Chapter Four
Isla
“Wow, it’s been a crazy morning,” Hal says.
I put my hands on my hips and arch my back.
It’s only just eleven, and I’ve already administered vaccines, taken blood samples, sterilized a bunch of equipment, taken two x-rays, removed three sets of stitches, and helped Hal with a pitbull who didn’t want his teeth cleaned.
I’d have been nervous handling the dog on my own, but Hal, like Max, has a calming effect on animals, and the pitbull stared lovingly into his eyes while I examined his gums.
“You’ve been fantastic considering it’s your first day here,” Hal adds.
“Thank you. It’s a lovely clinic to work in. Everyone’s so friendly. It makes such a difference to the working day.”
“Absolutely. Now why don’t you go get a coffee? They’re serving cheese scones in the break room this morning.”
“Ooh.” My stomach rumbles in response. “Are you sure?”
“Yep, all our nurses have a twenty-minute break, mornings and afternoons.”
“You want me to bring you anything back?”
“Nah, it’s okay. Izzy’s coming in soon and she normally brings me a takeaway coffee.”
Izzy is his wife and another vet—he’s joked about us having similar names. They have two kids—a three-year-old boy and a five-month-old baby girl, and they sometimes tag-team childcare.
“All right, see you in a bit.” I wash my hands, then head along the corridor toward the break room.
Sure enough, as I get near I can smell the cheese scones, and my mouth waters. The door is open, and the tables inside are half full, while out in the garden half a dozen people are drinking coffee and catching up after their busy morning.
Cullen is standing by the fence, talking to Archer, and they both smile as I wave and go into the room. I buy myself a scone and order a coffee from the woman behind the counter, wait for her to make it, then take it out into the garden. Cullen watches me walk over to them.
“How’s your morning been?” he asks.
“Good, thank you.” I put my coffee on a nearby table and take a bite out of the scone. “Super busy.”
“How are you getting on with Hal?” Archer asks.
“Oh, great, he’s so good with animals.” I suddenly realize Max isn’t with Cullen and look around.
“He’s in the Fox’s Den,” Cullen says. “He spent the morning with me, but the draw of the cheese scones proved stronger even than playing with dogs.”
I blow out a relieved breath. “He’s okay?”
“He’s great. He and another kid are going to build a T-rex out of LEGO.”
“Ambitious,” Archer says.
“I don’t think it’s going to be life sized.”
I giggle, and Cullen smiles, showing the gap in his front teeth. Oh, I like it when he does that. I’m going to make it my goal to make him smile more often.
“Did you walk up today?” he asks.
I nod, having another bite of the scone. “It’s a bit of a trek for Max, but it’s not too bad.”
“You know that big farmhouse on the left as you come up the hill?”
“The one that’s run down?”
Archer chuckles, and Cullen rolls his eyes. “Yeah, that one. I was saying it might not be a bad location for our project.”
“Oh?”
“An Animal-Assisted Therapy Center,” Archer says.
“Oh… what, you’re thinking about opening one?”
Archer nods. “I’ve thought about opening my own therapy practice for a while, and it would be great to incorporate dogs and maybe cats and even horses into it.”
“That would be amazing.” I have another bite of the scone. “I bet an outreach program would also do well up here. There are a lot of rural communities, aren’t there?”
Archer nods. “It’s a good point.”
“You could have a bus,” I say with a smile.
“Actually,” Cullen says, “that’s not a bad idea. You could take the dogs to villages, schools, retirement villages, even the prison.”
Archer purses his lips, looking into the distance. “Hmm.”
“I think…” I stop as I see Beth walking up to us, scone and coffee in hand. “Oh, hello.”
“Hey.” She puts down her coffee and flicks me a smile, but it’s clear that she’s unhappy about something. “I’ve just spoken to Noah,” she says to Cullen. “He said you told him you’re leaving before Christmas.”
My eyebrows rise as I look back at him. Oh… he hadn’t told anyone. Beth looks upset. Archer frowns.
Cullen stiffens and doesn’t look at me. “I told him that in confidence.”
“Did you ask him not to tell anyone else?”
“No…”
“Then why are you surprised he mentioned it? We’re friends, aren’t we?” She looks hurt. “I can’t believe you’re thinking of leaving.”
“This was only ever going to be temporary.” His words are clipped, but his expression is gentle. “I can’t stay, Beth.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not ready to settle down in one place.” He finishes off his coffee. “Okay, I’m going back to work.”
“Cullen…”
But he walks away, leaving the three of us staring after him.
“Dammit.” Beth exhales in a whoosh. “There’s nothing we can do about it if he’s determined to go.” She looks at me. “Have you told him yet?”
I know what she’s referring to. I shake my head. “The timing wasn’t right.”
“You should,” Archer says. “It might make a difference.”
I go to reply, but one of the other vets comes up to ask how I’m getting on, and the moment passes.
I finish my scone and coffee, return the cup and plate to the counter, and poke my head into the Fox’s Den to check on Max. He waves at me, but he and another boy are busy building the legs of the T-rex, and he doesn’t even bother to come up.
“I’m Ruby,” one of the woman says. “You must be Max’s mum.”
“Yes, I’m Isla.”
“He’s doing fine,” she says. “He spent the morning with Cullen, and he’s had a scone and some juice. I hope he doesn’t have allergies; I did ask him, but normally I get you to fill out a form before you leave him.”
“Yes, sorry, I should have come in with him first.”
“No, no, it’s okay. Maybe you could just do it now.” She passes me a sheet of paper—a one-page form for basic details like name, address, phone number, and any issues that someone looking after him might need to know.
I fill it in and hand it back to her. “Well, I guess he seems happy enough.”
“You can come and see him or call us at any time if you want to check on him.”
“Thanks!” I give him one last look, then leave him to it, pleased he seems happy without me.
The rest of the morning is as busy as the first half.
Stefan sticks his head in and asks if I’d mind helping him with a surgery, so I join him in one of the operating theaters and hand him instruments as he deals with a Yorkshire Terrier who broke his leg when he escaped his house and got hit by a car.
At lunch, I check on Max but discover that he’s off with Cullen again, who’s taken him, Ollie, and Rachel over to the Petting Zoo. So I go back to work and spend a few hours in the Hotel, helping with the animals recovering from operations.
The afternoon involves more appointments, and I help several of the vets, including Izzy and a lovely lady called Summer, who’s also a cousin of the Kings. By the time Stefan comes in to check on me at four, I’m exhausted.
“Time to head home,” he says.
“You’re not closing yet?”
“Yeah… Normally we close at midday on Saturday, but it’s been so busy leading up to Christmas that we decided to stay open until four.
Some of us will stay later, but the nurses will go home now.
You’ve done amazing work today, and I’m sure Max is also worn out. Cullen’s been working him pretty hard.”
I chuckle and take off my tunic. “Well, as long as you’re sure.”
“Of course. Are you sure you’re okay working tomorrow?” They’re also opening Sunday because they’ve been so busy. There are a lot of holidaymakers in the area who’ve had emergencies with their pets.
“Yes, I look forward to it. Thanks for everything.” I say goodbye to the others and head along the corridor.
Max isn’t in the Fox’s Den, so I go through to the Forever Home and discover him with Cullen, who’s trying to teach a Beagle how to sit and stay.
The Beagle is having none of it, but he’s only a puppy, and he’s so delightful that he’s making the two of them laugh while they try to make him understand what they want him to do.
“Well, this looks like fun.” I smile, leaning on the door jamb and shoving my hands into my pockets.
They look around, and Max jumps up, runs over to me, and throws his arms around me. “Hey sweetie.” I kiss the top of his head. “You’ve been a busy boy.”
“I had mac and cheese for lunch,” he says, “and a banana and a yoghurt. Then I went to the Petting Zoo with Ollie and Rachel, and Poppy—she’s the lady who runs the zoo—let me hold a rabbit and a hamster, and I stroked a goat, and it tried to eat my T-shirt.” He giggles.
I grin at Cullen, who’s leaning back on his hands, watching us. “Sounds as if you’ve had a busy afternoon.”
“Just a bit.”
“I hope he hasn’t taken up too much of your time.”
“He’s good company.” He gets up and brushes down his shorts. “Are you off?”
“Yes, I’m shattered, so Stefan said I could head home.”
“Aw…” Max is disappointed, although I can see the tiredness in his features.
“Actually, I was thinking of heading home now,” Cullen says. “Ed’s already here to do the evening shift. I’ll walk home with you… if you like. Feel free to say if you’d rather not.”
“Of course, that would be lovely.” I feel a little glow at the thought that he wants to spend some time with me, although I check it as I remind myself that he’s leaving soon. And of course this is temporary for me, too.
Nevertheless, it’s nice to have a good-looking guy at my side as we go out into the bright afternoon.
Max puts on his hat and walks in front, chatting away to Ghost, who lets the boy put his hand on his neck, and Cullen and I walk behind, not touching, but just a few inches apart.
Cullen pulls on a baseball cap, and we both don sunglasses, shading our eyes from the bright sun.
“It’s a lovely place to work,” I say as we cross in front of the large sign and head down the drive. “Such a nice atmosphere.”
“Yeah, it’s very relaxed.”