Taking Heart

by T. J. Kline

  “Last one,” he announced, laying it into her hands.

  She could feel the difference in this one immediately. He was smaller than the others, and where the others had been plump with round bellies, she could feel the ribs on this one. Alyssa rubbed at the puppy’s side, but there was no quiet whine this time. She opened the towel and didn’t see the telltale rise and fall of his chest.

  “He’s too still.” She hurried back to Justin at the table.

  “Set him down,” he ordered. “Grab that stethoscope.” She held it out to him, and he arched his brows, nodding at his hands, buried inside the anesthetized dog on the table. “You need to see if he has a heartbeat. I need to stop her bleeding.”

  “I don’t know what I’m listening for,” she argued.

  “Just put that on.” She slipped the earpieces in. “Good, now lay the end on his chest and tell me what you hear.”

  “Nothing . . . wait, I hear something but it’s quiet.”

  Justin reached for a piece of gauze and rubbed it over the puppy’s face a few times before it gasped, opening its mouth wide. “Okay, take him and put him right in front of the mask. I’ll come check on him as soon as I finish with the mom. Just stay with them.”

  ALYSSA LAID HER head in the crook of her elbow, trying to stay awake. Justin was finishing with the female Lab as she watched the puppies. She was keeping a close eye on the littlest one, the one that had trouble breathing. They were all so small and weak, but he was even more so. Her hand instinctively curled around the side of her pregnant belly, where her child lay, nestled under her ribs. In less than six weeks, she’d be watching her own child sleep. Rather than comforting her, the thought sent vibrations of panic echoing through her.

  She had no idea what to do next. The last thing she’d expected when she went out to lunch with Lillian yesterday was to find out her best friend had been sleeping with her husband for the past three years. The confrontation with Elijah that followed had been bad enough, but his apathetic response, coupled with his demand for a divorce, had shattered the last remnants of the illusion she’d clung to that their Hollywood marriage wasn’t as fake as everything else in the industry. When he ordered her to leave the house before his return, she’d packed the car up with clothing and her jewelry, assuming she would find a way to sell what she didn’t need.

  But that would only last so long. She needed to find a way to support her and her child. Her mother had insisted she return home, which would at least give her a roof over her head and buy a little time before the baby was born, but what then? Elijah had already informed her that she wouldn’t get anything from him. She didn’t even have a way to pay for doctor’s visits or the delivery now, she reminded herself. Even worse, she didn’t even have a doctor any longer. Worries beat against her brain, like the staccato beat of a drum, making her heart race in her chest as her child moved within her.

  Two strong hands settled on her shoulders gently. “You did a good job.”

  “Oh!” Alyssa jerked upright and slid the rolling chair to the side.

  Justin’s lips curved into an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you were awake.”

  He cocked his head to one side, and his dimple sank into his cheek, giving him a boyish charm. He had full lips, the kind that made you want to bite them gently before kissing them. She brushed back the bangs that had fallen from her bun and tucked them behind her ear. “I was. I just thought you were still with the mom.” She realized she was staring at his perfect mouth and quickly looked back at the puppies, which were grunting softly and wiggling against one another. “I was just sort of lost in my own head, I guess.”

  He nodded as he turned to a cupboard nearby and withdrew two needleless syringes. “What are those for?”

  “We need to give them colostrum so they have the antibodies they need and don’t get sick.” He walked back and handed her the syringe. “Just a little on the back of their tongues, and we’ll do it again in an hour. Like this.” He reached for the first puppy and put a few drops of the liquid into its mouth.

  Justin glanced up at her through thick, dark lashes. Lashes most of the women in her career field would kill for. “This is a nice litter. What do you think you’re going to do with them?”

  “Me?” she squeaked, pausing as she reached for a puppy. “Doctor, I can’t take them with me.”

  “I think we’re beyond the ‘doctor’ business.” He arched a brow and smiled at her, the dimple creasing his cheek before his brows dropped forward between his eyes, thoughtfully, and he set the puppy down, reaching for the next one. “You won’t be going anywhere for a while, at least not until your car gets fixed. But I guess you probably wouldn’t be able to keep them in a hotel. They could stay here until you head out.” His brows lifted again, as if he was certain his explanation was sufficient.

  Crap, how am I going to pay for a hotel or to fix the car? Does he really expect me to pay to keep these puppies, or for the surgery?

  “Um . . . I can’t pay for any of this.” She tucked the strand of hair behind her ear again and saw his eyes flick to the massive diamond solitaire settled on her left hand under the latex glove. She arched a brow, daring him to comment. She didn’t owe him anything. She wondered where her sudden backbone had come from. Where had it been for the last six years of her marriage, when Elijah pressured her to spend less time on set and more time helping him build his agency? Where had it been when she’d allowed him to take control of her already successful career, allowing him to make higher demands in her contracts, until producers could no longer meet them and she’d decided to “retire” at the height of her career to focus on her husband and starting a family? Her hand trailed over the baby quiet within her. Now that fantasy lay in rubble at her feet. Her husband had kicked her out, said he didn’t love her, and left her pregnant and alone.

  Her eyes slid over the man in front of her, his still-wet hair standing at odd angles at the top of his head, and guilt swept in. The least she could do was give him some sort of explanation. He had come to her rescue and stayed in the freezing sleet to find the dog she hit.

  Alyssa cleared her throat. “The truth is that expensive things are all I have right now. I don’t have any money or any way to get any until I can sell a few things. I’m not even sure I still have insurance on the car to fix it.” She looked down at the puppies, praying he wouldn’t force her to admit anything more.

  She couldn’t give him any answers. She didn’t have them to give.

  Acknowledgments

  THIS HAS BEEN such an amazing two years. Looking back I can’t believe how far I’ve come on this journey, but I certainly haven’t done it alone.

  Rebecca, thank you so much for jumping in and taking my hand. You have pushed and prodded and poked me more than I’ve ever admitted to you, but I am so much better for it. You have been patient and kind when I needed it most and given me an insistent shove when I tried to slack off. You’ve made me grow, and I’m so grateful for it.

  Suzie, who has taken a chance and has become my cheerleader. You have been a blessing I didn’t even realize I needed. I wasn’t sure how I was going to reach for the stars, but you have not only given me a road map, you are guiding the way for me.

  For the ladies who remind me to enjoy this roller-coaster ride of life—Codi, Jen, Shelly, Kristin, Jodi, Alexis, Leanne, Tracie, Lashell, and Mary Chris—I can’t wait to share more moments with you guys, making memories that we’d probably rather everyone forget, celebrating every success and letting someone else clean up the mess from the party. You guys are the best!

  For my readers who continue to walk this path with me, gobbling up each and every story and then asking for more. I love your insatiable appetite and will always do my best to give you what you ask for. You are what drives my coffee-induced rear end to the computer every single day. I love what I do almost as much as I love you. Trust me, that’s saying a lot.

  For my parents, who keep me grounded, rem
inding me that there are other things in life besides writing and to spend time doing the things I love with family and my horses. Without the two of you, I’d become a hermit and the “kids” would starve. Never doubt how grateful I am for the two of you, even if I forget to tell you sometimes.

  I want to thank my very sweet, dear children—Kassie, Austin, and Aidan—who remind me that life is short and goes by far too quickly. You three have amazed me with how fast you can grow while I don’t get any older at all. Your mother orders you to slow down so that I can relish every moment more, spend one more night tucking you in and reading a story, or playing guitar as you fall asleep. As much as I miss the days you were little, I’m so excited to see the adults you are becoming and watching you achieve greatness. I love you three to the moon and back again!

  My amazing husband, the first person to tell me to “go for it” in the face of rejection. Without you, I’d be lost. There really aren’t enough words in my writer brain to explain how much you mean to me. When we were dating, my mother told me you made me better. I don’t think she understood then how right she was. But I know. I love you with every breath.

  To the One who gives it all . . . I love every minute of this life.

  About the Author

  T. J. KLINE was raised competing in rodeos and rodeo queen competitions from the age of fourteen and has thorough knowledge of the sport as well as the culture involved. She has written several articles about rodeo for small periodicals, as well as a more recent how-to article for RevWriter, and she has written a nonfiction health book and two inspirational fiction titles under the name Tina Klinesmith. She is also an avid reader and book reviewer for both Tyndale and Multnomah. In her spare time, she can be found laughing hysterically with her husband, children, and their menagerie of pets in Northern California.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  By T. J. Kline

  Rodeo Novels

  Rodeo Queen

  The Cowboy and the Angel

  Learning the Ropes

  Runaway Cowboy

  A Healing Harts Novel

  Heart’s Desire

  Taking Heart

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Excerpt from Close to Heart copyright © 2015 by Tina Klinesmith.

  TAKING HEART. Copyright © 2015 by Tina Klinesmith. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub Edition JUNE 2015 ISBN: 9780062396549

  Print Edition ISBN: 9780062396556

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