by Annie O'Neil
‘Once the puppies are weaned?’
Maverick gave a solid little-boy nod. ‘Mummy is going to get all of the puppy carers to come over then. Then they’ll all be gone.’ He stroked a little black Lab who jumped up and licked him on the nose. Mav’s expression turned gloomy. ‘I know they’re going to lovely places and that they will be helping people, but...’
‘But what?’
Mav choked back a small sob. ‘I’d like it better if they could stay.’ He looked up at Lucas, threads of anxiety woven across his cute little-boy face. Lucas couldn’t bear it. He knew what Maverick was really asking. Would Lucas be leaving, too?
Lucas pulled his son onto his lap along with Mav’s favourite puppy, Mr Purple, a golden Lab with a black button nose and a little purple collar to differentiate him from the others. Lucas knew he could spot his boy in a crowd of thousands of blonds. He held him close, so grateful to Ellie for having raised a son who was kind, smart, inquisitive, funny and just about everything a man could ever dream of. He owed her a debt of gratitude he would spend his life repaying.
‘I know the puppies have to leave. It’s part of growing up, but...’ Oh, this was tricky territory. Territory he really should cover with Ellie first. ‘How would you feel if I were to stay longer?’
Maverick whirled round in Lucas’s lap, the puppy tumbling back into the jumble of happy furballs. ‘Are you going to stay?’
‘I’d like to. I’d like it very much.’
Maverick whooped with joy and threw his arms round Lucas’s neck. Lucas wasn’t a crier, but it was hard to focus with tears swimming in his eyes. This was a moment he would cherish for ever.
A movement caught his eye.
Ellie.
She was standing in the doorway and from the look on her face had been listening to their conversation. Her eyes glistened with tears. Was this it? The sign he’d been waiting for that Ellie had forgiven him?
Maverick scooped up Mr Purple. ‘What about Marvin?’
Ellie began to giggle, crossing to join them. ‘Marvin? I thought we were going to wait for the puppy carers to give them names.’
Mav looked at her like she was missing half her brain. ‘This one’s definitely Marvin.’ He shot his mother an impish look. ‘He’s an Uber puppy! And he told me he’d like to stay with us. In the flat. Not next door.’ His eyes darted to Lucas then to his mother, his eyes in full Please, please, Mummy, can we? mode.
Bash.
Lucas’s heart was going to be bruised to a pulp if things continued in this vein. Bruising he could totally get used to.
To her credit, and obvious skill as a mum used to receiving her son’s wide-eyed appeals, she laughed and gave Marvin a little scrub on the head. ‘All in good time.’ She popped her mouth into an O as if an idea had struck. ‘Why don’t you, me and Lucas all head down to the beach tonight? Have a barbecue before the sunny days start drawing in?’
Mav clapped his hands, a life with Marvin temporarily forgotten. ‘Can we have marshmallows?’
Ellie nodded. ‘Absolutely. And sausages. And...’ Her sparkling green eyes shifted to Lucas. ‘What do you like?’
‘You,’ he said.
Her cheeks flamed hot and bright. ‘Well, of course you do. I’m fabulous.’ Then she turned on her heel, muttering something about needing to see to a pregnant hamster.
Lucas grinned. She would come round. In time. And time was something he had oodles of.
CHAPTER NINE
THE CLINIC WAS absolutely buzzing with excitement. Today was the day Moose would finally receive his prosthesis. News Ellie was quite certain her mother had spread rather liberally round the village.
Once he had healed and was trialling his robotic legs along the beach and in the countryside, who knew what sort of crowd they’d draw?
To steady her nerves, Ellie took extra care in the scrub room, watching through the glass window as the operating theatre filled with staff, all equally charged up to change the Bernese mountain dog’s life.
She and Lucas had had several meetings with Caro over the past week, but she’d opted not to come down to the clinic for the actual surgery, even though Ellie had assured her she was welcome.
She was a quirky one, Caro Barnes. Model-gorgeous, she was all flowing blonde hair and lean athletic body—a proper California girl—but she liked her own space and, from the sound of her working schedule, her own style of timekeeping. She’d mentioned looking out at the shooting stars late at night more than once when asked to explain how she’d come up with this or that idea.
Ellie gave her arms a final scrub then wove her way through the surgical nurses so that she and Lucas were on opposite sides of the operating table where Moose was still awake, happily receiving the adoration of the chief surgical nurse.
‘You ready?’ she asked Lucas.
The crinkles by his eyes fanned out above his surgical mask. ‘As I’ll ever be.’
Ellie grinned. She was absolutely fizzing with excitement. More than ever, the past few days had felt exactly as they had back in the day when they’d poured big mugs of coffee or hot chocolate and hit the books and their laptops, researching everything they could to make sure the complex surgery they were about to do went well.
They’d agreed to put the question of whether or not Lucas should become a partner on hold because what they were about to do warranted their full attention.
‘Have you told the Dolphin Cove Gazette?’ Lucas teased. ‘I’ve never seen the reception area so full.’
‘In Dolphin Cove, there’s no need. Especially if Mum knows what we’re up to.’ Ellie laughed. ‘You should see the beach!’ A warm fuzzy feeling filled her heart. ‘It’s happened a few times when one of the village’s favourite pets was about to have their life changed. The family needs support, and we all just pull together when the going gets tough.’
A few weeks back Lucas would’ve winced at something like that. This time? Ellie was relieved to see him smile and nod and say, ‘As it should be.’
‘Right, everyone.’ He got the busy surgical room’s attention. ‘Welcome to Dolphin Cove Clinic’s first percutaneous fixation to the skeleton.’
He began to explain the intricacies of the surgery. He would be implanting an internal peg and plate to each of Moose’s rear legs onto which the robotic prosthetics would be attached in three or four weeks’ time when the soft tissue had healed.
Everyone leant in as he showed the implant. It was a small but incredibly complex piece of technology. ‘If you can see the special coatings here...’ he held up the endoprosthesis ‘...this will become an integral part of Moose’s skeleton. In other words, the bone will grow onto the metal of the implant. There are further precautions to ensure a robust, bacteria-proof seal.’
One of the nurses raised her hand. ‘Will he be able to walk straight away?’
‘Not straight away,’ Lucas said, his calm authoritative voice drawing them all in the same way millions of television viewers had been captivated when he’d been the Uber-Vet. Ellie felt a swell of pride she hadn’t felt before. Her brainiac nerdy boyfriend from vet school was now an assured, intelligent, passionate veterinarian at the top of his game. It felt incredible to feel pride in place of the darker feelings that had once consumed her—loss and insignificance.
One of the nurses asked about Moose’s rehabilitation process.
‘Good question,’ Lucas said. ‘A colleague of mine is coming down from London in a couple of days. A physiotherapist who’s worked on a few similar cases with me. She’ll work with a couple of local canine physios until they’re confident with these specific treatment techniques. By week three, we should have a good idea when he can start using his bionic legs and get on with the business of being a healthy, happy dog.’
‘And will Moose stay here at the clinic the entire time?’ asked another nurse.
‘Yes.�
� Lucas gave the big old dog’s head a loving scrub. ‘He’ll become a member of the family here for up to four weeks. His own family will be welcome, of course, but I’m sure you’ll all join Ellie and me in making him feel at home.’
When their eyes met, Ellie could see a solitary question in them. ‘Will you let me stay, too?’
She wanted to. Heaven knew, she did, but...how could she know for sure that Lucas wouldn’t change his mind again?
Their eye contact broke.
‘Right, everyone!’ Lucas clapped his hands. ‘Let’s change a pet’s life for the better.’
* * *
‘Uh-oh.’ Maverick looked down at his shirt, where a large blob of strawberry jam had just landed.
Ellie laughed. ‘Uh-oh, indeed. I’m guessing you don’t want to be wearing strawberry jam on your first day back at school?’
Maverick shook his head. ‘Not really. Can I change?’
Normally Ellie would’ve scrubbed it off, just as she did all her son’s other mishaps, but today was a special day. The first day back at school.
After he’d lifted his arms to have his shirt tugged off, Maverick threw an anxious look at the door. ‘He’s coming, right?’
‘Absolutely,’ Ellie said, hoping her little boy didn’t hear the tiniest sliver of concern in her voice.
After the success of Moose’s surgery, the three of them had celebrated down at the Hungry Pelican with fish and chips. It had felt like a proper family night out. Grandma and Grandpa had even joined them. The handful of days following the surgery had been a blur. Ensuring Moose had been healing properly, seeing the scores of other pet patients, earmarking the retriever puppies for their increasingly excited puppy handler families and, of course, getting school clothes for Mav.
She glanced at the clock. She’d heard Lucas leave his flat earlier and presumed he’d gone for a run.
Twenty minutes later Ellie gave in to the urge to ring Lucas. They had to leave. Now.
It went straight to voicemail.
Her blood ran cold.
He wasn’t doing this. Not on her little boy’s big day. She gave Mav’s blond curls a stroke. ‘Love, I’m just going to run down to the clinic, all right? I’ll be back in two.’
Maverick’s expectant little face creased with concern. ‘Do you think Lucas has had to do a surgery?’
He did that sometimes. Took the out-of-hours calls when she’d had a long day. It had been a welcome reprieve from those first, long months after Drew’s surgery when she’d been on call night and day. But usually he consulted her about the case because she knew most of the animals and their histories.
She grabbed her phone to see if there had been any missed calls or texts. ‘That’s what I’m checking. He could be showing the new physio around.’ Or stuck in a ditch. A flat tyre? Or— No. No, he wouldn’t have gone to London, would he?
Not today. Surely not today. And not without telling her. His life was here now. At least he’d said he wanted it to be.
She ran down the stairs to the clinic and rounded the corner, only to run into a thirty-something woman holding a duffel bag in her hands. ‘Ellie?’
‘Hi! Hi...um...’ She looked over the woman’s shoulder. No Lucas. Crumbs. ‘You must be Rebecca, right?’
The specialist physiotherapist gave a nod, her thick specs falling to the tip of her nose.
Ellie looked round again, listening intently for a car. Still no Lucas.
Weird. This wasn’t like him.
Rebecca pushed her glasses up and shifted her bag to the other hand. ‘Oof! Sorry. My arms are about to fall out of my sockets.’ Rebecca shifted her bag again.
Distractedly, Ellie threw her an apologetic smile. ‘Would you like to put your bag upstairs?’
‘That’d be great. Taking the overnight train down here wasn’t the best of decisions. I don’t know what made me think I could sleep sitting up!’ She yawned and stretched. ‘I know it’s not the best of intros to make, but I’d like a short kip if I can, before I see Moose.’
‘Of course.’ Ellie scanned the area again, her eyes darting from building to building see if she could see any lights being turned on.
Nope. Nothing.
Why wasn’t she asking Rebecca about Lucas? Surely there was a simple explanation. Like...he’d picked her up at the station and got caught up doing something in the village.
‘Did Lucas drive you in?’
‘No, he booked a cab for me. Said he had something to do.’
He had to take his son to his first day back at school was what he had to do.
Had she dithered too long about accepting his offer to be a partner? She should’ve accepted there and then. Whether or not she wanted to marry Lucas shouldn’t have been a factor. She was an adult woman who needed to make adult decisions about her son, and her son wanted his father.
She scanned the car park again.
Nope. Nothing.
She was scared. Scared her instincts were right. That Lucas had done a runner.
‘Ellie?’ Rebecca shifted her bag again.
Ellie’s voice sounded foreign to her as she spoke. ‘The clinic’s not officially open until nine, but the morning nurses are in with him now, so if you like I can let them know you’ll be in around ten or eleven?’ And then figure out a way to console her son.
‘Sounds great,’ Rebecca said through another yawn.
Ellie led her up the stairs to the guest flat, where Lucas had made up the sofa bed.
Mav appeared on the balcony outside the two flats, his eyes wide with hope. ‘Did you find him?’
This, she thought grimly. This was why you didn’t say yes when he asked to be a partner.
‘No, love. I...’ She turned to Rebecca, humiliation sending streaks of heat up into her cheeks. Rebecca’s eyes flicked between Ellie and her son. ‘Lucas didn’t tell you when he’d meet you, did he?’
‘Yeah.’ She nodded, stifling another yawn. ‘He said he’d meet me in the clinic after he did whatever it was he had to do in the morning.’
Right.
Well, at least she knew which way she was leaning on the partner question.
Not a chance, pal.
Not when you hurt her son.
And just then his car pulled into the car park, Lucas bounding out of the driver’s seat as soon as the car had lurched to a halt. He looked anxious but happy, his eyes instantly going up to the balcony. When he saw Mav he threw him a big wave. ‘Ready for the big day, son?’
‘Daddy!’ screamed Lucas, barrelling down the stairs to throw himself into Lucas’s arms, only to miscalculate the steps and take a terrific tumble.
* * *
Lucas could see the accident happening in slow motion. He threw himself towards the stairs but not in time to break Maverick’s fall.
No!
He raced to his son, a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs, barely looking up when Ellie arrived.
‘Don’t touch him,’ Ellie snapped.
‘I just want to—’
‘I know.’ She held her hand up between them. ‘You’ve done enough.’
It took all his willpower to pull back, but he knew she was right. They needed to call emergency services. Get the first-aid kit. Two people fussing over a boy who might have sustained neck injuries was one person too many.
Ellie pressed her fingers to the side of Mav’s throat.
‘Pulse?’ Lucas whispered.
She nodded. ‘Thready, but...’ She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. ‘Why didn’t you tell him to slow down?’
He would’ve. He’d barely waved before Mav had come running and by then it had been too late. Instead of answering, he pulled out his phone and rang for an ambulance.
Rebecca appeared at the bottom of the steps. ‘Anything I can do?’ she asked in a low voice. Lucas stood up
and took her a few steps from where Ellie was gingerly examining a frightening gash on Maverick’s forehead. ‘Do you mind going into the clinic? If you go to the back door, one of the nurses will get you the first-aid kit. Wait. No. It’ll be faster if I do it. Can you go to the end of the lane?’ He tossed her his car keys. ‘Flag the ambulance down, okay? This place can be tricky to find.’
He raced into the clinic, grabbed everything he could. A first-aid kit, braces, gauze, antiseptic wipes, instant ice packs. With any luck it would just have been a bad tumble and cut that required a butterfly stitch or two.
By the time he got back, Maverick was lying on his back, his eyes fluttering open, tears pouring down into his ears. ‘It hurts, Mummy.’
He tried to pull his right arm to him then began to cry in earnest.
‘I know, love. You may have broken it, so—’ She cut herself off when she saw Lucas. She gestured for him to hand her the first-aid kit. ‘Can you clean up the cut on his forehead? I think it’s superficial, but it’s just on his hairline. I need to pack his arm in ice until the paramedics get here.’
‘I’m sorry, Daddy.’
‘What? What are you sorry for?’
‘Ruining our first big day together.’
‘You didn’t ruin a single thing, son. It was just an accident.’
An accident he could see Ellie blamed him for. In a few hours she would’ve calmed down. He huffed out a breath. In a few hours he had been hoping Ellie would be agreeing to be his wife. That plan would have to go on ice. He spread out all the equipment he’d grabbed from the supplies room.
‘Here. Just in case.’ He handed Ellie an inflatable neck brace that was meant for canines, but...needs must and all that.
She glanced across at him as he handed her the equipment. ‘Thank you.’
There was little warmth in it, but he’d take it. She wasn’t telling him to bugger off. Not yet, anyway.
As she saw to Maverick’s arm and examined a pair of scraped knees and a bump at the corner of his eye, she issued an odd request. Gauze. Antiseptic wipe. Scissors. She spoke in the same way she would if it were an emergency operation in her clinic, but her voice was utterly bereft of emotion. As if allowing herself to feel anything would pull the seam on whatever it was that was holding her together. A mother’s love, no doubt. That, and the core of strength he’d seen in her that very first day they’d met.