Her phone chimed once more. Matt again, this time with a video of Star attempting to climb onto a table by herself, her determination evident in every failed but persistent attempt. The final frames showed her triumphantly reaching the top, tail wagging furiously as she surveyed her accomplishment.
The video is from Star’s last checkup. She reminds me of someone else I know,Matt had written.Determined, resilient, and unwilling to give up.
Warmth spread through Lynda at the comparison. Seven days into her Denver stay, with another week stretching before her, she found herself counting the hours until she could return to Sapphire Bay. To the shelter animals who needed her expertise. To her friends who’d welcomed her so completely into their lives.
And to Matt, who was waiting for her with patient understanding and a growing place in her heart.
Picking up her phone, she typed a message to Matt.I’m counting the days until I come home—seven more to go.
His reply came moments later.I’ll be waiting.
CHAPTER 18
Matt checked the time on his phone again. It was three-fifteen in Denver, which meant Lynda would be in the middle of her afternoon appointments. This morning, he’d taken some great photos of the wolfdog puppies. He’d already sent Lynda three pictures, and sending another so soon might seem excessive. But his thumb hovered over an image of Star investigating a butterfly.
“Just send it already,” Brenda said with a smile from across the table in the break room. “That’s the fourth time you’ve checked your phone in ten minutes.”
Matt felt heat rise to his face as he tucked the phone back into his pocket. “I was just checking the time. The Jenkins family will be here soon for their cat’s vaccinations.”
Brenda’s eyebrows rose. “Your nose is growing, Matt. I’m sure Lynda appreciates the updates you send her.”
Matt sighed. “Am I that obvious?”
Brenda smiled as she stood and rinsed her coffee mug in the sink. “Sending her the photos is very sweet. While you’re deciding what to do, I’d better get back to the front desk.”
After Brenda left, Matt quickly sent the photo and then returned to his office. Nine days into Lynda’s absence, and hewas behaving like a lovesick teenager. He’d never expected to miss her quite this much. He missed seeing her after work and hearing about what was happening in the bookstore and the shelter. He missed spending time with her when she came in to see the wolfdog pups or when they had lunch together. But most of all, he missed the laughter and joy she brought into his life.
On his desk sat a small wooden carving he’d been working on during lunch breaks—a female wolf with five tiny pups clustered around her feet. It wasn’t finished yet, the details of the puppies still rough and undefined, but the mother wolf’s face already held the alert, intelligent expression he’d imagined from the stormy night on the mountain.
Matt ran his thumb over the smooth wood, feeling the grain beneath his fingertips. After that first rescue with Lynda, he’d wanted to start carving again. The impulse had felt natural, almost necessary, as if the experience had unlocked something within him. The first carving, the single wolf he’d given Lynda before she left, had flowed from his hands with a certainty he hadn’t felt in years.
A knock on his office door interrupted his thoughts.
“Dad?” Stephanie’s voice called. “Are you in there?”
Matt quickly set down the carving and opened the door. Stephanie stood in the corridor with her six-year-old son Ethan beside her, and nine-year-old Lily already darting toward him.
“Grandpa!” Lily exclaimed, throwing her arms around his waist. “We decided to surprise you! Mom said we could see the wolfdog puppies.”
Matt hugged his granddaughter, genuinely delighted by the unexpected visit. “They’re still here and getting bigger every day. They’ll be going to their forever homes next week.”
“Can we see them?” Ethan asked, his natural reserve giving way to a surge of excitement. “They looked really big in the last photos you sent us.”
“They’re strong and healthy now,” Matt told Ethan with a smile. “I’ll call Sarah to see if she’s still with the pups.” After speaking to Sarah, Matt was reassured that Lily and Ethan would be safe. He placed his cell phone on his desk and looked at his two grandchildren. “Sarah said it’s okay to see them. They’re in the large playpen in Exam Room 2. You can look but don’t touch. Even though they’re cute, they’re still wild animals.”
As the children hurried off to see the puppies, Stephanie stepped into the office, her gaze immediately falling on the half-finished carving on his desk.
“You’re carving again,” she said softly, picking up the wooden wolf family. “I haven’t seen you do this since Mom died.”
Matt nodded, watching as his daughter carefully examined the piece. “It’s beautiful,” she said, running her finger over the mother wolf’s face. “The expression is so alive.” She looked up at him, her eyes—so like her mother’s—searching his face. “What inspired this?”
Matt hesitated, unsure how to explain the emotions that had led him back to his old hobby. “We rescued those puppies during a terrible storm. A fallen tree killed their mother, but somehow they survived. The whole experience made an impact on me.”
Stephanie returned the carving to his desk. “Was Lynda the vet who went onto the mountain with you?”
Matt nodded. He’d told Stephanie about Lynda, but hadn’t mentioned how important she’d become in his life. “Lynda’s in Denver right now, dealing with a staffing crisis at her practice there.”
“But she’s coming back?” Stephanie asked.
