Healing the Vet's Heart by Annie Claydon

Author:Annie Claydon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-06-03T12:21:07+00:00

* * *

Drew was intoxicated by her eyes. Warm honey brown and reflecting every last bit of the magic of the morning. Caro was the magic. The way her forehead had puckered slightly in concentration as she’d quoted the diving manual, which he’d helped Jake to write, straight back at him. The way she’d leaned back a little, almost in his arms, as they’d steered the boat together. The way she’d squeezed his hand under the water.

He watched her as the boat moved steadily back to the diving centre, with Gramps at the helm. Her hair blown dry by the wind and stiff with salt, her fingers a little red from the cold and curled around the cup of hot soup from the flask he’d brought. Her nose was a little red, too, and it was enchanting.

She thanked Gramps, waving to him from the jetty as the boat drew away. Drew opened the diving centre, carrying their tanks inside and leaving them with the others that needed to be refilled. Caro made for the changing rooms, stopping to ask Drew if he’d undo the zip that ran across the back of her shoulders for her. He’d done that a thousand times before for his fellow divers, but it had never seemed so intimate. He decided to wait for her out on the jetty.

She joined him, her face shining. ‘Thank you so much, Drew. That was one of the best things I’ve ever done.’

‘Right up there with robotics?’ If that was the case, it was praise indeed.

‘Definitely. It’s given me some ideas as well.’ She shot him an impish smile.

‘Don’t...’ Drew held his hands up in an expression of surrender. ‘If I find that your tortoise has been banished to a cupboard in favour of a cleaner fish, I’ll feel very guilty.’

‘That’s not going to happen. Tony will always have a place in my heart.’

He should get into his car and go home now. But Caro didn’t move, and he couldn’t leave. Drew reached out, skimming his fingertips across the arm of her jacket.

‘It’s been good to get back to diving. Thanks for giving me a good reason.’

She nodded. Caro had a habit of thinking about every aspect of a given situation, and no doubt she’d thought of that, too.

‘It must have been hard. After everything that’s happened, you must have wondered if it would still be the same.’

‘It’ll never be the same. But this was as good as the best of what I had before. Better, because...’ He shrugged, unable to put his feelings into words.

‘Because you knew you’d come close to losing it?’

No. Better because Caro had been there. Something suddenly fell into place and for a moment it seemed as if the void inside him could be filled.

Trapped in her gaze, he reached for Caro’s hand, bringing it to his lips. She moved closer, stretching towards him as if she were about to kiss his lips. Then suddenly a tear rolled from her eye and she backed away, her hand over her mouth.

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