Animal Attraction Read online

  Jade let out a low laugh. “I know, Mom.”

  “And what is that you’re wearing . . . jeans?”

  “Yes.”

  Her mother’s eyes lifted to Jade’s and filled. “And the cashmere sweater I sent you for your birthday.” She tightened her grip on Jade’s hands. “Oh, baby. Are you really here?”

  “Yeah, I’m really here.”

  Lucinda pulled her in for a warm hug, then stepped back, searching her pockets for a tissue, which she used to dab precisely at her eyes. There was never an excuse for running mascara.

  “Where’s Dad?” Jade asked.

  “Right here, pumpkin.” William Bennett rolled into the foyer. Even in his motorized wheelchair, he still cut an imposing figure. He had straight shoulders and thick gray hair that gave an impression of great knowledge and power. He held out his arms and Jade crouched at his side and hugged him.

  “Thought I was going to have to come get you myself,” he said with affection in his voice.

  “I promised, didn’t I?” Jade said, some of her joy at seeing him diminished by the feel of him in her arms. Thinner. He’d lost weight.

  A line appeared between his brows. “Honey, I don’t give a fig about a promise. I thought you were back because you wanted to be.”

  “Of course she wants to be,” Lucinda said. “Chicago’s her home, we’re her family.”

  William cupped Jade’s face and looked into her eyes. “You’re really okay?”

  “I’m okay.” When he didn’t relax, just kept looking at her, into her, she sighed. “Do you want me to promise?”

  “No more promises,” he said softly, for her ears alone. “Family isn’t solely about obligation.”

  Jade didn’t have words for that, so she hugged him again.

  “Stop making me cry,” Lucinda said behind them. “I don’t want to be blotchy for pictures.”

  Jade’s stomach shifted. “Pictures?”

  “We’re having a welcome-home party.”

  “Now?”

  “Well, when else?” Her mom pulled Jade through the foyer toward the grand living room. “I sent Sam for you to make sure you showed up.”

  Oh, for the love of—

  “Surprise!” yelled a bunch of voices as people popped up from the furniture and out of the woodwork—friends and family she hadn’t seen in far too long.

  Jade’s gaze sought out a guilty-looking Sam’s.

  Sorry, he mouthed. But before she could do anything—and killing him seemed to top her personal wish list—she was surrounded.

  Twenty-six

  Dell was as good at denial as the next guy, but even he was going to need some good distractions to get through Jade’s being gone.

  Turned out, he got plenty of distractions.

  He was called into Belle Haven at five A.M. A fivemonth-old golden retriever had consumed a kitchen towel and gotten deathly ill.

  Dell met them at the center and confirmed his suspicions—the dog’s intestines were blocked by towel shreds. He operated and was back in his office by seven, leaning back in his chair studying the ceiling.

  His eyes felt gritty. He was exhausted, but every time he closed his eyes he saw Jade. He could feel her touch, hear her laugh, taste her tears in their last kiss.

  Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. He’d been such a cocky son of a bitch. He’d actually convinced himself that Jade being the one to walk away was a good thing. He wouldn’t have to break her heart.

  And then he’d gotten his broken. He had definitely not seen that one coming . . .

  His door opened. “Mrs. Mason’s Chinese Shar-Pei puppy is in exam one,” Keith said. “Star was wounded in a scuffle with a housemate.”

  The twelve-week-old Star weighed all of ten pounds dripping wet. Her “housemate” was a twenty-pound Siamese cat with the disposition of Scrooge. Shit. Well, he’d needed more distractions . . .

  It was easy enough to busy himself. He’d already fucked up his neat, organized office. That had happened the day Jade had left. He was back to his old ways. If she wanted to fix it, she’d have to get her sweet ass back here.

  Only that wasn’t going to happen.

  If he wanted her sweet ass back here, he was going to have to go get it. He was going to have to figure his shit out, figure out how to give her what she wanted and get what he wanted at the same time.

  The next day Jade got up, showered, dressed, and drove into work. She parked in the lot, grabbed her purse, and reached into the backseat for Beans’s carrier.

  Which wasn’t there, of course.

  Jade had left the cat in the town house. The medical center was no place for her.

  Beans had taken this as the final insult. After a three-day drive and being thrust into yet another new environment, she’d revolted, retreating to beneath Jade’s bed, and no coaxing or bribing could get her to come out.

  Jade had been forced to leave her there or be late for work, but she felt like shit, like she’d let down the one friend she had in the same state as her. She locked her car and hurried out of the lot into the biting November cold. Her hand was in her purse, fingers wrapped around her can of hair spray.

  Adam would be proud, she thought, not allowing herself to think of Dell because thinking of Dell brought a rush of emotions that made her knees weak and threatened her mascara.

  And everyone knew, a Bennett never let her mascara run.

  It was bright daylight and there was no danger now, not like there’d been that night, but unreasonable fears always trumped logic. She practically ran up the steps and then stopped, hand on the door.

  The point of no return. Sandy was supposedly perfectly happy with going back to managing the Urgent Care Department of the center, but still, Jade didn’t like the idea of pushing her out.

  Jade, Jade, Jade. What you don’t like is the idea of being back . . .

  She took her hand off the door handle. A woman and a man walked up the steps behind her. The woman smiled politely and said, “Excuse me,” gesturing that Jade was in her way.

  Jade backed up. The building was a large glass and concrete beauty, surrounded by other equally impressive buildings. Her father loved architecture.

  Belle Haven wasn’t an architectural marvel, but the country exterior surrounded by the majestic, rustic Bitterroot Mountains had felt infinitely more warm and accepting and inviting.

  Home...

  She shook her head. The parking lot behind her was as busy as the streets, and so was the front door. People were entering and exiting around her. Between each, Jade stared at the door but never quite managed to walk through it. After a few minutes, the door opened and Sam came out. He was in a doctor’s coat with a stethoscope around his neck, his badge pinned to a pec pocket: DR. SAM BENNETT.

  Clearly he’d been working but had either looked out one of the windows or been alerted to her presence. Who knew what she’d drawn him away from. “I’m sorry, Sam.”

  “Jade—” He put his hands on her arms. “You’re shaking. Come inside, we’ll get some coffee and—”

  “No.” She pulled free, taking one of his hands in hers and staring up into his handsome, caring face. “Sam, listen to me.”

  “I’m all ears for you. You know that. Talk to me.”

  “You remember how this used to be so exciting that we’d show up for work early? That everything we accomplished here was a thrill?” She could see in his eyes he knew exactly what she meant, that he still felt that way. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I don’t feel that way anymore.”

  He shook his head but she squeezed his hand. She needed to say this. He needed to hear it. “Being here isn’t the same for me. The very things that fueled me, working with people, living in a big city—it all paralyzes me now.”

  “Jade,” he said, sounding raw and devastated. “You can talk to someone about that—”

  “It’s not the attack.” She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, then dropped them. “Okay, that’s what started i