Puppy Love. Kelly Moran

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СКАЧАТЬ pine and salt. The temperature remained in the upper thirties, but the stiff breeze was chilling. A low fog hovered in the distance, and Avery was learning it never really dissipated. Through rays of sun or storm-drenched clouds, it was always there, like a protective bubble for Redwood Ridge.

      She passed many of the storefronts, figuring she'd make some time over the weekend to swing into them and check things out. The town square, set up more like an I-shape, was perhaps two miles long, with the vet office being near the southern end. The town catered to the tourism market with a café, bakery, bookstore, herbal cooking, and a candle shop, but there were also accounting offices, an attorney, and a dentist.

      At the end of the street, she cut left and strode to the chain link fence encompassing the playground. She searched for Hailey, and found her off to the side with another little girl perhaps a year or two older. A teacher was helping Hailey bounce a rubber ball to the girl in a game of catch.

      She stilled, fingers gripping the cold metal fence. Tears sprang to her eyes at the grin on Hailey's face and the bark of laughter that floated across the playground. Her chest swelled. Hailey had made a friend. On her first day! She wasn't distressed by the commotion of the other kids, but instead she…played.

      “Is she yours?”

      Avery turned to the woman next to her she hadn't noticed and swiped her eyes. She cleared the emotion from her throat. “Yes. We just moved here.”

      The woman nodded, tucking a stray piece of reddish hair behind her ear. Her gaze trained back to the girls. “That's my daughter, Jenny. Grew up my whole life here, but I still come by every day at recess to check on her. I can't help it. I work at the pharmacy. I'm April, by the way.”

      “Avery, and that's my daughter, Hailey.” She glanced at the girls again, noticing the characteristics of Down syndrome in Jenny.

      “Heard you fainted at the—”

      Avery groaned, earning a laugh from April. “Who hasn't heard? I'm so embarrassed.”

      April's smile transformed her thin, regal face into something more approachable and friendly. “Did you faint because of the hot docs or something gory?”

      She breathed a laugh. “Gory. I walked into the surgery room and down I went. Though the vets are attractive, aren't they?” She immediately bit her tongue at the unprofessionalism, her cheeks heating.

      “Yep, all three of them. Smokin'. You'll learn soon enough the tactics some women will go to just to get their attention.” April tilted her head. “Not many single options here in Redwood Ridge, never mind selections that delicious. You're a lucky woman, getting to work with them.”

      She shook her head at the tease.

      April shoulder bumped her. “Oh, come on. You wouldn't be admitting anything the rest of us don't know.”

      “True. So what tactics have you used?” If this wasn't the oddest conversation…

      “Nah. I'm happily married. My husband's a truck driver, so he's gone a lot.” April shifted on her feet. “You're staying up at the rental cabins, right?” When Avery nodded, April said, “We're right down the road in the apartments. We should get the girls together sometime. They seem to be clicking.”

      They pulled out their phones and exchanged numbers before April headed back to work. Avery needed to take off, too, but she glanced at Hailey one more time. Sighing in contentment, she walked to the clinic, her heart so happy it hurt.

      Until she walked in the door and found Drake leaning against the front desk, arms crossed and a surgical cap covering most of his dark hair. Flynn and Cade stood off to the side, watching her entry.

      Her steps slowed as she glanced at the clock, wondering if she was late. But no, she still had five more minutes. Dread pitted her stomach as she unbuttoned her coat with shaking fingers. “Is everything okay?”

      “You,” Drake said, pointing a finger at her, his face an unreadable mask. “Did you do this?” He jerked his chin at the lack of charts and newly available counter space.

      There was still a lot to be done, but not if they were angry. She'd asked Rosa first.

      Avery slowly walked to the desk and edged around Drake, the granola bar she'd eaten sitting heavy in her stomach. “The charts for today's appointments are here in this basket. When you're done with them, I figured you could just set them back here, and I'll file them away.”

      Cade dropped his chin to his chest, lips quirking as if fighting a grin. Flynn stood next to him, eyeing the ceiling. Both men's expressions were in direct conflict with Drake's.

      Silence stretched, but she kept her chin up. She'd done nothing wrong, had asked permission first, and heck, the place needed organizing. How had they found anything before she came along? And it had only been one morning.

      Drake straightened and stepped into her space. “You,” he said, stretching the word out, “are a keeper. Well done.” With that, he strode down the hall to his office.

      Avery's jaw dropped. She forced it closed.

      Cade chuckled and swiped a hand down his face.

      Flynn signed, “Thank you,” and followed Drake.

      At Cade's silent laugh, his shoulders bouncing, Avery narrowed her eyes. “Was it necessary to freak me out like that? You guys just can't pat me on the back like normal people?”

      Squawk. “Don't fear the reaper.”

      Cade laughed harder.

      Brent and Gabby walked in from the back. Brent lifted his brows at Avery's irritation and Cade's hysterics. “What'd we miss? Dish, doll.”

      Squawk. “Laughing on the outside.”

      She eyed the bird. “Be quiet.”

      “Don't go breaking my heart.” Squawk.

      Apparently, that had been the last thread of composure for Cade. He wiped his eyes and groaned in distress when he couldn't stop laughing. Walking past her, lips pressed together, he patted her on the back and followed his brothers.

      Avery rolled her eyes and went to finish charting.

      Squawk. “Don't go away mad.”

      Chapter 5

      After Cade and his brothers had mercilessly teased Avery for the systematic changes she'd made to the clinic, she'd stopped asking to do things and just did them. Her incentive was admirable, if not scary. It's not that the office was disorganized. It's just that it was…well, yeah. Disorganized. It had been so much easier just to succumb to the chaos than it had been to take the time to change.

      Cade had dubbed Avery the Nazi but, damn, the clinic was running smoother than ever. So much so that Aunt Rosa decided not to finish out her two weeks, making today her last shift. Avery had hardly needed any training at all. She jumped right in with fervor and retained knowledge with frightening skill.

      Once Avery had a chart system in place, she'd moved on to the storeroom. As in they had one now instead of boxes of supplies in various spots throughout СКАЧАТЬ