by Sarah Morgan
Molly thought about what he’d told her in the park about his mother. About how he’d become a divorce lawyer because of what happened.
Damn it, she wasn’t going to let him get to her. “He does it for the money, right? Because those are the cases that earn him the biggest paycheck and most publicity?”
“No. He thinks it’s really bad for children to grow up in a hostile family environment. He loves fighting for the underdog.” Harriet rescued the sleeping puppy before Brutus could nudge him off the sofa. “He’s no saint, Molly, but nor is he as bad as you think he is. So how are you going to handle him tonight?”
“I’m not handling him. I can’t stop him showing up at my door, but I don’t have to let him in.” And she wasn’t going to think about him defending the underdog, or helping women who couldn’t help themselves—
Damn.
“So you’re really not interested.”
Molly thought about the last few weeks. Of the walks, the talks, the laughs, the kiss.
And she thought about the fact that he’d pretended that he was a dog person.
“No,” she said firmly. “Not interested.”
Worried about Valentine and trying not to think about Daniel, she went to her meeting with her publisher and arrived back to her apartment with an hour to spare before Daniel was due to show up.
Valentine was still listless and off-color, so she settled him in his dog basket where she could see him.
She took a quick shower and pulled on a dress. Then changed her mind and changed into jeans.
That should give Daniel the message that they weren’t going out for dinner.
She carefully applied makeup, but only because it gave her more confidence. Not because she wanted him to see her looking her best.
Valentine watched her listlessly.
“Why are you looking so worried?” She stroked mascara onto her lashes. “You’re still my favorite man, and always will be. I’m only wearing makeup because it gives me confidence. When he’s gone, I’ll order in a pizza. And now we’re going to do that thing I probably shouldn’t do. I’m going to do an internet search on Daniel Knight.”
She poured herself a glass of wine, took it to her desk and typed his name into her laptop, wondering if she was going to regret doing this.
What was she going to discover?
Whatever it was, could it really be much worse than pretending to own a dog?
Twenty minutes later, she stood up and topped up her wineglass.
“Well, he’s got quite a rep. Brilliant mind, obviously. Tough. Deadly in court, but fair from all accounts. The sort of man you want on your side if you’re getting divorced. Which I’m not, of course, and never will be.” She glanced at Valentine. He tried to stand up but staggered and then his legs gave way and he collapsed back onto his bed. He was trembling and growling and Molly’s heart gave a sickening lurch.
“What’s the matter?” She crouched down next to him and stroked his head. Valentine gave a low moan and was sick everywhere. His eyes rolled back in his head and she felt an explosion of panic.
“Valentine! No, no—don’t do this to me.” Hands shaking, she grabbed her phone, but she’d been so busy thinking about Daniel she’d forgotten to charge it.
Panicking, she tried to think. She’d have to borrow a phone from someone else. Mark and Gabe. Gabe was virtually attached to his phone. It was bound to be charged. She stumbled across her apartment, dragged open the door and walked slap into Daniel. She would have fallen if he hadn’t caught her shoulders to steady her.
“Whoa, where’s the fire?”
“I need a phone—I have to see if Mark and Gabe have a phone.”
“I have a phone.” His tone had switched from teasing to serious. “What’s the problem?”
“Valentine. He’s—” She choked on the words. “He’s really sick. I need to call the vet, but my phone isn’t charged and—”
“Mine is working.” He urged her back into the apartment and by the time she’d closed the door he already had his phone in his hand. “Do you have the number of your vet?”
She was on her knees next to Valentine. “It’s in my phone, and my phone is dead—”
“Tell me the name.”
She tried to concentrate. To focus. Her mind was blank. “It’s the same one Fliss uses. She recommended them.”
He dialed. “Fliss? I need the number of your vet.” His voice was clipped. There were no traces of his usual light banter. “No—it’s Valentine.” There was a pause. “Yeah, that’s right… Not right now, but if we need you I’ll call.” He ended the call and dialed another number. While he waited for them to answer, he looked at Molly. “Grab a jacket, and your keys.”
She kept her hand on Valentine’s head. “I’ve never seen him like this.”
“Molly.” His tone was firm, cutting through her panic. “Jacket and keys.”
She stood up, following orders on automatic, awful scenarios raining down on her. In the background she could hear Daniel talking to the vet.
By the time he finished the call, she was almost hyperventilating.
“What if he—” She couldn’t even say the word. “I don’t want to lose him.”
“You’re not going to lose him. That isn’t going to happen.” Daniel dropped to his haunches next to Valentine and put his hand on the dog’s head. Valentine barely stirred. “They’re sending the animal ambulance. They’re on their way.”
“How do we get him to the ambulance?” She couldn’t remember where she’d put her keys. In her purse? On the table? She couldn’t think. They had to get Valentine to the vet, fast. But what if they couldn’t do anything?
“Keys,” Daniel said gently. “They’re on the kitchen counter.”
She found them and dropped them in her pocket, her fingers shaky and useless. “I can lift him, but I don’t think I can carry him down the stairs. He’s too heavy for me.”
“I can carry him, but I don’t want to hurt him so get me a large towel. Something I can wrap around him.”
He had taken control and she was glad about that because she wasn’t capable of focusing on what needed to be done. The only thing in her mind was what she’d do if she lost Valentine. He was her best friend.
She looked at Daniel properly for the first time since he’d walked into her apartment and realized he must have come straight from the office. “You can’t carry my dog. You’re wearing a suit—”
“Molly,” he said, his voice patient, “grab me a towel. And watch out for the ambulance.”
She found a towel and helped Daniel wrap it around Valentine. Then he scooped him up, talking to him the whole time, about how he’d soon be feeling better, about how he’d be back in the park playing with Brutus in no time.
Molly hoped he was right.
She followed him out of the apartment, watching anxiously as Daniel carried Valentine carefully down the stairs.
“Call my sisters and ask them again if there is any possibility he could have eaten something in the park when he was with them. The vet said it would be useful to know. My phone is in my pocket.”
“It didn’t happen with them, it happened with me.” Her stomach gave a sickening lurch. “I took him for a quick walk somewhere different this morning.”
“Somewhere different?”
“Not our usual place.”
Our usual place. It sounded intimate, as if they’d been meeting in the park for months, not weeks.
She waited for him to ask why she’d taken Valentine to a different place, but he didn’t. Probably because he already knew the answer to that one.
She’d been avoiding him.
“And he could he have eaten something then?”
She thought about how distracted she’d been. “Yes,” she said miserably. “I don’t know that part of the park very well. He could have found something.”
“Don’t blame yourself. You’re the best dog owner I’ve ever met.” Daniel handed Valentine over to the sta
ff from the animal hospital. Then he grabbed Molly’s hand and tugged her into the ambulance.
She didn’t pull her hand away. She needed the comfort too badly. The other she placed on Valentine’s still body, ripped apart by guilt. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I should have paid more attention to what you were eating.”
Valentine didn’t even open his eyes and she felt tears thicken her throat.
Daniel’s hand tightened on hers, and he leaned forward to talk to the driver. “Can you go any faster?” He glanced out of the window. “Don’t take a right here, there’s construction.”
When they finally pulled up outside the animal hospital Valentine still hadn’t moved and Molly was gripped by panic.
“He’s a really strong, healthy dog. He’s never really been sick before—”
“He’s going to be fine.” Daniel sounded so sure she didn’t argue. Instead she grabbed on to his optimism and held it like a lifeline as they walked into the hospital.
The vet appeared immediately. “I’m Steven Philips.”
Daniel took over. “We spoke a moment ago. Valentine here is pretty sick.”
The vet didn’t waste any time. He issued a couple of instructions to the nurse and while she was tending to Valentine he talked to Molly. “Can you give me some history?”
Molly gave him Valentine’s medical history, which was brief because he’d never been ill before.
The vet turned his attention back to Valentine. “Try not to worry. I promise you he’s in good hands.” He washed his hands, snapped on a pair of gloves and focused on Valentine. “So you think he might have eaten something. Any idea what?”
“No. He was listless when I picked him up from the dog walkers, this evening he wouldn’t eat and then suddenly he was very sick. He growled at me. He never growls, ever. And he went still. He’s so unlike himself.”
The vet was examining Valentine, his hands moving carefully. “I suspect you’re right about him eating something he shouldn’t have. Dogs are pretty indiscriminate eaters.”
“I know, which is why I’m so careful. This has never happened before.” Feeling horribly guilty, Molly swallowed. “I took him to a different part of the park this morning. I don’t normally go there. I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should.”
“Which part?” The vet carried on examining Valentine as Molly described where she’d been.
“Did you notice daffodils by any chance?” the vet asked.
“I—” She hadn’t noticed anything. She’d been thinking about Daniel. “There might have been daffodils. You think that’s it?”
“I’m not sure, but if he was well yesterday and only showed symptoms after your walk in the park, I suspect it’s some sort of poisoning. I’m going to run some tests.”
“What sort of tests?”
“I’d like to take some blood, do an X-ray and an ultrasound, and get a few samples. Given how late it is, and how sick he is, we’ll keep him overnight.”
Molly’s insides lurched. “You want to keep him here?”
“I’m going to start an IV. That way I can give him fluids and electrolytes, and if it becomes necessary to give him drugs, I already have a line in.”
Molly felt a rush of alarm at the thought of Valentine with an IV. “You think he’s going to get worse?”
The vet hesitated. “Toxic agents often target the kidneys. Flushing them out with fluid helps prevent organ damage. Often forty-eight hours of fluid replacement is enough to prevent permanent kidney damage from some toxins.”
“Kidney damage?” Molly started to shake. The tips of her fingers felt cold. “Then I’ll stay.”
The vet gave her an apologetic look. “Unfortunately we don’t have facilities for owners to stay, but if you leave your number with the reception staff we’ll get in touch if there’s even the smallest change in his condition.”
“If he’s that sick, I’m not leaving him. It’s not as if I live round the corner, and if something happens—”
“I live around the corner. She’ll be staying with me,” Daniel said. “My place is a block away. We can get here in five minutes if we need to. You have my number already.”
The vet gave the nurse more instructions and Molly lingered. She couldn’t bear to leave Valentine. What if something happened to him in the night and she wasn’t here? What if he knew she’d left and felt abandoned? What if he—
She sat down on one of the hard plastic chairs. “I’ll wait. It’s fine. You go, Daniel, and thank you.”
“You should both go,” the vet urged. “There’s nothing you can do here. You need to get some rest. I recommend you take up your friend’s offer.”
Rest? Was he kidding? Did he really think she was going to be able to rest while Valentine was this sick?
“Molly.” Daniel dropped to his haunches in front of her. “I wasn’t kidding. I live five minutes from here. It will be no different than being in the waiting room, except it will be a lot more comfortable. If there’s any change, Steven will call.” He was rock-steady and calm.
Absorbing some of that calm, Molly looked at the vet. “What time do you go off duty?”
“I don’t. Tonight is my night shift and I have a new colleague with me so I’m going to be here all night.”
That made her feel a little better.
Reluctantly, Molly stood up and gave Valentine’s head a last stroke. His eyes were closed and his tail was still. Feeling sick, she stepped back and tried to think about practicalities. “I need to give you insurance details. I don’t have anything with me. My card—”
“I’ve handled it. We can talk about it later.” Daniel put his arm around her shoulders and started to guide her to the door when a man appeared.
“Steven, I’ve put the—” He broke off when he saw Daniel. Molly saw recognition and surprise. And she saw something else.
Caution.
She felt Daniel’s arm slip from her shoulders and when she turned her head she saw his jaw lock tight.
She sensed tension, and yet how could there be tension when they were strangers?
“This is Seth Carlyle.” Steven introduced them. “He’s a critical care specialist who has just joined us.”
Molly waited for Daniel to respond, but he was silent, his gaze locked with Seth’s.
The silence stretched forever and still the two men stared at each other, like stags weighing up whether to engage in overt aggression.
And she realized they weren’t strangers.
They knew each other.
The atmosphere was taut to the point of snapping.
Seth Carlyle was as tall as Daniel, his shoulders as broad. Both men were dark-haired, but where Daniel’s eyes were the blue of the ocean on a summer’s day, Seth’s were almost black.
Molly was bemused.
Maybe Daniel had represented Seth’s ex-wife. That was the only explanation she could come up with.
With a brief nod to Steven, Daniel urged her through the door. He strode away so fast she almost had to run to keep pace with him.
“Er—do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“About what just happened in there. Do you know that guy? The other vet? I thought you were going to attack each other.”
“We’ve had dealings.”
“Not good ones.” It was raining outside and within moments Molly was soaked and shivering. “Did you handle his divorce or something?”
“No. Forget it. It doesn’t matter. We need to get you home. You’re cold.” Emerging from whatever black cloud had enveloped him, Daniel shrugged off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders.
Warmth permeated her skin and the faint, familiar smell of him teased her senses.
It felt ridiculously intimate, wearing his jacket. She probably should have given it back, but instead she pulled it closer.
They were walking toward the park, and every step was taking her farther from Valentine.
She was about to stop and say it w
as too far, when he turned the corner.
“This is where I live.”
“Here?” She blinked. “This is Fifth Avenue.”
“That’s right. I live on Fifth Avenue.”
This time she did stop. “You live on Fifth Avenue? Overlooking the park?”
“Yes. And I suggest we get indoors before you die of shock or hypothermia.” Without giving her a chance to respond, he stepped into a building, exchanged a few words with the doorman and then there was only the smooth glide of the elevator as it rose.
His shirt was soaked through, the fabric clinging to his skin. She couldn’t drag her eyes from the powerful muscles of his shoulders and when she did her gaze met his and the connection was like being stuck by lightning.
“You’re soaked, too.” Her voice was croaky, but she was just relieved her vocal cords hadn’t been fried along with her brain cells. “Sorry.”
Daniel yanked off his tie. Raindrops glistened on his hair and his shoulders. “I know it’s easier said than done, but try and relax. My sisters have been using that vet practice for years. They’re good.”
To stop herself from thinking about Valentine, she thought about the guy they’d met. Seth. She wanted to know why Daniel had looked at him with such naked animosity.
She was about to ask him more questions, but the doors opened and he urged her out of the elevator.
His apartment was as spectacular as the address—a duplex with a winding staircase that led to the upper floor and a terrace that wrapped itself around two sides.
Her entire apartment would have fitted comfortably into his living room.
She remembered what she’d read about him. He was considered one of the top divorce attorneys in Manhattan. The lawyer you wanted on your side when things went wrong. And he’d been on her side tonight, despite the fact that she’d taken Brutus to his offices with the sole intention of embarrassing him.
She turned, pathetically grateful. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For helping me tonight. After what I did to you today, I wouldn’t have blamed you for walking away.”
“Why would I have walked away? You seemed like you needed help.”