Playing by Heart: Summer Beach Vets, #3

by H. Y. Hanna

  By this morning, she had convinced herself that it had just been her overactive imagination. Matt had probably just been tired and preoccupied with work stuff. Heaven knew, she hadn’t been the best company herself when they had met up for drinks earlier in the week, so she should cut him some slack.

  Craig had come to join the girls at the end of the night and Pippa had instantly liked the handsome vet with his deep blue eyes and dark blond hair. Not that he was her type, but she could see how Sara had fallen head over heels for him and left everything to move over to Australia to be with him. Craig hadn’t said anything about being a celebrity though. In fact, he had seemed like a really nice, down-to-earth guy—although now that she thought about it, she did remember a lot of interest and attention in the bar when he walked in. She also remembered Sara looking slightly uncomfortable.

  Must be hard dating a celebrity, Pippa thought as she negotiated her way around a trolley with a monitor and playback equipment in the hallway. Several people were hovering around the outside of one of the consult rooms and, as she passed the open doorway, she caught sight of Craig inside, wearing a white coat and talking to a woman holding a wriggling puppy. A cameraman was standing behind a wide-lens camera mounted on a tripod, pointed at them, and next to him stood a sound man holding a boom mike positioned above Craig’s head.

  “Normally Saturday’s not too bad,” said Megan as she pushed the swing door open to the utility room at the back. “But with Dan away at an orthopaedic conference and Craig doing his show... and Charlie having to fill in for Matt today—and of course, she’s not as experienced, being the most junior vet here—”

  “I didn’t realise that Charlie was filling in for Matt—I mean, Dr Pearson—today,” said Pippa.

  Megan gave her a coy look and said in a conspiratorial tone, “It’s all very exciting. Well, you probably don’t know this, but Matt and his girlfriend broke up over Christmas last year. It was so sad—we all thought they were going to get married. They’d been together for over two years, you know. But they split up and she went off to Sydney. Poor Matt. He didn’t talk about it much but we could all tell that he was really hit hard by the whole thing. But in the last couple of weeks, he seemed to be a lot happier again and I think I know the reason... his girlfriend! Well, I should say his ex-girlfriend really,” said Megan. “Although she might be dropping the ‘ex’ label soon.”

  Pippa found that she was breathing very shallowly. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  Megan did an excited little bounce. “It looks like his ex-girlfriend’s back in town this weekend!”

  “She... she is?” said Pippa faintly.

  “Yes!” Megan beamed. “Matt was supposed to be covering the clinic this weekend but he asked at the last moment if Charlie could swap on the roster with him. He said he had a friend visiting from Sydney—but then Jenn, one of the vet nurses, arrived after lunch for the late shift and she told me that she saw Matt and his ex together outside The Pelican’s Foot—that’s a new bistro type thing that’s opened on the edge of town, Jenn passes it on her way in—anyway...” Megan ran out of breath and had to stop to inhale “...guess what: she saw them kissing!”

  Pippa’s stomach lurched. “Kissing?”

  “Yes! And a serious pash too, not some peck on the cheek. Which I think means they’re going to get back together!” Megan clasped her hands rapturously. “Oh, it’ll be so nice if they do! Matt really deserves a bit of happiness—he’s such a decent bloke. And bloody good-looking too. Those gorgeous brown eyes of his. If I wasn’t already engaged, I could go for him myself, I tell you.” She giggled and raised her eyebrows at Pippa, obviously expecting her to comment.

  “Um... yeah,” Pippa mumbled.

  “Oh, and I haven’t told you the best part!” Megan’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Yesterday arvo, I happened to walk past the inner office and I saw Craig and Matt in there together, talking really seriously. And then I saw Matt show Craig this jewellery box and inside was this great big diamond ring! So you know what I think? I think he’s going to propose to his ex!”

  Pippa stared at her.

  Megan nodded eagerly. “I knew he never got over her. And now that she’s reached out to him again, I’m sure he’s going to grab the opportunity to patch things up with her, see if she’ll give him a second chance. Wouldn’t it be amazing if she said yes?”

  CHAPTER 14

  Pippa felt like somebody was kicking her in the stomach—hard—with spike-toed boots. She didn’t want to listen anymore but she felt frozen to the spot, listening as Megan continued, each word wrenching at her heart.

  “Maybe that’s why Matt’s taken today off—because he’s planned this big romantic proposal or something. Maybe even down at that winery of his!” Megan sighed theatrically. “Wouldn’t that be so romantic?”

  The winery. Pippa thought of the wonderful day they had spent together last weekend. Then she imagined Matt riding next to another woman, his arms around another woman, his hands tenderly cupping another woman’s face, his lips on another woman’s mouth... She felt sick. This couldn’t be true, could it?

  She realised that Megan was still waiting for her to respond. Her face felt like a mask. She stretched her lips into the semblance of a smile. “Yes... really romantic.”

  Megan nodded eagerly. “Imagine if they have the wedding down at the resort—that would be so brilliant! I’ve seen Matt’s ex a couple of times and she is absolutely stunning. Like a model. She would make the most beautiful bride...” She sighed dreamily.

  Pippa swallowed down the nausea that was rising in her throat. Turning towards the big washing machine in the corner of the room, she said, “Where are the bedding and towels that need drying?”

  “Oh, sorry... got sidetracked gossiping.” Megan grinned. She raised the lid of the washing machine. “There’s a load here. And actually, there’s another load in that basket there which is already washed. Do you think you can manage two loads? I can help you carry them over the road if you like—”

  “No, no, I’ll be fine,” said Pippa hastily, pulling towels out of the washing machine and piling them into her laundry basket. She had to get away from Megan—she couldn’t bear to keep listening to more stories about Matt and his ex. As soon as the wet laundry was all transferred to her basket, she practically ran out of the clinic.

  Her heart was hammering uncomfortably as she stepped back into her house and shut the front door behind her. Sparky came trotting up to investigate and followed Pippa as she took the basket into the laundry. The little kitten hopped into the basket and tried to play hide and seek amongst the damp towels as Pippa filled the dryer with the first load.

  “Oh Sparky...!”

  Pippa sighed in exasperation as she pulled the kitten out of the basket and shooed her away. But she was glad in a way for the kitten’s mischief. It helped to distract her from the despair that was looming like a monster behind the doorway, waiting to grab her. Once the dryer was started, though, and she had nothing else to do with her hands, Pippa was forced to make her way back to the living room where she curled up on the sofa and hugged a cushion to her chest. The despair engulfed her.

  Was it true? Was everything Megan had said true? She thought back to Matt’s distant manner on the phone last night and felt her heart shrink in denial. He had mentioned “a friend visiting from Sydney” but he hadn’t told her it was his ex-girlfriend. Why? If the visit had been totally innocent, why hadn’t Matt shared it with her?

  Because you’re nobody to him, a little voice in her head sneered. You were just someone to pass the time, maybe stroke his ego. You made yourself available enough—what man would resist? But you didn’t mean anything to him—you were just the rebound fling.

  “No!” Pippa hugged the cushion closer, tears starting to her eyes. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe it! She thought back to their trip in the Hunter Valley—the tenderness in Matt’s eyes, the protective way he had held her, the passion in his kisses
. Had that really meant nothing to him? Had it all been her imagination?

  Pippa sprang up from the sofa and began pacing the room. She couldn’t keep still. She felt like ants were eating her up inside, gnawing away at her heart. She needed to see Matt. She need to ask him, face to face, just what was going on.

  No. She whirled around and paced in the other direction. No, she wasn’t going to go running after him! She would ignore him from now on—not call him or make any effort to contact him. Let him come to her if he really cared.

  But I can’t bear not knowing! Pippa whirled again and paced in a new direction. She couldn’t just sit here and spend the whole weekend brooding. She would go mad! She had to see him and find out the truth. But where was he now? With Justine? Pippa thought of the two of them having a romantic meal together and something inside her shrivelled and died.

  No, no, she couldn’t go crawling up to them like the unwanted third wheel. She had her pride, didn’t she? She didn’t want to be “the other woman” that turned up and caused a scene.

  But surely she deserved an answer? Pippa felt a surge of anger as she whirled and changed directions again. She bloody well had not imagined being kissed—and kissed very thoroughly. If Matt was going to kiss her, then the least he could do was make his intentions clear! She deserved that much from him.

  No, but...

  Pippa didn’t know how long she paced around the room, her mind feverishly going around in circles, swinging wildly between several extremes. Slowly she became aware of the time. She glanced at the clock on the wall. She was horrified to find that she had been pacing for nearly an hour. The dryer would have finished its cycle by now, she realised—she should really put the second load on. She looked out of the living room windows at the vet hospital across the street. There were still some lights on in there—maybe if she finished drying everything, she could take it all back tonight.

  Pippa hurried to her laundry room. It was silly, she knew—there was no real rush and she could easily just drop the towels back at the clinic on Monday morning. But she needed something to do—something to distract her from her thoughts. She opened the dryer, feeling the warm air waft out to her face as she pulled the towels, hot and fluffy now, out of the circular drum. She carried them to her bedroom and dumped them on her bed—she could fold them later—then she went back to the laundry and filled the dryer again. Turning the dial, she set it for another forty minutes, then hit the START button and headed back to the living room.

  Maybe she could send Matt a note instead? She could drop it off at the vet hospital, in a sealed envelope with the towels, for him to get on Monday morning. If she wrote everything down, then maybe she wouldn’t get so emotional and—

  Pippa paused in her hallway. What was that muffled thumping sound? She turned, frowning. It seemed to be coming from her laundry room. She drifted back in there and looked at the dryer in puzzlement. The thumping was coming from inside the dryer... was there something in there...?

  Oh my God—Sparky!

  Pippa jumped forward and yanked the dryer door open. Towels spilled out of the spinning drum and in amongst their folds was one limp, furry shape.

  “NO!” Pippa cried, scooping the kitten up into her arms. The little tabby was completely limp and felt unnaturally hot. “NO! NO!”

  She was sobbing, screaming, crying as she held the kitten close, trying to see if there was still a heartbeat.

  Yes. Very faintly.

  Sparky was still alive. She was breathing. Just. But she was unconscious and there was a trickle of blood from her nose. Pippa’s heart felt like it was going to implode. She clutched the kitten to her and ran out into the living room. She had to get Sparky to a vet. Now. Immediately. There might still be a chance to save her.

  The animal hospital.

  The lights had been on when she last looked. Maybe they hadn’t finished filming—maybe Craig was still there and could see Sparky immediately. Pippa knew that there would be an emergency number to ring if the clinic was shut—and Charlie would probably answer since she was on-call this weekend, but what if she was far away? It would take time for her to get here—time that Sparky didn’t have. No, she had to hope that Craig was still there...

  Pippa flung open her front door and ran out across the street in her bare feet, racing up to the vet hospital’s front door. It was locked—but she could definitely still see a faint light inside through the frosted glass. With her free hand, she hammered on the door.

  “Open up! Please! I need help!”

  There was silence for a moment—a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity for Pippa, standing there holding the limp kitten—and then she heard footsteps coming to the door. A second later, it swung open and a young vet nurse stood there.

  “We’re closed now—oh!” She stared down in horror at the kitten in Pippa’s arms.

  Pippa pushed her way into the clinic. “She’s hurt—she needs emergency care. Is Craig still here?” she asked wildly.

  “No, he and the crew left about ten minutes ago,” said the vet nurse. “I was just closing up and about to leave myself. I can contact Dr Appleby—she’s on-call.”

  “Yes, yes—call Charlie! Do it quickly!” begged Pippa.

  The vet nurse ran to the phone on the reception counter, then paused and looked at Pippa. “Actually, I saw Dr Pearson walk past here earlier with a lady. They were going into the Laughing Kookaburra. Should I call him instead? He’s not officially on-call but he’s a lot closer—he’d be here in five minutes.”

  Matt. Suddenly Pippa didn’t care about his feelings, their relationship, the truth about Justine—she just knew that he would do everything he could to save Sparky. “Yes, call him!”

  The vet nurse dialled a number then thrust the phone at Pippa. “Here, you talk to him—give me the kitten. I’m going to cool her down and start treating her for shock.”

  Pippa carefully handed Sparky over, then picked up the phone and placed it to her ear. She swallowed as she listened to it ringing. Please pick up, Matt, she thought. Please... I need you.

  CHAPTER 15

  Matt picked up his wine glass and looked at Justine quizzically over the rim. “I’m surprised you wanted to come here for dinner instead. I thought that trendy new bistro would be much more your style, which is why I suggested it.”

  “I’ve always liked it here,” said Justine, looking around.

  They were sitting at one of the tables by the window, with a view of the darkened sea and the beach. The weather was still too unpredictable and windy to make sitting outside on the terrace enjoyable and most other patrons had followed their example and chosen a table inside but near the view.

  “We had so many lovely dinners here. I thought it would be nice to come here again—just like the good old times,” she added, looking at Matt meaningfully across the light of the flickering candle flame.

  He stiffened slightly. It had been a bittersweet experience so far, seeing Justine again. He wasn’t sure what he had expected—he had been wary when she had contacted him and told him she wanted to come back to see him—but he had felt that she deserved to have her say. And he had also needed to know, himself, just how he felt about her now. Two years was a long time to be with someone and he couldn’t just throw those memories away. They had a history together—and being with her again had brought a lot of it rushing back. Yes, he had missed her. He enjoyed her company, she knew him well, they shared many interests—it was what had brought them together in the first place—and he had missed having her in his life.

  But something had changed. Something was missing now. When he looked at Justine, it was with the affection of familiarity—like the way you would look at a favourite pair of shoes from your teens that you would always treasure but would never wear again. It was not with the heady thrill of being in love.

  He wasn’t sure when that feeling had changed. In fact, he wondered now if things had been changing already even before they split up. He had always thought that
it was her decision to move to Sydney and her love of social climbing that had driven a wedge between them, but now he wasn’t so sure anymore.

  It was easy to get into a rut when you’d been with someone for a long time—to mistake affection for passion, to think that loving someone was the same as being in love. But now he looked back on his time with Justine and he began to wonder if he had completely mistaken his feelings for her. Yes, he had found her attractive and enjoyed her company and cared for her... but now he realised that there was something that he had never felt with her. An overwhelming need to have her near him, hear her voice, know her thoughts, keep her safe, see her smile, be a part of her life, make her wishes come true...

  ...all the things that he had felt with Pippa. It was strange, but he had known Pippa for a fraction of the time he had spent with Justine—and yet already he had stronger feelings for her than he had ever felt for Justine or for any other woman. Even now he found a part of his mind drifting, wondering what Pippa was doing, if that kitten of hers was causing havoc again...

  “Matt?”

  He pulled his attention back to Justine with an effort. “Sorry. It’s been a long week at work—I’m a bit tired and preoccupied.”

  She didn’t look like she believed him but she let it go. Instead, she speared a few rings of grilled calamari with her fork and raised it in the air. “This is delicious.”

  “Yeah, that’s a new addition to the menu. I keep meaning to try it—everyone who’s had it raves about it,” said Matt. “I really should have ordered that as a starter instead.”

  “Here, have a taste of mine.”

  Before he could stop her, Justine had lifted the fork to his lips. Matt hesitated. After what he had just said, he couldn’t really refuse now, but having her feed him from her fork seemed an incredibly intimate gesture. And looking at Justine’s face, she knew it.