” the man laughed, steadying himself on Matt’s shoulder. The reek of alcohol was strong on his breath. He staggered off to join his friends, leaving Matt and Pippa facing each other awkwardly. Alarm bells were ringing in Matt’s head now. What am I doing?

  He stood up abruptly. “Sorry. I think I’d better go.” He saw hurt surprise flash in Pippa’s eyes and felt like an ogre. He said gruffly, “Um... I’ve got an early start tomorrow. And I think this place is getting a bit too rowdy. Too many people getting blotto,” he added wryly. “It’s not usually like this, except on some Friday or Saturday nights—tonight must be an exception.”

  Pippa nodded and slid off her own stool. She didn’t look at him as they walked together out of the café. Outside, the sky had darkened to an inky blue, sprinkled with stars. The wind had picked up and the sea was really roaring now as the surf pounded against the beach.

  “Thanks for the drink,” said Pippa, hunching a shoulder against the wind. Her blonde hair whipped around her face.

  She shivered slightly and Matt had to suppress the urge to slide his arm over her shoulders, to draw her against his body and out of the wind. He thrust his hands into his pockets and gave her a curt nod.

  “You’re welcome. Good night.”

  Turning, he walked rapidly back towards the animal hospital, where his car was parked around the side of the building. He didn’t look back, although he wanted to. But when he got into the driver’s seat, he didn’t start the ignition. Instead he sat there with his hands on the wheel, cursing himself. He kept seeing Pippa’s face, her eyes wide with hurt bewilderment at his sudden brusqueness. He was surprised at how much it bothered him to see her distress. But he couldn’t trust himself near her.

  I’ve got to stay away from Pippa, he thought. It was the only way. Otherwise he would inadvertently hurt her again—or do something he might regret. After what had happened with Justine, the last thing he needed was to jump into another relationship.

  Expelling his breath in frustration, Matt started the engine, put the car into gear, and eased out onto the road.

  CHAPTER 5

  Pippa hesitated outside the vet hospital. Part of her was desperate to go in—and part of her wanted to run away. It was Friday—three days after that night out with Matt at the Laughing Kookaburra. When they had talked and laughed. And almost kissed.

  Pippa felt colour rising to her cheeks again as she thought of that moment when their lips had been so close, their breaths almost mingling. Had Matt thought that she was throwing herself at him? Was that why he had backed off so suddenly and left so abruptly? She hadn’t heard from him since. Her cheeks grew hotter. A gorgeous guy like him—he probably had girls trying to get his attention all the time. He must have thought she was pathetic and annoying!

  Pippa almost turned and walked away from the vet clinic. But she reminded herself that she needed to find out about the kitten. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the way the furry little bundle had purred in her arms. Yesterday, she had picked up the phone to her landlord and asked about extending her rental contract to include pets. Now she needed to make sure that the kitten was still available. If she didn’t find out now, it might be sent off to the rescue centre tomorrow.

  But what if you meet Matt?

  So what? She would act as cool and as indifferent as needed—show him that she wasn’t desperately throwing herself after him. Squaring her shoulders, Pippa took a deep breath and went up the steps to the front door of the clinic. Inside, she crossed over to the reception counter and asked about the kitten.

  “Yes, she’s still here,” Megan the receptionist said. “I think someone was going to drop her off at the rescue centre tomorrow.”

  “I’d like to adopt her,” said Pippa quickly.

  “Oh, great!” Megan smiled and pulled out some papers, which she handed to Pippa. “Okay, here are the forms you need to fill out. And there will be an adoption fee which covers her spay and vaccinations and other treatments. The money will be donated to the rescue centre that she was originally going to.” She watched for a moment as Pippa began filling out the form. “By the way, is it raining outside?”

  “Just starting to,” said Pippa. “Sky’s looking very ominous. Why?”

  Megan sighed. “I’m worried about our dryer. The clinic gets through a to
n of laundry and if we don’t have straight sunny days, we’re forced to use the dryer. But the old machine’s been sounding very dodgy lately. The last thing we need is for it to pack up while we’re going through a spell of rainy days. I don’t know... it was so nice and dry back in December but it’s been really up and down since the New Year. And February is supposed to be mid-summer, you know! The driest time of the year...”

  “I’ve got a dryer and I live just across the street—if you ever need help,” Pippa offered.

  The other woman beamed. “Ta. That’s nice of you. Right...” She glanced over the forms that Pippa had filled in and then processed the payment. “I’ll go and get the kitten for you. Actually, I’ll just check with the vets as they might want to speak to you about her before you take her.”

  Pippa’s heart skipped in anticipation as she went to wait in one of the consult rooms and wondered who was coming to speak to her about the kitten. She didn’t really want to see Matt, did she? And yet she couldn’t deny the sharp stab of disappointment when Charlie stepped in a few minutes later, carrying the little tabby. Did that mean Matt wasn’t here today? Or was he busy? Or was he just purposefully avoiding her?

  “So you’re adopting this little one.” Charlie grinned.

  “Yeah.” Pippa laughed. “I’m a sucker for a cute face and fluffy whiskers.”

  “She’s been spayed and the stitches should come out next week.” Charlie turned the kitten gently over and showed Pippa the little shaved tummy, with the tiny row of stitches. “If you notice anything that looks abnormal, like swelling or inflammation around the sutures, contact the hospital immediately. She’s also due for two more sets of vaccinations—at twelve weeks and sixteen weeks. And she’s got to finish her course of de-worming treatment.”

  “What about her ears?”

  “She’s had some topical medication in the ears and the infection is already clearing up. You might just need to do a gentle ear cleaning to remove the wax and debris.” Charlie set the kitten on the examination table and they watched as she scampered to the edge and looked around curiously. “What are you going to call her?”

  “I haven’t really decided yet,” Pippa said. “I was thinking maybe... Sparky because she was found in a car engine.”

  Charlie gave her a teasing look. “You never mentioned Matt when you told me you found the kitten. I thought you just brought her in first thing Monday morning.”

  “Oh... well... there was nothing to tell...” Pippa stammered. “He just happened to be walking past and saw me—and helped me get her out of the car.”

  “Seems to be a bit more than that if you’re going for drinks together.” Charlie raised her eyebrows. She hesitated, then said, “Pippa, I probably shouldn’t interfere, but I just wanted you to know that Matt went through a bad break-up recently.”

  “Oh.” Pippa looked at her. “Was it... did she break it off or did he—?”

  “I don’t know. I think it was pretty serious on Matt’s side—they’d been going out for two years or something and I heard the nurses saying that Matt was about to propose. Then his girlfriend turned around and said that she was moving to Sydney. Just like that, with no warning.” Charlie made a face. “I’ve met her a few times and I have to say, I didn’t like her much. She seemed really pushy about wanting Matt to do more social climbing. He’s a low-key guy. Driving flashy cars, throwing money around just isn’t his style—you’d never guess how successful he is from just looking at him. You know, in addition to being a part-owner of this practice and a top veterinary surgeon, he’s got a winery business on the side?”

  “Yes, he mentioned that he had a vineyard in the Hunter Valley,” said Pippa, remembering.

  Charlie nodded eagerly. “Pearson Estate. Really fantastic boutique wines. He’s won several medals and international wine awards, and all the top restaurants in Sydney have him on their lists. Because of his winery success, Matt has an ‘in’ at lots of society functions and things, but he doesn’t like to hobnob much with the rich crowd.”

  Pippa remembered the way he had modestly not recommended his own wines at the Laughing Kookaburra on Tuesday night. “No, I’d got the impression that he doesn’t like being a tall poppy.”

  Charlie nodded. “But I think his girlfriend’s the opposite. She loves all the VIP attention. I think she’s been really hassling him to move to Sydney, but Matt’s his own man. Won’t be pushed into anything.”

  “Is that why they broke up?”

  Charlie shrugged. “Maybe Justine thought that if she left and went off to Sydney, Matt would go crawling after her.”

  “So... he hasn’t?” Pippa asked.

  Charlie shrugged again. “I don’t know. He doesn’t talk about her much. But we could all see that he took it pretty hard. It was just before Christmas too—what a horrible time to split up.” She looked at Pippa seriously. “Matt’s a really nice bloke, but I don’t want you to end up as someone’s rebound fling.”

  Pippa swallowed. “I’ll remember that. Anyway, I think you’re jumping to conclusions. We only had drinks—it wasn’t romantic or anything,” she said, ignoring the memory of that almost-kiss.

  “Hmm...” Charlie didn’t look convinced but she let the subject drop. “So—do you have all the stuff you need? Food, bed, collar, scratching post, toys? You can pick up a few basic items from the clinic shop, otherwise you’ll have to go to the big pet store out of town.”

  “I’ll do that,” said Pippa.

  “How’s the job hunt going, by the way?” asked Charlie.

  Pippa gave a frustrated sigh and shook her head. “Nothing yet.”

  “You’ll find something soon,” said Charlie encouragingly.

  CHAPTER 6

  Twenty minutes later, Pippa returned home, her arms laden with a small bag of cat food, a bag of litter, a plastic litter tray, a couple of cat toys, a collar, and the little tabby kitten in a cardboard carrier. She was lucky to get into the house just as the skies opened and rain really began pouring down. She set up the litter tray in the bathroom, filled nice and deep with litter, poured some cat food into a dish which she placed next to a bowl of water in the kitchen, and then finally sat down on the living room floor and slowly undid the top of the cardboard carrier.

  “Mew!” The kitten popped its head out.

  Pippa wondered if the little tabby would be too scared to jump out and explore—or perhaps it would come out and then run and hide? She was pleasantly surprised when the kitten hopped out of the box and instantly started strutting around, her tiny tail held upright like a miniature bristle brush. She seemed to have no fear, marching straight across the living room and into the kitchen, where she examined her food and water bowls, sniffed around the fridge, then trotted out to inspect the rest of the cottage, confidently going from room to room.

  “Sparky...” Pippa tried the name out.

  “Mew!”

  The kitten trotted back to her and rubbed herself against Pippa’s thigh. Pippa laughed and picked her up, cuddling her close. Suddenly, all the other things—the frustrating job hunt, what was going on with Matt—faded away. Outside, she could hear the rain falling steadily, but in here it was dry and cosy.

  Pippa spent the next half hour playing with the kitten, getting to know her personality. Despite her small size, Sparky was a feisty little thing, loving a bit of rough and tumble and already showing the lightning-quick reflexes of a natural hunter.

  When Pippa got up to make dinner, Sparky trotted self-importantly ahead of her into the kitchen, where she proceeded to get under Pippa’s feet for the next half an hour. It had never taken so long to make a simple pasta meal! At least the little cat amused herself jumping and climbing around on the couch while Pippa ate her dinner. But as soon as she stood up from the table, Sparky followed her back into the kitchen to supervise the washing up.

  “Oh, no you don’t, you little monkey,” said Pippa, hauling the kitten out from the open dishwasher. Somehow, Sparky had climbed into the space in th
e depths of the machine, behind the dish racks. “You’re a real one for getting into strange places, aren’t you? I’m going to have to remember to keep everything shut from now on, otherwise goodness knows what you’ll climb into next!”

  She showed Sparky her food bowl again and was pleased to see the kitten eat some dinner, then the two of them settled comfortably on the couch, in front of the TV. From the sound of pattering on the roof, the rain was still falling heavily. Pippa flicked idly through the channels as Sparky curled onto her lap, purring and kneading with her little paws.

  There was the usual mixture of reality TV shows, crime dramas, American comedies, wildlife documentaries... it was amazing how TV wasn’t that different no matter which country you lived in. Sure, the American influence seemed stronger here—a lot more U.S. shows than British ones—but the general selection was still the same. There was a lot more sport, though: cricket, rugby, triathlons, netball, cycling, football... Well, this was Australia, after all, thought Pippa with a wry smile, and sport was the national religion of the Aussies.

  Finally, she settled on a re-run of an old Bond movie and watched it half-heartedly as she stroked Sparky’s soft fur and let her thoughts drift. Before she could stop herself, they drifted to a certain handsome vet. Pippa thought of what Charlie had told her about Matt and his ex-girlfriend. Had he loved Justine very much? Was he still in love with her?

  As if you care, she told herself sharply. Then she stopped as she realised that she did care. Very much. Pippa sat up straight. Oh my God, I’m not falling in love with him, am I? How could she? She barely knew him! They’d only met only a few days ago! This was crazy! People didn’t fall in love this quickly!

  Pippa sprang up, agitated, and Sparky let out an indignant “Mew!” as she slid off Pippa’s lap. The kitten stretched, then trotted off to the kitchen to have second helpings. Pippa switched off the TV and decided to go to bed early. Maybe she was just a bit unsettled and lonely. After all, moving countries was a big thing and, even though this was “home”, it was still a major upheaval after six years of living in the U.K. It was understandable that she would be feeling a bit emotional and maybe even letting her imagination run away with her.