Harper walked over to her, always the first order of business when she visited, and scratched the bird’s chest. “Hey, pretty girl,” she purred. Gabby’s feathers ruffled in delight at the attention. “Where is everybody?”
“Getting our middle of the day caffeine fix.” A deep voice—along with boots walking across the hardwood floor—echoed down the hall behind the desk.
Harper looked over just as Finn Shepherd walked into the reception area.
Until about a year ago, her father had not only owned the sole practice in Mirabelle, but he’d been the only vet. When Finn had graduated from veterinary school and moved back, he’d been hired onto the practice. The additional doctor had been more than needed. The workload having increased significantly over the years, and as her father was getting older it was a bit of a worry for Harper.
As it turned out, her father was adjusting just fine to sharing the practice. But as Finn was pretty much the son Paul never had, it wasn’t all that surprising. Harper had grown up with Finn. Not only were they in the same year in school, but he’d been in and out of the practice learning everything he could since he was sixteen.
Before Brad had been in the picture, Harper’s mother had always wanted her to end up with Finn. Though there was no denying that the man was attractive beyond words—what with his sapphire blue eyes, thick black wavy hair, and black-framed glasses that only added another layer of sexy—she’d always looked at him like a brother. And he’d always looked at her like a sister.
Besides, these days the only man she was thinking about had green-gold eyes and a deep, rich voice that set every part of her on fire. A man that she knew almost nothing about…except that she was in love with him. Oh, and she was carrying his child.
God, when had her life gotten so complicated?
Well, there was no time to focus on that because five seconds after Finn came into the room, another set of shoes echoed down the hallway. These were definitely heels as opposed to work boots.
“Ohhh, do my ears deceive me or is that one of my favorite girls?” The kind face and gray-haired head of Janet Peterson popped through the doorway, her own steaming cup of coffee in hand.
Harper was only slightly bitter that she couldn’t join in with her own cup. She was exhausted and really wishing she could get a little pick-me-up, too. Even with her limited coffee intake over the last couple of weeks, she was still a caffeine junkie. Admitting it was half the battle.
But as Janet’s coffee was usually strong enough for a spoon to stand up straight, Harper wasn’t going to tempt fate or mess with the delicate balance of her stomach. Besides, she shouldn’t be drinking the stuff now anyway.
Janet was pretty much the backbone of the clinic, and it ran on more than just her coffee-making skills. She’d been working the receptionist desk for the last thirty years, and was still going strong in her sixties.
Before Harper could even respond to the question Janet asked, the woman had set down the coffee mug and pulled her into one of those soul-affirming hugs. Really, Harper should stop by every day just for one of these.
When Janet pulled back, Paul walked into the room, his mouth splitting into that customary grin when he laid eyes—the exact same shade as Harper’s—on his daughter.
No matter what was going on, at least some things hadn’t changed.
“Hey, sweet pea.” He pulled Harper into his arms, giving her a kiss on the temple like he always did, before he let go and took a step back.
“Hey, Daddy.”
“You get off early?” he asked, checking his watch.
“Yeah, my last appointment canceled. And it was a bit of a slow day.”
“It’s been slow here, too,” Janet said as she reached for her coffee and took a sip. But the words were barely out of her mouth when the door behind them opened.
Gabby squawked again—no need for a bell over the door when they had this bird—as Tripp Black walked into the building. Tripp was Mirabelle’s resident fire chief, a job he’d had for the last two and half years ever since he’d moved to the area. He was another insanely attractive man with thick brown hair, and warm chocolate brown eyes. But again, Harper had only ever been friends with the man.
As he was wearing his navy blue uniform pants and a gray polo with the Mirabelle Fire logo, she was guessing he was on duty. He made his way into the room and she noticed he was cradling a rather large ball of white and brown fur in his massive arms.
The ball of fluff shifted, or should she say balls. There were two puppies in Tripp’s arms, and while one lifted its head from the crook of his elbow, the other burrowed deeper into his chest whining.
“Didn’t know where else to take them. Someone abandoned these little guys at the station. No one even saw them drop the cardboard box at the door, but we did hear the barking.”
This was a better alternative than what most people did, which was abandon their unwanted animals on the side of the road. Something Harper would never understand for as long as she lived.
That was what happened to Luna. She’d been no more than two months old when someone found her wandering through a neighborhood. She had no collar, was starving, and covered in fleabites. Her father had never seen the dog before the day she’d been brought in, so he’d had no idea who the owner was.
Weeks went by with no one looking for or claiming the puppy. As Harper had been the one fostering her—and had gotten attached faster than it took to blink—the adoption had been obvious.
As Luna was a purebred French bulldog, Paul always suspected that it was a local breeder who’d just let her go without a care. She was most definitely the runt of the litter and had a slight limp as her left back leg was just a tad bit shorter than the rest.
Apparently imperfection was a reason that meant someone or something wasn’t worthy to live. All a pile of garbage if you asked her. This was one of the reasons why Harper firmly believed there was a special place in hell reserved for people who were that cruel and heartless.
“Let me see.” Finn moved closer, holding his hands out.
“I’d take the girl.” Tripp nodded to the one who was sniffing the air around her. “The boy seems to have clinging issues with me.”
Finn grabbed the puppy that was mostly white, just a few brown spots on her head and back, and pulled her into his chest. He touched one of her front legs, moving his hand down. “Well, I don’t think they are going to stay little for very long. This one’s paws are pretty big compared to her body.”
“Definitely a mix,” Paul said, moving forward and taking a look.
“They’re going to be massive. Probably why someone abandoned them.” Janet moved forward, scratching the chest of the puppy that was in Finn’s hands. She preened, wanting more affection.
“Can you start lining up a foster family while we get them checked out?” Paul asked Janet.
“On it.” She nodded as she headed for her desk and pulled out an address book.
“And if we can’t find a foster family I can take them home,” Finn said.
“I don’t know if this one is going to let you take him from Tripp’s arms.” Harper reached over and ran her hand down the puppy’s back. Even though she could only see about half of him, he looked to be evenly light brown and white all over his body. “You might just need to adopt him permanently.” She looked up at Tripp and grinned.
“I don’t think my town house would hold up to this guy. My yard is a postage stamp.”
“Hey, haven’t you been talking about getting a house? Problem solved.” Finn raised his eyebrows, his blue eyes lighting up like it was the most brilliant plan in the world.
Tripp’s mouth turned down into a frown as he shook his head. “How about you just get them checked out first before you assign me a new roommate?”
“You just stopping in to say hello, or did you need anything?” Paul asked Harper.
“Needed to drop some stuff off for Mom and see if you guys wouldn’t mind watching Luna this weekend,” she said as she gently scratched her nails down the puppy’s back. For the first time he slowly lifted his head from where it was buried in Tripp’s elbow.