A little quiver of something ran through him. With her dark red hair, pale skin and green eyes, she was certainly attractive. He was sure if he’d met her before she would have made an impression. So, what was it about her that was familiar?

  She took a deep breath, letting the words she’d said settle before she continued. ‘And I don’t just mean the science of the results. What I mean is, I’ll likely be going up to Jack Sannox’s farm for the next year to keep an eye on him.’

  And that was when he knew.

  That was when he knew that he had to find a way to work with this woman.

  He needed her beside him, not against him.

  He nodded. ‘Aurora. It’s an unusual name.’

  She looked surprised that this was where the conversation was going. ‘Well, “call me Eli”,’ she said, as quick as a flash, ‘Elijah isn’t so normal either.’ She glanced out of the window. ‘My father named me. After the actual Aurora Borealis. Aurora means dawn.’

  He gave her a rueful smile. ‘Well, my dad named me too. And he wasn’t religious, but he remembered the name Elijah from Sunday School as a kid, and just liked it. I’m probably lucky he didn’t name me after his favourite breed of cow.’

  ‘Angus or Galloway?’ she quipped.

  He rolled his eyes. ‘More than likely something neither of us have ever heard of.’ He took a careful breath. ‘If you don’t mind, I’d like to familiarise myself with Rudy’s case, then I’d like to go with you later today to speak to Jack. He will need extra support, because it’s likely there will be no treatment that will actually make a difference.’

  He turned his attention to the puppy in her arms. The little guy hadn’t even squirmed during their exchange, just watched everything with his big brown eyes. He leaned forward and smiled. ‘What are we going to do with this guy?’

  ‘This is Bert,’ she said determinedly.

  ‘Where did that name come from?’

  She shrugged. ‘A reliable friend. I’ve posted a pic on our website. But since he’s not tagged, I’m assuming he isn’t actually owned by anyone. We might need to see if the local shelter can arrange someone to foster or adopt.’

  ‘What about any of our clients?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Is there anyone that might be looking for another dog? A companion for another dog?’

  Aurora looked thoughtful and then wrinkled her nose. ‘We’ve had a few older clients die in the last few months, and myself and Anne have managed to place their pets with other clients.’ She sighed. ‘I think we might have used up our supply of local, willing pet fosterers.’

  He reached over and took Bert in his arms. ‘He looks about eight weeks. Puppies take a lot of work. Maybe he already had an owner who just wasn’t ready for the work involved.’

  It only took a few moments to make a decision. ‘Let’s give it a few days on the website and see what happens. I’ll vaccinate him, and in the meantime he can stay here with me. There were kennels outside at one point, I’ll go and have a look and see what state they’re in.’

  ‘You’re staying here?’ She seemed surprised.

  He shrugged. ‘I told you earlier, I could move into the house but it doesn’t seem worthwhile. I want to use it as an incentive for the new vet. I’ll just sleep upstairs. There’s three bedrooms, a living room and a bathroom. There’s even been a new kitchen put in.’

  ‘You do know that if we take a patient overnight, either myself or Anne usually stay in one of the other rooms?’

  He tucked Bert under his arm. ‘You do?’

  She nodded.

  ‘It’s okay.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m sure we can make it work. It’ll only be for a few months. And I don’t snore,’ he added.

  She arched her eyebrow. ‘But I do.’

  And there it was. Another challenge. It seemed that Aurora Hendricks was someone who was going to keep him on his toes.

  He leaned down and nuzzled into Bert. ‘Let’s go find some earplugs, kid. We’ve got to plan ahead.’

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE RAIN WAS pelting down as Aurora arrived the next morning, and the normally paved area in front of the practice was swimming in mud. She turned and frowned at the nearby hillside. There had been some slippage in the past—was it going to happen again?

  She shucked off her wellies at the front door, knowing she had some flat shoes in her locker—and promptly stepped in a pool of puppy pee.

  ‘Ew,’ she said before smiling. It wasn’t the first time, and wouldn’t be the last.

  ‘Sorry,’ came a voice from the doorway. Eli had Bert tucked under his arm. ‘We tried the kennels last night after I’d fixed them up but—’ he looked down at Bert ‘—it seems that Bert is actually a house dog.’

  Aurora couldn’t help but smile. She peeled off her wet socks and walked across the tiled floor, rubbing Bert’s head. ‘Are you just showing him who’s boss?’ Bert licked her hand. ‘Guess you’d better get started with the toilet training then,’ she said.

  He looked down at her painted toenails. ‘How about I get you a pair of socks first?’

  She nodded gratefully, and was pulling the thick woollen socks onto her feet as Anne came through the door.

  ‘Typical Scottish summer,’ said Anne, shaking off her umbrella, and then stopping short. ‘Eli?’ she said in wonder, before crossing the room in long strides and enveloping him in a giant hug.

  Aurora’s gaze flicked from one to the other. Anne only worked here three days a week now. But she’d been here from the time that Eli’s dad had run the practice, so it was obvious that they would know each other.

  Eli, surprisingly, returned the hug with a relieved expression on his face. Had he been worried that Anne wouldn’t be happy to see him?

  ‘Who is this?’ she asked, rubbing Bert’s head.

  ‘A stray, we think,’ he said, glancing over at Aurora. ‘This is Bert. I’ll keep him for the next few days to see if anyone comes forward.’

  ‘Sure you will,’ said Anne, still smiling. She’d released him now but tucked her hand into his arm. ‘Let’s just go and have a cup of tea and catch up a bit. You can manage, can’t you, Aurora?’

  Aurora gave a nod. Eli looked a cross between still being relieved along with a mad dash of panic. ‘Can you put Jack Sannox in the diary for later today, since he wasn’t up to it yesterday?’

  Aurora gave a nod as Anne swiftly moved Eli through to the kitchen, talking the whole time.

  She checked through the patients for the day. She noticed that Eli had put a few notes next to some, mainly questions on getting some more information from owners or looking at medications or treatment plans. She took her time to read them all. He was thorough. He’d also left some notes and instructions about the surgical list for tomorrow, asking her to call all the owners to remind them of the instructions for their pets, prior to any procedure.

  Aurora always did that automatically, but he wasn’t to know that so she tried not to let it annoy her and just left it for now.

  She sighed as she looked at a few of the notes he’d left regarding Rudy and Mr Sannox. Jack had called back and asked them to change their visit until today. He’d said something about needing a little time.

  In all honesty, she would have preferred to see Jack yesterday, if anything, just so she could give him a hug. Aurora finished what she was doing and tried not to be curious about the conversation that was clearly going on in the kitchen. She’d have loved a cup of tea but didn’t want to intrude.

  She’d always enjoyed working with Anne, who came equipped with a million stories and a world of expertise. She lived in the nearby village and had never even considered working somewhere else. Aurora could remember a few times when Anne had casually mentioned that it was a shame that Elijah hadn’t taken over from his father, but had always backed the words with something like ‘children should always spread their wings’.

  An unexpected arrival—a cat with fleas, brought by a horrified owner who asked a myriad questions about her designer wardrobe and furniture—kept her attention away from the conversation in the kitchen. Aurora spent a considerable amount of time concentrating on treating the cat and emphasising how important it was to continue treatment, before covering the basics about vacuuming the home, washing all bedding and soft furnishings and spraying everything with flea spray.

  After that, there were some routine appointments. Anne and Aurora shared the vet nurse appointments, accompanying Eli when required and keeping an eye on Bert.

  Anne opened the store cupboard and blinked at the newly stocked food. She leaned over and checked the side label before giving an approving nod. ‘This one is hypoallergenic. It will actually suit a lot of our patients with more sensitive tummies.’

  Aurora smiled. She hadn’t even looked that closely. ‘So, what do you think of our new vet?’ she asked, trying to sound innocent.

  She could tell that Anne was bursting to talk. Anne had lots of skills but keeping secrets wasn’t her best—although she could, when necessary, be discreet.

  ‘I’m so happy to see Eli again,’ she said with a smile. ‘He’s grown up to be the picture of his father.’

  ‘Has he?’ Aurora had seen the photo on the wall earlier, but didn’t think they were so alike.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ said Anne with authority. ‘Same height and build. Eli has his mother’s colouring, but his mannerisms are identical to his father’s.’ She gave a soft smile. ‘It brings back lots of memories.’

  Aurora wondered how many questions she would get away with. ‘His father and Matt were partners, weren’t they?’

  Anne nodded. ‘Right up until David retired. He worked on much longer than he should have. But by then Sarah, his wife, was dead and Eli was away working someplace else. He didn’t want to leave Matt on his own.’

  Aurora looked out over the Scottish countryside. Right now, it was difficult to get a good view, with the sheeting rain and small mudslide from the hills nearby. But usually this view was a wild array of green, a dash of some heather and a few spots of white sheep.

  ‘Why on earth is it so hard to recruit around here?’

  Anne gave a sorrowful shrug. ‘I’m not sure. I think for a while David was too picky, and Eli seems to have inherited his father’s traits. When the practice passed to him, he constantly didn’t think any of the applicants were good enough.’ She gave Aurora a knowing glance. ‘You know the thing—he didn’t want to work here, but no one else was good enough?’

  Aurora frowned as she tried to make some sense of her new workmate. ‘Interesting.’ She paused, looking in the direction of the kitchen to make sure the coast was clear, and then asked the ultimate question. ‘So, why did Eli never come back to work with his dad, or take over?’

  Anne wrinkled her nose. ‘He’d opened his own practice for a while on the outskirts of London. Not sure what happened there. I guess right now it’s just about timing. Matt’s sick and Frankie’s left. What other option did he have?’

  And that answer left Aurora with an uncomfortable feeling. Anne was going to retire soon. But Aurora had another twenty years or more to work. If they couldn’t recruit another vet, this practice might fold. She didn’t want to end up out of work. She loved her cottage and where she lived. She didn’t want to have to move. But if Eli was only there on a temporary basis, she might need to consider other options.

  Anne nodded towards the car park as another car pulled in. ‘Recognise them?’ she asked.

  Aurora shook her head, ‘No idea.’

  Eli met her at the front door. As soon as he stood next to her, she got a waft of his aftershave. Fresh but woody, it made her breathe in even deeper. Darn it. The last thing she needed was to be attracted to someone she worked with. Particularly when he could be occasionally snarky. Mixing work and pleasure was never a good idea. It didn’t help that he glanced sideways at her and gave her a half smile.

  A couple in their twenties entered the practice with a cat carrier. Although they didn’t have an appointment, there was a short gap where they could be seen. Eli showed them through to one of the examination rooms. Aurora instantly had a weird feeling. She watched the interaction between the couple as they removed their cat from the carrier and placed him on the examination table.

  Eli asked them some details as he examined the cat, which was called Arthur. Again, as she watched him, she appreciated how thorough he was. But something about the couple seemed off. It was that niggling feeling right between her shoulder blades that she really couldn’t explain to anyone. Aurora had had this before—it sometimes caught her by surprise.

  The man seemed to continually talk over his partner. He also kept glancing towards Aurora, even though she was not speaking to him directly. She was merely making notes on the computer as Eli examined the patient. His continued glances made her nervous and uncomfortable; he even hinted at a smile a few times towards her when he knew his partner was looking elsewhere. There was just something creepy about him.

  She could sense that Eli caught something in the air. He gave her a curious look but continued with his examination, and after a few careful questions Aurora knew exactly where this diagnosis was going. Eli looked at them. ‘I think I can say with some confidence that Arthur has diabetes. All the symptoms you’ve described—the weight loss, the excessive drinking and excessive eating—all point in that direction. I only need to run a few minor tests to be able to confirm it.’

  The women looked pale. ‘Is this serious?’ she asked.

  Eli nodded. ‘It can be. But diabetes in cats is not uncommon and it’s a condition we can treat.’

  ‘Will he need injections?’ asked the guy. ‘My gran has diabetes and she requires injections.’

  Eli nodded again. ‘That’s very likely. Why don’t you leave Arthur with us for a few hours, and when you come back we can confirm the diagnosis and make a treatment plan?’

  The guy shot another few glances in Aurora’s direction and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She hadn’t spoken a word to him during the consultation, so knew that she had done nothing to attract his attention.

  ‘Is everything all right?’ asked Eli as soon as they left.

  Aurora gave her shoulders a little shake. ‘Just something about that guy. He made me uncomfortable.’

  She didn’t want to go into any details. Being assaulted, and then being stalked, had a huge influence on her life. The outcome of these had affected both how she lived her life and her decision-making. It had been built into her TV contract that she would be covered for any consequences from being in the TV series. She knew that essentially had been around any possible accidents or injuries but, thankfully, her assault had also been covered—and not for a short period of time. Now, all these years later, she still attended counselling sessions when she needed them. They’d started intensely but now happened as and when Aurora ever decided she needed them. She had that odd prickly feeling that she’d be making contact with her counsellor some time soon.

  She stood up and walked over and picked up Arthur. ‘How about I get started on those tests for Arthur and you can prescribe his insulin?’

  Eli gave a nod and started taking more notes. Aurora half hoped that only the woman would come back. She would need to spend some time with Arthur’s owners to explain his new diet plan, and how to do his injections. They’d already left insurance details, so she knew Arthur would be covered, and it would likely take another few visits to get his condition stabilised.

  * * *

  It had been a strange start to the day. Eli had been nervous about seeing Anne again and wondered how she might act. But Anne had been warm, friendly and professional. He just had a sense, deep down, of a slight feeling of disappointment that emanated from her. It could all be in his head—maybe it was just old feelings being rehashed?

  Anne had been well aware of the underlying hostility that lay between Eli and his father. But she showed no hard feelings towards Eli, and seemed happy to see him.

  He still wasn’t entirely sure about Aurora. She’d seemed a little off in the earlier consultation, but maybe he was just misinterpreting things.

  He was still trying to get to grips with how the practice was run. It seemed that Anne and Aurora shared the variety of roles, and he wondered if that was the best use of their time. Aurora had mentioned the practice being a team approach. It was hard to get a sense of that when he was the only vet. And he wasn’t sure how much time and energy to invest in finding out, when he would only be here a short space of time.

  But Aurora intrigued him. He could sense something from her earlier when she’d been uncomfortable in the consulting room. He’d almost felt a shift in the air. He was slightly annoyed that he hadn’t picked up on anything, but would pay better attention in the future. He still wanted to find out a little bit more about her and her experience. His eyes were continually drawn to her, no matter how hard he tried for them not to be. His brain was constantly wondering about her. And it was odd, but he could sometimes swear there was a buzz in the air between them. But maybe he was just imagining it.

  He wondered if he would get that opportunity to find out a bit more about her when they visited Jack in a few hours’ time. But in the meantime, he had other things to concentrate on.

  Bert was showing no interest in toilet training. It had been so long since Eli had looked after a puppy that he’d forgotten how hard it was. He cleaned up a variety of puddles and took Bert back outside with some treats to try and encourage him to toilet outside and reward that behaviour. No matter where Bert eventually ended up, he would likely need to be toilet trained, so it was worth the extra time and effort. More people were likely to adopt a puppy if they knew the toilet training routine had started.

  Anne shouted them all through to the kitchen, where they all prepared lunch. She looked at the visits for the day. ‘What is going on at the Fletchers’ farm?’ she asked.

 

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