by Katie Ashley
I burst through the door so hard it flew back on hinges and banged against the wall. Declan’s gaze snapped up to stare at me. Without taking his eyes off of mine, he said, “Excuse me, gentleman, but I’m going to have to put our call on hold for a moment.”
I stalked over to his desk before jabbing my finger at his telephone. “Don’t even think you’re going to silence me and try to save face. Your investors should know what kind of underhanded means you use to try and pressure people into selling.”
“I’ve already muted the call. What are you talking about? I haven’t pressured anyone into selling.”
Receptionist Barbie came sprinting in. “Mr. St. James, I’m so very sorry. I asked her to wait or make an appointment.”
“It’s okay, Anna. I know Dr. Beasley and her temperament very well.”
I narrowed my eyes at Declan. “Don’t you dare belittle me by acting like I’m always flying off the handle.”
“I do recall you kneed me in the balls a few weeks ago.”
When I cut my eyes over to Anna, I caught her horrified, yet curious expression staring back at me. “Because of Declan’s Main Street expansion, I’ve gone from little water pressure to zilch. I came out of spaying the Dunlop’s Shi Tzu, and my vet tech and I couldn’t even wash our hands,” I explained to her.
As Anna nodded her head, Declan’s brows furrowed. “You don’t have any water?”
“No, genius we don’t. I mean, why else would I be up here with soiled gloves and dirty scrubs?”
Rising out of his chair, Declan came around the desk. “Peyton, I’m so sorry. I had no idea you were experiencing any structural issues at the clinic.”
I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. “Sure you didn’t.”
“I know my word isn’t much to you, but I can assure you I would never intentionally have my foremen tamper with your waterlines.”
“You told me yourself you need my corner building to fully complete the development. What better way to drive me out than by sabotaging my business?”
Declan narrowed his eyes me. “Do you really think I’d do something so devious?”
“I think we’re both aware of your track record.”
“For Christ’s sake, Peyton, that was ten years ago. I’ve apologized profusely for my callous actions while also trying to get you to understand I’ve changed.”
“Excuse me for finding it hard to believe you.”
With a frustrated growl, Declan turned to Anna. “Will you get Scott on the phone for me?”
“Yes, Mr. St. James.” She wheeled around on her tiny stilettos and then clicked like a mad-woman out of the room.
Motioning to the chair, Declan said, “Would you like to have a seat?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“You’re welcome to use my private bath to wash up in.”
“Once again, I’m fine.”
Declan swept his hands to his hips. “You’re fine? You’re wearing bloody gloves, and you have gunk all over your scrubs.”
“I’m aware of that.” I pointed to my pants. “And that isn’t gunk—it’s blood and tissue from Miss Bailey’s uterus.”
“Jesus Christ, Peyton.”
When the phone on his desk beeped, Declan held up his hand. “I’m putting Scott on speaker, so you can hear for yourself what he has to say and can’t blame me any further.”
“Fine.”
“Hey, Scott, it’s Declan.”
“Hey, man, what can I do for you?” Scott’s voice echoed through the room.
“Listen, I’ve got a pretty irate business owner in my office right now. I need to know what’s going on with the water lines adjacent to the vet clinic.”
Silence echoed on the line. “Uh, yeah, boss, we kinda fucked up with those.
Both Declan’s and my brows shot up. “Could you please clarify what you mean?” Declan prompted.
“My plumber had his kid working on the pipes, and he’s fresh outta school. He doesn’t have a lot of experience with antique pipes. Somehow he nicked a line yesterday, and this morning we’ve been working on the repercussions i.e. a shit-ton of flooding.”
“I see.” Declan’s jaw clenched. “I’m going to need your assurance you will have the cleanup taken care of as quick as possible as well as the restoration of water service to the veterinarian clinic.”
“Yes, sir. You have my word.”
“Thank you. And I’ll also ask you find another plumber to complete the rest of the service.”
“I’m already on it, boss.”
“Bye, Scott.”
After he hung up, Declan gave me an apologetic smile. “Fuck. Peyton, I’m very sorry this happened. It will be sorted.” His frustrated sigh was evident of just how irritated he was. Maybe I misjudged this…maybe I misjudged him. “I’ll cover the financial losses the clinic might incur today
My mouth dropped unattractively open. Wait, what just happened here? Not only was Declan not the villain I had believed him to be, but he was appearing quite heroic. Although I’d heard it with my own ears, it was still almost too hard to fathom.
“Let me get this straight. You didn’t sabotage the business, and you want to help take care of today’s business losses?”
“That’s right.”
“Oh God,” I murmured. I’d just totally and completely shown my ass in front of Declan for absolutely nothing. It’d been one thing to knee him in the balls after he smacked my ass, or to berate him for the way he treated me in the past. But I had just falsely accused him of being petty and unprofessional. I could almost see Papa’s disappointed face at my behavior.
And that’s when it happened. Something I would have never, ever in a million years wanted to happen in front of Declan St. James.
I burst out crying. Like snotty-nose, very unattractive crying.
The sight of my tears caused Declan’s head to snap back like I’d slapped him. “Jesus, Christ,” he muttered.
Hysterical laughter tore from my lips at both his words and expression. “You’re right. At this point, I think he’s the only one who can help when it comes to the effect you have on me.” God, this was so ridiculous. I’m not a child anymore. And he deserves to be cut a break here. “This is hard for me, Declan. I don’t want to feel this way. I mean, I’ve tried staying away, but that didn’t help. Somehow, you fucked with every relationship I tried to have. I did therapy, and inevitably, I always kept coming back to you.
Turning my face into my shoulder, I swiped away some of the tears running down my cheeks on my scrubs. “And now I’ve finally come back home and faced my demon, and I still don’t have any peace. In fact, I just appeared completely immature by falsely accusing you.” I threw up my hands. “You want to know the true irony? Your mom and Rebecca told me how you’ve matured and changed, and I didn’t want to believe them. But you know what? You really fucking have matured. But me? I’m still stuck in the past when it comes to you, and I don’t know if I’ll ever recover. That thought is fucking crippling.”
Declan remained ashen-faced through my tirade. Now that I was finished, he rose out of his chair. As he came around the side of the desk, he appeared truly remorseful. “Peyton, I’m really sorry.”
I bobbed my head. “I know you are. And so am I.” And with a defeated heart and soul, I sprinted out of Declan’s office.
Chapter Ten
After running out of Declan’s office, I took the alley back to the clinic so no one would see my tears. When I slipped in the backdoor, I didn’t announce my arrival. Instead, I made a beeline to the bathroom. After depositing my bloody gloves, I used an overkill of antibacterial lotion on my hands and arms. When I finished with that, I tried my best to clean up the mess I’d made of face.
Every time I thought of what an enormous ass I’d made out of myself, I’d just start crying all over. I fought the urge to throw my hands in the air and scream, “WHYYY?” to the heavens. I didn’t know how being so upset over a water shortage had morphed into a nervous breakdown i
n front of the very man who had inflicted all my emotional duress.
Sylvia’s voice at the door interrupted my self-deprecating tirade. “Peyton, honey, are you in there?”
Sniffling, I swiped my eyes before walking over to the door. I cracked it and peered out. “Did you need me?”
She gave me a sympathetic look. “A man from the construction company just came by and said the water would be back on in about two hours. I went ahead and canceled your appointments until two.”
“Thank you, Sylvia.”
“Don’t worry about it. With the water situation, I also told Vernon Hornsby you could come by earlier to take a look at his horse’s foot.”
“Yes, that will be fine. I’ll grab my bag and head on.”
When I opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom, I unexpectedly found Sylvia’s arms around me. I had to admit it was a nice feeling being comforted after such a hellish day.
Sylvia squeezed me tight before pulling away. Staring into my eyes, she said, “Don’t be so hard on yourself, honey. You’ve had a traumatic couple of weeks losing your papa and then coming back here.”
I furrowed my brows at her. Had news of my breakdown at Declan’s traveled that fast? Or had Jaycee told her I’d gone on the warpath to annihilate Declan? “Did you hear about what I did?” I cautiously asked.
“Jaycee told me a little bit.”
Groaning, I brought my hands over my eyes. “God, I’m such a basket case.”
“You know, your reaction is completely understandable.”
“I just falsely accused Declan of sabotaging my business. I think that’s pretty far outside the realm of understanding.”
“Once again, you’ve been under a great deal of stress these past few weeks.”
“I wish it was that simple.”
She patted my arm. “Just don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“I’m pretty sure the train has already left the station on that one.”
“Then try to get it rerouted,” she replied with a wink.
After Sylvia left me in the bathroom, I pulled myself together to go do my farm calls. When I returned, I found the water was back on. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the fact.
With my stress level out of the roof, I polished off a bottle of wine with my Lean Cuisine dinner and then passed out shortly before eight. I slept like a log until a bellowing clap of thunder sent me shooting straight up in bed. Disoriented, I peered around the bedroom. My gaze fell on the glowing blue numbers of Papa’s archaic alarm clock. It was just after one. Before I could settle back down on the bed, a frantic banging came at the door. It was coupled with an incessant ringing of the doorbell.
“What the hell?” I muttered as I threw back the comforter. Staggering out of bed, I lumbered out of the bedroom and down the hall to the front door. I couldn’t imagine anything good coming from someone banging at my door at one in the morning during a hellish storm, so I grabbed Papa’s Colt out of the foyer table.
After taking the safety off the trigger, I pointed it at the front door. “Who is it?” I called.
“It’s Declan.”
What the fuck? “Excuse me?”
“Please, Peyton, open the door. I need your help.”
I let the gun drop to my side before taking a step forward. In that moment, I really wished I hadn’t fallen asleep in my tank top and panties. Throwing a glance over my shoulder, I wondered if I had time to run back to the bedroom to grab my robe. “Peyton?” Declan shouted, his voice holding a desperation I wasn’t accustomed to.
Fuck it. After furiously working the locks, I swung the door open. A gasp escaped my lips at the sight of him. It wasn’t his drenched form that was so shocking, but it was more that his face and clothes were covered in blood. “Oh, my God! What’s happened?”
“Cam’s dog, Moose, got out of the fence earlier tonight. Before I could find him, he got hit by car. I’m afraid to risk taking him to the emergency vet hospital since it’s an hour away.”
At my momentary hesitation, he jerked a hand through the soaked strands of his hair. “Look, regardless of what’s happened between us, could you please think about Cam? He loves that stupid dog more than anything in the world. It will kill him if something happens to him. And…” Declan winced. “Please, Peyton, I can’t let him down anymore.”
I shook my head at him. “My hesitation wasn’t about not treating him.”
“It wasn’t?”
“Of course not. It’s more about the fact I don’t have an adequate trauma center at the office. He’s more than likely going to need surgery, and I might not be able to save him.”
“Just do whatever you can.”
“Okay. I’ll try.” Not wanting to waste a minute, I spun around and deposited the Colt on the table before grabbing my coat off the hook. After I threw on my coat, I opened the closet door and grabbed one of Papa’s medical bags. “Let’s go.”
Declan and I sprinted down the porch steps and down the walkway to his car. Instead of climbing into the front beside Declan, I slipped inside the backseat. I grimaced at the sight of blood covering the leather seats. “Can you turn on the inside lights?”
“Yeah, one sec.”
Moose was a chocolate lab whose sad, soulful eyes stared into mine. “Hey there, Moose. You can take it easy now because I’m going to get you all fixed up,” I said as I gently patted his head. When I dropped my hand to let him smell me, he gave me a friendly lick.
As Declan pulled out of the driveway, I reached into my medical bag and took out my stethoscope. I needed to know as much about Moose’s condition as I could before we reached the clinic. Whenever an animal was hit, time was of the essence. I had no idea how long it had been since he had actually received his injuries.
I slid the silver disc of the stethoscope onto Moose’s chest. His lungs seemed to be expanding well. The fact he didn’t have any shallow breathing was a good sign. Although his heart was beating faster, it wasn’t racing. “Your heart and lungs sound good, Moosie boy,” I pronounced to him and for Declan’s sake.
When I met Declan’s gaze in the rear-view mirror, he cocked at his brows at me. Any other time it might’ve been comical that he wanted confirmation in case I was lying for Moose’s benefit. “Yes, they honestly do sound good, and it’s a good sign for shock caused by internal bleeding.”
A flash of relief came over Declan’s face. After wrapping my stethoscope around my neck, I grabbed one of the pen sized flashlights out of Papa’s bag. Once I pried open Moose’s mouth. I peered at his gums to see if they had changed color. “His gums aren’t pale or blue, so that’s also a good sign.”
I deposited the flashlight back into the bag. “Okay, Moose, I’m going to turn you over just a bit to take a feel of your insides.”
Thankfully, Moose didn’t whine or appear to be in pain when I palpitated his organs. Outwardly, there didn’t appear to be a lot of internal swelling. Both of those meant he wasn’t experiencing any dangerous hemorrhaging. When I got to his back haunches, I saw large, gaping lacerations that could’ve been made by the grill of a car. “Ah, that’s the issue.”
“What?”
“He has some pretty deep wounds on his back legs. The one on his right leg is a little too close to his femoral artery for my liking.”
“What does that mean in layman’s terms?”
Right. Sometimes I tended to lose myself in medical jargon. “If I don’t get the artery closed, he could bleed out.”
Declan banged his fist against the steering wheel. “Fucking hell.”
“Hey now. I need you to keep it together for all our sake’s. You are driving after all.”
“Sorry,” he gritted through his teeth.
We rocketed into the clinic’s parking lot on two wheels. I guess I should have been grateful we made it at all considering Declan’s erratic driving in the last ten minutes. He’d barely put the car in park before he was out the door. As he gently lifted Moose into his arms, I exited on the
other side. I ran ahead to unlock the clinic and turn off the alarm. I then began flipping on lights as Declan swept through the door with Moose.
He fell in step behind me and followed me down the hallway through the door of the surgical anteroom. When we got inside the OR, I motioned to the table. “Put him down there.”
After easing Moose down, Declan turned to me. “Now what?”
“I go to work, and you wait.”
“Are you sure you don’t need my help?”
I shook my head. “It wouldn’t be good for you or for Moose.”
With a reluctant nod, Declan then started for the door. When he reached for the handle, he stopped. Whirling around, he pinned me with a determined look. “Pey, no matter what happens with Moose, I just want you to know that tomorrow morning I’ll pause the Main Street improvement. There are things I can’t change, like with workers’ contracts and whatnot. But I can halt what’s happening in the building next to yours and eventually stop it.
My eyes bulged. “You will?”
He nodded. “I know my word probably doesn’t mean much to you, but you have it.”
With my throat constricting, I couldn’t speak. It was too hard to find the words to describe the jangled emotions inside of me. There was elation and gratitude. Not to mention the extreme shock I was feeling. Instead, I merely blinked at him.
When I didn’t respond, Declan said. “Right. Anyway, I’ll let you get to work.” He jerked a thumb at the door. “I’ll just be out in the hallway.”
“Okay,” was all I could reply.
As soon as Declan was out the door, I mentally slapped myself to get my wits about me. I didn’t have time to stand around pondering the implications of Declan giving up on the deal. I had a patient to care for.
After shrugging out of my coat, I threw on a pair of scrubs from the closet before getting down to business. Without a tech present, it was down to me to gather the necessary tools and supplies. Once that was done, I scrubbed my hands, donned my face and hair mask, and slid on my rubber gloves. Then I got down to business.