CHAPTER THREE

      BEFORE TEN O’CLOCK Kaylee had already dealt with a parakeet that had a fever, a ferret with a bad skin condition and an old dog that had gotten into some foxtails.

      Business was never slow at Valley Veterinary, which was a good thing in many ways.

      But at the moment Kaylee would kill for another cup of coffee and a moment to sit down.

      And that was when Bennett walked in, looking like her salvation with his strong hands wrapped around two cups of coffee from Sugar Cup.

      “Thank God you’re here,” she said, stretching her arm out.

      “That’s quite the greeting.”

      “I didn’t mean you. I meant coffee. Hand it over, Dodge. I’m dying.”

      “Well, we can’t have that, Kay.” He thrust the cup into her hand, and she took it greedily, taking a cautious sip. It was scalding hot. Just the way she liked it.

      She looked up at the clock, and then looked at the schedule sitting on the desk. Unless there was another emergency, she was clear for the day.

      “Have you been out to check on the calf?”

      “Yep,” he said, “first thing I did this morning. Everything looks good. But it’s just the start of busy season for me.”

      “Right,” Kaylee responded. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The time of year where you spend half your time shoulder deep in cows.”

      He chuckled and lifted his coffee cup to his lips. “It’s a living.”

      “Indeed. Not jealous of you, just FYI. I prefer the small and fuzzy to the large and smelly.”

      Usually, she didn’t have to assist with many births. Occasionally there were some breed-specific issues, and she would have to do something like give a bulldog a C-section, but that wasn’t very common around here.

      “Did you end up finishing your date last night?” Bennett asked.

      It was a weird question, and there was something weighted in his voice.

      “Did I end up...finishing my date?” She blinked. “I didn’t go back to the restaurant at 9:30, if that’s what you’re asking. My steak would’ve been cold.”

      “That’s not what I’m asking.”

      Heat flew into her cheeks, her heart slamming against her breastbone. “Bennett, are you asking if I brought the man home?”

      His expression was overly bland. Overly casual. “Just out of curiosity.”

      “I have never asked you such question in my life,” she pointed out.

      “Well, no. And you probably never would.”

      Because the idea of Bennett with another woman burned her with jealousy, and she would have maybe had a blackout and stabbed him with the nearest medical instrument, but she wasn’t going to say that.

      Bennett was not asking out of the burning jealousy of his heart. Not even a little.

      In fact, that Bennett was asking at all proved how much the thought of her being with someone else didn’t matter to him.

      She blamed Olivia Logan for all of this. Yes, him being with her had hurt. Knowing that he was probably going to marry her had hurt. But she had also seen...the end.

      If Bennett were married then there really wouldn’t be a them. Not like part of her stupid heart had hoped there would be since junior high. If he married another woman then it really wasn’t going to happen between them. So yes, it had been indescribably painful to know that was finally coming.

      But it had been a relief in some strange ways. A relief because it would finally kill her hope dead.

      And then the golden couple of Gold Valley had broken up.

      Bennett being single forced her to ponder all the what-ifs again.

      Which was why she had gone out on that date.

      She hadn’t been on a date in forever—it had been even longer since she had been with anyone, and she had just been...tired of that. Tired of the fact that her emotions, her body, seemed to be completely held hostage by a man who didn’t want them.

      “Normally I wouldn’t,” he said, “but the whole thing with Olivia has me thinking.”

      Everything inside Kaylee drew in tight, the breath in her lungs, her stomach, even her pulse seemed to narrow down to the tip of the pen, stabbing at her with each beat.

      She swallowed hard. “You mean, you’re looking for someone else to marry?”

      She had survived the selection process of Olivia. Had survived that relationship and near-marriage. She wasn’t sure if she was going to survive it again.

      The corner of Bennett’s mouth tipped upward, the expression on his face turning wicked, which was not an expression normally present on Bennett’s face. “Or maybe I just need to hook up.”

      Their eyes clashed and held over the tops of their coffee cups, and something seemed to spark the air, to catch and hold. They both took a sip of their coffee, as if to prolong the moment or let it settle, she wasn’t sure. But it was something. Something to do. But she didn’t look away from him. She felt like she couldn’t. Like there was a magnet holding her gaze to his, and she couldn’t fight it. Didn’t want to.

      The door to the clinic opened, and they both looked over quickly. A rush of breath left Kaylee’s body, a strange dizziness washing over her as the tension broke.

      It was Beatrix Leighton. Her sister-in-law Sabrina Parker ran the tasting room for Grassroots Winery in the neighboring town of Copper Ridge, and Bea lived on the winery property, which was owned by her other sister-in-law, Lindy. Both Sabrina and Lindy were polished and immaculate. Beatrix was...not.

      She had a tangle of carrot-colored curls that always seemed to move independently of the rest of her, her cheeks often pink from the sun, her nose peeling because she had spent too much time outdoors. Kaylee had the vague idea that Beatrix was in her early twenties, but her slightly feral nature made it difficult to say.

      In Beatrix’s arms was a box. And in that box was what looked to be a mass of blankets.

      “Can I help you?” Laura the receptionist