Czytaj książkę: «Falling For The Single Mom»

Chapter One

This was not happening.

Unclenching her teeth, Heather Fitzgerald called up the sweet smile that had gotten her out of so many scrapes in the past. “But you don’t understand. All this—” she motioned at the large moving truck “—wasn’t supposed to be here until Wednesday. This is Monday.”

“Lady, you’re the one who don’t understand,” the driver retorted in a manner that clearly announced he couldn’t have cared any less. “I start in Cincy, then make a loop around four different states before I head back home. Sometimes it takes me a week, sometimes more’n that. This time, it took less, and I’m here now. If you want your load delivered later, I should be coming through here again in two or three weeks. But it’ll cost you to store this stuff at our facility till then, and I can’t make you any promises about when it’ll actually show up.”

After four years in college and four more slaving away day and night to get her veterinary degree, Heather had become adept at scheduling her life to the nth degree and keeping everything on track. It was midway through April, and the past few months had wreaked havoc with her normally precise planning. Somehow, using grit and bullish determination, she’d managed to squeak through with her sanity intact. Most of it, anyway.

So, because she was desperate, she decided it was time to try a different tactic. While she was far from the helpless female he obviously assumed her to be, she figured it couldn’t hurt to appeal to his male pride. Pulling out her phone, she called up her ace in the hole.

“I hate to be a pest about this, but I really can’t let these things be shuttled off to who-knows-where. My niece—” she showed him a picture of five-year-old Bailey “—has been living out of her suitcase since we arrived in town this past weekend. She became an orphan recently, and it’s very important that she feels at home here as soon as possible.”

“I’ve heard every story in the book,” he grumbled, but he gave the screen a cursory glance before frowning. “I think you’re yanking my chain about her being your niece. She looks just like you.”

“Of course she does,” Heather snapped, dangerously close to being out of patience. “Her father was my brother.”

She could tell by the softening of his features that he was beginning to waver. Rubbing his neck, he said, “I’d like to help you, but I got other people’s things on here, too, y’know.”

“Come on, man” came a mellow drawl from behind her. “Give the lady a break.”

Turning, she found herself nose-to-chest with a dark green T-shirt sporting an embroidered running horse over script that read Gallimore Stables—Oaks Crossing, Kentucky. As her gaze traveled upward, it connected with the bluest pair of eyes she’d ever seen in her life. Set in a tanned face that showed evidence of plenty of outdoor time, they crinkled when her rescuer smiled and held out a large hand covered in scars. “You must be Dr. Fitzgerald. I’m Josh Kinley, your new boss’s little brother.”

He was hardly little, she thought. Well over six feet tall, he had the rangy build of someone who spent his days working hard. Wearing a wide-open expression and a quick smile, he was nothing like the pale, stressed-out men she’d spent most of the last few years with. Then again, they’d all been studying their brains out, just like her. “I wasn’t expecting a welcoming committee, but it’s nice to meet you.”

“Same here. The rescue center’s been without a bona fide vet for over a year now. We’re all real glad you accepted Erin’s offer to come down here.”

“It’s a great situation for me, too. Especially since it included an apartment.” Sure, it was above a pet supply store called Pampered Paws, but it had two bedrooms and would have come furnished if she hadn’t had her own furniture. That reminded her of her current predicament, and she cast a look over her shoulder at her neatly labeled boxes, sitting just out of reach in the back of the truck. So close, and yet so far—that seemed to be the story of her life these days. “For now, I have to figure out how to get our stuff unloaded so this man can leave on time.”

“I might be able to help you with that.”

“How? Some of that furniture is pretty heavy.”

“No doubt.” Giving her a you-can-count-on-me grin, he sauntered over to where the driver was standing with his hands in his pockets. “So, where’d you start out this morning?”

“Louisville. Why?”

“That’s a ways from here. You’ll find the best breakfast in three counties at the Oaks Café,” Josh replied smoothly, nodding toward the restaurant next door. “Give us half an hour, and your meal’s on me.”

“Well...” Thinking it over, the mover scratched his thumb over his chin. “Okay. Thanks.”

“You help me, I help you,” Josh told him with a grin. “That’s how we do things around here.”

Exactly why she’d taken this job, Heather mused as the driver waved on his way into the diner. Her job at a prestigious Detroit clinic had been a dream come true, but Bailey had been raised in a small town and hadn’t adjusted well to the culture shock of living in such an urban area. Although she hated to give up what she’d worked so hard to achieve, Heather instinctively knew that her niece would do best in the kind of environment she was accustomed to, surrounded by good, honest people who not only knew their neighbors but cared about what happened to them and their children.

It was the kind of childhood she and Craig had enjoyed. Thinking of her older brother still made her sad. As much as she missed him, she couldn’t begin to imagine how hard it was for Bailey, who’d lost her mother so young, he was the only parent she remembered having.

“Are you okay?” Josh asked, his brow creasing in a frown.

Oh, he was a sweetheart, this tall country boy with the rugged good looks. If she hadn’t been totally consumed with learning how to be a single parent and settling into her new position, he was exactly the kind of guy she could have gone for in a major way. But life was what it was, and Heather had no intention of allowing herself to get waylaid by distractions, no matter how hunky they might be.

“I’m just trying to figure out what you have in mind,” she said. “I’m no expert, but it seems to me that half an hour isn’t going to make much difference here.”

“Well, now, that’s where you’re wrong.” Flashing her a mischievous grin, he strolled into the same diner he’d just sent the driver to. A couple of minutes later, he came out with a tall, dark-haired man who looked less than friendly. In fact, he made Heather think of a grizzly bear.

“Heather Fitzgerald,” Josh began, motioning from her to his friend, “this is Cam Stewart. Erin’s husband and all-around muscle.”

Cam made a disparaging noise but shook her hand gently enough. “Welcome to Oaks Crossing. How are things going so far?”

“Fine, but our stuff arrived here earlier than I expected, and the movers I originally scheduled for Wednesday are busy with other customers and can’t get here until this afternoon. At the earliest,” she added wryly.

“You hired movers?” Josh laughed. “What for?”

Mild as it was, the mocking didn’t help her mood the slightest bit, and she bit her tongue to keep her simmering temper in check. “Erin said she’d try to find me some help, but I haven’t heard back from her yet.”

“I got nothing better to do just now.” Looking at Cam, he grinned. “Gimme a hand?”

“Why not? It’ll save me from mopping up the gallon of ketchup my new waitress just spilled in the storeroom.”

“Good deal. Heather, can you work the door for us?”

And just like that, she had all the help she could ask for. “The boxes are labeled. Would it be too much trouble for you guys to put them in the right rooms?”

“No trouble at all,” Josh assured her. That got him a menacing look from his friend before Cam hauled himself into the back of the moving truck. “Don’t mind him. His bark is worse than his bite.”

Punctuated by a broad wink, the old cliché made her difficult morning a little easier to take. “Did you just make a veterinarian joke?”

“That depends. Did you like it?”

His playful expression made her think of a big puppy whose only goal in life is to make everyone he comes across love him. At twenty-six, she’d spent many years with serious students determined to do everything in their power to make themselves successful. At the time, she’d assumed those days would be the most difficult she’d have to endure for a long time to come. But now, they paled in comparison to losing her only sibling and becoming an instant parent to a grieving child.

Despite what he’d told her, she recognized that Josh was going out of his way to lighten her mood, and she didn’t want him to think she was standoffish. On the other hand, she didn’t want to mislead him, either. Aside from being a nice guy, he was her boss’s brother. She was keenly aware that her current employment situation was tenuous at best, and she couldn’t afford to have any misunderstandings between them.

Stepping closer, she said in a quiet voice, “I know you’re just being friendly, but I’ve got a lot on my plate right now. I don’t have the time or the energy for anything else.”

After a moment, he gave her a lazy grin. “Meaning me?”

“Yes. I’m not sure what you’re after, but trust me—you’re better off looking for it somewhere else.”

“I’m not after anything, darlin’,” he informed her in the slow, easy drawl that must make other women drool all over his scuffed work boots. “Just a smile. I’m thinking even a busy lady like you might have the time and the energy to give me one of those.”

That he’d perfectly echoed her earlier comment impressed her to no end. Because of her looks, most men treated her like a miniature Barbie doll and never even considered the possibility that she had a brain and ideas that might be worth listening to. She could probably tell many of them the true meaning of life and they wouldn’t register a single word she said.

Apparently, Josh Kinley was a different sort altogether. And since he’d been so great to a stressed-out woman he’d just met, she decided it was okay to offer him the smile he’d asked her for.

“There it is,” he approved, returning it with a blinding one of his own. “Just made my whole day.”

He took over unloading the large truck with an efficiency that suggested to her that this wasn’t the first time he’d managed such a big job. She manned the outer door, watching the two men thread through the pet store shelving, carrying furniture and boxes as if they handled this kind of assignment every day.

When the driver returned, her section of the truck was empty, and he was much more cheerful than he’d been when he’d first arrived. He handed her a copy of her receipt and even touched the bill of his baseball hat when she tipped him. “That’s real nice of you, miss. You and your niece have a good day, now.”

Heather could hardly believe this was the same surly man who’d pulled up half an hour ago and had been a whisker away from taking off with all her worldly possessions. When she said as much to Josh, he shrugged. “When you treat folks well, they do the same for you. Mostly, he looked hungry, so I bought him breakfast. No big deal.”

“It was for me,” she corrected him. Fishing a couple of twenties out of her wallet, she held one out to each of them. “You two really saved me this morning. Thank you.”

“Just tell my wife I pitched in,” Cam suggested. “We’ll call it even.”

She agreed, and he clapped Josh on the back before heading back into the restaurant. Still holding the money, she looked up at her rescuer. “Please let me pay you.”

“I got my smile,” he reminded her, blue eyes twinkling in fun.

“That’s not nearly enough for the amount of work you did.”

“Well, now, I guess that depends on the smile, doesn’t it?”

This charming country boy was hard to resist, but she’d been schooled by men far more calculating than him. Calling up what she called her bad-news face, she replied, “I suppose so.”

The cool gesture seemed to make no dent in his sunny disposition, and he went on as if she hadn’t just shot him down. “Now that your stuff is off the sidewalk, I figure you’re going out to the rescue center. I’m headed that way myself, so you can follow me if you want.”

“I have a navigation system in my car,” she informed him politely.

“Yeah, that might not work so far out of town if you lose the signal. But I’m sure a smart cookie like you can find the clinic on your own.”

That didn’t sound promising to her, and she found herself missing the convenience of street signs that directed people to where they wanted to go. Pushing the thought aside with a mental sigh, she decided not to make a challenging day even worse by being late for her first day of work. “On second thought, it might be best if I follow you. Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

He flashed her another grin and headed for a double-cab green pickup sporting the logo from his shirt on the driver’s door. He climbed inside and reached down to adjust the radio before starting the engine and pulling out onto Main Street. As she watched him drive away accompanied by a honky-tonk tune, Heather wasn’t entirely certain what had just happened. Putting away her money, she got into her car and prepared to play follow-the-leader.

Having spent so many years living in metropolitan areas, Heather had grown accustomed to traveling a certain number of blocks, turning at this light and that numbered avenue. This morning’s commute was something completely foreign to her. The small business district gave way to a string of old homes surrounded by large yards whose neighbors hadn’t bothered to put up fences to separate one plot from the next. The result was a pleasant blending of lawns and gardens, giving the town a picturesque country vibe even a devoted city girl like Heather could appreciate.

As they drove farther from town, the homes grew sparser, and she admired the lush countryside dominated by expansive farms that had been carved out of rolling acres of bluegrass and wildflowers. When they reached the sign for Gallimore Stables, she glanced out to take in the scope of the property Josh’s family owned. Traditional white fences stretched as far as she could see, framing horses and ponies of every size and color. At the end of a gravel drive, a large white farmhouse with a wraparound porch beckoned visitors to stop and visit for a while. Erin had told her that the place had been in the Kinley family for generations, and despite some serious financial setbacks, they were all doing everything in their power to keep it that way.

Heather hadn’t seen her childhood home since her parents had sold it to fund an early retirement traveling the world. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be so connected to a piece of your family’s history, being there year after year, building memories that would last beyond your own lifetime. That was what she wanted for Bailey, as much as for herself. A place to belong, where they’d always feel at home.

Hopefully, putting aside her old dreams and coming to Oaks Crossing would prove to be the first step to a better life for both of them.

* * *

Heather Fitzgerald wasn’t at all what Josh had been expecting.

With a cloud of curly blond hair and a killer pair of baby blues, the petite vet looked more like a shoe-in for prom queen than someone capable of managing sick and injured animals. Then again, he spent his days wrestling with cranky field hands, tractors and harvesters, working sunup to sundown to wring every ounce of profit out of his end of their struggling horse farm. It didn’t leave him much spare time for pondering what made folks tick.

As so many Kinleys before him had done, when it rained too much, he stared at the sky and prayed for the sun to come out again. And when the soil got too dry, he prayed for rain, season by season, methodically rotating the crops in each field to keep the fertile acreage as productive as it could possibly be. It wasn’t an easy life, but the land was like a member of the family to him, and he loved it with everything he had.

Many of his childhood friends had moved away after graduation, but at twenty-seven, Josh couldn’t envision being truly happy anywhere else. If only his high school sweetheart, Cindy O’Donnell, had felt the same way, he’d be married and a father by now. Sadly, she’d left him behind to strike out on her own, and he’d finally come to realize that, much as he’d loved her, they simply weren’t meant for each other.

Ever since he could remember, he’d known that this was where he belonged. While so many people fretted over where to go and what to do, he sat back and listened to them, grateful that he’d been planted in the right place. All he needed to make his life complete was a family of his own. More than anything, he wanted the kind of strong marriage his parents had built together, something that would last through the good times and the bad. But since losing Cindy to the big, bad world, he’d gone through enough failed relationships to know that wanting something wasn’t enough. You had to make it happen.

His two older brothers were happily married now, and they’d both told him the secret was to find a woman capable of loving him for who he was. Unfortunately for him, their advice had ended there, leaving him as clueless as ever.

Josh checked his rearview mirror to make sure Heather was still with him before taking the fork that snaked through the woods on its way to the clinic. She matched the maneuver, and before long they pulled into the gravel lot in front of the Oaks Crossing Rescue Center. Located on a few acres at the edge of the main farm, it was surrounded by trees and unspoiled meadow, the perfect spot for a place devoted to caring for animals.

He pulled in and parked off to the side to leave a closer space for Heather’s car. She was the doc, he reasoned, so she deserved the VIP treatment. Now that he thought about it, they should designate a spot for her so visitors and volunteers didn’t block her entrance if she had to come in quickly and take care of an emergency.

Josh got out of his truck and strolled toward the main building, assessing the best place for her to park in the future. When she arrived and stepped out of her car, he heard her call out his name. “Did you lose something?”

“Just thinkin’,” he replied, and he pointed to the pavement in front of the clinic while he explained.

He’d expected her to be on board with the perk, maybe even a little flattered that he’d thought of it. But she surprised him by shaking her head. “That’s really not necessary. Anywhere is fine.”

She’d initially struck him as a bit of a princess, accustomed to having people help her at the drop of a hat. That she actually seemed to have an independent streak was a pleasant surprise to him. “Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.”

“I won’t, but I appreciate the offer.”

There was that prim, overly polite tone again. Easygoing by nature, Josh normally accepted people as they were, figuring it was their right to choose their own attitudes. But he had to admit that her rapid shifts from sweet to stern were beginning to bug him. Add that to the fact that she’d all but ordered him to back off earlier, and he counted two strikes.

And everyone knew you got only three.

Unwilling to blow them all at once, he put aside his curiosity about the pretty veterinarian and motioned her toward the glass front door etched with the clinic’s logo. “Ladies first.”

She gave him a long, uncomfortable look that made him feel like a new species of bug. Finally, the cynical glint in her eyes mellowed, and she offered him a tentative smile. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

That got him another clinical stare. “You said that before, when we were in town. You really mean it, don’t you?”

“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.”

“In my experience, most guys aren’t that honest.”

“Well, ma’am,” he responded in his best down-home accent, “I think you’ll find we do things a little differently around here.”

“I’ve never lived anywhere other than Michigan,” she confided. “I guess I have some things to learn about how things work in Kentucky.”

Josh had no doubt that before long she’d have men lined up to give her a few lessons on the subject. Not him, of course, he thought with a muted grin. She’d made it plain that she wasn’t interested in him. While he didn’t understand her chilly behavior toward him, he’d been raised to have a healthy respect for women. Especially the feisty ones.

When he realized she still hadn’t made a move to go inside, he turned to her with a sympathetic smile. “Nervous?”

“A bit.” Peering into the vacant lobby, she frowned in concern. “This is my first time being in charge of a veterinary practice, and I’m not sure what to expect.”

In her confession, Josh heard that she wasn’t worried about the actual doctoring, but about handling the people involved. Inspiration struck, and he said, “Around here, we get some of every critter around. How ’bout a tour of the animals before you meet the staff?”

“Are you sure? I mean, don’t you have other things to do?”

Josh had never had to contend with a nerve-racking first day on the job, or moving with a child hundreds of miles from the only home he’d ever known. But he could imagine it was pretty intimidating, even for this intelligent woman making a career in such a challenging field. His late father had taught them all that a little patience went a long way with most creatures, whether they were the four-legged or the two-legged kind. “Yeah, but they can wait a while longer.”

He skirted the kennel building and took her out to where temporary corrals held an interesting collection of wild animals healing before being released back into the forest. Today, the group included a mother duck with a broken wing and her fuzzy yellow brood of ten, an injured armadillo and a llama that had escaped from somewhere and taken up residence in a local farmer’s herd of dairy cows.

As they strolled along the enclosure, Josh filled her in on how each animal had come to be here and what he knew of the plans to rehabilitate and release them back to their homes. While he was talking, a new arrival ambled over and eyed them with obvious curiosity.

Heather’s eyes just about popped out of her head. “Is that a bear cub?”

“Yeah. My niece and nephew named him Teddy. You’ve never seen one?”

“Sure, in zoos and on TV. Never up close like this.” She glanced around and said, “Mama bears don’t normally stand by and just let you scoop up their babies. I wonder where she is.”

Josh had a hunch about what had happened to the absent mother, but he kept his mouth shut to avoid distressing this lovely city girl with one of the less appealing facts of country life. But she was a sharp woman, and after thinking on it for a few moments, she frowned. “Hunters, right?”

“That’d be my guess. Bears are pretty smart, so they don’t tangle with cars, and not many big trucks come through here.”

“What a shame,” she commented sadly, hunkering down to greet the orphaned cub that was coming to the rail of his enclosure to check them out. Unlike many folks who visited, she was smart enough not to reach through the fence to pet him. In spite of her caution, Josh had no trouble picking up on her sympathy for Teddy. Apparently, neither did the bear, which sidled over and gazed curiously at her. “What’s going to happen to this poor baby?”

“There’s a wildlife rehabilitator who works here as a volunteer. She’ll figure out what he needs and make sure he can take care of himself when they let him go.”

Heather stood and faced Josh, interest lighting her eyes. “You seem to know a lot about this place. I thought you were in charge of the farm.”

Josh couldn’t keep back a laugh. “Not hardly. Big brother Mike runs the horse training business, and Drew’s our foreman when it comes to the farmwork. I manage the fields and try not to lose us too much money.”

When he laid it out that way, he realized that his job didn’t sound like much, but it had taken up most of his waking hours since he was ten years old. While he didn’t usually dwell on the impression he made on folks, he couldn’t help wondering what this highly educated woman thought of his very simple existence.

“I’ve never lived on a farm myself, but I think there’s a lot more to it than that.”

Josh pretended to consider her comment before shaking his head. “Nope. That pretty much sums it up. Works for me, though. I like keeping things uncomplicated.”

“So do I,” she agreed with a quick laugh. “Unfortunately, in my world they never seem to stay that way.”

“You’re talking about your niece?” She nodded, and he took the opportunity to find out more about her. “Mind if I ask what happened?”

“There’s not that much to tell. When Bailey was two, her mother, Polly, died from complications after an operation. My brother Craig had his hands full working and being a single dad. Bailey was visiting me this past February, and I got a call from the Michigan State Police.” Her chin began to tremble, and she paused for a deep breath before going on. “Craig’s car hit a patch of ice and ran straight into a bridge support on the interstate. He died on impact, and Bailey’s life changed forever.”

“And yours,” Josh added somberly. That explained her immediate connection to Teddy. An orphan like Bailey, he was alone in the world and needed someone to take care of him until he could fend for himself.

“I love her to pieces,” Heather murmured with a gentle smile. “But she’s still lost without her daddy. It breaks my heart to see her suffering, and I wish there was more I could do to help her.”