Chapter 2
Here I am: Girdwood Springs Animal Hospital. Home sweet home.
Well, technically it was more likework sweet work, but the two were practically the same for Chloe Fenwick.
It wouldn’t have been too much of an exaggeration to say that she lived for her patients, and always had done. One of her earliest memories was from when she was about four years old, solemnly carrying her stuffed toy cat, Max, into the dining room and asking her mom to show her how to sew up his torn leg after theiractualdog, Bernie, had taken a bit too much of a liking to him.
She had carefully poked the stuffing back into his leg and helped thread the needle, before her mom had guided her through the slow, torturous process of sewing Max’s leg back together. Her surgical prowess at the time probably wouldn’t have won any awards, but Max had seemed happy with the results, and that was all she had cared about.
From then on, it had seemed like a natural progression through life up to this point: running her own veterinary clinic.
A little thrill of excitement went through her stomach as she turned the key in the lock, and stepped inside.
My very own clinic.
As happy as she’d been about it from the moment she’d signed the paperwork, it hadn’t really hit her until now: it washerclinic.
No more dealing with unreasonable bosses or cliquey colleagues. No more changes of management whenever some new corporation bought out the company.
Now, for better or worse, it was all just her.
Of course, therewassuch a thing as too much of a good thing. The actual business side of things wasn’t exactly something she was looking forward to, though she knew she could handle it. The recruiter she’d spoken to about hiring a receptionist had told her that the candidate they’d selected for her would be coming around later today so she could interview them and make sure they’d be a good fit for her.
Chloe had never interviewed anyone before – it had always been her on the other side of the desk, getting grilled about her experience and skills.
But she’d find a way. Sure, if whoever the recruiter sentwasn’ta good fit then she’d have to find someone else as quickly as possible, which seemed hard when she’d only just moved to town herself.
Still, how bad could things be, when she was running her own veterinary practice in a beautiful old converted house?
She peered out the enormous front window, which framed a gorgeous display of brilliant red and gold fall leaves, offset by some green vines and blooming flowers that were surely out of season.
The overall effect was stunning, and, she hoped, would make for a nice environment for her patients and their people. She really did want to create a place where people would feelcomfortable, and the animals would be under as little stress as possible. And as an outsider who had just arrived, she knew that she had to make extra sure to make a good impression.
Chloe strolled around the room, taking it all in. The previous vet, Dr. Sugita, had finished up yesterday, apparently starting a well-deserved retirement alongside his receptionist wife after the two of them had been running the place for forty-six years.
The Sugitas had kindly allowed Chloe to purchase all of their equipment and furniture along with the building. While some of the chairs were looking a little…pre-loved, everything here was functional. She was hoping that she’d be able to spruce it up a little to her own tastes further down the line, but for now she just had to make sure she knew where everything was!
She already had some changes she knew she wanted to make before she received her first patient, such as rearranging some of the rooms so that cats and dogs would each have their own separate waiting rooms in order to reduce stress. There were going to be a busy few days ahead of her, that much she knew, but she was up for the challenge –
“Hello? Is anyone there? The door was open, so I –”
Chloe spun on the spot, her mouth dropping open in surprise at the sound of the voice behind her – the clinic wasn’t open, she had no deliveries scheduled, and she definitely wasn’t expecting anyone to drop by.
Anddefinitelynot the someone she now found herself looking at – who, if hehadbeen a delivery courier or something like that, would have had to be from the most upmarket delivery service she could imagine.
That’s a pretty nice suit,she thought, letting her eyes drift up over the immaculately fitted, charcoal-gray material, which was pretty obviously hanging off a very, very,verytall and very, very,veryathletic frame.
Which would have been nice on the eyes anyway, but –
Wow.
Chloe blinked.
I didn’t know they had guys like this up here in the mountains! I should have moved up here a lot sooner!
The man standing in front of her now, looking around the clinic with a slightly puzzled expression on his face, had to be just about the handsomest man she’d ever seen.
His jet-black hair was cut short, but it still managed to have a little bit of a curl to it. His eyes were piercingly blue – the blue of a clear sky in the middle of fall. And Chloe was pretty sure she could cut a slice of bread on the sharpness of his cheekbones.
