Chapter Two
Tara
I walk out from the back area of my veterinary practice, East Hampton Vets. I finished an annual exam on an overweight Pomeranian named Hazel and went into the back area to check in on the overnighters. All my patients are doing well.
I join my mother out front and place a folder on the desk. “That’s it until after lunch,” I say. “Did you get Mrs. Frankel checked out okay?” I ask of my last patient.
My mom nods. “She wasn’t happy with the diet you put Hazel on. She complained about the cost and said we were just trying to make money off our clients.”
I sigh. “Hazel is seventeen pounds. The breed standard is three to seven. Even if she was a throwback to the older Poms who weighed up to fifteen, which she’s not, she’s still overweight. It’s not good for her heart or other organs.”
“All of which I’m sure you told Mrs. Frankel. If Anna would stop feeding the dog table scraps, she could have avoided needing to spend money on a special diet.”
I nod. “That is the truth.” I smile at my mother, who is a beautiful woman.
We share the same thick brown hair that I wear past my shoulders, and my mom cut just above hers.
Marsha Davidson, not Stillman anymore since she married Glenn Davidson, has gorgeous skin she takes good care of with expensive creams, and always wears her makeup perfect. She is warm and generous to a fault.
She loves to work, whether it’s necessary or not, a trait I inherited. My mother was the receptionist at my dad’s veterinary clinic in California. Dad passed away from a heart attack right before I was due to leave for college, leaving my mother and me devastated.
Ultimately, my mom sold the practice that I was supposed to join when I graduated vet school. Unable to bear the painful memories and wanting to be near me, while I attended my dad’s alma mater in Manhattan, my mother moved to New York City, too.
Once she adjusted to her new surroundings and being a widow, she moved to the Hamptons full-time and took a job with my godfather, my dad’s college best friend, and a veterinarian, Dr. Harry James.
Harry became my mentor. He owns this clinic and has been here for me, helping me make vet school choices, giving me a job when I graduated, and we had an agreement.
When Harry was ready to retire, I would buy out the clinic with the money I was left in trust from my mother’s sale of my father’s vet business.
My dad left my mom well cared for with life insurance, and my mother insisted my father would want me to use the money to open my own practice.
Losing my father altered the course of my entire life and led to me moving across the country to settle in New York.
My mom married Glenn Davidson, a man who treated me like a daughter, and I care for him deeply.
Thanks to Glenn, I have two stepsiblings, Amy and Connor.
But being a part of the family always makes me feel disloyal to my real father.
Only here, with my dog, and at the shelter where I volunteer, do I feel truly at home.
“Well, that’s something you don’t see every day,” my mom says. While I was lost in thought, my mom walked to the windows looking over the parking lot.
“What is it?”
“A dog in a convertible wearing sunglasses,” my mom says, laughing. “Come look!”
I stride over and glance out the window, recognizing the golden dog.
“Is that Bella?” I ask, narrowing my gaze.
“That definitely looks like Bella Kingston. Is she on the schedule today?” I didn’t see the retriever on the list of appointments, but Sasha or Xander could have called to bring her in if the dog was sick.
“No, she’s not,” my mom says.
A man climbs out of the Corvette, a gorgeous royal blue convertible, and strides around to get the dog from the passenger seat.
“That’s definitely Bella, but that guy is not Xander.”
The man in question tries and fails to keep the sunglasses on the dog’s face and finally tosses them onto the seat.
I can’t help but laugh. People and dogs are always fun to watch.
This guy has a tall, lean frame and dark brown hair.
Something about him seems familiar, but I can’t place him.
He grasps the leash and leads the dog on a walk, obviously doing the smart thing before bringing the pup inside.
But before he walks away, he turns toward the building long enough for me to get a good look at his face. Even with aviators on his eyes, I know.
“Oh, my God. It’s Axel,” I say, my stomach feeling like a kaleidoscope of butterflies has taken flight.
“Your Axel?” My mother’s voice rises in excitement.
“He hasn’t been my Axel in forever.” I cover my churning belly with my hands.
“He’s the last guy you dated, so sue me for calling him yours.”
I frown and glance at my mom. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Well, I would.”
I sigh at my mother’s persistence. “I don’t tell you everything.” Not that there is anything to tell, which is why my mother’s dig hits home.
Marsha means well and wants me happily settled, but I’ve never met a man who lives up to … well, Axel and what we shared. But it isn’t like I chose between school and career or a nunnery, for God’s sake.
My mother takes another glance between the horizontal blinds to get a better look.
“Cut it out,” I mutter.
I step away from the window and head back behind the counter, gesturing for my mother to follow. Which she does. I don’t want to get caught ogling the rock-star drummer. Even if he is my ex.
I bite down on my cheek, my heart pounding hard as I wait for him to walk in.
Why is Axel here with Bella? Is he helping out his bandmate and friend?
Though I make it a point not to check out gossip or celebrity sites, I couldn’t live in this small town, especially one that empties out after summer, and not know that Axel Forrester has joined Dash Kingston’s band and moved here.
I’ve just been lucky enough not to have run into him before now.
We didn’t part on bad terms all those years ago.
We just both had life plans that took us in different directions.
I always knew we wanted different things out of life.
He desired fame and travel, while I planned to settle down in a vet practice and have a family one day.
When he said goodbye, saying he hoped we might reconnect in the future, I knew better.
Now we’re two very different people, and seeing him again can only be awkward.
At that moment, Harry walks out of the back area. He’s a good-looking man, older, with salt-and-pepper hair and a distinguished goatee.
He glances around the empty waiting room. “Everything okay?” he asks.
“Fine. There’s a man in the parking lot who should be in any minute,” I say.
Harry nods. “I just finished eating. Would you like me to see him?”
Bless him, I think. I’m not ready to face the now-famous Axel Forrester, former drummer for Caged Chaos and now the Original Kings, and the type of man who women throw their panties at.
“Sure,” I say at the same time my mother speaks. “You’re busy, Harry,” Marsha says, stepping over to him.
“No, I have time for a break.” His eyes crinkle in confusion at our contradictory replies.
“Good idea. Go take a break.” My mom urges him toward the back, her hands pushing at his arm.
“Mom! Cut it out.” Taking control, I decide what to do. “Thanks for handling the next patient, Harry. I’ll be in the back if you need me.”
I walk through the double doors leading to the back rooms but remain close by so I can hear everything. I can’t help but be curious.
“Marsha, are you okay?” Harry asks, concern in his voice.
“I’m fine. I just…” My mother whispers something I can’t hear.
Before I can find out what my mother is up to, the bells over the outside door ring, announcing the patient has arrived. I curl my hands into fists, my short nails digging into my skin as I wait.
“Good afternoon,” my mother says in a chirpy, happy voice. “What can we do for you?” Obviously, my mother is pretending not to recognize him.
“I was hoping Dr. Stillman could see my dog.” Axel’s voice is familiar yet not, deeper and sexier than I remember.
“Your dog?”
I peek out in time to see my mother lean over the counter to look at the animal in question. “Axel Forrester, are you bringing Bella Kingston in for Sasha and Xander?”
“Busted,” he mutters, looking adorable. Dammit. “Mrs. Stillman, it’s good to see you. You looked familiar, but I thought you lived in California, so I didn’t think it could be you.”
“What’s with the Mrs. Stillman nonsense? It’s Marsha. And my last name is Davidson now. I remarried after my husband passed away.”
Glued to my place and unable to tear my gaze away, I watch as his eyes grow wide, his expression turning sad. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
“Thank you. It was right after you left town. Anyway, what’s wrong with Bella?”
I tear my gaze from his handsome, grown-up face with more defined and chiseled features, and look around the waiting room. Harry is gone. He must have slipped out the door as Axel walked in. My mother definitely deserves an A in scheming.
Awkward or not, it’s time to grow up and face him. I draw a deep breath and step through the doors into the reception area. “What is wrong with Bella?” I ask.
“Tara.” My name on those sexy lips turns my insides to mush.
“Hello, Axel.”
We stare at each other for an uncomfortable few moments in which my mom remains shockingly quiet.
“Is Bella okay?” I break the silence first.
“She’s fine.” An unexpected red flush rises to his face. “I was scrolling through Facebook, came across your picture, and realized you were only a mile away, so I…”
“You borrowed a dog as an excuse to see me?” I don’t know whether I’m more flattered or shocked. But my traitorous heart skips a beat.
“Yeah.” He clears his throat. “Now that we’ve discussed Bella, my icebreaker, I’ll just get to the point. Would you have dinner with me?”