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Copyright © Zoë Mullins 2017. All Rights Reserved, Totally Entwined Group Limited, T/A Pride Publishing.
On days like today, Jenna hated her job. She wasn’t the Sherwood’s usual veterinarian—her partner Dr. Martina Fisk had that pleasure—but the fifteen-year-old lab couldn’t wait and its family knew it. According to the dog’s chart, this day had been coming for a while, but the dog’s health had deteriorated so much over the last twenty-four hours that there was no choice. The decision could no longer wait. It was in the best interest of the dog to put her down.
She didn’t know the family or the dog, but she felt their pain and grief all the same. When she had still been a student, she’d assumed it would get easier, the losses, but after five years in practice it hadn’t.
As she walked down Queen Street, the hub of boutique shopping in Weston, she didn’t even bother to linger over the window displays. She just wanted to get to Luke and curl up in his arms. He was her safe place.
Jenna had begun seeing him a little over a year ago when he’d brought his ‘crazy-ass’ cat in for stitches. It had knocked a glass over and cut its paw in the process. She’d been struck by his affection for Winchester, the seven-year-old tabby. Even a small cut on the paw could bleed a lot, which was what had happened in Winchester’s case. There had been no permanent damage.
Winchester wasn’t really crazy, just fearless. He was always getting up to new adventures even if they included things he shouldn’t touch, places he shouldn’t go and things he should never eat. However, there was no doubt that that he was also adorable, with short hair, a long and sinuous body and the most beautiful black and gray stripes. Jenna had always been a cat person and she loved how much Luke doted on the fearless feline.
Melissa, Luke’s assistant and CAD tech, was just leaving when she arrived. They chatted a minute before Jenna continued down the hall. She stopped short, just outside Luke’s office door, as she heard him talking, his words clipped and excited.
“I know you heard us last night. And you can’t tell me it was the first time. I’ve seen the way you look at her. You can’t tell me that you don’t want her.”