Chapter 10
Deacon’s brother was fuming. “What the hell are you doing?” He grabbed one of the lines and tied up the boat.
“I was getting to know the area I’m going to be responsible for.”
“Who said you could take one of the boats?”
“I asked the assistant on duty, and he said it was fine. My friend rescued a dog and is on the verge of hypothermia. I need to get her to the clinic.”
“And he’s bleeding because the dog bit him,” Julia added.
Only then did Blaine seem to notice the dog on the boat. “Where’d he come from?”
“Julia spotted him swimming offshore. She saved his life. He needs to be seen by the vet.” Deacon helped Julia, who was still holding the dog, off the boat and brushed by Blaine. “We’ll drop him at the vet and then hit the clinic.”
“I’ll take you,” Blaine said.
Julia could tell that Deacon didn’t want the favor from his brother, but he agreed to the ride out of concern for her. He held the back door to Blaine’s SUV for her and waited until she and the dog were settled before closing the door and getting in the front.
When they were on their way to the vet, Blaine glanced at his brother. “You shouldn’t have taken the boat out before your official first day. You’re not on the department insurance yet.”
“I have my own insurance that covers any boat I use.”
“Still… you should’ve asked me.”
“Well, I didn’t, and what’s done is done. You don’t need to talk to me in front of my friend like I’m twelve.”
“Who also shouldn’t have been on the boat.”
“I asked Colby, and he said it was fine as long as there was a life jacket for her. I know you’ve gotten comfortable with that police chief stick up your ass, but if you ever talk to me like that again, you’ll be finding yourself a new harbor master.”
Julia waited breathlessly to see what Blaine would have to say to that. He didn’t respond, but she noticed he tightened his grip on the wheel.
“Has anyone reported a dog missing?” Julia asked Blaine as her teeth continued to chatter from the cold.
“Not that I’m aware of, but I’ll check with dispatch.”
A short time later, they pulled up to the veterinary clinic. Deacon helped her out and held the main door to the clinic for her. A familiar blonde woman wearing scrubs was seated at the reception desk. Julia recognized her from the family weddings. “Hi there. May I help you?”
“We found this guy swimming off the coast,” Julia said.
The woman jumped up. “Oh my goodness. Do you have any idea how long he was in the water?”
“No, we don’t, but it was probably quite some time.”
She gestured for them to follow her to an exam room. “I’m Janey Cantrell. You’re Owen’s sister, right?”
“Yes, I’m Julia, and this is Deacon Taylor.”
“Blaine’s brother.”
“Unfortunately,” Deacon said under his breath.
“I was a McCarthy. My brother is married to Tiffany’s sister, Maddie.”
“Ah, got it. Everyone is related around here. Would it be possible for us to leave him with you?” Deacon showed her the ugly gash on his arm. “He bit me, and Julia might be hypothermic after jumping in after him. We need to hit the clinic.”
“Of course. We’ll take good care of him.”
“You haven’t had anyone report a dog missing, have you?” Julia asked.
“Nope.”
“Hmm, I wonder where he came from.”
“He might’ve fallen off a boat.”
“And no one noticed?”
“It happens.” Janey kissed the top of the dog’s head. “Poor baby.”
“Would it be possible to get him tested for rabies?” Julia asked. “He bit Deacon, so we’ll need to know.”
“We can’t actually test him for rabies. All we can do is observe him for the next ten days, either here or in quarantine at home, where he would have to be kept away from other animals and people.”
Deacon glanced at Julia. “We can keep him isolated at the hotel or at my place.”
She nodded in agreement.
“We should get you to the clinic,” he said. “Your lips are blue.”
Julia didn’t want to leave the dog, who gazed at her soulfully even as he tried to keep his eyes open. The poor guy was completely exhausted. “I’ll be back to check on him as soon as I can.”
“We’ll be here all day.”
“Thank you.” Julia worried about how she’d pay for whatever the vet had to do for the dog, but somehow she’d find a way to get him what he needed.
Deacon ushered her out the door and back into Blaine’s SUV for the short ride to the clinic.
When Deacon told the woman at reception that he suspected Julia might have hypothermia, she was taken right back to a cubicle, where she was told to change out of her wet bathing suit and damp sweatshirt into a gown.
The nurse helped her into bed, took her temperature and blood pressure and then put her under a delightful warming blanket.
“You can go on in,” the nurse said to Deacon when Julia was settled.
He came in through the closed curtain and took a close look at her. “Feel better?”
“This blanket is the best thing since ice cream. You need to let them tend to you, too.” Blood had soaked through the blue dress shirt he’d worn to brunch.
It had touched her to hear that he went to the trouble of making sure his shirt was pressed before joining her family’s get-together.
She’d also appreciated the way he’d tended to her and indulged her need to rescue the dog—even after the little guy had bitten him.
“I’m sorry about all this.” She gestured to his bloody arm.
“It’s no biggie.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if we’d left him.”
“I still say you shouldn’t have risked yourself the way you did.”
She shrugged. “It’s fine.”
Deacon stepped closer to her bed, took hold of her hand and linked their fingers. “It’s not fine. You matter to a lot of people, Julia. I saw that this morning with your family. And you matter to me.”
Even though her heart was doing back flips, she tried to keep her voice from giving away her emotional response to his heartfelt words. “You just met me.”
He kissed the back of her hand and then released it to tuck her arm under the warm blanket. “You matter to me.”
“Why?”
“Do I have to have a reason? Can’t it just be because I like you? That I like spending time with you, that I like what you did for that dog even if I don’t like that you risked your own safety to do it?”
The intense moment between them was interrupted when a nurse came in to check on Julia. She took her temperature and blood pressure again. “Your temp is up a little, which is good. Do you feel warmer?”
“Getting there.” Julia wondered if she’d ever feel warm again.
Since she had hardly any body fat, she was almost always cold to begin with.
A dip in the still-frigid Atlantic had been about the last thing she’d needed, but she had no regrets.
Deacon’s sweet words had given her a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside that made the rescue mission doubly worth it.
“Let’s get you cleaned up, young man,” the older woman said as she approached Deacon.
“Can we do it here so I can stay with Julia?”
She looked at each of them and smiled. “It’s like that, is it? Of course. I understand you want to be with your girlfriend. I’ll go get what I need to clean that wound.”
After she left the room, Julia looked up at him, amused by the nurse’s misunderstanding. “So now I’m your girlfriend?”
“If you’d like to be.”
“I told you I’m done with all that.”
“Ah yes, the dick diet. How could I forget?”
Julia’s face burned with embarrassment. What had she been thinking telling him that? “I probably should think before I speak so bluntly.”
“Please don’t.” His gorgeous golden eyes became even more so when he smiled like he was now.
“I think it’s awesome. If I’d been through what you have, I’d be on a dick diet, too.
” He paused, seemed to realize what he’d said and then laughed.
“Not that I’m a fan of dick other than my own, mind you.
I’m a big fan of his. Underline the word big. ”
By then, Julia was laughing helplessly. “Stop. I can’t.”
“You’re even more beautiful when you laugh.”
Before she could formulate a response to that, the nurse came bustling in with a tray of supplies. “All right, young man, let’s see what you’ve got going on.”
He grimaced at Julia and offered his arm to the nurse.
Julia couldn’t look away from him. Just when she was sure there wasn’t one good man left in the world, she’d met Deacon Taylor. He was giving her reason to question everything, especially her dick diet.
Maybe if she took a spin with him, she’d begin to feel better about what’d happened with Mike.
No. No, no, no. This was what she always did.
Swore off men until the next charmer came along and made her willpower disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Just because Deacon seemed better than most didn’t mean anything.
She’d found out the hard way that they always seemed better than most until they showed her who they really were.
She refused to be swayed by another handsome face and more sweet words, even if they seemed sincere.
He winced when the nurse squeezed the wound to produce more blood that she wiped away before thoroughly cleaning it and covering it with gauze.
“You’re going to want to stay on top of it by regularly applying antibiotic ointment and keeping the wound clean and dry.
Do we know the animal’s vaccination history? ”
“We don’t,” Deacon said, “and we won’t know if he’s positive for rabies until he’s observed for the next ten days.”
“If he’s positive, we’ll need you back for treatment.”
“I already had rabies treatment when I was bitten five years ago.”
“Then you might still be covered, but we’ll need blood work to confirm.”
“Got it.”
A couple of hours later, after Julia’s grandmother delivered dry clothes for her, they were both discharged when Julia’s body temperature returned to normal, even if she still felt chilled to the bone. They were surprised to find Blaine in the waiting room.
“Have you been here all this time?” Deacon asked.
“I left for a while and came back to give you a ride home.”
“Oh, thanks.” Deacon sounded surprised.
“Where to?” Blaine asked when they were in his SUV.