Chapter Two
Angie Edmonds, new owner and veterinarian at the Spring Downs Veterinary Surgery, smoothed one hand over the head of the Dalmatian and dug into her lab coat pocket for a liver treat with the other. “He’s going really well, Judy. I can’t believe how big he’s grown.” She had chatted to Judy and little Lily for longer than she normally would have done, as she put off seeing the final patient for the day.
Not that seeing a small spaniel pup made her nervous. On the contrary; the little Boykin spaniel was a breed she didn’t see out here very often. Two hours earlier, when she’d glanced through the glass panel of the reception area door to see how busy it was in the waiting room, Angie’s heart had almost stopped beating. She had jumped back with a gasp, her hand over her mouth. For a moment, she’d thought she was going to pass out, as she’d held her breath in disbelief.
Oh. My. God.
“You okay, Angie?” Cissy, her vet nurse, had asked with a frown.
It couldn’t be.
“Do you know what he wants? The guy with the dark hair?” Her hand over her mouth muffled her words and Cissy put down the cloth she was wiping the examination table with.
“The good-looking one? What’s the matter? You’re as white as a ghost.”
Angie swallowed and her voice wobbled. “Yes, the good-looking one.”
“He’s got a Boykin spaniel with an injured leg.”
“Um, what’s his name?”
Please God, let me be wrong. She leaned against the door with her back pressed against the hard timber. It couldn’t be. It must be someone who looked like him. She let out a breath and relaxed. Of course it was. It was a crazy thought. There’s no way Liam Smythe, mover and shaker in the London newspaper world, would be out here in the tiny little town of Spring Downs with a dog on his lap. She chuckled, but her laugh was shaky.
But Cissy’s response dashed any last lingering hope that it wasn’t Liam out there waiting to see her. Not a double, not a lookalike, not an image that Angie had conjured up from her overactive imagination. She dreamed about the damned man most nights of the week and now she’d conjured him up in her waiting room.
“Smythe. Liam Smythe from Prickle Creek Farm.” Cissy frowned at her. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
No! Liam Smythe was in London. He couldn’t be here in Spring Downs. He was not Liam Smythe of Prickle Creek Farm.
But he was. He was sitting out there in the bloody waiting room. Panic, joy, hope, and despair marched through her until Angie couldn’t think straight. She took a deep breath and tried to inject some calm into her voice. The way Cissy was looking at her gave her the push she needed to calm down. Cissy would be calling the men in white coats to cart her away if she carried on any more.
“Yes. Yes, I’m fine,” she said as she leaned over to look through the door again.
This time her heart skittered up a dozen extra beats. Her ears buzzed and her mouth dried.
It was Liam. Just like Cissy had said.
Now Judy’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “Thanks, Angie. We’ll see you when he’s due for his next vaccination.”
Angie stood back as Judy led Brutus to the door, closely followed by Lily. “Give me a call if you have any concerns.”
“We will. Thanks, Angie.”
The door closed behind them and Angie hurried across to the sink. The moment couldn’t be put off any longer. She stared at herself in the small mirror. Her normally fair cheeks held a high flush and her blue eyes were shadowed. She reached a shaking hand up to her hair and tucked the stray blond curls behind her ears.
Deep breaths. Total composure. Deal with this like an adult, not like a moonstruck teenager. She welcomed the anger that was firing in her chest. If she was cross, she could deal with Liam Bloody Smythe firmly and calmly.
The man who had broken her heart when he’d let her leave England without him. The man who wouldn’t leave his precious newspaper career and come back to Australia with her.
Translation: he hadn’t loved her as much as she’d loved him.
What the hell is Liam doing here in the Pilliga Scrub?
The door opened and Cissy poked her head around, a frown wrinkling her brow. “Are you ready for Liam and the pup?”
Angie turned to Cissy with a huge fake smile. “Absolutely, let’s get him through quickly so we can get home. It’s way past time we closed.”
Cissy’s eyes were wide. She stepped into the examination room. “Angie, what’s wrong? Are you getting sick? One minute you’re pale and now your cheeks are really flushed.” The older woman reached over and put her hand on her forehead. “Have you got a temperature? Maybe you’re coming down with the flu?”
“I’m fine. It’s just been a long day, and it’s really hot in this room. I’ll have to take a look at the air conditioner now that the weather’s warming up.” Angie injected confidence into her voice. “Send Mr. Smythe in. Then we can call it a day.”
The look Cissy flashed her dispelled any notion that she’d convinced the nurse she was calm. “Are you going to spill?”
“Okay.” Angie shook her head and sighed. In the two months since Angie had arrived at Spring Downs, Cissy had not only welcomed her and shown her around town, she’d also proven herself to be one of the best vet nurses she’d ever worked with. They were beginning to forge a friendship. “I know Liam Smythe from way back. It’s just rattled me a bit to see him out there.”
This time Cissy’s look was one of sympathy. “Oh, I get it. He is a looker.”
Angie nodded. “Yep, you got it. But I’ll be fine.” She rubbed her hands together and stood straight. “Send him in and I’ll cope. Let’s get this over and done with.”
“I have to,” she muttered beneath her breath after Cissy closed the door quietly. Angie moved to the middle of the room to stand by the stainless steel examination bench. Her breathing was deep and slow, and she let the anger build. At least she had the advantage of surprise. Well, she hoped she did. She doubted Liam would have waited out there so long if he’d known she was in the examination room.
No way, she thought. He would probably have run a mile. For the first time, Angie was glad that the signage around the veterinary practice still showed Rod Rogers as the veterinarian. Cissy had ordered the new signs saying Angie Edmonds, Veterinarian Surgeon but they hadn’t arrived yet.
The door opened and Angie inwardly congratulated herself as she looked up with a professional smile. For a brief moment, she had the advantage of looking at Liam before he saw her. He was struggling to hold the small pup with the shiny brown coat as he muttered beneath his breath. A grin tugged at her mouth when she noticed the wet patch on the thigh of his work trousers.
When Liam looked up at her, the expression on his face almost made her laugh aloud. It helped the calm flow through her.
I can do this.
Liam’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish and his eyes widened. Angie looked down as he almost dropped the puppy onto the examination table. She was careful to avoid brushing his hand when she reached out and moved the small brown dog closer to her.
Finally she looked up and her voice was dry and steady. “Close your mouth, Liam. You look like you’re catching flies.” The smile on her face was making her cheeks ache.
“Angie?” His voice came out in a squeak, like a teenage boy. He cleared his throat and the second time he spoke it, her name came out in the deep tones that had once sent delicious shivers down her back. In the heady days when they’d spent more time in bed together than out of it. In the days when things had been fine and she’d been foolish enough to think it would last forever.
Nothing lasted forever. She’d known that since she was a child but she’d let herself forget it. Time to remind herself.
“Angie?”
“Yes, I’m Angie. That’s my name.” Her voice was calm. “You haven’t forgotten me then?”
“Of course I haven’t forgotten you! What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Melbourne.” Liam ran his hand through his hair, and Angie took a good look at him. His hair had grown and the slight curls hung over the collar of his khaki work shirt. A work shirt tinged with red dust. She let her gaze travel down stained—and damp—work trousers and settled on a pair of scuffed Blundstones.
“I’m about to examine your dog. And no, I’m not in Melbourne. What’s her name?” Angie leaned down and caressed the ears of the small pup, her professional eye taking in the back leg that the pup was protecting.
“Um…Willow. Yeah, Willow will do. She was in a culvert near some willow trees.”
“Willow will do?” She glanced up at him from under her lashes as she held the pup still. “Not the sort of dog I would have picked for you, Liam. In fact, I wouldn’t have picked any pet for you.” The room was deathly silent for a few minutes until the pup gave a short squeak as Angie probed gently along her leg. “I’ll x-ray it, but I don’t think it’s broken.”
She sensed rather than saw the moment Liam regained his composure. He leaned forward and she stared back as his eyes held hers.
“I asked what the hell you’re doing here in Spring Downs.” His voice was terse.
“I heard your question. You can see what I’m doing. As I told you already, I am examining your dog. That’s what vets do.” She spoke slowly, as though he were a child. “You know? You have a sick animal, you bring it to the vet, and we fix it.” This time she stared at him. “I’m the vet at Spring Downs. This is my practice.” It gave her great pleasure to say those words. She stood straighter and held her head high. She’d worked hard to get to this point. The extra hours of work that had helped her cope with the loneliness when she’d come back alone to Australia had also helped her save enough for a deposit to buy the practice. On top of what Mum had left for her.
“But I thought Rod Rogers was the vet here. He has been since he finished uni.” Liam stared back. Angie tried to ignore the pull of the dark green eyes that she’d always thought looked a bit Irish. The whole Liam package had attracted her that first night in the pub at Euston. Funny, the things you remembered at the most unexpected moments. The Prince of Wales Feathers pub, that’s where she’d met him. The girls had dragged her out on a pub crawl. A hen’s night for the receptionist at the practice she’d worked at when she’d first arrived in London. She’d been reluctant to go out, but they’d persuaded her, said that she had to experience London by night.
Angie could close her eyes and still remember how she’d compared the small beer garden on the top of the old building in the inner suburbs of London with an Aussie pub. Dirty brickwork with exposed electrical connections running above the door. Weatherworn, chipped furniture crammed into the small outdoor space, and a cold London breeze that carried in the constant noise of the Friday night traffic. But the atmosphere—warm beer and all—had been great fun and she’d soon begun to enjoy herself.
And then Angie had looked up to meet cheeky eyes that were blatantly checking her out. Gorgeous deep green eyes surrounded by long lashes, high cheekbones that gave him a fey look, and lips that were too lush for a guy. Lips that drew the eye once you could look away from the depths of his gaze. Jet-black hair, fair skin; Liam was brash, confident, and beautiful. She’d fallen hard. And fast.
Too fast.
And look where that had got her.
“What happened to Rod?” His voice was quiet this time.
“He went to America with his fiancée. I bought his practice.”
“Oh.” He stared at her intently. “I distinctly remember you didn’t want me calling because you were seeing someone else. So has your new man moved to Spring Downs with you?”
Angie waved her hand dismissively. “I didn’t say that.” Her housemate Jenny’s boyfriend had answered the phone that night and he’d chatted away to Liam for a while before handing the phone over to Angie. Liam had assumed she was seeing him.
“The message was clear.” Liam was staring at her, making her uncomfortable.
Angie swallowed. When Liam had assumed that she was seeing someone else she hadn’t corrected his assumption. He’d been more interested in telling her about his promotion than listening to her that night. Angie hadn’t wanted him to know how much that had hurt so she’d ignored his words and let him assume whatever he’d wanted to. She needed to set him straight but before she could explain, Cissy poked her head around the door. “X-ray’s ready to go, Angie. I need to get home as soon as I can.”
Angie glanced at her watch. “I’ll come and give you a hand. You wait here, Liam. We won’t be too long.”
“I’m really pleased things have worked out for you.” He shoved a hand in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “There’s no need for me to wait. It’s not my dog.”
“Whoa. Hold on there.” Angie took another deep breath and pushed back the unprofessional anger that threatened to bubble out into words she would later regret.
Pretend this is anyone but Liam. In fact, it wasn’t too hard. The Liam from London had been pale and his hair had been cropped short. She narrowed her gaze. He looked like he’d lost weight, too. His face was tanned now—she wouldn’t go so far as rugged—but he looked harder, as though he’d polished off the soft edges that too much drinking and smoking had given him.
Normally, when people got her dander up, she would pretend they were standing in their PJs and that helped her stay calm and professional. That wasn’t going to work now. Problem was, Liam didn’t wear PJs to bed, and that was a picture she certainly wasn’t about to conjure up. That would reduce her to a blubbering mess. Not a good look for the local vet.
“You brought Willow in.” She wasn’t going to refer to this sweet little pup who was looking up at her with soulful brown eyes as the dog. “So it’s your responsibility to take her back, and to pay the bill.”
“The bill is not an issue. I’m happy to pay it. But it’s—she’s—not my dog.” Liam waved his hand and glanced over as Cissy opened the door and slipped into the room “She was left on the road outside the farm, and I knew she was injured, so I brought her in to have her attended to. So…I’ll just leave her here.”
Angie shook her head, ignoring the mention of the farm. Why Liam was here and why he was on a farm in the Pilliga Scrub and wearing work clothes was a question she was not going to ask. She didn’t want to know anything. She didn’t need that angst in her now calm and settled life. “I’m sorry. That’s not how it works.” Her voice was brisk. “Cissy, let’s get this happening. Mr. Smythe—” She paused as the sounds of “Bohemian Rhapsody” came from Liam’s pocket. He pulled out the phone and glanced at the screen with a frown.
“Excuse me, I have to take this.”
Angie spoke quietly to Cissy but couldn’t help eavesdropping on Liam’s conversation, especially when his voice rose and he ran his hand through his hair.
“At the hospital? Having the baby?” He was quiet for a minute. “It can’t be coming yet, Lucy. It’s too early. Way too early.”
Curiosity pulled at Angie but she tried to remain professional. “Ready, Cissy?”
“How much? What does that mean?” This time they couldn’t ignore the distress in his voice. “Ten centimetres? What do you mean you’re about to give birth?” His voice rose, and Cissy and Angie exchanged a concerned look.
Liam disconnected the call and shoved the phone in his pocket. “I have to go. Lucy’s having the baby. Look, board the dog in your hospital room. I’ll come back later and sort the bill.” He pulled out his wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar note. “That’s a deposit just so you don’t think I’m going to do a runner.”
Angie and Cissy were left holding the puppy as the door slammed behind him.