Then Came You Read online

  his pic, name, and addy—Belle Haven—just like a real one.

  Emily took the file from Mike’s fingers, bent to kiss Woodrow on the head, and vanished into an exam room.

  Woodrow and Mike vanished.

  “Nicely done,” Wyatt said to his sister. “You really outdid yourself there.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Save it,” he said. “It’s my fault, anyway.” He pushed past her and went after Emily.

  She was with Mr. Myers and his thirteen-year-old golden retriever Buddy. “I’ve got this,” she said without looking at him, nose buried in the file.

  Wyatt smiled at Mr. Myers.

  Mr. Myers smiled back. He was somewhere between eighty and two hundred years old. He hadn’t worn his teeth today. Wyatt was counting on the fact that he wasn’t wearing his hearing aid, either. The guy hated both with a well-known passion. “Emily—”

  “Dr. Stevens,” she corrected. “And I’m a little busy right now.”

  “I just want to be clear about why you’re upset.”

  “Shh!” She slid a quick look at Mr. Myers.

  “He can’t hear you. He can’t hear anything without his hearing aid.”

  She relaxed marginally but emotion still sparked from her. “I’m trying to be professional,” she whispered.

  “Professional?” he asked. “Is that what we’ve been doing?”

  She flicked another glance Mr. Myers’s way, found him sitting there humming to himself, and then glared at Wyatt. “We both know exactly what we’ve been doing. Fun and games.”

  “Which we both agreed to,” he reminded her.

  “Yeah.” Her eyes shuttered. “Which apparently doesn’t include discussing your ex with me. Which doesn’t matter anymore since we’re done as of now. So if you’ll go on your merry way, I have a patient.”

  Wyatt looked at Mr. Myers. “Excuse us a moment.”

  “Eh?” Mr. Myers cupped a hand over his ear. “Sorry, sonny boy, I forgot my hearing aid.”

  “Hall,” Wyatt said to Emily. “Now.”

  “As lovely an offer as that is,” she said. “No, thank you.”

  Wyatt held up a finger to Mr. Myers, signaling that they needed a moment. Wrapping his fingers around Emily’s arm, turning her to face him, he pulled her into the far corner.

  “Back off.” She held up a syringe. “I’m about to express Buddy’s anal glands.”

  Buddy let out a sigh and dropped his head to his paws.

  “According to his file,” Emily said, “he needs sedation first.” The syringe got a little closer to Wyatt’s face. “Get your hand off me or I’ll treat you instead.”

  He paused and resisted the urge to smile. “Did you just threaten to sedate me and then express my anal glands?” He leaned in a little closer so that their noses were nearly touching. “Because I’ve gotta tell you, sweetness, I’m all for getting adventurous, but payback’s a bitch.”

  She gasped and reared back, her gaze flying to Mr. Myers.

  Mr. Myers smiled at her.

  She gave him a shaky smile, blew out a breath, sent Wyatt a nasty look before heading back to the table. “We’re done discussing this,” she said. “All of it.”

  “All of what exactly? Spell it out for me.”

  “Everything, starting with that night in Reno. It’s done, over, and finished. We’re clearly not suited. In any way.”

  “Funny,” he said. “That’s not what you said last time you had your tongue in my mouth.”

  “Shh!” Her gaze whipped to Mr. Myers, who was studying the ceiling. “And that’s exactly what I mean,” she whispered furiously. “Listen, I realize this is my own fault, not yours. I’ve put out mixed signals. I’m not going to do that anymore. It’s not good for either of us. We’re done, Wyatt. We’ve got to be done.”

  “Maybe you’d better put that in writing,” he said, feeling his own temper rise, hating how easily she said that. “And keep a copy on you, since you tend to forget every single time you jump me.”

  “Fine,” she said through her teeth. “Now if you’ll be so kind as to vacate my patient’s room. I think I can handle this procedure by myself.”

  “Squeezing a guy’s balls? Yeah, you got that one down.”

  Mike poked his head in the room. “Emily? Call on line two.”

  “Take it,” Wyatt said. “I’ve got this.”

  She shook her head and left.

  “Holy cow, you’re bad at that, sonny boy,” Mr. Myers said into the silence.

  Wyatt turned to Mr. Myers. “Excuse me?”

  “I was kinda hoping you were going to teach me something,” Mr. Myers said. “But I’ve got more game than you. Hell, Buddy has more game than you.”

  Buddy licked Wyatt’s face as Wyatt stared at Mr. Myers. “You’re wearing your hearing aid.”

  “Nope, I got perfectly good hearing. I just pretend I don’t cuz no one ever tells me anything.”

  Twenty-three

  Sara had dinner going when Emily came in the door. She paused from stirring the pot on the stove as Emily removed Woodrow’s leash.

  “Thought you weren’t keeping him,” Sara said.

  Emily hugged the dog into her and he licked her ear.

  She hid her face in his fur. It had been a really bad day. She was pretty sure that whatever she and Wyatt had been playing at was over.

  It hurt, so much more than she could have imagined.

  “Right,” Sara said. “Dad.”

  Emily lifted her head. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “I don’t know, let’s see,” Sara said. “You’ve got a turtle, a cat, and now a puppy. Our house is starting to resemble another vet’s house—a vet we both know and love, one whose genes we share. I’m just hoping that the next thing you bring home is Dr. Sexy.”

  “We’re done doing whatever it was that we were doing,” Emily said, and rubbed a hand over the ache in her chest.

  Sara shook her head. “You’ll forgive me if I doubt that.”

  “It’s true,” Emily said. “And Woodrow’s only staying until I find his family.” Emily stared into twin pools of warm brown puppy eyes. “Right?”

  He licked her chin again, and Emily felt a sharp stab of pain in her chest. “Great. And now I’m going to have a heart attack in Idaho.”

  Sara shook her head. “You’re not having a heart attack. Your heart hurts cuz you’re falling for a damn rescue. Like you’re falling for Sunshine, and the people in it.”

  “Bite your tongue.”

  “Can’t. My new tongue piercing is still sore. Stop being stubborn, Emily, and get your head out of your ass. Plans change. Change yours and move on.”

  She’d purposely not thought about her lifelong plan. So much that it’d taken Wyatt to point out to her that she’d forgotten to even look at it, much less update it. The fact was, she didn’t know how to make changes to it and still do the right thing. What did one do when the right thing wasn’t necessarily the right thing for her?

  * * *

  The next morning Emily got online to look at the bidding on the charity auction. Cassandra was now the high bidder. Crap. She had no business even caring who won Wyatt. None. She told herself to walk away. Instead, she bid again and drove to work. She sat in the car for a moment, engine off. Next to her in the passenger’s seat, Woodrow lifted his sleepy head and blinked at her. He wasn’t a morning dog. And since she wasn’t a morning person, they were perfect soul mates.

  However temporary.

  With a sigh, she got out of the car and turned back for her patient. He was doing much better today, but was still moving slowly. She started to help him down, but he hopped out on his own.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  He sat at her feet and pawed the air at her. She was pretty sure he did this because he knew exactly how cute he was when he did. “Yeah,” she said, heart squeezing. “You’re okay.” She kneeled in front of him. “I’m working hard at finding your owner, but I need you to be good for me.